http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=534348 Keeping You Informed 24/6 Copyright 2009, Chabad.org - Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center, all rights reserved. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1045008 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1045008 <h2>Makeshift Bakery Draws Jewish Students Together</h2> <p>More than 50 students at the University of Connecticut gathered at a local fraternity house to learn the art of baking the traditional Shabbat bread known as challah.</p> <p>Led by Shaindel Hecht, co-director of the campus-based Chabad House, the group discussed the weekly Torah portion before distributing their creations to area senior citizens.</p> <h2>Jewish Learning Center Breaks Ground in Winnipeg</h2> <p>After years of planning and fundraising, the Jewish community of Winnipeg, Canada, celebrated the groundbreaking for a multi-use center.</p> <p>Rabbi Avrohom and Brocha Altein moved to the area in 1972 and established the local Lubavitch Centre. Slated to open next fall, the organization’s new home will include a library, classrooms, and recreational facilities.</p> Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1043220 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1043220 <p>Written in the wake of Mumbai, India, terror attacks, a song inspired by the lives of fallen Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg has experienced a new popularity after a video production of the recording went viral on the Internet.</p> <p>“Fallen Angels” was composed by Moshe Kravitsky, while its video features images from the Mumbai Chabad House and other photos compiled by Brooklyn-based Rabbi Levi Teldon.</p> <p>“The lyrics come from the heart,” says Kravitsky. “Everyone is able to respond to the Mumbai tragedy in their unique way, and I feel people can relate to the Holtzbergs’ holy lives through the message in the music.”</p> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1043219 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1043219 <p>Record numbers of viewers tuned in to Jewish.tv to watch a simulcast of Sunday night’s gala banquet of the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries in Brooklyn, N.Y. Logs maintained by the Jewish Web site Chabad.org, which produced the service and in a first in the history of the banquet, made an embeddable player available to users and other Web sites, reveal that more than 38,000 users connected to the simulcast.</p> <p>Working from an upper floor at the New York State National Guard Armory, where thousands of rabbis and lay leaders celebrated below, crews from Chabad.org huddled for days over computers and a slew of audio-visual equipment to prepare the production. Representing an improvement over past efforts, this year’s simulcast featured interviews of banquet attendees in addition to the event’s speeches and videos.</p> <p>While people logged in from locations around the globe to view the proceedings, the sheer number of viewers in Brooklyn strained Internet services provided by the Cablevision Systems Corporation. Technicians alerted Chabad.org staff Sunday night of the problem, requesting that customers experiencing a slowdown place a call to their customer service department.</p> <p>Viewer feedback on Jewish.tv – which maintains an archive of thousands of Torah classes and inspirational programs and regularly simulcasts live productions and programs – indicated that many people stayed tuned in for the majority of the banquet.</p> <p>“The atmosphere in the hall was shared with those watching,” said one viewer, David Cohen. “The dedication of the Chabad rabbis are an inspiration for me to do more good in my community.”</p> <co:img index="2" /> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1042111 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1042111 <p>Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell proclaimed Wednesday, Nov. 18, as a “Day of Goodness” in her state in memory of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, the slain directors of the Chabad House in Mumbai, India, who perished along with four of their Jewish guests when terrorists stormed the center one year ago.</p> <p>Dated to coincide with worldwide observances of the first anniversary since the attack, the proclamation notes the dedication of the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Center in Glastonbury – which will host a statewide memorial ceremony the night of the anniversary – toward achieving peace and harmony in the state of Connecticut.</p> <p>“We must remember the good that Gabi and Rivkah stand for,” said Rabbi Yosef Wolvovsky, director of the Glastonbury center. “And we must continue their noble work, wherever we may be.</p> <p>At the memorial ceremony, Rabbi Yisrael Deren, the Stamford-based regional director of Chabad in Southern and Eastern New England, will speak about the Holtzbergs’ legacy of “tireless dedication and devotion to others.”</p> <p>Meanwhile, State Comptroller Nancy Wyman will unveil a special memorial plaque honoring the couple.</p> Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1042108 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1042108 <p>It gets bigger every year, and once again, the traditional picture of participating rabbis during the annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries, slowed passing traffic along both sides of Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Eastern Parkway and elicited inquisitive stares from drivers and pedestrians alike. </p> <p>To accommodate the thousands of people who took part in the Sunday morning shoot, conference organizers employed larger bleachers and utilized special wide-angle lenses.