Reform Reflections: The Good and Bad of Chabad

Chabad is one of the great wonders of the Jewish world. Following World War II, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson assumed the leadership of the movement, the headquarters of which had previously moved to New York. In little more than half a century, Rabbi Schneerson took this small Chasidic group, which was little understood in America and which had lost most of its members in the Holocaust, and created a vast network of educational and religious institutions that today touch the lives of tens of thousands of Jews.

Manhunt Over: Final Suspect Apprehended In Police Shooting

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Tannersville, PA — The third and final suspect sought in the brazen shooting of two NYPD officers that left one officer gravely injured and his partner wounded early Monday morning was captured along a remote section of a Pennsylvania roadway early this morning.

Man wanted for shooting cop is found

Pocono Mountains, PA — Pennsylvania State Troopers have apprehended suspected New York City cop-shooter Dexter Bostic in the Poconos and are believed to be in hot pursuit of the other suspect.

Bostic, a 34-year-old ex-convict, and a second suspect, Robert J. Ellis, 34, have been the subjects of a far-reaching manhunt since the monday morning shooting that left one officer with life-threatening injuries.

The critically injured officer, Belarus-born Russel Timoshenko, 23, is paralyzed, has brain swelling and cannot breathe on his own, Assistant District Attorney Anna-Siegga Nicolazzi said at an appearance for the third suspect, held today in a courtroom packed with police officers.

Religious Bonds Divide Some Parents and Kids

Stephen Rochester, 32, grew up “Jewish lite” in St. Louis, says his father, Marty. “So I was stunned when Stephen went religious with a capital R,” switching to his Hebrew name, Shaya, and adopting the black hat of Hasidic Jews.

Taking Worldly Work To The Web

Rockets explode nearly every day in the Israeli city of Sderot, near the Gaza border.

Yosef Eliezrie wanted to help. Even if he had to do it from his hospital bed.

While recovering last month from a shingles infection, the 21-year-old from Yorba Linda started a campaign to raise awareness of the town’s plight.

Completion of the Rambam in Memory of Daniel Agami OBM

Spiritual Homage to a Fallen Hero

Maimonides’ (The “Rambam” — Rabbi Moses ben Maimon) magnum opus, is called “The Mishneh Torah” a work spanning hundreds of chapters and describing all of the laws mentioned in the Torah.

Boston Gets a Taste of Sderot Life

A group of Israeli children from Sderot pause for a picture by the lake of their suburban Boston summer camp.

Opening day was far from normal last week at one of the Camp Gan Israel day camps in suburban Boston. Several hours into the Chabad-Lubavitch camp’s first day at the Shaloh House Jewish Day School in Brighton, Mass., a group of 10 Israeli boys arrived for the summer.

Siberian Jews Initiate Project on Historic Cemetery

Omsk, Russia – The Jewish community of Omsk has just introduced a new initiative that will help its members better fulfil the mitzvah of honouring the deceased. This most recent project entails the collection of information and photos of the historic Jewish cemetery in this major west Siberian population center.

While the Jewish community regularly upholds their commitment by maintaining the cemetery, this new initiative will take that idea one step further by publishing and further developing a website dedicated to the historic Jewish cemetery. In the first stage, this site will feature photographs of each grave stone, and the biography of the Jew who is buried there.

Hundreds at the Levaya of Hatomim Menachem Mendel Moshiach OBM

Hundreds of men, woman and children gathered today in front of 770 in order to escort HaTomim Menachem Mendel ben Reb Avner Moshiach OBM that passed away this Friday.

More pictures in the Extended Article.

“Please, Strengthen Unity”

Hours before their son, HaTomim Menachem Mendel Moshiach OBM’s Levaya, his parents took a brave step and called to all Chasisdim: “Please, strengthen in Achdus [unity] amongst ourselves!”

A young Bochur Chaim Menachem Mendel Moshiach Of Blessed Memory, 13 years old, passed away this Friday. Two weeks ago he was hospitalized after having a sudden heart attack and his condition had been deteriorating ever since, many Minyanim all over the world were saying Tehillim for him.

Thursday night the doctors summoned his parents and informed them of a serious deterioration in his condition and Friday afternoon 1 PM he passed away.

Out of Hospital, Rabbi Groner Makes Surprise Appearance at Yeshivah Fundraiser

Melbourne, Australia — Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner, the spiritual head of Melbourne’s Lubavitch community, defied the odds on Monday by leaving his hospital bed to attend a celebration of 50 years of Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah Ladies College.

Community Board 18 Opposes Chabad House

Canarsie, Brooklyn — Under a blanket of darkness, Community Board 18 last week unanimously rejected a plan that seeks to bring a synagogue to a residential block in Mill Island.

Moments before the board was to take its vote, as if by divine intervention, all the lights in the Kings Plaza Community Room went out, providing a strange end to the board’s 2006-7 session.

The School Your Daughter Wants To Attend

VALLEY STREAM, LONG ISLAND — Bnos Chomesh Academy, a new girls’ high school located just 30 minutes from Crown Heights is now open for registration for the 2007-2008 academic year for 9th and 10th grades. Bnos Chomesh combines a strong academic curriculum with the kind of individual attention that only a school with small classes can provide.

The school’s founder and principal is Mrs. Dena Gorkin, an acclaimed mechaneches who has been working with teenage girls both in and out of the classroom for 15 years. Bnos Chomesh faculty is experienced, caring and tuned in to the educational, social, and spiritual needs of each girl. As a result, this new school has already gained the support and endorsement of some of the most respected mechanchim. The school has also received a whole-hearted approval from the principals of Beth Rivka High School.