New Shluchim To Cape May County, New Jersey

Rabbi & Mrs Avrohom Rapoport have recently moved on Shlichus to Southern NJ, to direct Chabad activities in Cape May County as well as assist Chabad of Atlantic County.

The new Sluchim were appointed by Rabbi Shmuel Rapoport, Shliach of Atlantic County.

They can be reached via e-mail @ chabadac@gmail.com

Open Letter From Shimshon Stock: Communal Issues

My Dear Friends. sheyichyu

The tremendous positive response from my recent letter had one common complaint; “Why did you wait so long to address this very important issue?” Therefore, I feel the need and responsibility to speak up again.

It is unfortunate that “old Shimshon” is the one speaking up. These important issues should be addressed by community leaders and Rabbis. For instance yesterday there was a funeral for a young Bochur who had a tragic end. The funeral was attended by many young boys and girls around the age of the Nifter. This was an opportunity for the leadership i.e. the Rabbis to attend and address these young men and women. Nobody attended or attempted to reach out to the young boys and girls that were at the Levaya. How should the youth interpret the absence of leadership at a Levaya of their peer, a young 17 year old boy – a Bochur from our system and schunah?

The message is an unfortunate clear message. It says “no one in the Rabbinate or the so called leadership gives a hoot”.

He Who Could Command Legions of the Faithful

It often occurred to me when Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson was alive, that he was the one person, aside from the Israeli prime minister and the Israeli military’s chief of staff, who commanded a Jewish army. Who else in Jewish life could instruct a young man or a young couple to go to a specific remote city and live there possibly for the rest of their lives — and still be obeyed?

Most people who grow up frum do not end up in Nashville, Tenn., or in Columbia, S.C., or in any of the other relatively small cities in which the rebbe determined there was a possibility for Jewish growth. It is the natural tendency of most observant Jews to remain in a community made up of people with like-minded views and lifestyles. The rebbe, whose 12th yahrzeit we observe June 29, realized that such a view amounted to giving up the possibility that the large majority of American Jews would ever be exposed to a vibrant and joyous halachic Judaism.

Junior achievement

Mequon, WI — Where Rivke Spalter works, everything is colorful and teeny weenie — chairs, sinks, tables — even the pairs of shoes lined up outside the playrooms. Spalter is the director of the Mequon Jewish Preschool, where love and joy are as plentiful as construction paper and singing lessons.

Spalter is an absolutely serene woman, though she has every reason not to be. Under her care at the preschool are 45 children, from infants to K-4 kids. She’s also mother to 10 children, eight girls and two boys ranging in age from 6 months to 19 years. She insists that “when I had just one child she took up my whole life. I think it has to do with how we divide our time.”

Knowing what families need makes her particularly sensitive to mothers who arrive in the morning feeling stressed or guilty, both common states of being for all moms. Spalter, teachers and staff greet parents and children at the door with hugs and soothing comments to help everyone get off to a good day. How does she do it?

Chabad emissaries create family atmosphere on UA campus

Tucson, AZ — Chabad is one of the fastest-growing Jewish outreach communities in the world, says Rabbi Yossie Winner: “It’s everywhere, just like Coca-Cola.” The young rabbi, 25, moved to Tucson last July from Brooklyn with his wife, Naomi, 23, to establish a Chabad House on the University of Arizona campus. Winner, who is the son of a Chabad rab bi at a large synagogue in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach neighborhood, says he always dreamed of following the same path as his family, but was attracted to the campus environment.

Chabad of the Conejo Wows Crowd in Sold Out Benefit Banquet

Chabad of the Conejo, CA held its annual Gala Banquet on Wednesday, June 14th, 2006. The event was held at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Eight hundred friends and supporters gathered for an evening of glamour, entertainment, and tribute. The gala this year was titled “Imagine: A Vision for the Future” and was followed by a performance in the sold-out Kavli Theatre (1800 people) featuring The 8th Day Band, Benny Friedman and Marc Salem of Broadway’ s “Mind Games”.

