UPDATE: FedEx phonies lift $4M in Gem District

Note that there are many Jewish and Lubavitch men and woman that work and own businesses in the diamond district, and it’s arguably the single place (once block) where the most cash flows.

Click Here to watch a NewsCast of this story. (NY1)

A pair of armed bandits dressed as FedEx workers fast-talked their way into a Diamond District jewelry business yesterday and pulled off a brazen $4 million stickup.

Brandishing guns and plastic handcuffs, the robbers were in and out of Doppelt & Greenwald Diamonds, a sixth-floor jewelry wholesaler at Fifth Ave. and W. 47th St., in just a few minutes.

Replica of the Rebbe’s chair

From COL: A Jewish carpenter has crafted a replica of the Rebbe’s chair, and was displaying it for sale outside 770.

CHJCC Closed For Business

CrownHeights.info has received word today that the offices of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council did not open up today. The reason we heard was that the CHJCC employees were outraged by the fact that their health insurance policies were altered with out their knowledge or agreement.

From what we were told that this isn’t a coordinated strike, it is each employee expressing their outrage at whoever is behind this.

We will publish more information as we hear about it. If you have anything to add to this you can email me or post it in the comments.

SUSPECT EYED IN 2ND SHOOT

A hero Brooklyn cop yesterday was shot through the heart but lived long enough to help nab his attacker — who had mercilessly pumped a bullet into another officer just a week ago, police said.

Decorated Officer Dillon Stewart, 35, took one deadly bullet through his left armpit — a mere quarter-inch above the protective plate of his armored vest — while driving in pursuit of the Glock-toting thug in Flatbush around 2:49 a.m., cops said.

Suspected cop killer Allan Cameron — who last night also was fingered in the infamous gunpoint mugging of an off-duty officer in Crown Heights on Nov. 19 — got off at least five shots at Stewart and his partner, Paul Lipka, authorities said.

AP at the International Shluchuim Conference

The group picture of the International Shluchuim Conference was not only photographed by all the Chabad news website, which there were many of those (including us), there were photographers from the local newspapers and reporters, namely there was the New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, and there was Channal 2 CBS news and Channel 4 NBC News.

In extended article there are 2 more pictures by an AP photographer with her caption and take on the event.

So, Jews, the goyim will win after all?

According to the newspapers in Israel, Jews are rejoicing because the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Societies (IFRCRC) has finally agreed to open its doors to the Red Shield (or Star) of David, the Israeli organization that offers equivalent services to the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

Ok, so there’s a small catch: The Israelis cannot actually use their Red Star of David in this new arrangement, but must agree to a new symbol, a Red Crystal, inside which, for advertising purposes alone, they may now and then insert a small Star of David.

But hey, what’s the big deal? I mean, the Israeli organization has been fighting for decades, almost pleading, to be recognized in the same way the Muslim world’s Red Crescent Society been. And now, at last, it will be.

A Most Unusual Event

Shoppers, fresh from the streets of a city mad with holiday glitter swept into the lobby of the New York Hilton and found themselves in a different world. Eddies of buddy groups, the boys who played basketball in the yeshiva gym and grew up into spiritual leaders the world over, who only saw each other over the four-day International Conference of Shluchim clustered alongside the lobby sculpture. Newlywed young, wise eyed sages, the thin, the not-so-thin. Ginger headed, blond, gray streaked, speaking a polyglot of Hebrew, Yiddish, English, Russian and French. Chabad-Lubavitch Shluchim–2,769 representatives–had come to town and the night was theirs.

Catching up on family and community took a backseat when a woman approached a Chabad representative. She had a couple of questions and would the rabbi mind answering them. The shliach leaned in. Spoke with a smile. Never mind that former roommates and long lost friends waited to speak with him. A Chabad shliach is a Chabad shliach, always on mission. Finally, the woman smiled back. “Rabbi, I am glad I stopped by.”

NYPD Officer Shot on the Job, Dies at Hospital

A police officer shot overnight while investigating a stolen vehicle has died after being rushed to surgery this morning.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the 35-year-old officer died at Kings County Hospital. The officer was identified as Dillon Stewart, a five-year veteran of the NYPD, who lived in Elmont, Long Island.

Click here a for video of the event

The shooting happened at the corner of East 21st Street and Courtelyou Road in East Flatbush around 3:00 a.m. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says officer Stewart and a partner saw a car go through a red light and they gave chase. They were able to pull alongside the suspect’s car, and five shots were fired into the police cruiser. The commissioner says one bullet went into the officers left side, between to protective panels of his bullet proof vest. Commissioner Kelly says Officer Stewart, who was driving, was able to continue chasing the suspect’s car.

Urals Synagogue Marks Centennial Anniversary

CHELYABINSK, Russia – Chelyabinsk is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Synagogue with a series of festivities which got underway today. In addition to involving Mayor Mikhail Yurevich and other regional officials, the opening event involved Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar and other representatives of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia. The leaders also participated in a meeting with the region’s Governor Pyotr Sumin, who had helped the local community restore its Synagogue by allotting a sum of 200,000 rubles (about $7,000).

Rabbi Meir Kirsch, the Chief Rabbi of Chelyabinsk and a Chabad Lubavitch emissary, delivered an address to the audience and presented certificates of recognition to donors who supported the Synagogue’s construction. Guests enjoyed a guided tour of the two-story building. Festivities are to continue in the city’s Drama Theater, where a gala concert is to take place tonight.

The Shluchim Group Picture

Click on the image to see a larger version of it. (56K’ers Beware!)

The Kinnus Hashluchim Gala Banquet, NOW LIVE!

All those of you that couldn’t get to the banquet for one reason or another you can watch it live over the internet instead.

The Tzeirei Hashluchim Group Picture

Click on the image to see a larger version of it. (56K’ers Beware!)

Chabad house endures trying times

West Boca – After one worshiper shot another outside the crowded prayer hall, a media storm descended.

When the cameras pulled away, the disoriented congregation at Chabad Weltman Synagogue was left to heal as one of its members recovered from two gunshot wounds and another sat behind bars.

Then Wilma struck. Confusion flared. So did prayer in the dark while Chabad volunteers walked through mangled neighborhoods to feed the hungry.