Two women from very different backgrounds who today have a common commitment to Jewish life and practice will share how their lives have been shaped by Judaism at the Jewish Women’s Day program Feb. 10 at Chabad-Lubavitch of Western Monmouth County, N.J.

Ilana Skolnik, a former Miss South Africa who completed her conversion to Judaism in Tel Aviv in 1984, will speak about her journey to Jewish tradition beginning in 1973 when she became friends with the Israeli contestant in the Miss World Pageant in London, U.K.

The pre-Purim program is designed to celebrate both the inner and outer beauty of the Jewish Queen Esther says Tova Chazanow, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Western Monmouth County. Skolnik’s life story in particular, says Chazanow, reveals her “inner strength, unwavering faith and fierce determination.”

Elyse Zinger

Elyse Zinger, who grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., will receive the Aishes Chayil (Woman of Valor) award will also talk about her journey, focusing on her participation for the past 12 years in a weekly Torah class with Tova Chazanow, and the guidance she has received from Chazanow and her husband, Rabbi Boruch Chazanow, recalling, “how they’ve inspired me to adopt a lifestyle of greater observance.”

The weekly class at Chabad, Zinger says, “opened my eyes and answered lots of questions about traditions that I had seen, but not fully understood while growing up in Brooklyn.” Zinger continues that she “came to appreciate the underlying reason for Shabbat rest, for example, as a day when we can put away thoughts of the hectic workweek and connect with our families and with G-d.”

Zinger will be honored for her voluntary commitments to the community including her leadership in the local Friendship Circle, the international Chabad-Lubavitch program that responds to the needs of thousands of children worldwide who suffer from various isolating conditions.

While there might not be a kosher tailgating party at the Super Bowl in New Orleans, La., this Sunday, there are definitely kosher options for Jewish visitors at the game and all weekend long, says Rabbi Mendel Rivkin of Chabad-Lubavitch of Louisiana.

At the Superdome, there will be a glatt (strictly) kosher food cart located on the fifth floor concourse, outside Section 543, under the supervision of the Louisiana Kosher Committee, and there are two kosher restaurants under LKC supervision that deliver to locations downtown and in the French Quarter: Kosher Cajun and Casablanca.

Moreover, says Rivkin, Chabad-Lubavitch of Louisiana is ready to help out as always with Shabbat meals or whatever the needs of out-of-town visitors might be.

Torah and tech have always gone together, as Chabad.org can attest. Now the third T - teens - is being thrown into the mix, thanks to a groundbreaking new app being launched next week at the annual CTeen (Chabad Teen Network) International Teen Shabbaton in New York.

The application - to be available for Apple iOs as well as Android - is the brainchild of California teenager David Z, who like most Gen Z (yes that's what they're called) is passionate about tech and the teen programs he has grown to love at his local Chabad chapter of CTeen, overseen by Rabbi Eli Baitelman, co-director of Chabad of Pacific Palisades, Cal.

The app features a variety of Jewish themed content directed at teens, combined with social features that are vital to the wired-in generation of teens who frequent programs at the more than 100 chapters of CTeens around the country. Photo galleries, video content and live chat sit side by side with Jewish themed content about holidays and heritage, all available at the mere tap - or slide - of a finger.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, devastation was everywhere. Roads were closed and power lines brought down by trees uprooted by the storm. While driving his children to school each morning in Morristown, N.J., Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Yitzchok Moully says he would look at the fallen trees, hoping that “some industrious craftsman or carpenter would create something beautiful and spiritually meaningful from the destitution.”

In addition to his work as youth director for Chabad-Lubavith of Basking Ridge, N.J., Moully is himself an accomplished artist and founder of Creative Soul, an organization for Jewish artists. One day the idea came to him to create an art installation that would give meaning to the destruction, and the first stage of that project will ready just in time for Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish New Year for Trees, this Sunday, Jan. 27.

“I want to take the huge trees with their exposed roots and turn them on their heads,” says Moully, “making the roots face the sky, standing almost as tall as the original tree stood.” Through that image, he says, he is asking: “With nature — Sandy — creating such havoc in our lives, where is the opportunity for our rebirth and regrowth?”

Nature Vs. Nature will be on display at "Back to Nature"at 3055 Valley Road, Basking Ridge, N.J. Residents and children are encouraged to interact with the installation on Sunday, January 27, from noon to 4 p.m.

