The Miami Heat hosted a Jewish heritage night at the basketball team’s Dec. 12 game at American Airlines Arena, with tens of thousands in attendance. How odd, I thought, to celebrate Hanukkah in a sports arena, given that the concept of sports is emblematic of Greek culture.
Horav Hachossid Rabbi Moshe Aharon Geisinsky was born on the 21st of Teves, 5677/1917 in the village of Tashan Pereaislav, a suburb of Kiev to Reb Ben Zion, a chossid of the Rachmistrivker Rebbes of the Chernobyl dynasty and to Mrs. Chaya Rochel, a daughter of a prominent Rabbinical family. This time period constituted an important chapter in the history of Chabad Chassidus marking the Soviet persecutions of the 1930’s until the present day.
Despite the vast amount of recovery and relief still ahead of us post-Hurricane Sandy, Chanukah could not come at a more opportune time. The whole purpose of Chanukah is to introduce the notion that where things are naturally dark, G-d introduces a miraculous light to illuminate that darkness.
Hachossid Reb Eliyohu Chaim Abulsky (Roitblat) was born in 1908 to Hachossid Reb Shmaryohu, known as Shmerel the Melamed, and Mrs. Shterna Baila in Nevelle. His unique features were already obvious in childhood, and his friends later recalled his exceptional yiras shomayim, which was above the average. An example of his extraordinary fear of Hashem was his resolution to begin putting on Rabenu Tam Tefillin at the time of his Bar Mitzva, something unusual of in those days.
Everyone is always asking me how I keep my make-up on all Shabbos and Yom Tov long… Do I re-apply in the morning? No-way-hozay! That’s totally assur! Shabbos and Yom Tov are way more beautiful than a face of make-up, why mess them up just to keep my make-up good?!
.jpg)
I was sipping tea with a South Korean friend of my father’s when he asked: “Do you go to church?” It’s a much more common getting-to-know-you question in Korea than in the north-eastern United States, so I replied: “I actually don’t go to church, I’m Jewish.” When the oohs and ahs from members of the family, who were thrilled to learn I was part of the tribe, had subsided, my father’s friend proclaimed: “I forgot your dad is Jewish! Koreans are the Jews of Asia!”
Even though statistics show that many women reading this right now have experienced the loss of a pregnancy, most of these women have not and likely never will publicly address or even mention in private the fact of their miscarriage. Being that this kind of death is a fact of many women’s lives, and that silence and shame only exaggerate the pain, I am opening up about my own miscarriage, which occurred a little over two months ago.
One thing is certain about Robert Feinland – he has shuls on his mind. His career has spanned over 40 years, exploring landscape, cityscape, sculpture and abstraction. For many of those years he has focused on the relentlessly changing urban landscape of New York, feeling the necessity to document and, in some way preserve, the physical fabric of the city he loves. A selection of recent paintings, most concentrating on the Crown Heights community, is currently at the Chassidic Art Institute. Many of the images are of shuls.
Rabbi Duber Junik, fondly referred to by Anash as Reb Berel, was born in Parluki, Russia in 1927 on the 6th of Menachem Av to Horav Naftoli and Mrs. Golda Ita Junik, descendents of the holy Rabbonim, Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditshev, Reb Pinchos of Koritz and Reb Menachem Nochum of Chernobel. Under the influence of the Rav of the city, HoRav Hillel Solozuvski, Reb Naftoli became acquainted with Chabad Chassidus. Reb Naftoli was a Yireh Shomayim and did not send his children to government schools but brought them up with mesiras nefesh in an underground cheder.
When I was 16 years old I decided I didn’t want to be Jewish anymore.
.JPG)
I’m a soldier, AKA I.D. # 7756395. While that’s my identity on base, this letter is to convey my appreciation of and gratitude to the people who remind me of my true identity. My story is not unique to me; it involves many of my comrades as well. Most of all it is about those who care for us. Moreover, the events that I write about are not in the past but ongoing, each week.
Cabo S. Lucas sits at the tip of the Baja California peninsula. Once a small fishing town, it’s been reborn in the last decade as a tourist hotspot.
Busy roads, choking air and thousands of people wandering the streets, tired after a tedious day at work. Children and homeless toddlers are scattered between sidewalks and begging mothers. Sunset brings with it the advent of Pesach, the Holiday of Freedom. I arrive at Bombay’s elegant Trident hotel in the heart of the prevailing stench outside.
This is the story of two Jewish organizations. Neither receives the proper credit they deserve for the global diaspora revolutions they are inspiring.
Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Eizik Hodakov was born in 1902 and passed away in 1993 * Was the Rebbe’s chief secretary for more than 40 years * Became principal of a Jewish school in Latvia at the age of 18 * Was appointed the head of Jewish education for the Latvian Ministry of Education in 1934 * Accompanied the Previous Rebbe on his boat trip to America in 1940 * Appointed director of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch in 1942 * Appointed head secretary of the Rebbe upon his assumption of leadership in 1951 * Remained the Rebbe’s most trustworthy confidant until his passing in 1993.
In honor of his yahrzeit on the tenth of Nissan * Reb Yitzchok Nemes was a great Yireh Shomayim with refined midos. His entire life was an unbroken circle consisting of concern for others, being mzake horabim and involving himself in activities that sanctified Hashem’s name in countries where few Jews lived. This came about as a result of his stamp business, which frequently took him abroad doing business with governments and private collectors.
When it came time to observe my mother’s first yahrzeit last week, I was in Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev. A fitting place since my mother, Sondra, was an avid traveler and particularly enjoyed her many visits to Israel.
3
