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Letter To The Community

As someone who has lived in the Schunah of Crown Heights-Kan Tziva Hashem Es HaBracha-for a number of years, and as I read the almost daily reports of violence going on in our community and the comments from the readers, I would just like to write a few lines.

First of all, the fact is that Crown Heights is a mixed neighborhood. Crown Heights used to be an upper class, predominately white neighborhood. President Street used to be called Doctors Row if I recall correctly. At that time many different groups of Frum Yidden lived here including Bobov, Skulen etc. When the Blacks started moving in and everyone started running away (White Flight) the Rebbe said to stay and we, as Lubavitcher Chassidim listened to the Rebbe.

Israelis seek shelter with Chabad

Bangkok, Thailand – As more than a dozen tanks were encircling Thailand’s Parliament building in a military coup d’etat, hundreds of Israeli backpackers were seeking shelter in the local Chabad House a mile or so away.

The four-story establishment on Khao San Road, Bangkok’s famous backpacker district popular with young Israelis, generally pulls down its shutters after 10 p.m. On Tuesday, though, it stayed open well into the night. Hearing rumors of an impending coup in the late afternoon, Rabbi Nehemya Wilhelm began warning Jews and Israelis to stay off the streets.

At around 7 p.m., “a Singaporean friend called to tell me that a large convoy of tanks and armored vehicles were heading toward Bangkok,” Wilhelm said.

New Historic Designation for Crown Heights Would Worry Some Residents

The Landmark Preservation Commission will today consider adding Crown Heights to the list of landmarked city neighborhoods, a list that includes much of the Upper East and West Sides, Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Greenwich Village, and TriBeCa.

Crown Heights has a more troubled reputation than those neighborhoods, dating back to the riot there in 1993 that included the stabbing death of Yankel Rosenbaum.

The proposed Crown Heights North historic district, which roughly includes the area around Dean Street between Bedford and Kingston Avenues. The proposed district contains more than 470 buildings — the largest historic district the commission has proposed in more than decade.

Jewish students celebrate

The Chabad Jewish Student Organization and Chabad on Campus at Penn State gathered in front of the Allen Street Gates yesterday in celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

The group members created shofars and invited those passing by to join. One of the most important symbols of Rosh Hashanah, the shofar, is a hollowed-out ram’s horn. It is blown to call the people to repent.

“When people see us making them, they’re reminded of the holiday,” Rabbi Nosson Meretsky, director of Chabad of Penn State, said. “It’s a fun activity.”

The holiday of Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset on Friday and ends at nightfall on Sunday. It is the start of the High Holidays, a 10-day period of reflection and atonement, Meretsky said.

Muslim, Jewish Communities Secure Halal-Kosher Labeling Law

Diverse communities in Virginia work to further common interests

Muslim and Jewish communities in the state of Virginia successfully have lobbied for enactment of a halal/kosher labeling statute. The new Virginia law requires that any food offered for sale as kosher or halal be labeled with the name of the person or organization certifying the item kosher or halal. Violations are punishable by a $500 fine.

Observant Muslims and Jews observe similar, but not identical, dietary restrictions. These practices – halal for Muslims and kashrut (kosher) for Jews – forbid consumption of certain foods and regulate how animals may be slaughtered. Trained individuals and organizations ensure compliance with these standards and permit vendors to affix their symbol of compliance on the product packaging.

Chabad Jewish leaders press concerns

Washington DC – As the U.N. General Assembly opens, diplomats vying to be the world’s top peacekeeper are taking the time to consult with a group that has emerged as a critical constituency: American Jewish leaders.

Jewish bikers raise $35,000 for school

A Toronto Jewish motorcycle club raised $35,000 for a Tennessee school that collected millions of paper clips in memory of the Holocaust.

Sandra Roberts, the Whitwell Middle School’s principal, appeared last week with Sid Rochwerg, founder of the motorcycle club, in an event sponsored by Chabad-Lubavitch.

Students at the school decided in 1998 to collect 6 million paper clips to help them understand the magnitude of the Holocaust, and they began receiving paper clips from all over the world as word of their mission spread.

Jewish center receives 300-year-old holy book

In a procession 70 people strong, students and Jewish leaders paraded down Seventh Street Sunday afternoon.

With Hebrew music blaring in the background, four men carrying a large blue and white shawl used in Jewish weddings led the clapping and tambourine-clambering promenade from the Indiana Memorial Union to the Chabad House, a Jewish cultural center for students.

It had arrived.

The evening marked the acceptance of a 300-year-old Torah — the holy book for Judaism — given to the Chabad House by IU alumnus Kevin McKasson in honor of his wife’s grandparents. The five sacred rolls of parchment made their journey to Bloomington all the way from Jerusalem.

N’shei U’Bnos Chabad Gathered In 770

Ohr L’Chof Hey Elul N’shei U’Bnos Chabad sat downstairs in 770 for their yearly pre-Rosh Hashana Farbrengen.

Mrs Sara Tova Best graciously chaired the evening.

Rabbi Yossi Paltiel skillfully developed the concept of the commandment to ask Hashem for what we need. “It is not that we have the option, but that it is an obligation for us to approach Hashem and to ask,” he said. But he cautioned, we are not to put Hashem on a schedule. We are to ask and He will find the way to bestow the Brochas upon us.

No bus stopped

When an 8-year-old Brooklyn girl died after a schoolmate sneaked onto an empty school bus parked on a hill and sent it hurtling into her, parents prayed steps would be taken to prevent another tragedy.

Apparently, nothing was done.

All last spring and all last week – until the Daily News made inquiries – buses were parked on a hill on Nostrand Ave. in Crown Heights, just as they were before the accident that killed straight-A student Amber Sadiq.