Kevin Bright (Co Creator and Exec. Producer of TV shows), Rabbi Levi Cunin (Chabad of Malibu), Howie Mandel, Rabbi Chaim Cunin, Chaim Marcus (Telethon Producer).

LOS ANGELES, CA — Howie Mandel took time out of his production schedule today to visit the Chabad Residential Treatment Center in Los Angeles and talk with residents who are recovering from addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Howie Mandel Moved by Visit to Chabad Treatment Center

Kevin Bright (Co Creator and Exec. Producer of TV shows), Rabbi Levi Cunin (Chabad of Malibu), Howie Mandel, Rabbi Chaim Cunin, Chaim Marcus (Telethon Producer).

LOS ANGELES, CA — Howie Mandel took time out of his production schedule today to visit the Chabad Residential Treatment Center in Los Angeles and talk with residents who are recovering from addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Mandel is well known to fans as both an extremely popular comedian who performs two hundred nights per year, and as the host of a hit show, for which he received a 2008 Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

During his visit to the Chabad Residental Treatment Center, Howie toured the facility with director Donna Miller, taking time to speak one-on-one with residents, bringing them inspiration, encouragement and laughs.

Howie later described his feelings about the visit. “I knew about Chabad’s work. I knew they do great things. That’s why I always participate in the Chabad Telethon.” Visibly moved, he said, “But to see the work that’s done here makes it all the more real. This reminds me of the first episode of ‘Deal or No Deal.’ I had spent weeks obsessing about how I could make the show interesting and about my performance. Then, when the very first contestant came out, I saw her face and how much this meant to her. I still remember her name. She needed this money. This was a human being in an honest moment — and suddenly I realized that the show isn’t about me, it’s about the people who come on it. That is what I felt today. It’s one thing to hear about people being helped, but it’s quite another to see them first hand.”

Article Continued. (lubavitch.com)

2 Comments

  • tante fay

    chaim….nice to see you on this site…don’t know who howie mandel is though….

  • Mendel Saull

    As to the assertion that“ many rabbanim today endorse the 12-Step programs as being entirely compatible with Yiddishkeit, would these same ”rabanim“ give a similar ”heksher“ to food for the kosher consumer? Would anyone eat of it?
    Is it enough for food to be ”compatible“ with the laws of Kashrus to be permitted, or must it come from an entirely kosher source from beginning to end? Who among us would have thought it conceivable that observant Jews would permit themselves—let alone try to convince others—to treat “food for the soul” any differently?
    In point of fact, it is inarguable that 12-Step programs come directly out of Christianity– the founders took many of their principles for ”Alcoholics Anonymous“ from the teachings they received at the Lutheran, ”Oxford Group “. It was only in an effort to reach a wider audience that they sanitized them to make the 12 steps palatable to non-Christians, agnostics, and atheists.
    That being the case it should be obvious, to the Jew, that although in ”Anonymous“ programs there is wisdom—and an outlook on “life and proper living”—since it is not derived solely from our G-d given Torah ha Kadosha there is no need to treat this ”foreign wisdom“ of the ”Anonymouses“ any differently from that of any other—prohibited for Jewish consumption.

    Surely if only these ”rabbanim“ and their followers were to recall the question posed on the occasion of Chanukah to their counterparts, the rabbanim of the time, they would rethink their position on ”endorsing“ any “wisdom” of the Gentiles for Jews today: ”What difference does it make whether we use the defiled impure oil of the Greeks or our own pristine “untouched” oil– they both light up?” Answer:“ No matter; it is a decree of ”the King of Kings“: Oil is a symbol of wisdom, and as such, for Jews it must come only from An untamperable kosher source, that of the Divine. Oil of the Greeks, on the other hand, whether if by derivation or adulteration, ”touches” that of the Jews—or for that matter– is equated with it– is not fit for the use of the G-d’s Chosen People.

    http://www.believershope.co