People of Postville see a Complicated Picture

POSTVILLE, IA — Imagine this is your hometown, population 2,320, in the middle of hilly Iowa farm country.

Op-Ed: Should We Stop Simchas Bais Hashoeiva?

After my last Op-Ed article about young Tishrei visitors to Crown Heights, who come and spend the month without a program or supervision, I was deluged with response and feedback. There were those who reached out to me by e-mail, those who bumped into me in the street and some people who called me by phone. After thanking me for bringing the subject out into the open most people had some variation of the same two questions: A) Did the article help create change? B) What’s going to be with Simchas Bais Hashoeiva? Can we facilitate any change there?

The answer to the first question of did the article create change is unfortunately little – if any. Despite the well-intentioned article and the enthusiastic and positive feedback nothing really changed.

Angels for the Day

Yom Kippur always gets the better of me. As angelic children, we were taught that on the Holy Day, we resemble angels. Praying for haven from the accuser, we reflect heavenly beings. There is no consumption of food. The penitent is consumed by the awesomeness of the day, not merely as a form of abstention, but because angels do not eat. Physical indulgence is prohibited. Instead, we indulge in divine practice.

I recall one Passover, as beams of light were passing overhead, my childhood imagination convinced me that I was witnessing angels escorting the prophet Elijah through the portals of heaven. In high school as I assisted an elderly woman once, she called me an angel. As a driver I often listen to people’s accounts of the paranormal on coast-to-coast AM, broadcast from the City of Angels. As a Rabbi I am often asked about the Jewish perspective on angels. And as Jews, we know that our prayers are projected to G-d by angels. In fact the Talmud suggests that when seeking a mentor, one that resembles an “angel of the lord of hosts” should be chosen.

Arab-Induced Riots Shatter Yom Kippur Calm in Northern Israel

Residents of the northern Israeli city of Akko remained on edge Friday after Arab provocation sparked interethnic riots over Yom Kippur that sent eight people seeking medical treatment. During the worst of the violence, some 50 people remained at the local Chabad-Lubavitch center after the holiday, reciting Psalms for their safety.

A Letter to the Community

Dear Community Members

I am writing to you today as a mother of a special needs child. The difficulties involved in raising a child with such special needs are many: Constant attention, supervision and medical care are required 24/7, with some days being more challenging then others.

A few years ago a new light began to shine in my daughters’ life. Thank G-d, a group of caring individuals came together to form an organization that helps families like mine. Since volunteers from The Friendship Circle have begun visiting my daughter, she is a different person. My daughter now has what she always dreamed of. A friend. They bring such joy to her day, it melts my heart.

Google Launches Hebrew Translation Service

Google Inc. has the followed the recent launch of the Hebrew version of its Gmail service with the launch of its new translation service Google Translate, which supports translations of texts to and from 30 languages including Hebrew. The program also aligns paragraphs to the left or right margins of the page depending on the direction of the language.

Op-Ed: Comments, Comments and more Comments!

CrownHeights.info comments crack me up. Or make me mad. Or sad. Or proud. Or embarrassed. Or happy. Usually makes me snort.

They all go something like this:

First you get a set of:
“Well said”
“Thanks for finally speaking up”

Then you get some:
“I disagree….”

Then comes the heat:
“It’s all because of those wacko flag wavers”

Panels reject Chabad plan

LA JOLLA, CA — A proposal by conservative Jewish group Chabad was roundly rejected by a second planning group committee Thursday.

The proposal calls for demolishing an existing single-family home at 2466 Hidden Valley road and replacing it with a two-story, 11,666-square-foot structure to include a synagogue, a rabbi’s residence, a social hall with attendant kitchen and a small preschool.

Op-Ed: The New Gangster

The era of the mob has come to a close. Once the fixtures of the back alley and in-your-face sudden attacks, the Capones and Gotiis have been relegated to movie screenings. The mafia still exists, but like bad Hollywood take-offs, they are generally try-hard copycats.

However, many would argue that a new brand of mobsters have become legitimate criminals. Drive-by shootings are replaced by character assassinations in the drive-by media. A refusal of their demands will welcome impossible ones. Their wars have become deadlier and dirtier. Although wrong and offensive, they are backed by legal authority.

A nation once united by a union force is now hostage to a fierce union movement that is more of a confederacy. The land of the free has been placed in shackles with the exception of the few resistant brave. These labor unions will twist their victims’ arms until they cry mercy, and finally yield. Claiming to protect workers’ rights, the union offends the freedoms granted them in the Bill of Rights. It is their way or the highway, and they are eager to take the low road to suit their interests.

Dear Rebbetzin Raichik and the entire Raichik Family,

I join the Khal Adas Chassidim worldwide in mourning the loss of your dear husband, father and brother. Indeed this is a great loss to you. However this is really a great loss to each and every one of us Chassidim. Not only because of the impact and the special position he had in Tzeirei Agudas Chabad enabling Hafotzas Hamayanos in Eretz Yisroel, which is a top priority by the Rebbe and therefore is a top priority by every single Chassid, but also because of the unique, special, different, and extraordinary Chassidishe traits that Yossi possessed.

He was the example of a true Chassid. He was real, genuine, and true. There was no facade, no impression. Everything with him was face value. What you saw, you got. What was on the in was on the out. This came across in all aspects of his life. He was true as a father, true as a friend, true as a Chassid, true as an employer and true as an employee. And in everything that went along with it.

Continued in the Extended Article.

Man Falls to Death After NYPD Stun Gun Shock

BED STUY, Brooklyn [AP] — An officer appears to have violated police department guidelines when he used a Taser stun gun on a naked, distraught man teetering on a building ledge, officials said Thursday.

Inman Morales, 35, fell nearly 10 feet to his death after he was shocked in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, in the confines of the 77th Precinct. He was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead. An autopsy was being performed, but police said he suffered serious head trauma.

Shliach Has Strong Words on Hannity Show

This past Friday, Rabbi Chaim Mentz, Shliach in Bel Air, CA called in to the Sean Hannity Show and expressed how embarrassed he was that the Jews turned away any political speaker at the upcoming rally against Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ym”s and that now, none of the press with give the protest more than five seconds of attention.

More in the Extended Article!

Thousands Attend NYC anti-Iran Rally

Efforts by the Jewish organizers of a New York City rally against Iran Monday to keep the event free of politics failed to stop protesters from voicing their avid support for the Republican presidential ticket of Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin.

More pictures in the Extended Article!