Chabad fights attacks with new security

Congregation plans to raise $30k to protect building

After two recent anti-Semitic attacks against Chabad-Lubavitch of the North Shore, the synagogue has begun a campaign to raise between $24,000 and $30,000 to upgrade its security. However, despite Chabad’s security fears, other synagogues in the area are not concerned that the attacks are part of a new surge in anti-Semitism in the Swampscott area.

The synagogue was vandalized days before Rosh Hashanah when vulgar graffiti was scrawled on interior walls. Two weeks later, a van belonging to Chabad was torched in the parking lot and deemed to be arson by the Swampscott Police Department. Both incidents are being investigated as a hate-crime by local and federal investigators. Police have not yet said whether there is a connection between the events but are continuing an investigation. A reward has been posted for any new information.

Confrontation diffused by his father!

In continuence to this story

The man seen in the center of the picture [red shirt] has received quite some attention from the local residents of Crown Heights. Driving around in an old beat up red convertible hassling people for money and giving out cigarettes to young kids, among other various accusations.

After Shomrim received numerous calls from resident complaining about this man, he was confronted and asked to leave the neighborhood, and when he didn’t comply Shomrim had taken action with the local police to have him forcefully removed. During the time it took for this to go trough he had managed to get into lots of fights with Bochurim outside 770 [up to 3 in one night] and other groups of people.

Tonight [at appx. 1:00am] Shomrim received yet another call to 770 complaining about him, and when they got there he refused to leave 770, so one of the members picked up his phone to his father, the man who had kicked his son out of his house, he was in utter shock that Shomrim had possessed this information on him, and spoke with his father who told him you are not welcome there so please just leave and go home to which he replied “what home?”, Shortly after he had left.

Tefillin Bank: Every Jew A Pair to Call His Own

Most banks give out complimentary pens. Generous banks give out toasters. But the Kushner International Tefillin Bank has given out 2,500 pairs of tefillin–for free–in the past six months. That was just the pilot phase of what will soon be the most ambitious tefillin campaign undertaken by Chabad or any organization in recorded Jewish history.

The Kushner International Tefillin Bank, a project of The Shul in Bal Harbour, FL, and the Shluchim Office of Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch, began distributing the prayer items last year. Within the first two months, the Tefillin Bank shipped phylacteries to three continents. The continent count is now up to six. A map on the future Tefillin Bank website divides the world into to green – have received tefillin, and red – no tefillin shipped there, yet. The world map turns greener by the day.

Over 15,000 Men, Woman & Children Worldwide Unite In The Fight For Jewish Literacy

This coming Sunday thousands worldwide will join together in the fight for Jewish literacy. The Second International Book-A-Thon will bring together Jews from all walks of life in a three week Jewish book reading campaign developed and run by Kehot Publication Society. Over 250 schools, libraries and Chabad Houses have already signed up for the program and more are registering every day.

In this unique campaign institutions are provided with everything they need to run the program including posters, fliers, brochures, and classroom programms for both children and adults. A full color prize brochure features a large spectrum of Jewish books, toys, games and CDs in addition to popular items like scooters, Ipods and a computer. Even books are arranged for many schools and Chabad Houses which lack even the most basic Jewish books for people to read during the program. One of the most spectacular parts of this program is that in addition to thousands being exposed for the first time to the world of Jewish books, 100% of the money brought in is used to purchase Jewish books for the library of the local institution.

MAJOR DISRUPTIONS ON SUBWAYS/ Here are just some of the disruptions you’ll be dealing with

Newscast of this event

–The No. 3 train is not running at all. In Brooklyn you can catch the No. 4 at most stops, and in Manhattan, the No. 5 will be making uptown stops instead of the No’s 2 and 3, while the uptown 2 runs on the 4 and 5.

–There will be no J train service between Cypress Hills and Broadway Junction in Brooklyn. Shuttle buses will replace the J train.

–There also won’t be any L train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Service is suspended between Lorimer Street and Eighth Avenue.

