This Man Knows His Citrus; His Etrog, to be Exact

Nachum Luria’s straw hat has seen better days as he travels, in his open jeep, in the heat to his etrog orchards on the outskirts of Kfar Chabad, Israel. His face shines as we come closer to the orchards, covered in black netting to protect the workers and fruit from the sun. But Luria says that we still have lots of other predators in the form of bugs, “that come to attack the delicate fruit.” Among his many tasks is finding a pesticide that will both protect the precious commodity from nature’s pests and yet not damage the fruit.

Op-Ed: An Open Letter to the Community

You probably know me.

I am the guy that would probably greet you in the morning with a smile and say ‘Good morning’ if I saw you.

I am writing because of the funny looks you always give back in return.

The average reaction of a Lubavitcher to someone telling himher ‘Good morning’ is one of shock, confusion and bewilderment. Most times when I’ll greet someone with a hearty ‘Good morning!’ they’ll stare at me, their eyes bulging from their sockets wondering what planet I hail from, and sometimes they’ll just collapse down to the floor in a dead faint (either literally or figuratively); that’s the reaction of most Frum people.

The Blech Book by Rabbi Fishel Jacobs

Everyone of us faces the same dilemmas on a constant weekly basis. Whether we’re in the kitchen of our home, Shul, Chabad House or summer camp:

May I add water on Shabbos to the food on the blech which is drying?
May I move food from one pot on the blech to another?
The fire went out under my blech. May I move the pot to another blech?
I mistakenly placed my pot on the table. May I replace it back to the blech?

Enterprise to Open Exclusively for Sukkah Mobiles!

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — The problem always arises when the first day of Chol Hamoed Sukkos falls out on a Sunday; where and when do you rent your pickup truck. The most ideal time to rent a pickup truck, to be used as a Sukkah Mobile, would be the first morning of Chol Hamoed, however, on Sunday the rental companies in NYC, are all closed, or at least the ones which rent pickup trucks.

Orthodox Jew Tapped to Replace Gonzales

WASHINGTON, DC (JTA) — Those who know Michael Mukasey say President Bush’s pick to be the next attorney general is a political conservative and an Orthodox Jew who kept his politics and religion out of the courtroom.

Postville has the most rabbis per capita of any city in the US

POSTVILLE, IA — It’s hard to tell without sticking around for a few hours. Even at first glance, the town is like a thousand others in Iowa. Nestled in the middle of sprawling corn fields, it’s made up of a couple of dozen two-story buildings clustered on a seemingly random spot on a state highway. It seems a little empty and a bit dusty.

TODAY ONLY: $2 A Chicken, for Kapores

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] – Today, Tuesday only, residents can take advantage of a substantial price reduction on the purchase of chickens for Kapores. The normal price is $15 but for today, starting at 2:00pm and going on thru 10:00pm.

This substantial price reduction was done L’zchus Moshe Uri ben Malka. The sale will take place in from of NCFJE at 824 Eastern Parkway. The Shechita will begin on Wednesday and is under the Hechsher of the CHK.

More in the Extended Article.

The Missionary Mogul

When Lev Leviev’s first son, Shalom, was born in 1978, Leviev decided to circumcise the baby himself. He was only 22 years old. He had never studied the art of circumcision and never performed one. But he had seen it done. His father, Avner, had been an underground mohel in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbek Republic, at a time when performing any Jewish ritual act could get you in trouble with the Soviet authorities. The family had been in Israel for eight years. There were plenty of trained ritual mohelim in Tel Aviv. But Leviev regarded the act of circumcising his own son as both a religious duty and the fulfillment of a family tradition.

Avner Leviev advised his son to prepare by cutting chicken legs, but young Lev felt no need to practice. “I knew what I was doing,” he told me when I spoke to him recently at his office in Yahud, a suburb of Tel Aviv. “I was a diamond cutter, after all. It’s not all that different.” He extended his hands, palms down, for my inspection and smiled. “I’ve got steady hands.”

Eight Israelis Still Missing After Thai Air Disaster, Bodies Waiting to be Identified

BANGKOK, Thailand — Several Israelis were found among the dead following the Sept. 16 crash of a Thai airliner on the country’s island resort of Phuket, according to Rabbi Nehemia Wilhelm, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Thailand. Two others, Vladimir and Isabelle Frielichman, were located among the injured by Rabbi Aaron Solomon, who manages the Chabad House in Phuket.

Q&A with Florida Shliach Rabbi Novack

Tell us about your family.

I am one of nine and my wife is one of 11, thank G-d. [Editor’s note: Orthodox and many other Jews refrain from writing out or speaking the name of God because doing so outside of prayer and worship is considered sacrilegious.]

Shliach in Frankfurt, Germany – Doing Well

FRANKFURT, Germany [CHI] – This past Shabbos the Shliach to Frankfurt Germany, Rabbi Zalman Gurevitch was viciously attacked in an apparent hate crime, today he is doing much better, B”H.

The complete supervisory board of the Jewish community of Frankfurt, the mayor of Frankfurt Mrs. Petra Roth and EU-Minister of the state of Hesse Mr. Volker Hoff visited Rabbi Gurevitch yesterday (Monday) in the hospital where he is recovering.

More in the Extended Article.

High Holiday Greeting Utilizes Popular Cartoon Character

Chabad.org took the world of viral media up a notch with the release this week of a High Holiday greeting featuring Rabbi Itchy Kadoozy, the lead character from the highly popular “Itchy Kadoozy” cartoon featured on the Web site.