Chabad paid tribute to Noam and Sherry Lotan, the honorees at this year’s gala. “Noam and Sherry are truly deserving of this prestigious award” said Rabbi Moshe D. Bryski, the Executive Director of Chabad. “This is a couple deeply concerned with the material and spiritual welfare of others. They are true community leaders who have given of their time, energy, and benevolence to ensure a more vibrant and educated Jewish community for all of us. Their endless acts of kindness have not gone unnoticed.” Noam is the CEO of MRV Communications, a High Tech company in Northridge California.

In an emotional response at the dinner, Noam spoke about his first encounter with Chabad in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War.

More pictures in the Extended Article!

5-Year-Old Girl Hit By Car In Williamsburg

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A five-year-old girl crossing the street to catch her school bus was struck and killed in Brooklyn Tuesday morning.

Police say Chana Friedlander darted out between parked cars on Marcy Avenue in Williamsburg after she saw the school bus, which had stopped to pick up a student a short distance away. Instead of waiting for the driver to move to her location, she tried to run to the bus.

“I stopped here to pick up two children from both sides – this side and that side – put on the flashing lights, opened the door and all of a sudden in my mirror, I see a car right near my bus and I beeped her to stop,” said the bus driver Jenoe Lichtman. “I blowed the horn [for her] to stop. She ignored everything. She passed the red lights, the flashing lights, and hit the child.”

Event To Benefit Hatzalah, Great Success!

Sunday the Crown Heights Hatzalah Volunteer Ambulance Corps held an evening to benefit the organization. A Symposium entitled “Early detection and prevention of Heart Disease” and was given over by Doctor Robert Frankel, the topic was heart disease which covered how to recognize symptoms and how it is treated. This was followed by an address by Dr. Pamela S. Brier, President & CEO of Maimonides Hospital who thanked Hatzalah for cooperating with Maimonides Hospital.

The evening ended with the raffle for $18,000, and the winner’s was three women who purchased one ticket together they are Tziporah Hamn, Ora Goldstein and Tami Lieder. All the attendees were given a gift bag which included a first aid kit.

More pictures in the Extended Article!

Torah celebrate’s son’s memory, future synagogue

Ormond Beach, Florida — A year ago a young man died. On Sunday a Torah was born.

With a photo of Jay Sappington nearby, Rabbi David Golowinski writes letters on the Torah while Rabbi Pinchas Ezagui officiates at Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Community Center on Sunday.
Outside the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Community Center on Granada Boulevard, it drizzled. Inside, under bright lights, the family and friends of Jay Sappington chatted happily and sipped fruit punch, watching.

This Torah, commissioned by Sappington’s family in his memory, was not yet finished. David Goliwinski, a scribe from Miami, labored over the vast parchment scroll, adding the final letters of the scripture it contained.

Russian Supreme Court overturns sentence of synagogue attacker

Moscow, Russia – Russia’s Supreme Court Tuesday overturned a 13-year sentence against a man convicted of attempted murder in a knife attack on a Moscow synagogue.

On March 27, Moscow City Court found Alexander Koptsev, who was 20 at the time of the attack, guilty of the ethnically and religiously motivated attempted murder of nine people at a synagogue in central Moscow on January 11, but cleared him of instigating racial hatred.

“The sentence of the Moscow City Court is quashed, and the criminal case of Koptsev will be sent for retrial at the same court but with a different composition,” the court ruling said.

Pirsum Rishon: Ksav Yad From The Rebbe

In connection with the passing of Rebbetzin Etel Tzerna Hodakov, SHMAIS.com is publishing an interesting Ksav Yad of the Rebbe – Pirsum Rishon.

The Rebbe’s Ksav Yad response was to a request for a Brocha for good health that was “written in” by the husband of the Nifteres, the Rebbe’s Chief Mazkir, Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Isaac Hodakov OBM.