The landlocked East African country of Uganda is making Jewish history this year: It is the 100th country to welcome a permanent Chabad-Lubavitch presence in its midst.

In October, Rabbi Moishe and Yocheved Raskin, along with their young son Menachem Mendel, moved to the country’s capital city of Kampala, where they established Chabad of Uganda. The milestone was marked with a formal announcement on Sunday evening at the annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries (Kinus Hashluchim) in New York.

Other countries and territories where Chabad is establishing new permanent presences this year include Montenegro, Nassau in the Bahamas, and the tiny Caribbean island of Curaçao. These countries followed the recent opening of Chabad Houses in Laos and the Pacific island of New Caledonia. That brings the total of emissary couples around the world to 4,700.

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“Having centers in 100 countries is a momentous achievement and gives us a permanent way to constantly be in touch with Jews in every single one of these countries,” says Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch—the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement—chairman of the conference and a key person behind Chabad’s expansion into Jewishly uncharted territories. “The Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory] tasked us with the mission of connecting Jews to their heritage wherever they may be. The number 100 is spiritually significant, and these young couples are willing to go to the farthest reaches of the earth to make this happen.”

Chabad has had contact with the small but dynamic Jewish community in Uganda since at least 1999, when Rabbi Shlomo Bentolila—who with his wife, Miriam, heads Chabad of Central Africa in Kinshasa, Congo—first sent “Roving Rabbis” there for the summer and to help mark Jewish holidays throughout the year.