Author Archives: webmaster9000

Rabbi reaches out with YouTube videos

Westminster, CO — Rabbi Benjy Brackman is preparing for the Jewish holiday of Purim.

This week, he will don a traditional costume and recite the religious message he has written and memorized before a video recorder.

You won’t hear this message at any synagogue. But you can find it on YouTube.com.

Brackman, who leads the Chabad of Northwest Denver, has turned to a novel use of the Internet to get his message across.

So, mixed in with the videos of rock bands, people playing air guitar, stupid human tricks and the vast array of self-posted videos on the site, there are two short messages from Brackman to his followers so far.

VFD Names Shliach as First Chaplain

Fox Chapel, PA — The Guyasuta Volunteer Fire Depart-ment has taken a new member into its ranks and hopes that his presence will aid victims during times of tragedy.

The fire department’s board recently named Rabbi Ely Rosenfeld, 29, of O’Hara, Chaplain of the fire and emergency response unit.

“I see (the fire department) as an incredible inspiration,” Rosenfeld, who is a director of the Fox Chapel Center for Jewish Life, said. “Everyone there is a professional during the day and they don’t have time for this — but they give the time. It reminds me that no matter what time it is, you have to be there.”

New Paltz, FIU to Toast New Facilities

The name of the game is expansion at several campus Chabad Houses this year, as shluchim and students in New York and Florida prepare to celebrate their new facilities.

Coming on the heels of the Chabad Student Center’s closing last week on the purchase of a new location at the University of California at S. Cruz, the Chabad Houses at the State University of New York at New Paltz and Florida International University in Miami announced high-profile events related to their own capital campaigns.