LOS ANGELES, CA — This February, the picturesque campus of Chabad at Running Springs will welcome hundreds of Chabad representatives and Jewish community leaders from across California and Nevada as they join together for the 2008 West Coast Chabad convention.
MOSCOW, Russia — Nine adolescents were arrested for drawing swastikas on a Jewish cultural centre in Ulyanovsk – in the Volga region – announced Russia’s Jewish community Wednesday.
On Tuesday “youths gathered in front of the centre drew swastikas and shouted anti-Semitic slogans”, said Andrei Glotser, representative of Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar, according to the Interfax agency.
The nine arrested are aged 14 and 15, he said.
A letter sent by the Mayor Bloomberg of New York City, to Rabbi Benjaminson Executive Director of the Jewish Children Museum, thanking him for sending a copy of the Kids Magazine.
Click on the Extended Article to view the letter.
KIEV, Ukraine — Many times in life you may find yourself with opportunities that spark your interest. When a spiritual pilgrimage to Ukraine was presented to our school, the response was filled with enthusiasm and excitement. This trip would include a variety of Lubavitch girls from all corners of the earth and together returning to their Chassidic roots. The trip too, would consist of visits to all the holy Tzadikim from the small city of Haditch, Kiev, and the small town of Mezibush, the resting place and synagogue of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov.
The following article is being published in honor of the the Yohrtziet of Reb Avrohom HaRofe – Dr. Seligson on the 25th of Shavt (1989-2008).
Reb Avrohom HaRofe – Dr. Seligson Our Sages tell us (Tractate Shekalim chapter 5) that there were people who were responsible for certain daily functions in the Bais Hamikdosh. The Mishna gives us the names of those who held these positions. The Rebbe asks (Likutei Sichos vol.22 pg. 147) how is it possible that for 420 years, over the course of many different generations, all the appointed people had the same personal name? The Rebbe explains that the name they had was actually the title of their specific function.
Continued in the Extended Article!
LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA [CHI] — Chabad of Laguna Niguel Community Lecture Series presented Mr. Leon Leyson, the youngest survivor of “Schindler’s List”. 200 people turned out to hear Mr. Leyson tell his moving story about his life inside the factory of Oscar Schindler, the man who kept the SS out and 1,200 Jews alive.
More pictures and videos in the Extended Article!
With sadness we inform you of the passing of Mrs. Taibel Lipskier (Crown Heights), Thursday night. She was the wife of Reb Yankel Lipskier, who was a Gabai in 770 for many years.
Mother of Tzivia Jacobson (Crown Heights), Esther Raskin (Crown Heights), Avremel Lipskier (Seagate, Brooklyn), Sholom Ber (Berel) Lipskier (Crown Heights), Leah Marmulszteyn (Crown Heights), Hershel Lipskier (Crown Heights), Zalman Lipskier (Crown Heights), Shmuel Lipskier (Crown Heights), and Yosef Yizchok (Fitzy) Lipskier OBM.
The Levaya will be Friday, leaving Shomrei Hadas at 9:00 AM and passing 770 at 9:30 AM.
They will be sitting Shiva at 1458 President St, [between Kingston and Albany Ave], tefillah times to follow.
Baruch Dayan Hoemes.
RHINEBECK, NY — Members of the Rhinebeck Jewish Center got together Sunday for a celebration that centered on all things green.
The center held a tree-planting event to commemorate the Jewish holiday Tu Bishvat at the Phantom Gardener nursery. The official celebration, also known as the Jewish New Year of Trees, took place Tuesday.
Sunday’s event marked the first time the Jewish Center held an event for Tu Bishvat.
“It’s one of the less celebrated holidays in the Jewish calendar,” Rabbi Hanoch Hecht of the center said. “But it is a very important holiday and it has a very important message.”
During Sunday’s event, Hecht talked about the Tu Bishvat’s importance. He said the ancient holiday has taken on an even greater meaning given the world’s renewed interest in green and sustainable living.
BROWARD COUNTY, FL — Dr. David Lazerson, or Dr. Laz as he is affectionately known, recently won the second Teacher of the Year award of his career – and for good reason. Over the last several years he has brought joy and cheer to scores of profoundly disabled children at The Quest Center in Broward County, Florida, the nation’s sixth largest school district.
The Rebbe says:
1. The Torah starts off this week’s Torah portion with saying, “And these are the laws (Mishpatim) that you shall place before them (the Jewish people)”.
2. The Rebbe now quotes three explanations of our Sages regarding this verse:
Our Sages analyze this verse and explain why the Torah specifies that the laws should be placed “before them”.
First explanation: When the Torah says that these laws should be placed “before them” it is teaching us that Jewish people should not bring their disputes to the gentile courts, even if the gentile courts would rule like the Jewish courts in this specific case.