Chabad-Lubavitch of Bucks County’s annual gala dinner is set to have a new flavor this year. Branded “Bubby’s Cook-off,” the event will feature five of Philadelphia’s best chefs, competing to cook traditional Jewish foods with a gourmet twist.

Guillermo Pernot, Jean-Marie Lacroix, Mike Deganis, Shane Cash and Yehuda Sichel will compete to prepare strictly kosher dishes, while gala attendees sample an array of hors d’oeuvres and mains including veal kreplach, chicken shishlik, cow in a comforter and pickled mackerel.

“That’s the great challenge of this cook-off, to see all of these top names in the Philadelphia restaurant scene putting away their regular set of dishes and tools and being challenged with a new set of rules, a new set of tools and creating a new kind of dish,” said Rabbi Yudy Shemtov, director of Lubavitch of Bucks County and organizer of the program. “The event fits in with our general mission of making people aware of kosher, and that it can fit in with any way of life in a beautiful way.”

The event is set for Wednesday, January 23rd at 5:30 pm at Vie, 600 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, and has a couvert of $175 per person. More information and reservations are available at the Lubavitch of Bucks County website, www.jewishcenter.info

Florida’s Gov. Rick Scott says he and first lady Ann Scott had “a fantastic time” at the Aleph Institute’s recent Shabbat dinner honoring Jewish chaplains and service members, and praised the conference and the more than 50 Jewish servicemen from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines who attended the event.

“I had a fantastic time at the Shabbat dinner,” Gov. Scott said. “Rabbi Lipskar, Rabbi Katz, and the Aleph Institute do a great job of fostering religious life in the military. With dedicated soldiers like those I met at the Shul, I know our freedom will continue to be protected.”

The Aleph Institute’s Rabbi Menachem Katz, director of outreach programs for the Chabad-Lubavitch organization that provides for the spiritual and physical needs of Jewish soldiers and prisoners, highlighted the governor’s contributions, and noted how significant it was to share the Sabbath meal with them. “Governor Scott is a staunch defender of the Jewish people and a champion of Jewish causes,” said Katz. “The presence of the governor and first lady was the cherry on top of an amazing event and was very meaningful to the congregation, the troops, and the Aleph Institute.” Rabbi Shalom Ber Lipskar, director of the Aleph Institute presented Gov. Scott with a plaque noting his efforts on behalf of religious freedom in Florida.

In December Gov. Scott hosted a menorah lighting at the Capitol, inviting Rabbi Shneur Zalman Oirechman, director of Chabad Lubavitch of Tallahassee to take part, and hosted his annual Chanukah reception at the Governor’s mansion. Governor Scott has also actively voiced his support for Israel, and made a statement during Operation Pillar of Defense that Israel’s right to defend herself is unequivocal.

Gov. Scott also led a trade mission of Florida business leaders to Israel in December, 2011. He met with Israeli businessmen and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and made stops at the Western Wall and Yad Vashem. “Israel is a special place, and I look forward to returning,” Gov. Scott said. “Ann and I continue to offer our prayers for Israel’s peace and security.”

In more than two centuries since the founder of Chabad-Lubavitch, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, authored the Tanya, the seminal work on Chabad philosophy has journeyed to far-off places—being printed in multiple languages across continents from Africa to Asia, and Australia too. But this wasn’t your cosmopolitan Sydney or Melbourne—this time the Tanya headed to the Australian bush. On Sunday evening, the 24th of Tevet in Australia, the Tanya was printed in a place that is no stranger to the teachings of Chassidus – but also familiar with the kangaroo, koala and eucalyptus tree.

At Camp Gan Yisrael’s Coonawarra Farm Resort in Gippsland, Australia, more than 200 teens participated in the first “outback” printing of the Tanya in commemoration of the 200^th anniversary of its author’s passing.

While the Australian summer heat blazes, schoolchildren from Melbourne, under the leadership of Chabad Youth’s Rabbi Moshe Kahn and counselors from the local yeshiva for older students, are happy to spend their summer swimming, canoeing or throwing a football around, Aussie-rules style. This week, however, they gathered in camp for a one-of-a-kind experience that marked an important moment in their history: A Tanya printing ceremony.

