New CD of the Rebbe’s 14 Niggunim – “Expressions of the Soul” A Resounding Success

After over three weeks since the release of its new CD “EXPRESSIONS of the SOUL” – the Rebbe’s 14 Niggunim, Infinity Productions is reporting that sales, namely in Crown Heights, “continue to be just remarkable”. The Kehos bookstore, Tzivos Hashem, Merkas Stam, Judaica World and Hamafitz, on Kingston Avenue, have all received additional shipments (some for the third time) after having sold out of their initial orders just a few days after the CD’s release.

A letter from Darchai Menachem’s Chesed Club

Dear CrownHeights.info

Hi my name is Mendy Chaimson and I am 11 years old. Sitting next to me is my friend Levi Schonbuch, he is 10. We are both the co-directors of the Yeshiva Darchai Menachem Chesed Club. B”H now that our school has grown from 30 to 50 students, we have a lot more Volunteers for our club.

We were wondering if you can post our Chesed reports on your web site, this way we can expand our volunteer list. For example, let me tell you what we did in honor of Sukkos. On Monday, the first day of Chol Hamoed, some of our boys from the new Mesivta Division, headed by Rabbi Marozov, along with their friends went on route. They took a Sukkah mobile with their Chassidus teacher, Rabbi Sandhaus, and shook Lulav and Esrog with over 65 people; it was an unbelievable experience meeting all sorts of different people. On Tuesday, my friends and I went with Rabbi Perl, the school administrator, to an old age home. Not only did we have the Mitzvah of Bikur Cholim, we also got to shake our Lulavim and Esrogim with them. It was a lot of fun and the people were very happy.

A "Tent of Peace" On the Korean Peninsula

Seoul, South Korea — North Korea’s Kim Jung II may be detonating nukes and playing war games with the international community, but Jewish U.S. troops in South Korea are not in duck-and-cover mode. With Uncle Sam’s blessing, they’re out in the sukkah Chaplain (Col.) Jacob Goldstein built on the Yongsan Military Base in Seoul.

Program Sparks Candle Lighting on Campuses

It wasn’t until Kasiah Weeks, 21, began her undergraduate studies at Arizona State University that she began to earnestly explore her Jewish identity.

“I grew up in a very small town where the Jewish population is very small; and there is only [a Reform] synagogue,” says Weeks, a global politics and foreign languages major originally from Las Cruces, New Mexico. “It wasn’t until I got to college that I even found out about Chabad.”

Since then, Chabad House at ASU, run by Rabbi Shmuel and Chana Tiechtel, has become Weeks’ Jewish lifeline. She attends Friday night dinners and lectures, and most recently discovered a new program that she says has changed her life: “Friday Light.”

After years of creeping into English, Yiddish experiencing own revival

Jonathan Boyarin’s feelings toward the Yiddish language go beyond mere scholarship.

“I heard a lot of Yiddish in my childhood, growing up in a community of Jewish chicken farmers,” he says. “I can’t say I learned the language there, but I picked up a heritage of nostalgia for it at least.”

Chabad Welcomes its New Torah scroll

Solon, OH — With hundreds of children leading the way and musical accompaniment by Yiddishe Cup, 500 participants helped welcome a new Torah scroll to the Chabad Jewish Center of Solon on Sunday, Sept 10.

The sofer (scribe) Elly Jacobs of Columbus finished the last few letters with quill and ink in the Chabad sanctuary. Then the Torah scroll – the first one especially commissioned for the synagogue – was held aloft, dressed in a new mantle and adorned with silver crowns by Rabbi Zushe Greenberg. It was carried under a special chupah (wedding canopy) to the waiting throng.

A New Generation Enjoys an Ancient Celebration

We read in the Talmud that Sukkot is when God judges the world for rainfall. In the days of the Temple, a special ritual, “the pouring of the water,” was performed each day of the holiday, asking God to provide the rain that was needed.

The rabbis tell us that thousands of spectators came to watch the drawing of the water used for the ceremony, and that the event was surrounded by feasting, dancing, and singing. In fact, says the Mishnah, “He who has not seen the rejoicing at the Place of the Water-Drawing has never seen rejoicing in his life.”

Today, we recall this special ceremony — a gathering marked by music and dance, with refreshments served in a sukkah. On Oct. 10, the entire Jewish community of Teaneck will have an opportunity to take part in such a celebration, to be held at Cong. Keter Torah.

Davening With the Stars

Joanna Breckner spotted John Lithgow on Yom Kippur. “According to Jim” cast and crew showed up for parts of morning prayers. Religion was in the spotlight when CBS Studios hosted Chabad of Studio City’s High Holiday services.