</p> <p>“We always hang this photo in our home,” said Rabbi Cheski Goldstein, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Costa Del Sol in Marbella, Spain. “I consider the family of emissaries to be my own extended family, and look forward to this annual family reunion throughout the year.”</p> <p>After the camera shutters clicked for the final time, the crowd dispersed and many of the rabbis headed to a resource fair across the street. But the benches filled once more as the emissaries’ children, who spent the weekend in a camp-style setting, gathered for their own group picture.</p> <p>As the next generation of emissaries assembled, Rabbi Boruch S. Cunin, regional director of Chabad of the West Coast, inspired the children with stories.</p> <co:img index="2" /> Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1040134 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1040134 <p>As the 25th-annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries draws to a close, the almost 3,000 attendees – who flew in from locations spanning the globe – will meet up with their visiting lay leaders and make their way from the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, N.Y., to the New York State National Guard Armory for the conference’s concluding banquet.</p> <p>Traditionally the highlight of the conference, this year’s banquet – which will be simulcast live on <a href="http://www.jewish.tv" target="_blank">Jewish.tv</a>, a streaming video project of the Web site Chabad.org – will feature an address from Professor David Luchins, chair of Touro College’s department of political science and a longtime advisor to the late New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, about his own family’s interactions with the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. The keynote speech will be delivered by Rabbi Yehuda Shemtov, director of Chabad of Bucks County, Pa.</p> <p>The newly-knighted Rabbi Aryeh Sufrin of Ilford, England, and conference administrator Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, will also speak.</p> <p>The banquet, which will celebrate 70 years of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s activities being directed from the United States, will begin Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time.</p> <p>To view the banquet’s proceedings on <a href="http://www.jewish.tv" target="_blank">Jewish.tv</a>, <a href="http://www.chabad.org/live" target="_blank">click here</a>.</p> <co:img index="2" /> Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1039631 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1039631 <h2>New Torah Welcomed in Downtown Beijing</h2> <p>Plans originally called for a dedication of the Chabad House of Downtown Beijing’s new Torah scroll to be held at the Great Wall of China, but heavy snowfall prevented revelers from making the trek. But according to Rabbi Shimon and Dini Freundlich, the celebration was nevertheless a blast, filling a local hotel’s ballroom with hundreds of guests.</p> <h2>N.Y. Toy Drive Memorializes Jerusalem Girl</h2> <p>A new campaign in memory of Shula Swerdlov, the young Jerusalemite who perished in a freak traffic accident last month, recently hit the streets of Brooklyn. Bins urging residents to drop off donated toys have appeared in stores throughout the neighborhood of Crown Heights, and the local chapter of the Friendship Circle will be giving the items to children with special needs.</p> <h2>Moscow Ovens Preparing for Passover</h2> <p>Passover may be four months away, but the Moscow Matzah Bakery has been churning out its signature unleavened bread daily since beginning production in October. Under the supervision of Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, the bakery will be shipping boxes of matzah to hundreds of Jewish communities around the world in the coming months.</p> <h2>Campus Jewish Center Celebrating Decade of Service</h2> <p>The Chabad-Lubavitch center serving the University of Southern California will officially commemorate its 10th anniversary next month with a gala banquet. Established by Rabbi Dov and Runya Wagner in 1999, the Chabad House coordinates a variety of activities, from Shabbat meals and holiday programs to Torah classes, Israel trips and in-depth explorations of Jewish law.</p> Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1038094 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1038094 <p>Federal Judge Charles P. Sifton, whose 1987 landmark decision cemented communal ownership of the priceless library of Agudas Chasidei Chabad, the umbrella group of Chabad-Lubavitch, against an individual’s claims of private inheritance, passed away Monday at the age of 74.</p> <p>With a career spanning more than 30 years, Sifton, according to The New York Times, issued rulings affecting the gender makeup of the New York Fire Department and allowing Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to run for a third term.</p> <p>But it was his involvement in the library case that earned him fame in Chasidic circles. On Jan. 6, 1987, corresponding to the fifth day of the Hebrew month of Teves, the jurist ordered the return of priceless volumes and manuscripts that had been taken from the library at Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y.</p> <p>In his decision, Sifton ruled that the library’s collections – amassed over the years by succeeding generations of Lubavitch Rebbes – belonged to the movement, as did the succeeding Rebbes themselves.