Daily Archives: November 21, 2005

Piamenta Strung out

Almost 29 years have gone by since the rock guitarist Yossi Piamenta left Israel for New York in order to work on his joint album with the legendary sax player Stan Getz. The album never happened. Instead, Piamenta found G-D and became religiously observant, married his 16-year-old cousin, raised six children and, within a few years, from his Brooklyn base, gained a reputation as the “Hasidic Hendrix,” not to say the “gefilte Garcia.”

Now he’s back in Israel – for good, he says. “I have returned permanently. My father, who is 80, called me in New York and said, `Come back to Israel, be with me a little.’ He never talked in that tone before, and I decided to come back. All my life I have played and made music and I won’t stop. Now I will play in Israel and form a band and go abroad for gigs wherever I am invited. My base from today on is Tel Aviv.”

Celebrating 30 Years in Vancouver

Thirty years ago this month, when Rabbi Yitzchak and Henia Wineberg arrived in Vancouver, B.C. to establish a Chabad presence, there was little to be said for Jewish growth in Vancouver. Truth be told, says Rabbi Wineberg, there was little to be said for growth in the city at all. A quiet, sleepy city, Vancouver was well known for the hippie types who rambled through and, despite being Canada’s third largest city, seemed remote and unhurried. The Jewish community, a formidable presence in the first half of the century, seemed poised for near-oblivion by the mid 70’s, as the older, more observant members passed on and their children fell prey to rampant assimilation.

But the couple saw the potential in the city, and fell in love with the beautiful mountains that frame it and the Pacific Ocean that runs along the west side. They arrived with one young baby in November 1974 and set about revitalizing the Jewish infrastructure in Vancouver. From various Torah classes and Jewish events grew a synagogue, nursery, summer camp and ultimately a full Jewish center. Hundreds came through in the early years, as Chabad quickly outgrew one rental after another, finally erecting a large building in 1981. A Jewish community formed around the Chabad center, and a large, active network of outreach programs and community services took root.

remember those gangs of bikers who hang around and aggravate everyone?

A 26-year-old Brooklyn motorcyclist was killed yesterday when he lost control of his bike and was pinned under a Dumpster, police and witnesses said.
Curtis Nelson was joyriding through Crown Heights with two friends when his Kawasaki slipped out from under him on Utica Ave. north of Park Place at 7:04 p.m., cops and witnesses said.

His biking buddies watched in horror as he lay motionless beneath the Dumpster.

The List Of Winners At The Ten Yad Auction

Here is the list of the winners at the Ten Yad Auction, You can click on the prize name to get a full description.

Click the Extended Article for the rest of the list

Magnet for young Jews

Orthodox boys school in Tucson already attaining a global reach

Among the myriad construction projects going on in the Foothills is a 7,000-square-foot boarding school for Orthodox Jewish boys that already is attracting young men from around the world.

Yeshiva High School of Tucson is a project of Rabbi Joseph “Yossie” Shemtov of the Midtown Orthodox Congregation Chabad Lubavitch/Young Israel, and one of his congregation members, David S. Cutler, an accountant who is the school’s main benefactor. Two other Chabad members, Shalom and Eric Laytin, also have helped with underwriting costs.