Chabad takeover

Few people would deny the amazing work that Chabad has done in Jewish outreach and the success of this global hassidic movement founded by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liady in bring previously unaffiliated Jews into the fold and giving them a sense of community, belonging and heritage.

While Kfar Chabad, with its replica of 770 Eastern Parkway, is the focal point of Chabad activity in Israel, and contains the largest concentration of Chabad families, educational institutions and printing works for Chabad publications, Chabad is extremely visible in Jerusalem and has become even more so in recent years as its down-town facilities have multiplied.

The situation has intensified since the death of the Rebbe eleven years ago. Even in his lifetime, Chabadniks used to go around singing “We want Meshiach now.” Since his passing, the messianic arm of Chabad has become much more forceful.

College Students Devote Winter Break to New Orleans Clean-Up

Most college students are forgiven if they sleep in on January 1, nursing a headache from the past night’s excesses, but Erik Steel awoke early to catch a flight to New Orleans. Steel, a student at the State University of New York in New Paltz, buckled himself into his seat, quieted jitters about his first time ever on a plane, and headed off to join 49 other college students massing at Chabad of New Orleans.

They were the second of two groups who spent winter break at Chabad Lubavitch of Louisiana scooping muck, carting out moldy furniture, gutting waterlogged homes as part of Chabad on Campus’s ongoing Hurricane Katrina relief effort. One hundred students from Columbia, USC, University of Washington-Seattle, University of California-Santa Cruz, Harvard, Hofstra, SUNY Binghamton, Queens College, Brown University and 25 other schools participated in the two trips over winter break from December 18-24 and January 1-7.

Stemming crime spike

A Brooklyn neighborhood that saw murders double last year amid a citywide drop in homicides has added a dozen new cops to battle the rise in violence, police sources said.

The rookie cops assigned to the 71st Precinct will focus on trouble spots in southern Crown Heights, particularly on the weekends, to stave off shootings, serious assaults and murders. They’ll also concentrate on areas around schools where teen-on-teen crime fueled a 12% spike in robberies last year.

“I come home on the subway from a hard day’s work and there’s gunplay on the step,” said Cyril Miller, 57, a security guard standing on Nostrand Ave. near Sterling St. “It scares the living daylights out of me.”

New Chabad center coming to Mansfield

Mansfield’s growing Jewish population has not gone unnoticed. While everyone of the faith must now leave town to go to services, activities or Hebrew school in Easton, Attleboro, Brockton or Sharon, that may not always be the case, because a local Chabad House community center in Milford thinks Mansfield needs a center of its own.

Rabbi Yossi Kivman of New York is hoping to make Mansfield his new home.

Kivman’s brother, Mendy, said this week that Yossi intends to move to Mansfield with his family within the next six months and is now deciding what kind of services Mansfield will need.

Stolen menorah returned anonymously, damaged

The theft of the inflatable 9-foot novelty from the Chabad of Pinellas County is still under investigation.

A mammoth menorah stolen from a local synagogue has been anonymously returned.

But the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office will continue to investigate the incident as a theft, authorities said Wednesday.

Members of the Chabad of Pinellas County saw the 9-foot-tall inflatable statue lying near the driveway of their center just after Wednesday morning prayer service.

The novelty went missing Monday, the last day of Hanukkah.

Update on the mugging at gunpoint

The victim of the attack in which 2 black men grabbed a Bochur while walking on Montgomery St. between the blocks of Kingston Ave. & Albany Ave. and pulled a gun on him, had been taken to the Police Precinct where he scanned through files with pictures of criminals with previous records.

What came out of this was the identification of one of the perps involved, a 17 year old boy with an extensive criminal record. With this information on had the police will continue to pursue this case with more hope of catching those involved.

To read our report of the mugging CLICK HERE

The Mayor on the Topic of Crime in Crown Heights

AUDIO: The Mayor on the topic of crime in Crown Heights. CLICK HERE
The Mayor on the topic of illegal guns on the streets on NYC. CLICK HERE

In his Weekly Friday radio show with John Gambling, the Mayor Promised improvement for Crown Heights.