</p> Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1037054 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1037054 <p>Attending a Torah class has gotten even easier with the expansion of <a href="http://www.jewish.tv" target="_blank">Jewish.tv</a>, a television-style channel on the Jewish Web site Chabad.org featuring live lectures and worldwide events.</p> <p>Anyone with an Internet connection can log onto Chabad.org/live, which currently promotes daily classes from Montreal, Canada and Tarzana, Calif., in addition to a multimedia archive of close to 10,000 audio classes and more than 2,500 videos, such as this year’s historic Blessing of the Sun gatherings. Additional discussions on key Torah concepts, explorations of the Talmud and Jewish law workshops will join the lineup.</p> <p>Scheduled for Nov. 18, the next lecture of Rabbi Moshe Bryski, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of the Conejo in Agoura Hills, Calif., is entitled “The Joy (and Oy) of Being a Jew.”</p> <p>“This is such an amazing opportunity,” Bryski said of the Internet broadcast. “Our local community is excited to share the learning experience with the global audience. We even heard about a group from Japan that tuned in to our weekly class!”</p> Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1037050 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1037050 <p>A new song written specifically raise awareness about children with special needs and their families is gaining popularity online, with thousands of people downloading it since its release last month.</p> <p>Written and performed by Moshe Hecht, “My Friend” describes the transformative bond between children with special needs and the teenage volunteers who take part in the Friendship Circle, a network founded in suburban Detroit in 1994 that today encompasses more than 70 chapters at Chabad-Lubavitch centers worldwide.</p> <p>“I’ve seen firsthand how friendship can change everything,” says Hecht, whose nephew has Down syndrome. “I wrote this song to share that reality with the world.”</p> <p>The song can be purchased at the Friendship Circle’s <a href="http://www.friendshipcircle.com/song" target="_blank">Web site</a> for 99 cents. All the proceeds benefit the organization, which is holding its annual volunteer conference the weekend of Jan. 15 in West Bloomfield, Mich.</p> Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1027654 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1027654 <p>Ambassador Yuriy A. Sergeyev, Ukraine’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York, visited the Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn Thursday to view first-hand its efforts at educating children of all backgrounds.</p> <p>Led by Rabbi Mendel Spalter, director of development at the museum, the tour was an outgrowth of an ongoing relationship between the institution and Ukraine’s Mission to the UN. Joined by Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, Sergeyev first viewed the museum’s temporary exhibition on the Holocaust.</p> <p>During a walk through of the facility’s hands-on exhibits, describing the Jewish holidays and Shabbat, the diplomat – whose country is home to one of the largest re-emerging Jewish communities in the world – noted the importance of children being able to experience Jewish customs in an entertaining setting. Rabbi Nissen Brenenson, the director of education explained many of the Jewish traditions located in the exhibit.</p> <p>Following the tour, Spalter and Kotlarsky briefed the ambassador about Chabad-Lubavitch activities around the globe, specifically those of the children’s organization Tzivos Hashem, a sister institution of the museum.</p> <p>The Tzivos Hashem orphanage in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, received particular attention during the exchange. With a program that feeds hundreds of families each year, the orphanage also busses homeless children in from around the city in order to provide them shelter.</p> <p>For his part, Sergeyev said that the museum had a lesson for everyone.</p> <p>“The Jewish lessons [here] are inspirational,” he said. “But children from any country or background can be taught a message from here.”</p> Thu, 5 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1026513 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1026513 <p>The votes are in, and the five individuals who could be revealed as the No. 1 hero of North American Jews include a woman who ensures that thousands of needy brides and grooms have the best wedding possible; a comedian whose non-profit has delivered some 21,000 meals to the hungry in just two years; a rabbinical student trying to institute ethical oversight of kosher businesses; a blogging rabbi behind one of the largest Jewish college festivals; and a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary who founded the Friendship Circle, a program dedicated to changing the way society interacts with children with special needs.</p> <p>Officials with the Jewish Community Heroes contest announced the finalists via e-mail, the contest’s Web site, and a YouTube video. Each of the contenders will receive $1,000 for their charities during this weekend’s General Assembly, the annual gathering of the umbrella organization representing North American Jewish community. The winner, who will receive a $25,000 prize, will be announced during a Nov. 9 ceremony at the conference in Washington, D.C.