Hundreds Attend the Levaya of R. Levi Yitzchok Schapiro OBM

Hundreds of residents led by the Bais Din of Crown Heights and members of the Vaad Hakohol attended the Levaya of R. Levi Yitzchok Schapiro OBM who had passed away last night [Monday] at the age of 90, after many years of devout community service. R. Schapiro was the Mazkir of the Bais Din and one of the first members of the Vaad Hakohol.

A Concert For Gush Katif

Over 2,000 women from Crown Heights, Boro Park, Flatbush, Monsey and New Jersey turned out for a benefit concert for Gush Katif, held Sunday night in Oholei Torah. The event was chaired by Mrs. Miriam Swerdlov, and Assemblyman Dov Hikind was the guest speaker. Musical entertainment was provided by the Light Peddlars Band, Kineret, and Shimona. The highlight of the evening was a video presentation produced by Rochi Lebovic, depicting the reality of the lives of the Gush Katif refugees.

The inspiration for this evening came from Rochi Lebovic, who spent last summer in Gush Katif, and did all she could to support the expelled families and ameliorate their difficult plight. She is now committed to raising awareness of the deplorable situation of the Gush Katif refugees, many of whom have not received a penny of compensation from the government and now have no homes, jobs or security.

Science and Torah: Conflict or Complement?

Some of today’s most hotly debated issues, including the instruction of evolution vs. the theory of intelligent design, the role of DNA testing in determining identity, halachic views on the Terry Schiavo case, and the unity of the universe, will be among many placed under the multiple microscopes of Halachah, Science, Kabbalah, and Chasidism at the Sixth International Miami Conference on Torah and Science in mid-December. Addressing the two-and-a-half day conference is a lineup of some of the Jewish world’s best known expositors on Science and Torah that includes medical professionals, physicists, rabbis, thinkers and mathematicians. Joining them to present his view on the theory of intelligent design vs. evolution will be Dr. William A. Dembksi, a Southern Baptist Seminary Professor of Theology and leading authority on the subject.

The conference, which convenes bi-annually in Miami, is a unique cooperative effort of The B’Or HaTorah Journal and its founder, noted Professor Herman Branover; The Shul of Bal Harbour, Florida, under the leadership of Rabbi Shalom D. Lipskar; and Professor Nathan Katz, head of the Department of Religious Studies at Florida International University.

Rosh Chodesh Kislev Farbrengen

The annual Rosh Chodesh Kislev farbrengen, celebrated on Thursday night in 770 is considered a ‘Seudas Hodaya’ (thanks giving) meal, and is one of the only events in 770 that attracts a diversified crowd of Crown Heights residents. The Farbrengen, arranged for the past 28 years, by Rabbi Meir Harlig, who also chaired the event opened with an address by Rabbi Yisroel Gordon, who read the Rebbe’s kapitel Tehillim.

A ‘Dvar Malchus’ was delivered by Rabbi Sholom Dovber Lipsker a Mashpia in Chovevei Torah Crown Heights and two interesting speeches were delivered by Rabbi Yossi Goldman, Shliach and chairman of the Federation of Rabbis of Johannesburg, South Africa, and the famous speaker Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Jacobson. These were followed by enthusiastic dancing until late at night, commemorating the joy that had filled 770 in the first ‘Rosh Chodesh Kislev’.

By popular request we got Rabbi Jacobson’s Speech, for your listening pleasure. It can be downloaded or listened to as a stream. Stream (WMA 2.9mb)

And here is Rabbi Yossi Goldman’s speech. It can be downloaded or listened to as a stream. Stream (WMA 500kb)

Yet Another Didan Notzach: Nine-foot-tall display to be erected in park…

Ed’s Note: At the end of the article there is a rather peculiar statement made by 3 “Rabbis” of Mercer County NJ stating that “we believe that the Menorah is a deeply religious symbol, belonging in synagogues, Jewish homes” and that is not true, how can these people be called rabbis???

West Windsor, NJ — With every Christmas tree we light — on public property, in an age of political correctness — come questions of freedom of speech and the separation of church and state.

Going back on a preliminary legal opinion not to allow Rabbi Sholom Leverton and Chabad of the Windsors to erect a lighted menorah in the Ron Rogers Arboretum at Clarksville Road and Route 571, township attorney Michael Herbert said the group should not be barred from displaying a menorah near the township’s Christmas tree display.

“We issued a preliminary opinion that it would not be permissible because cases hold that public property cannot be used to promote a religion,” Mr. Herbert said. “We’re simply trying to follow the law without taking sides.”

Valley couple opens Jewish center

PLEASANTON — A peek behind an embroidered covering with the words “Chabad of the Tri-Valley” reveals a smaller-than-average Torah, smuggled out of Communist Russia.

But the keepers of the scrolls, Pleasanton residents Rabbi Raleigh and Fruma Resnick of Pleasanton, want Judaism to be practiced far less clandestinely than was necessary at the time in Eastern Europe.

The New York natives have come to the Valley to form a Chabad Center they hope will serve as a “beacon of light” that draws Jews together to celebrate the sabbath, holidays and their faith.