Traditionally, Tanyas have been printed throughout the world to signify and bolster the spread of Chassidic philosophy. Campers who had been on their best behavior all week were given the honor of assisting with the printing process for the special occasion. Boys between the ages of 10 and 17 gathered to sing traditional nigunnim, Chassidic melodies that included “Keli Atah”, originally taught by Rabbi Schneur Zalman, known as the Alter Rebbe, as well as the moving melody of the “Four Stanzas”, reserved for special occasions, as the printing began. Before long, the singing broke out into exhilarated dancing to traditional Chabad nigunnim as the new printing was dedicated to the Chabad Youth of Melbourne.

Rabbi Menachem Lipskier, head of the Melbourne chapter of the children’s organization Tzivos Hashem, addressed the crowd prior to the printing. He noted the special nature of the occasion, since earlier this year Chabad Youth and Tzivos Hashem had also dedicated a Torah scroll called “Leiby’s Torah” to the children’s minyan, prayer group, with funds raised by the children of the community.

“Since the Tanya is known as the “written Torah” of Chassidus, this occasion is truly special,” said Lipskier, referring to the Tanya as the primary written work of Chabad philosophy. “Chabad Youth has merited to bring into being both a traditional Torah scroll, and now also, the Torah of Chassidus,” he added.

To signify the importance of the occasion, there was a siyum, completion ceremony by a group of older yeshiva students from Melbourne as they completed studying the entire Tanya. Following the completion, Rabbi Shmuel Lesches, a lecturer at the yeshiva, opened the study of the Tanya anew. Rabbi Benyomin Cohen, the Yeshiva’s Dean, taught the assembled campers the 32d Chapter, where it is traditional for children and new students to begin Tanya study.

School’s out for the summer? As 200 teens and pre-teens of Camp Gan Yisrael in far-off country Australia showed, it’s only the beginning. From White Russia to Coonawarra Farm Resort, they were determined to show that the Tanya has certainly come a long way.

Rabbi Avraham B. Hecht, a leading rabbi in North America for more than 50 years passed away Saturday night. He was 90.

A renowned congregational leader and author, Rabbi Hecht served as president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America - Igud HaRabanim, the national rabbinic organization. As rabbi of Congregation Shaare Zion in Brooklyn, N.Y. for more than 50 years, Rabbi Hecht led the largest Sephardic congregation in North America, comprising more than 3,500 families.

The funeral will take place Sunday at 11:30 a.m. beginning at Shomrei Hadas chapels in Borough Park. The procession will be passing Congregation Shaarei Tzion on Ocean Parkway and will be passing Lubavitch World Headquarters, 770 Eastern Parkway at about 1:30 p.m.

The Jewish Welcome Center in Old S. Juan, Puerto Rico, has been greeting tourists and locals alike since its launch almost one year ago, but this week Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Levi Stein welcomed an unexpected new visitor as the islands’ new Governor stopped by while walking to his office for his first day on the job.

The talk was all shop as Stein showed the center to the newly sworn-in governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, and described the work performed there, including hosting visitors for Torah study and prayer, welcoming drop-ins to charge their cell phones, check email, or just to relax and be refreshed. They also talked about the work of Chabad-Lubavitch throughout Puerto Rico, directed by Rabbi Mendel Zarchi of Chabad-Lubavitch of the Caribbean.

The new governor has been lauded for his promise to bring increased prosperity, employment and security to the territory. Stein wished the governor much success in his new job.

“I am here to support the Jewish community," said Gov. Padilla, "and I look forward to seeing your organization grow in the future.”

Rabbi Levi Stein with Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla

It was called a Chanukah miracle for modern times when the long-awaited renovation of Chabad and Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe (F.R.E.E.) of Niles, Ill., was completed this month.

After 10 years of painstaking fundraising and planning among immigrants from the former Soviet Union, the building was given a fresh facelift and expansion to accommodate the growing community that frequents the center for Shabbat services, festivals and special events. Just as Chanukah celebrated the rededication of the Holy Temple so many thousands of years ago, in 2012 the Chanukah miracle in Niles was in the same spirit, say community residents.

Despite struggling through economic difficulties, the center’s renovation was made possible through generous donations, many anonymous, from individuals who originate from the former Soviet Union and have become part of the local community. Notably, even service providers, such as the architect and contractor, donated their time to help complete the $500,000 project.

“This community was behind us when we came to this country,” architect Vlad Radutny, originally from Ukraine, told the Niles Daily Herald.

As the community stepped in to help the dream become a reality, Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbis Eliezer Hershkovich and Binyomin Scheiman agreed that the center now truly reflects the community who helped build it.

“In these hard economic times, to build a center is truly a miracle,” said Hershkovich.