</p> <p>In the video posted on the <a href="http://www.jewishcommunityheroes.org" target="_blank">contest’s Web site</a>, the finalists each take about 35 seconds to introduce themselves and their work. For his part, Rabbi Levi Shemtov, a recipient of a Manhattan Institute Award for Social Entrepreneurship, quickly outlines the growth of the Friendship Circle, which he and his wife Bassie Shemtov founded in 1994.</p> <p>“There are [now] about 70 Friendship Circles around the world,” says Shemtov. “Our goal is to appreciate the beauty of children who have special needs and to bring them beauty … by matching [them with] teenagers and bringing them together to form a deep, meaningful friendship.”</p> <p>Devora Benjamin, a Lubavitch community member and the founder of Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Keren Simchas Chasson V’Kallah, tells viewers that she helps “brides and grooms make their wedding day the happiest day of their lives.”</p> <p>“In the 15 years since we started, we have gone from five weddings a year to 150 weddings a year,” she says. “Every bridge and groom gets the same love and care as if they were my own.”</p> <p>Joining Shemtov and Benjamin as finalists is Ari Teman, founder of JCorps, Shmuly Yanklowitz, founder of Uri L’Tzedek, and Rabbi Yonah Bookstein of Jewlicious.</p> <p>Organized by United Jewish Communities, whose board recently decided to change its name to Jewish Federations of North America, the contest asked rank-and-file Jews to nomine individuals who have positively affected the lives of others. By the time nominations closed in late September, more than 440 people had been nominated and more than 500,000 online votes had been tabulated.</p> Wed, 4 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1024766 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1024766 <p>Following his father in the service of his country and faith, Rabbi Dovid Gutnick was officially inducted as a chaplain in the Australian Defense Force after completing a course of basic training.</p> <p>The son of Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary and rabbi of the Elwood Talmud Torah Congregation in suburban Melbourne, Dovid Gutnick joins a small group of rabbis – including his father – who have donned Australia’s uniform. The younger Gutnick, who also serves as rabbi of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, was recently honored at a ceremony attended by senior Australian clergy.</p> <p>In an interview with the <em>Australian Jewish News</em> about the appointment, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Rosenfeld, the country’s highest-ranking Jewish military officer, praised the role that chaplains play in maintaining morale.</p> <p>“Soldiers know that can go and speak openly to a chaplain,” said Rosenfeld.</p> <p>For his part, Gutnick told the newspaper that he was excited by the challenge.</p> <p>“I consider this an honor”, said the rabbi. “At times the work is grueling, but it is all worth it when we can bring even a dose of inspiration.”</p> Mon, 2 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1024763 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1024763 <p>In town to help dedicate a new building for a Chicago synagogue catering to Sephardic Jews, Israeli Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar also spent time visiting several Chabad-Lubavitch centers in Illinois.</p> <p>Amar was the guest of honor at the Ohel Shalom Torah Center, which welcomed a new Torah scroll at its Oct. 25 building dedication. Other stops on the chief rabbi’s itinerary included the Lubavitch Girls High School, where he was greeted by staff and students and shared with them his memories of Rabbi Shlomo Matusof, a longtime leader of Amar’s native Moroccan Jewish community who passed away in November 2007.</p> <p>Accompanied by a small entourage, Amar then proceeded to the Lubavitch Mesivta, where he led a short class for the institution’s high-school boys.</p> <p>Later in the day, Rabbi Menachem Slavaticki, director of the Chabad Israeli Center of Greater Chicago, welcomed the chief rabbi at the regional headquarters of Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois. Regional director Rabbi Daniel Moscowitz provided Amar with an overview of Chabad activities at some 30 centers around the state and presented him with a booklet detailing the historic 1930 Chicago visit of the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory.</p> <p>“Wherever I travel, Chabad has been doing wonders,” Amar told those gathered at the regional headquarters. “During my frequent visits to Chabad in Israel and around the globe, I have seen the tremendous blessings and institutions of the Rebbe blossom.”</p> Mon, 2 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1021484 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1021484 <p>A U.S. court has entered a default judgment against the Russian Federation following Moscow’s decision to withdraw from litigation surrounding its control of a portion of the library of the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn.</p> <p>The order by Judge Royce C. Lamberth, chief justice of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, represents another chapter in a five-years-long effort by the umbrella organization of Chabad-Lubavitch in the United States to secure the return of some 12,000 volumes and 50,000 rare documents that came into the hands of the Soviet Army at the close of World War II.</p> <p>At several points during the Cold War, the issue of the library was a sore point between the Soviet Union and the United States, which hinged some trade measures on the return of the collection to Chabad-Lubavitch. A 2008 ruling gave Agudas Chasidei Chabad the right to sue Russia after proving the exhaustion o fall diplomatic and legal avenues there; and a development in January of this year charged the Russian Federation of failing to protect parts of the collection.