Brooklyn, NY — For most of my life I’ve lived a Clark Kent existence . . . my desire to assimilate required no less.”
So begins Up Up and Oy Vey: How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero (Leviathan Press), a new book by Rabbi Simcha Weinstein that recently won the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Award for excellence in independent publishing.
Lately, I’ve been reading some very strange things in various Jewish media outlets about the history of kiruv (outreach) in America. I’ve had to read some of these articles several times over just to be certain my eyes weren’t deceiving me.
How can history be revised with such impunity? Anyone familiar with the development of Judaism in America knows that almost immediately after he arrived in the U.S. in March 1940, the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe proclaimed he’d come here to demonstrate that “America is not different” – that even in America one could live as a traditional Jew.
And so, as virtually his first order of business in America, the Rebbe founded the first Lubavitcher yeshiva on these shores. That very same day he also established Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad, thereby sowing the seeds of Torah-true education in America. The next day, he formally launched Chabad-Lubavitch outreach activities in the U.S.
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One sixty second phone call could save our community millions of dollars on tuition.
With just one week left in the Legislative session in Albany, now is the time to act to help families who are struggling to pay yeshiva tuition. Assemblyman Vito Lopez and Senator Marty Golden have introduced legislation that would allow middle-class parents to deduct the cost of private school tuition from their state taxes and poor families would receive an actual tax credit. This could save average families in our community thousands of dollars each year.
But we must ACT NOW. The legislative session in Albany ends June 21st
Please call Governor Spitzer’s office today at (800) 319 – 3403.
If you speak with a live operator, please tell them: “I’m calling to ask the Governor to support the Lopez-Golden Tuition Tax Deduction Bill.”
If you reach a voice mailbox, DO NOT HANG UP. Each message is logged and counts! After the tone, leave the same message along with your zip code: “I am calling to ask the Governor to support the Lopez-Golden Tuition Tax Deduction Bill. My zip code is XXXXX.”
Governor Spitzer has the ability to get this done. But he must hear from you and everyone you know. It’s a simple call, every single call made to the Governor is logged and will make a difference!
Binghamton, NY — Family’s spare change offers help to those less fortunate
They’re boxes.
Big, little. Ornate, plain. Rectangles, ovals. Wood, metal, cardboard.
Crown Heights, Brooklyn — Tuesday, at about 10 AM Bnos Menachem had the police block off the street for their group picture.
More pictures in the Extended Article.
Providence, UT — There are so few Jews in this picturesque tiny town nestled between the Utah Rocky mountain ranges, that the idea of a traditional Jewish circumcision seems unlikely. But, as Chabad’s Rabbi Benny Tzippel says, by the workings of Divine Providence, that’s precisely what happened here when Providence saw its first proper Jewish circumcision earlier this month.
Oak Park, MI — A high school and rabbinic college in Oak Park will get major renovations and new dormitories thanks to more than $2.75 million in donations.
Alan and Lori Zekelman of Bloomfield Hills announced Monday they are giving $2 million toward Mishkan Israel on 9 Mile west of Coolidge. The 12,000-square-foot building, which also serves as a synagogue, is nearly 40 years old.
The Rebbe himself had no children, yet he gave so many people blessings for children. Who are the Rebbe’s children? Diane Abrams wife of Bob Abrams who was New York State Attorney General relates her encounters with the Rebbe.
Crown Heights, Brooklyn — Today, Tuesday, at about 1:30 in the afternoon, a manhole exploded on Kingston Ave [between President and Union St]. An underground electrical circuit overheated apparently and sent flames and smoke into the air.
More pictures and video in the Extended.
Hillside, NJ –Ten days after arriving in this country, a Jewish couple celebrated their marriage with a traditional Chuppah wedding. Shimon and Inna had been denied a religious celebration when they were civilly married in the Ukraine. The couple heard about Bris Avrohom, in Hillside, New Jersey, and decided to come to America, with other family members, to partake in their 22nd Annual Wedding Celebration.
More in the Extended Article!
The other day a woman called my office to tell me that she had a problem with registering her children in Yeshiva. The administration was pressuring her for more tuition and she simply couldn’t afford it. Her husband learned in Kollel full time and she was working and had a limited income and she couldn’t afford the astronomical tuition for her sons.
She told me that as she continued talking to the administrator, who was only pushing her because he desperately needed the money, she was hit by inspiration.
She then told the Menahel, “I went through your Bais Yaakov system. I am a product of the Chinuch that you are selling. I was taught that the most important thing is to support a husband learning Torah. Therefore I got a profession and I am the breadwinner and homemaker and my husband is sitting and learning. Now you are denying my children entrance into your Yeshiva because I can’t afford the tuition? I epitomize what you are teaching, yet you are not letting my children into your Yeshivah.”
Windsor Heights, IA — Lunch ‘n learn Shiur yesterday at Lubavitch of Iowa’s Deli and Judaic Resoure Center. The students watched a power point presentation on the Halachos and the Chassidic approach to Sha’atnez and other types of Kilayim.
Los Angeles, CA — This is a group picture of the shluchim To Mesivta Ohr Elchanan Chabad who are completing their year on Shlichus/ The picture was taken in front of the yeshiva building.
The picture was taken by CrownHeights.info’s contributing photographer Hershel Gilbert McNabb
Miami, FL — It was a competition like no other, with a prize like no other.
Lubavitch Elementary School’s Tanya B’al Peh contest, for the first time since the school’s establishment, awarded free trips to visit the Rebbe in New York to eleven students who learned the most lines of Sefer Tanya by heart. The project, which captured the enthusiasm of the entire elementary school, resulted in a total of over 3,500 lines of Tanya learned by the student body of 275.
More pictures in the Extended Article!
New Port Richey, FL — If approved, the school would serve the eastern part of the county.
Nearly six months after two Tampa Bay area Jewish federations agreed to carve up Pasco, there still aren’t many new offerings for Jews in the eastern part of the county.
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