Daily Archives: May 10, 2006

Friendship Circle Dinner Honors 122 Volunteers

On Tuesday evening, May 9, the Friendship Circle at the Jewish Children’s Museum held a dinner to honor their 122 volunteers. The event drew many community members who recognize the magnitude of the Circle’s work and turned out in support of it.

The Friendship Circle began in West Bloomfield, Michigan and has grown to more than 40 chapters in the US and Canada. With the schools and camps, specialized doctors and modified homes for special children, there remained a simple but devastating void in the lives of many children with special needs. The Friendship Circle set out to fill that gap. By matching neighborhood teens with special kids, the Circle provides the children with companionship and tender loving care.

Dinner guests heard about the ongoing programs the Friendship Circle offers. During the evening many guests were brought to tears by the numerous presentations and heartfelt expressions of thanks from the Circle’s directors, Tzirl Goldman, Rabbi Mendel Nemes and Henni Halberstam.

More pictures in the Extended Article!

Hundreds on hand to mark 1st Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Levi Bialo OBM

Over four hundred people from all over Toronto packed the main sanctuary of Chabad Lubavitch of Markham for a very meaningful and moving memorial for Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Bialo,of blessed memory, featuring guest speaker, Rabbi Yossi Jacobson from New York.

It was exactly a year ago – 7 Iyar 5766 – when Rabbi Levi Bialo, a young Shliach of the Rebbe, was tragically killed in a head on collision with a GO passenger train on the way to Shul for Shachris. Rabbi Bialo was the Young Adult Coordinator at Chabad Lubavitch of Markham and a fifth grade Rebbe at Cheder Chabad. He was survived, at the time, by his young, pregnant wife Shira and their son Schneur Zalman. Subsequently, Shira gave birth to their daughter Chaya Mushka.

A Domino Accident

At around 7:45pm Tuesday, a 15-passenger van, driven by a black male, was seen speeding down Brooklyn Ave. upon its approach to Empire Blvd. the van for some unknown reason, rear ended a parked Mini-van, mangling its back and blowing out two of its windows sending it flying into the next parked car, a smaller white sedan, which from the force of the impact it went flying across the intersection straight into a traffic signal pole.

Baruch Hashem no one was hurt, but from an eyewitness account there was an 11 year old child standing at the corner where the car impacted, and if not for the pole it would have rode right up unto to sidewalk.

The 15 passenger van appeared to have sustained very little damage compared to 2 other vehicles, which appear to have both been owned by Jewish residents of the community.

More pictures in the Extended Article.