</p> <p>Through its attorneys, Russia argued that U.S. Courts lacked jurisdiction in the case, claims that were rejected by Lamberth. Eventually, it filed a statement with the court stating that it would no longer continue in the litigation and its counsel, Squire Sanders & Dempsey LLP, withdrew its representation.</p> <p>“The defendants have willfully refused to continue in this litigation,” stated Lamberth.</p> <p>“We hope that Russia will now voluntarily return this treasure to the United States,” said Nathan Lewin, attorney for the plaintiffs.</p> Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1020635 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1020635 <p>Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries from around the world convened a telephone-based Chasidic gathering in memory of Alta Shula Swerdlov, the three-year-old girl who perished last week in a Jerusalem traffic accident.</p> <p>The Oct. 27 conference call came after the conclusion of the traditional seven-day mourning period following a burial. Rabbi Yossi Swerdlov, who directs Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl program, told the participants that he and his wife Hindel were touched by the outpouring of support.</p> <p>“Although the pain of the loss is so great,” he said, “our family continues to draw inspiration from the hundreds of phone calls and personal visits from our family and friends over the past week.”</p> <p>Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, and Rabbi Yosef Aharonov, chairman of the Lubavitch Youth Organization in Israel, both addressed the gathering.</p> <p>“The memory of Shula will live on,” said Kotlarsky. “The family of [emissaries] will remember, and will celebrate in your times of joy as well.”</p> <p>The call concluded with a joint resolution to strengthen Jewish life in each emissary’s respective community, a task that many have already begun. In Swerdlov’s neighborhood of Rechavia, for instance, the local Chabad House – which caters to English-speaking residents in that part of the Israeli capital – launched a new youth program and dedicated pre-existing children’s programming in memory of the little girl. </p> Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1019514 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1019514 <p>The Donetsk-based Ukrainian Committee on Kashrut announced the production of two new lines of kosher cheeses for distribution in the former Soviet republic.</p> <p>The new Druzhba and Yantar spreadable cheeses will be certified as chalav yisrael, meaning that in the keeping with the strictures of Jewish dietary law, milk used in the production will be under kosher supervision at all times.</p> <p>Directed by Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Yehoshua Vishedski and operated under the aegis of the Chief Rabbinate of Ukraine, the committee’s employees control the entire manufacturing process of dairy products under its supervision.</p> <p>With a name that translates as “friendship,” the Druzhba cheese will be packaged in traditional 100-gram rectangular briquettes. The Yantar cheese – its name means “amber” – can be bought in tubes of 350 grams. The new lines come less than six months after the committee supervised the introduction of the Delicatessen Brynza and Bulgarian Brynza cheeses to the kosher market.</p> Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1016524 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1016524 <p>Continuing in its campaign to expand capacity at Israel’s only residential rehabilitation facility for MS patients, the Grabski Multiple Sclerosis Center unveiled 10 additional rooms during a ceremony attended by Welfare and Social Services Minister Yitzchak Herzog.</p> <p>Located in the Galilee town of Migdal HaEmek, the Chabad-Lubavitch run Grabski center employs a number of treatments and therapies to improve MS patients’ quality of life. This week’s inauguration will bring to 42 the number of inpatient residents that can live at the center. The facility also houses outpatient services.</p> <p>Directed by Colel Chabad, a social services agency founded by the first Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, in 1788, the Grabski center has undergone several expansions in recent months, including the development of a garden employing various new occupational therapies.</p> <p>“We are looking forward to further growth over the coming years,” stated Rabbi Zalman Duchman of Colel Chabad.</p> <p>Plans for an additional center in Beitar Illit to service patients in the Jerusalem area are also currently underway.</p> Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1016525 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1016525 <p>Fresh off the grand opening of its newly renovated community center, the Jewish community of Ulyanovsk, Russia, welcomed its first kosher restaurant.</p> <p>Conceived by Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Yosef Marozov, the Volga River city’s chief rabbi, as a way to strengthen the observance of Jewish dietary laws, and to provide a hangout for Jewish youth and a celebration hall for community members, Café Jerusalem hosted a conference of regional Hillel leaders last week.</p> <p>The restaurant’s owners have committed to keep prices on the menu significantly lower than non-kosher establishments in Ulyanovsk.