You may have noticed that the Agudah convention had a Russian Refusenik as its highlight, as did the Chabad Shluchim convention. Who came up with the idea first is anybody's guess. Yuli Edelstein may not be a Jew with a beard and peyos, and he may not have been in the gulags for 11 years, but he's an impressive story nonetheless. Besides, what connection does Mendelevitch have to the Agudah? Maybe you can fill me in on the details. I asked a friend of mine who tolerates Lubavitch what he thought: who "did" Russian Refusenik better, Chabad or the Agudah? So he gave me a self-righteous "Mendelevitch is a real frum Jew," so of course the Agudah convention is a better place for a frum Jew. The kinus haShluchim was all pump. Whatever. I suppose if maybe Rabbi Kotlarsky or Rabbi Krinsky would've knocked those who go up to the har haBayis he'd be happy. Or if we spoke about the tuition crisis, which is THIS close to being solved, as we know. To compare the two conventions is to compare ----- you fill in the blank. Apples, oranges, whatever. Although both conventions may be looked at as self-congratulatory events, the comparisons basically end there. One congratulates the work of shluchim, the other can be looked at as a way to spend some of the money salting away in the bank. Sorry, I couldn't help myself there. But why do we bicker and fight like children here? There's enough to go around.