As More New York Blacks Wear Blue, More Are Dying in the Line of Duty

Maybe they are only numbers: Four out of five.

Five times since the terrorist attacks of 2001, police officers have been shot dead in the line of duty. Four of those times, the families of black officers have taken front-row seats for the funerals.

The number of black people in the 37,000-member Police Department has risen slowly over the decades, but more rapidly in recent years. Blacks now make up 17.4 percent of the force – up from 9.2 percent in 2001 in a city where more than 25 percent of the population is black. Since 2001, though, the names of black officers and detectives have all but filled the list destined for permanent inscription in gilded bas-relief above the entrance to Police Headquarters: “Those Who Died in Performance of Duty,” as the plaque says.

New Chabad Centers Open at University of Kansas and CAL State Northridge

By the time students at University of Kansas and California State University, Northridge, return from holiday break, they will meet the two newest members of the 19 representatives Chabad on Campus sent to college this year.

As their departure for Kansas date nears, Rabbi Zalmy and Nechama Dina Teichtel are printing up postcards they’ll use to announce their presence on campus and pricing Chabad rep must-haves like a giant menorahs. Rabbi Chaim and Raizel Brook, who are on their way to Northridge, CA, are boxing up the contents of their Brooklyn apartment and brainstorming content for their first Torah classes.

Chabad Center to hold Hanukkah event at Union

As Hanukkah falls during winter break this year, the Chabad Center of Champaign-Urbana is holding a Hanukkah event Thursday from 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. in the Illini Union Recreational Room.

“The Hanukkah Bowl,” is an evening of bowling, billiards, food and fun, all in the Hanukkah spirit, according to the Chabad Web site. This is the only and first Hanukkah event ever sponsored by the Union Recreational Room.

Rabbi Dovid Tiechtel, the director of the Champaign Chabad Center, said this year marks the second year the event has been held. The whole room will be transformed into the Hanukkah spirit, he said. At the entrance to the Union, there will be a large menorah for all to enjoy.

Didan Notzach: Menorah to light up common

After legal pressure, Shrewsbury [Massachusetts] officials will allow all holiday displays on the town common and in front of Town Hall, no questions asked.

That’s the latest decision by the Board of Selectmen, which last week reversed its decision to deny a request to place a menorah on the common.

”If they’re exercising their First Amendment rights, they can do whatever they want to do,” Town Manager Dan Morgado said. ”The board’s position is they don’t endorse, approve, or disapprove” any activity on the common.

In August, the Chabad Jewish Center in Westborough asked Shrewsbury for permission to erect a menorah on the lawn of Town Hall or on the town common for eight days starting Dec. 25, the first night of Hanukkah.

Chabad of Oregon opening “Everything Jewish” store

Everything Jewish opens Dec. 5 in the former Starbooks location at 6684 S.W. Capitol Highway, Portland.

Rabbi Chayim Mishulovin, who moved to Portland in April with his wife Simi to run Chabad youth programs, will oversee the store’s operation. The store will offer a 10 percent discount for its first 10 days of operation with details available in the store, said Mishulovin.

Mishulolvin emphasized the store was not created to compete with other stores but is designed to further Chabad’s mission of bringing everything Jewish into the community. Chabad attempts to make Judaism affordable by providing items at reasonable cost. He said all profits will go back into the store.

Doughnuts and Oil on Tap at Strip Malls

Giant dreidels, life-sized Judah Maccabeecut-outs and computers loaded up with Chanukah games are coming to strip malls in Montgomery, Chester and Bucks counties.

Chabad Lubavitch’s idea of bringing “Chanukah Wonderlands” to area malls stems from the desire to make the story of the Jewish revolt against the Syrian Greeks come alive for children during a month where all things Christmas are seemingly everywhere.

“If you are a little Jewish boy or girl, it might not be all that comfortable during this month,” said Rabbi Yossi Kaplan of the Chabad Lubavitch of Chester County: Jewish Center in Devon. “We really emphasize the miracle of Chanukah.”

Holocaust Education on Track

Six-part adult-ed course taught here, and throughout the world

Rabbi Efraim Mintz divides the decades following the Holocaust into different stages based on Jewish reaction to its horrors: the shock and silence of the first two decades after World War II, followed by years marked by the urgency to tell, document and, most importantly, never forget.

The most recent period, said the director of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, is now coming to an end, with Holocaust memorials in nearly every major city, millions of dollars being poured into Holocaust museums worldwide, and several documentation projects under way.

With that in mind, Mintz and his organization sought a way to begin a new era of Holocaust memorialization, an era of deriving moral lessons for the current generation from the tragedies that befell millions – finding underlying messages in the face of extreme terror.

Construction On Kingston Ave.

For all those of you that are wondering what is going on at the Kingston Ave. and Crown St. intersection. The electric company is replacing an old transformer and its wiring, which spans across the entire intersection and then some.

The construction will have traffic all messed up till the work will be completed.

Here is where I would like to repeat the phrase “you know a city streets pavement is completed, is the first time they drill in it” how true I feel it is.

More pictures in the Extended Article