</p> <p>The Jewish community of Ulyanovsk is a member of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia.</p> <co:img index="2" /> Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1016399 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1016399 <p>Two years after organizing a kosher tailgate party outside a Green Bay Packers game to show that it could be done, Chabad-Lubavitch of Wisconsin will be hosting a kosher cooking demonstration and presentation by bestselling cookbook author Susie Fishbein at an upscale gourmet food emporium in Milwaukee’s downtown art hub.</p> <p>According to Rabbi Shais Taub, who told the <em>Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</em> in 2007 that the tailgate barbeque was a demonstration of Jewish pride, this year’s event – which will entail scouring cooking services at the market’s professional demo kitchen to ensure compliance with Jewish dietary laws – is rooted in the same goal of promoting Jewish life everywhere.</p> <p>“Judaism is not relegated to the synagogue or the study hall,” Taub said two years ago. “When you’re a Jew, you’re a Jew everywhere. If a group of Jews want to go to a Packer game, we do it like Jews.”</p> <p>Similarly, the rabbi announced in an e-mail that Jewish life needn’t be checked at the market door or stadium gate: “We can do anything,” he said, “and do it Jewishly.”</p> <p>After the Nov. 16 demonstration, Fishbein will be on hand to sign copies of her cookbook, <em>Kosher by Design</em>.</p> Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1014040 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1014040 <p>Shimon Waronker, the Chabad-Lubavitch Chasid who transformed a troubled New York City middle school into a model of inner-city success, joined three other principals in receiving the insignia of knight of the Order of Academic Palms for implementing advanced dual-language programs for French speakers.</p> <p>French Ambassador Pierre Vimont on Tuesday conferred the awards, which were founded by Napolean Bonaparte in 1808 and today honor the contributions of foreign nationals and French citizens in the strengthening of French culture.</p> <p>“We were fighting to help our children in underserved communities, like the South Bronx,” said Waronker, a first-year doctoral student at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education whose leadership at the Jordan L. Mott school in the Bronx led to its being taken off of the city’s list of dangerous institutions. “Some students came from French-speaking Africa and were treated terribly by the children in the community. … The French dual language programs made these outcasts into superstars and their challenge became their asset.”</p> <p>Besides Waronker, Vimont also conferred the order on Giselle Gault McGee, Jean Mirvil and Robin Sundick.</p> Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1012587 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1012587 <p>Moscow’s Shaarei Tzedek Jewish welfare center distributed some 15,000 boxes of food to the city’s neediest Jews, going door to door to hand out packages to homebound individuals.</p> <p>According to Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Shaye Deitsch, director of the center, the pre-Rosh Hashanah distribution was one of five such projects officials mount before the Jewish holidays. While the majority of the food was parceled out at the center, volunteers went to homebound clients’ residences to deliver the items and assure they had the necessary medicines and care.</p> <p>Now the center has turned its attention to its annual winter distribution of warm clothing, which elderly individuals, single-parent and large families, and people with special needs look to in order to make it through the city’s harsh weather.</p> <p>Staff member Rachel Levin also reported that Shaarei Tzedek’s SOS Program, which offers year-round financial assistance to defray the costs of surgery, routine medical treatments and basic furniture, has seen an increase in demand.</p> <p>“Of course, the world [financial] crisis has influenced Moscow Jews,” said Levin. “We are trying to do our best to help them in overcoming difficulties.”</p> <co:img index="2" /> Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1010885 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1010885 <p>Hundreds of university students from across America’s northeast made their way to Binghamton, N.Y., on Friday for the start of the first-ever leadership conference sponsored by Chabad-Lubavitch centers in the region.</p> <p>The estimated 500 attendees of the Chabad on Campus Intercollegiate Campus Leadership Conference at Binghamton University represented Chabad Houses on more than a dozen colleges from Vermont to the middle Atlantic, including Cornell University, Syracuse University and the University of Maryland. The Oct. 16-18 conference was scheduled to begin before the onset of Shabbat and focus on a theme stressing unity, empowerment and students’ impassioned efforts to promote Jewish life on campus.</p> <p>“This is an opportunity for students to meet students from all over this region to share ideas and resources, see the energy that exists within each campus, get inspired and bring that sense of empowerment back to their own campuses,” said Rabbi Levi Slonim, programming director at the Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life, which is hosting the Binghamton gathering. “Some of the students are coming from campuses with very small Jewish communities, and this conference will be a real thrill and opportunity for them to learn how to nurture Jewish life on their own campuses.”