Combating Jewish Materialism – A Jewish Peace Corps

Materialism is becoming a cancer to the American Jewish community. Our children feel entitled. They are often spoiled. They take and do not know how to give back. They are part of a ‘me’ generation where self-absorption is lifetime’s calling.

That’s why this summer I arranged for three of my teenage children to work as volunteers in the children’s camp of Rabbi Yossi Turk in Cordoba, Argentina. The work is not easy and our children, while working very hard, also complained that there weren’t enough recreational outlets. I reminded them that Rabbi Turk and his wife have been in Cordoba ensuring that thousands of Israeli backpackers have a place for Shabbos not for two weeks, but for 22 years. You don’t hear them complaining.

Op-Ed: “Trendy” Style of Young Women Retaining (or Hyphenating) Their Maiden Names

Just recently, the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yonah Metzger, publicly raised the issue of married woman who continue to use their maiden names, in both formats, either independently or hyphenated after their husband’s family name. He came under much criticism for doing so.

This is what the Chief Rabbi said: “We are currently in an era of permissiveness and there are many messages that create cracks in the Jewish home’s whole structure. The agenda whereby a woman wants to bring the independent entity of her last name to the home should be reconsidered. If there is a message that the woman is an independent entity and the husband is an independent entity, this does not unite the home into a whole home.”

There is no denying that amongst Chabad-Lubavitch young woman, this has become a very popular and ever growing trend.

Continued in the Extended Article.

CEO of Canadian Jewish Congress Praises Chabad in Birthday Wishes

Last week Rabbi Sholom Leib Aisenbach of Montreal Canada celebrated his 70th birthday. Taking advantage of this opportunity Mr. Bernie M. Farber, the CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, sent Rabbi Aisenbach a birthday greeting in which he praised Rabbi Aisenbach and Chabad for all the work that they have done “on behalf of K’lal Yisroel”.

Rally for Immigration Reform in Postville

POSTVILLE, IA [KWWL] — An immigration rally has kicked off in Postville with protesters shouting “Si se puede,” translated in English as “yes, we can.”

Hundreds of people marched through the small Iowa town of about 2,200 on Sunday. Busloads of people from Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul and other nearby cities came to protest a federal immigration raid of the Agriprocessors plant in May.

More pictures and a number of videos in the Extended Article!

Rabbis Criticize Disclosure of Obama’s Prayer

An Israeli newspaper’s disclosure of the note Sen. Barack Obama left at Jerusalem’s Western Wall this week is the equivalent of reading someone’s diary — a gross violation of privacy — several Long Island rabbis said Friday.

Original Protest to the Cost of Seminary Tuition

The tuition for girls who want to attend seminary in Israel is an extremely taxing expense for parents. The average cost of a year in seminary is around $15,000.

One parent, a Shliach in the United States, choose an original way to make that protest, wearing a baseball cap with the following: “I can’t afford a Borsalino because I sent my daughter to seminary”.

Share your opinion by using the Comment System!

Israel Turns to Terror Victims After Another Bulldozer Attack

JERUSALEM, Israel — As the city of Jerusalem cleaned up after another terrorist attack, Chabad’s Terror Victims Project geared up to once more visit the injured in the hospital.

Leviev Edition Devarim – Now in Hebrew!

Kol Menachem Devarim Now Available in Hebrew!

Thanks to a collaboration between Chabad philanthropists Levi Leviev and Meyer Gutnick, the second Chumash with “Toras Menachem” in Hebrew rolled off the press this week, in time for Devorim.

The Hebrew “Leviev Edition” was adapted from the much loved “Gutnick Chumash,” bringing the Rebbe’s Torah “outwards” to many communities beyond Chabad.

The current volume, Sefer Devorim, contains literally hundreds of Sichos, both in Nigleh and Chassidus, in a flowing, contemporary Hebrew, something that has long been awaited by Shluchim around the world.

Op-Ed: The Community Gambler

The number of calls to the hotline set up to help gamblers who risk their money went up 45%, according to a recent report. Being that only a small part of any community is compulsive gamblers, why should this report concern the average person in our community? Every businessman knows that without risk it’s difficult to make a profit. Additionally, the drive to make money is quite normal.

Unfortunately, the gambling problem has reached our communities, too. It’s one of those problems that were once viewed as “this doesn’t happen to us,” yet my staff and I meet with an average of two people each month that are dealing with a gambling problem.

People are willing to take the risk of the gamble because the rush of the win makes this seemingly innocuous habit addictive. One win makes you feel you want to keep on trying. This is what keeps gambling casinos and the stock market in business.

Continued in the Extended Article.

Court Rules In Favor of Condo’s Right to Remove Mezuzah

CHICAGO, IL — A federal court ruling that denied a Chicago condo resident’s right to hang a mezuzah on her front door incensed a local legislator and surprised area rabbis.

“The mezuzah is a symbol that is as important as an American flag. To me, it’s protected by the first amendment,” retired Alderman Burton F. Natarus told Lubavitch.com. “I may have to heat up the drums” and take action against the ruling.

A Larger-than-Life Jewish Giant

The Muscular Humility of Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner

Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner, who died on Monday, was one of a kind. It is rare that I refer to someone as a truly great man, but Rabbi Groner earned the epitaph in spades. If the test of Judaism lies in its ability to create men and women of outstanding righteousness and humanity, then Rabbi Groner was one of those rare individuals who made his faith sparkle. He was an outstanding scholar. A builder of enormous institutions. A world-class orator. The head of a large and prosperous family. A devoted disciple of the Lubavitcher Rebbe who spent 50 years heading Chabad in Australia.

Two Minutes

On the way.

Niggunim are playing.

The vintage tape is unclear, but the Rebbe’s voice is strong. Relevant. Urgent.

Out my window, Jewish faces zoom by.

We have begun the march.

We’re on our way.

There’s a lot of traffic for 10 pm.

“Are they going to the Ohel?”

3 Tammuz Special: Former Chief Rabbi: The Rebbe Was the Teacher and Leader for All Jews

In honor of Gimmel Tammuz Chabad.org updated TheRebbe.org site with fascinating new accounts and correspondence of the Rebbe with Presidents of the United States, Physicians, Rabbis, Philanthropists and Jewish Leaders. Click here to read the fascinating accounts and correspondence.

When you sat in the Rebbe’s presence, it was as if there was no one and nothing else in this world. He had a humble abode, a simple chair, a simple office. The entire day and night he studied Torah and was active in communal service, I do not know when he ate and slept…