John Gambling brought up the topic of crime on the rise at the 71st PCT. in Crown Heights. To which the Mayor responded that he has seen the reports and has seen many complaints from residents in Crown Heights.

He continued saying that he has authorized for specialty officers from other precincts to be moved to the 71st for extra protection. He also said that a large number of officers have just recently graduated from the Police Academy, of which a nice percentage of them will be going to the Crown Heights area.

Chabad Rabbi Awarded by the Jewish Community Professional Association

When Chabad representative Shiffy Landa brought multiple intelligences to her classroom in St. Louis’s Epstein Hebrew Academy, her husband Rabbi Yosef Landa took note.

For those not up on education trends, multiple intelligences proposes that there are all kinds of minds. Some learn visually. Others learn by doing. Rabbi Landa received an Adult Educator award from the St. Louis Jewish Federation for bringing multiple intelligences to his teachings of Chasidic philosophy.

Israeli PM Ariel Sharon Suffers Massive Stroke

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive, life-threatening stroke Wednesday and underwent lengthy surgery to drain blood from his brain after falling ill at his ranch. Powers were transferred to his deputy, Ehud Olmert.

Doctors placed Sharon on a respirator and were trying to save his life only hours before the hard-charging, overweight, 77-year-old Israeli leader had been scheduled to undergo a procedure to seal a hole in his heart that contributed to a mild stroke on Dec. 18.

Israel Radio quoted an unidentified Israeli health official as saying that Sharon’s prospects of a full recovery were slim.

Mazel Tov to crown heights sisters

Rivka Keller’s parents were ready to leave Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze after she gave birth to the last baby born on Staten Island in 2005.

That’s when Mrs. Keller’s sister, Devora Palace, spoke up from her bed in the shared hospital room.

“I told them, ‘Wait! Don’t leave!'” Mrs. Palace said.

Several hours later, Mrs. Palace bore the first baby of the new year on Staten Island.

Her daughter, Chana, who weighed in at 8 pounds, 8 ounces and 21 inches long, was born at 12:41 a.m. on Sunday.

Chasidic Mapquest

Chemists looking for solutions to chemical mysteries keep an eye on the periodic table of elements. Now Kehot Publication Society, the Lubavitch publishing house, has released a Tanya poster to serve the same purpose for students of Chabad Chasidic philosophy who wish to solve spiritual quandaries.

With multicolored rectangles arranged in topical clusters, the poster, which provides an overview of Tanya, the central work of Chabad Chasidic philosophy, looks a lot like Mendeleev’s famous chart. The Map of Tanya, in English on one side and Hebrew on the reverse, shows the key elements of the opus’s first 53 chapters and offers clear clues about their relationship to one another.

Cameras expose hidden diaspora

Chabad Lubavitch Chassidim, subject of Jewish Identity Project which challenges the visual assumptions of what constitutes a Jew.

Some 30-plus years ago there was an extremely successful advertising campaign for Levy’s rye bread that used the slogan “you don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s.” The advertisement featured a native American munching on a sandwich made with the company’s product.

One is reminded of that advertisement when viewing an exhibit currently at The Jewish Museum: “The Jewish Identity Project: New American Photography,” which challenges our visual assumptions of what constitutes a Jew. Some 10 bodies of work by 13 artists, involving film and still photography, uses a variety of approaches, both real and fanciful.

Andrea Robbins and Max Becher’s “Brooklyn Abroad, 2004-2005” series shows how members of the orthodox Lubavitch Hasidim maintain their religious identity no matter how far they’re from their New York-based community. Lubavitchers in Iowa present an unlikely picture as they mow lawns, fish by a creek or simply pose against rural green backgrounds.

Chabad of South Broward Tops Ekaterinburg’s 6,000!

Long established as North America’s largest annual Chanukah event, “this year’s Festival surpassed all expectations,” says Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus, executive vice president of Chabad of South Broward.

The event served as Chabad’s 25th birthday celebration of Chabad of South Broward, a recognized leader in Jewish education, outreach and social services in 10 Broward cities with 11 centers and over 25 agencies.