</p> <p>The weekend’s schedule included a dinner and musical performance Saturday night. Tamir Goodman, the Jewish basketball player who recently ended his professional career, was also scheduled to speak on Sunday morning.</p> Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1010332 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1010332 <p>The Counter-Terrorism Bureau at Israel’s National Security Council upgraded a warning to its citizens and Westerners travelling in India, citing a “concrete threat” of terror attacks against soft targets throughout the country.</p> <p>The Thursday evening bulletin, which was written in Hebrew and publicized by Israel’s media outlets, specifically mentions synagogues and Chabad-Lubavitch centers in India, including in the southern region of Goa, as possible targets. It expands a travel advisory issued last month just before the start of the High Holidays.</p> <p>“The terror threat has become significantly more severe,” states the warning. “The concrete threat includes gatherings of Israelis and Westerners, Chabad Houses and synagogues throughout India.”</p> <p>Israel’s Channel 10 reported that the new warning is based on intelligence indicating that the Pakistani terror cell suspected of plotting the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai – in which some 170 people perished, including Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg and four other Jews at their Chabad House – had teamed up with another organization to plan a new round of attacks.</p> <p>This year, Chabad Houses reported that hundreds of Israelis gathered for High Holiday services in popular tourist centers.</p> <p>In addition to the travel warning, the Counter-Terrorism Bureau also advised Israelis against travelling to the disputed territory Kashmir in northern India.</p> <p>A separate travel advisory issued on Sept. 12 by the U.S. State Department remains in effect and warns travelers in India of the possibility of terror attacks.</p> Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1009736 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1009736 <p>In an effort to make the life of a little-studied 18th-century Chasidic luminary readily available to the English-speaking public, the Jewish Web site Chabad.org unveiled a <co:link aid="1007538" target="_blank">new subsection</co:link> dedicated to the life and teachings of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, who passed away 200 years ago.</p> <p>Known as the Berditchever in Chasidic circles, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak lived between 1740 and 1809 and was one of the pre-eminent students of the Magid of Mezeritch, successor to the founder of Chasidism, the Baal Shem Tov. A contemporary of the First Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak – whose grandson married the daughter of the Second Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Dov Ber – is remembered for his intense love of the Jewish people and a fiery approach to his service of G-d.</p> <p>The anniversary of his passing, the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, occurred on Tuesday this year.</p> <p>Rabbi Naftali Silberberg, a member of Chabad.org’s editorial team, explained that English information on the Berditchever had been out of reach to the layperson. The <co:link aid="1007538" target="_blank">new subsection</co:link> features stories, selected teachings and a biography of the sage.</p> <p>“His legendary life was one long tale of passionate love of G-d, love for every individual Jew, and spreading Torah,” Silberberg said on Tuesday. “On this auspicious day, we hope to be able to share with people a little more about his life and teachings.”</p> Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1008877 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1008877 <p>Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Dov Goldman, the fourth grade boys’ teacher at Cheder Beit Menachem Elementary School in Los Angeles, received a Milken Family Foundation Jewish Educator Award in cooperation with the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles.</p> <p>Bureau executive director Gil Graff and Richard Sandler, executive vice president of the Milken Family Foundation, surprised the teacher, his students and colleagues during a school ceremony on Tuesday.</p> <p>Goldman will be among four teachers who will receive a $15,000 award at an awards luncheon in December. Rabbi Simcha Frankel, another teacher at Beit Menachem, won the award in 2006.</p> <p>Said Sandler: “These educators not only help young people achieve their academic potential, they also inspire students to embrace their Jewish heritage and the values it espouses.”</p> Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1007073 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1007073 <p>Chabad-Lubavitch centers around the world dedicated one of the traditional rounds of dancing during last weekend’s Jewish holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah to the memory of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was abducted by terrorists and murdered in early 2002.</p> <p>Following a request made by Dr. Judea Pearl just days before the holiday and what would have been his son’s 46th birthday, Chabad Houses from Agoura Hills, Calif., to Paris, London, North Cyprus and Bangkok signed on to the effort as a way to honor the self sacrifice exhibited by the slain correspondent when he declared to his captors, “My father is a Jew, my mother is a Jew and I am a Jew.”