— N and R trains will be rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge in both directions between Canal Street in Manhattan and DeKalb Avenue in Brooklyn.

–Those are just some of the disruptions. For a complete list of this weekend’s detours, visit www.mta.info

NYPD Will Use Bomb Dectectors on Subway

Police next week plan to roll out another anti-terrorism tool designed to stop bombers from attacking the city’s subway system: portable explosive detection devices sometimes used at airports.

About a dozen high-tech detectors by various manufacturers — some resembling handheld vacuum cleaners, others the size of fax machines — will be positioned at subway entrances where officers conduct random bag searches, officials said Friday.

Conference Weighs Rebbe’s Legacy

The late Lubavitcher Rebbe was the subject of a groundbreaking three-day conference at New York University this week, a generally laudatory program that could set the tone for how the charismatic leader and his movement will be presented in future academic settings.

“What we are really going to do [with this conference is] set off a mode of research,” said the event’s organizer, Lawrence Schiffman, a Judaic studies professor at New York University. The conference, he added, was “in certain ways a communal research project.”

Why are white voters crossing party lines?

It has been 20 years since a majority of white city voters pulled the lever for a Democratic mayoral candidate — even as most remain registered Democrats themselves, the latest election results show.

According to a Pace University exit poll, Mayor Michael Bloomberg won last Tuesday among whites with 67 percent to 30 percent for Fernando Ferrer.

A Call of 4,000 Years

A big, burly man visited the rabbi’s home and asked to see the Rebbetzin, the rabbi’s wife, a person well known for her numerous charitable deeds.

“Rebbetzin,” he said in a broken voice, “I wish to draw your attention to the terrible plight of a poor family in this district. The father is dead, the mother is too ill to work, and the nine children are starving. They are about to be turned into the cold, empty streets unless someone pays their rent, which amounts to $6000.”

Serious assault averted B”H

Tuesday night a Lubavitcher girl was nearly raped on her way home, but thanks to an alert citizen this terrible event was averted. At around 3:00am last night a Shomrim member on his was home from an earlier assignment in 770, had a pedestrian stop him and tell him that a black man was following a Jewish girl, the Shomrim member called the Police right away, and proceeded to where they were, which was just off the corner of Kingston Ave. and Crown St., when he arrived Police were just arriving as well and together they nabbed the perp.

To read the story from the Daily News, Click Here.

This should serve as a beacon of a warning, this case ended B”H with no one getting hurt, but let this serve as a lesson, please be careful out there, the streets are dangerous so late at night.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe: A View From the Ivory Tower

Disagreement among the academics who convened earlier this week at a conference on the Lubavitcher Rebbe was evident in healthy abundance, but a thread of consensus emerged in almost all of the presentations that came from a wide variety of perspectives, none of which could adequately contain the Rebbe. “He was the embodiment of impossible contraries,” said Reuvein Kimmelman of Brandeis University.

That, it seemed was the impetus for the conference, which drew disparate disciplines together for a meeting of minds on the individual who arguably had the greatest impact on post-war Jewry, both in terms of reach and depth. “Reaching for the Infinite, The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Life, Teachings, Impact” was the theme of a three day conference at NYU that came to a conclusion on Tuesday, leaving many in the audience gratified but not satisfied.

Forward Names Matisyahu in Top Five

An excerpt from the Press Release

The Forward, American Jewry’s newspaper of record, today announced its highly-awaited “Forward 50” List of the most influential Jewish Americans.

This year’s Top Five, as diverse as the entire list itself, includes Steven Spielberg, Hasidic Hip-Hop sensation Matisyahu,

In the top 50 we find “Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, who has emerged as the most important leader of the Lubavitch Hasidic movement”.

