In this week’s edition of Letter and Spirit, in honor of Chof Daled Teves – the Alter Rebbe’s Yahrtzeit, we present a letter of the Rebbe in which he briefly explains a few basic points of chassidus. The letter was written in English through the Rebbe’s trusted secretary Rabbi Nissan Mindel, and was made available by the latter’s son-in-law, Rabbi Sholom Ber Shapiro.
An early morning shooting in Crown Heights left a 27-year-old African-American man dead. The incident occurred near the ‘Albany Houses,’ notorious for being hotbeds of crime and gang activity.
Members of the Boro Park Jewish community gathered last night to mark the yahrtzeit of the Alter Rebbe, or as he is known to them – the Baal Hatanya, who passed away on 24 Teves in 1813.
After losing an appeal to Michigan’s Supreme Court last May, which dismissed his lawsuit against the Bais Chabad Torah Center in West Bloomfield, Rabbi Berel Shemtov has filed an appeal to the United States Supreme Court in a last-ditch attempt to gain possession of the deed to the recalcitrant Chabad center.
The Kallah was from far-off Chicago, the Chosson a student at Yeshivas Hadar Hatorah for Ba’alei Teshuvah. Most expected theirs to be a small wedding, with only a few family members and friends in attendance. Instead, the wedding hall was packed to capacity, and attendees said it was one of the most joyous weddings to take place in Crown Heights in years.
Swedish international apparel chain H&M received mixed reviews on social media for offering a scarf for purchase that looks like a Jewish prayer shawl, also known as a tallit.
Miami Police and prosecutors say Deandre Charles is a cold-blooded killer who shot Rabbi Joseph Raksin – who was visiting from Crown Heights, Brooklyn – after trying to rob him and getting away with nothing. But during two interrogations with police that were released through court discovery, Charles is heard maintaining his innocence in multiple interviews with detectives.
Rabbi Avraham Korf, the Head Chabad Shliach to the state of Florida, is suing the city of Miami Beach after the annual Chanukah parade he organizes every year was shut down by police, with 30 tickets cited to participants.
A Frum father of four from Melbourne, Australia, is fighting for his life after suffering critical head injuries in a mysterious incident in the middle of the night at an area Country Club.
Sam Orelowitz was interviewed by JEM’s My Encounter with the Rebbe project in his home in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August of 2014.
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