Indonesian Native Returns Home From the UK for Sukkot

Growing up in Surabaya, Indonesia, Dovid Sayers did not know much about Jewish life, but his classmates always reminded him that he was Jewish. His first name, significantly different from the local variant of Dued, said it all. He was constantly bullied; one time a girl threw a stick at his face following the release of an American movie about Christianity.

Politicians Visit Rosh HaKohols Sukkah

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — Last night local politicians visited the Sukkah of Rabbi Moshe Rubashkin, chairman of the Jewish Community Council of Crown Heights. The visitors expressed their amazement upon learning that Rubashkin has been hosting over 100 Bochurim in his home for the month of Tishrai.

More pictures in the Extended Article!

Sukkah Mobile – 1970, Sukkah Mobile – 2007

Back in 1970 Reb Sholom Ber Goldstein built a ‘Succah on Wheels’ with the greeting to ‘Come in and use our Lulav & Esrog’ (pictured at the Columbia University in Manhattan).

Today the Mitzvah Tank Org. outfitted two 50 foot long trailers with enormous Sukkahs on them with ‘Chabad Lubavitch wishes you a happy Sukkos’.

Jewish Students at Columbia University Unite in Face of Iran’s President

NEW YORK, NY — If the audience’s applause was any indication, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad scored points Monday when he denied advocating the violent destruction of Israel and instead called to “let the people of Palestine freely choose what they want for their future.”

The comment, which by definition was the tacit endorsement of Israel’s disappearance as a Jewish-majority state from the Middle East, earned cheers from the estimated-600 crowd who turned out to watch the leader answer questions in a forum sponsored by Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

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.]