Matisyahu
Equal parts reggae star, rapper and Hasidic cantor, Matisyahu is one of the biggest pop music phenomena of the past year, and the most unlikely. Virtually unknown just a year ago, the Lubavitcher singing sensation now headlines at some of the nation’s biggest concert venues. Later this month he heads for gigs in Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin. The singer, 26, whose given name is Matthew Miller, was born in a nonobservant Jewish home in suburban Philadelphia and raised in White Plains, N.Y. After dropping out of high school at 17 and following Phish to the West Coast, he found his way into the famous Carlebach Synagogue in New York City and began a spiritual journey that ended up in the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community of Brooklyn. Simultaneously he pursued a music career. He now has a following that stretches all the way from Crown Heights to the pages of the “beer and babes” magazine FHM; his television appearances include “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and “Last Call With Carson Daly.” According to his Web site, Miller combines the sounds of Bob Marley and Shlomo Carlebach. His songs, with titles like “Lord Raise Me Up” and “King Without a Crown,” speak of spiritual hunger in biblically inflected tones; set to reggae beats, they become supple, airy and sublime.

Letter: Chabad vandalism disturbs pastor

To the editor:

Rabbi Yossi Lipsker is a colleague. The people of his congregation worship in the building that once was the spiritual home for the people of the Congregational Church here in Swampscott. There is no doubt in my mind that things material can be repaired.

Further, there is no doubt in my mind that the soul and spirit of the human can be mended. Nevertheless, the reckless damage done to the synagogue and the vehicle belonging to the people of Chabad Lubavich during the past three weeks deeply disturbs me and the congregation that I serve.

Span Comes To U-Halt

The Daily News’s take on things.

An abandoned U-Haul truck forced the Brooklyn Bridge to close for almost an hour yesterday, sparking fears of terrorism and snarling traffic in two boroughs.

Scores of police vehicles, their sirens screaming, secured the span as anti-terrorism units searched the truck, which was ditched at the Brooklyn entrance to the historic bridge just before 4 p.m.

An inspection of the vehicle revealed no threat. Investigators believe it was left by a dimwitted driver who realized too late that trucks aren’t allowed on the bridge.

Abandoned Truck Briefly Closes Bridge

The Times seems to be off by a few hours. Actually it was 2 different incidents. And just to point out that there is no commercial traffic allowed on the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Brooklyn Bridge was shut down for nearly an hour yesterday afternoon after an abandoned truck was found on the entrance ramp to the bridge from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the police said.

The truck, a U-Haul, was discovered shortly after 3 p.m., and the bridge was closed at 4:01 as the police bomb squad and other units examined the truck.

Cars and other vehicles backed up on both sides of the East River, while pedestrians sat around, taking in the sun on the warm afternoon and talking. When nothing suspicious was found on the truck, the bridge was re-opened at 4:55 p.m., the police said. As the yellow police tape was pulled back, the rush of humanity and cars flowed once more on the warm spring afternoon.

A Wild Night in Crown Heights Part 4

At 9:00pm a report came in that a man was shot on the corner of Carroll St. and Troy Ave. Police was on scene right away, B”H no Jewish people were involved.

That’s all for now, and lets all hope it stays this way, but if it dosen’t don’t hesitate to call Shomrim at (718) 774-3333

A Wild Night in Crown Heights Part 3

At 8:45pm Shomrim received a call from an alert resident that had spotted the infamous Derek [Terrance] Nelson [which he identified from the pictures he had seen on CrownHeights.info] getting out of the back door of a car on Crown St. Between Troy Ave. and Albany Ave., Shomrim arrived on the scene immediately and held nelson up for questioning, which is when he made a run for it, a number of Shomrim members took off after him and called the police.

Nelson ran up Albany Ave. all the way to Eastern Pkwy. And made a left towards 770 then ran into an open door of one of the houses on the block and run up to the roof, this is when the police arrived and proceeded after him onto the roof followed by Shomrim, he ran across the rooftops then to be tackled by the police and was arrested, in his position they found a lot of loose change, commonly left in the ashtray of cars, and a knife.

Nelson had been caught a few times breaking into cars around the neighborhood, one of those times a CrownHeights.info photographer was on scene and got pictures of him “Red Handed” inside the car, CLICK HERE TO SEE THAT STORY. And another story. And one more.

If you spot a car break in don’t hesitate to call Shomrim at (718) 774-3333 24/7