By the Grace of G‑d

Dear Friend,

This coming Shabbat marks 25 years since the passing of Chabad.org’s founder, Rabbi YY Kazen, who was affectionately known as “YYK” to his thousands of online correspondents.

Long before Google or Amazon were dreamed up, Chabad had already established a Jewish presence in what was then called “cyberspace.” Following the Rebbe’s vision and teachings to harness all technologies to make the world a better place, Rabbi Kazen was active in publishing Jewish ideas online and personally assisting fellow Jews all over the world.

Twenty-five years later, we can all appreciate his far-reaching vision. Like millions around the globe, if you are reading this, your life has probably been impacted by Chabad.org as well.

This week, we honor Harav Yosef Yitzchak ben Harav Shlomo Schneur Zalman Kazen on his 25th yahrtzeit on 12 Kislev. And we ask you to join us in paying tribute by doing something he was passionate about: spreading Torah and mitzvot to others. We encourage you to browse our Parshah section and choose one thought to share with friends and family, by sending them a link or by retelling the idea at your Shabbat table.

Rabbi Kazen dreamed of a world where access to Jewish wisdom and ideas would be freely available, and we are all part of that vision!

With best wishes,

The Chabad.org Team

P.S. If you knew Rabbi Kazen, or want to share some thoughts and comments for us to send to his family, please feel free to do so here.

Dear Friend,

Included in our offerings this week, you will find a fascinating interview with a Chabad couple who are on the front lines of empowering and uplifting Jews on campus. Watch it to discover and learn from their amazing faith, love, and trust in G‑d, which they learned from the Rebbe. It’s part of Chana Weisberg’s podcast, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories. In case you missed it, we encourage you to click here to get updates whenever another extraordinary episode—and they’re all extraordinary—drops.

With wishes for true and lasting peace in the Holy Land,

Your Friends @ Chabad.org

Dear Friend,

The war in Israel is personal for every Jew. Every Jew is a brother and sister. And we all care and love each other. And I just saw that personal connection become even more apparent to me.

Last week, along with Jews everywhere, I read with relief of the release of Judith Raanan of Evanston, Ill. But it was only later that I learned that she had been an active participant at a Shabbat meal I was part of last Chanukah at her hometown Chabad House.

And then there is Hersh Polin-Goldberg, the gentle boy whose mother spoke at the UN about how he had been dragged into captivity in Gaza with his arm blown off. The name Goldberg is quite common, but I discovered that his grandmother, Marcy Goldberg, was the subject of a Chabad.org feature I’d written. Marcy is one of the kindest people in the world. For decades, she volunteers regularly, delivering Shabbat candles, grape juice, and challah on behalf of Chabad to Jewish patients in hospitals, and in her middle age, took in a family of inner-city kids.

While these drove home for me how connected we are, the soul connections exist whether we know it or not. We are one family, praying for each other, fighting for each other, and doing all we can—and more!—for each other.

Please G‑d, hear our prayers. Please repay Marcy and her family for her goodness, please hear the prayers of the hostages and their families, along with those of all Jews and our friends everywhere, and may we hear only good news from the Holy Land and beyond!

Menachem Posner
Managing Editor