</p> <p>“We are honored and excited to know that thousands of miles apart, from Thailand to Russia to Los Angeles, there will be Jewish youngsters remembering our son Daniel,” Judea Pearl wrote shortly before the onset of the holiday Friday night.</p> Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1007065 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1007065 <p>Among the tens of thousands of people who visited the temporary religious structures known as <em>sukkahs</em> over the Jewish holiday of Sukkot last week, VIPs of all stripes stopped by some of the hundreds operated by Chabad-Lubavitch centers to learn about the unifying aspect of the holiday and chat with their constituents.</p> <p>In Brooklyn, N.Y., Democratic Gov. David Paterson stopped by the sukkah outside the Jewish Children’s Museum across the street from Lubavitch World Headquarters. Meanwhile, in Kingston, former Republican New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani – whose own gubernatorial candidacy has yet to be confirmed – talked up Israeli politics at the sukkah erected by Chabad of Ulster County.</p> <p>Campus Chabad Houses, as well, got some high profile visits. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Rabbi Dovid Tiechtel of the Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life briefed Gov. Pat Quinn on the meaning of the Four Species – a combination of palm branch, willow twigs, myrtle branches and etrog that are held together each day of the holiday. Quinn visited Tiechtel’s mobile sukkah during a lunchtime class the rabbi hosts for students; each day, the sukkah made stops throughout campus and at local schools, nursing homes and hospitals.</p> <p>Cornell University President David J. Skorton also visited a sukkah last week: the blue-walled structure built by the Roitman Chabad Center. Wearing a black skullcap, he conversed with Rabbi Eli Silberstein and made a blessing on the Four Species inside of the sukkah.</p> Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1003693 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1003693 <p>In what was described as a miracle by emergency services personnel, a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi and three others escaped injury when a storm last month knocked down a tree and power lines onto traffic at an intersection in Lakewood, N.J.</p> <p>According to news reports, the combination of wet weather and live wires sparked explosions and fire at the intersection just across the street from the Bais Rivka Rochel girls school. The mini-van driven by Rabbi Moshe Gourarie, director of Chabad of Toms River, was totaled by the tree, while a surge of current from the downed power lines burned holes in the car. He made it out unharmed.</p> <p>“You could see where the power entered the car and blew a hole through the fender and traveled out the door,” Fire Chief Wayne Truex told the Asbury Park Press. “It was like the Fourth of July fireworks here.”</p> <p>Lakewood Detective Lt. William Addison told The Star-Ledger that it was amazing no one was hurt in the Sept. 11 incident.</p> <p>“Miraculously, we are so fortunate,” said Addison. “Although it caused us a lot of activity, we consider ourselves lucky.”</p> Wed, 7 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1003692 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1003692 <p>Teenage volunteers from the Suffern, N.Y., chapter of the Friendship Circle – a Chabad-Lubavitch program that serves children with special needs – got a VIP view of the action at the new home of the New York Yankees when they were treated by a donor to special box seats at the Sept. 30 game against the Kansas City Royals.</p> <p>Featuring a kosher buffet of traditional ballpark fare, the event came as a “special thank you” for teenagers who donate their time and effort to ensuring that children with special needs are embraced by society at large.</p> <p>Each volunteer received a matching T-shirt sporting the Friendship Circle logo.</p> <co:img index="2" /> Tue, 6 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1000428 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1000428 <p>The Ilana Jewish preschool, a Chabad-Lubavitch educational institution in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, affiliated with the Ohr Avner network of schools throughout the former Soviet Union, began the school year with a special gift in the form of nine boxes of toys and books from the multinational Tiny Love Company.</p> <p>Alexander Fridkis, director of the Jewish community of Dnepropetrovsk, presented the gift, which included stuffed animals, developmental games and interactive books. The Ukraine office of Tiny Love, an Israel-headquartered company with more than 30 branches throughout North and South America, Central America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia, was behind the allotment.</p> <p>Tiny Love representative Denis Bukin “approached the Jewish community and asked if they could donate these toys,” stated Fridkis. “The Jewish community would like to express its warm appreciation to Tiny Love and wishes the company and its staff G-d’s blessing for a good and successful year.”</p> <p>Dvora Furlender, a teacher at the preschool, said that “there are enough [toys] to go around for all the classrooms.”</p> <p>“These are wonderful toys,” she said. “We were in dire need of this support and we are delighted. We have never had so many wonderful toys for all our youngsters.”</p> <p>The Ohr Avner Foundation, which supports the Dnepropetrovsk preschool, is underwritten by philanthropist Lev Leviev.</p> Thu, 1 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST