I penned this op-ed as a response to the one titled “The Decline of Tomchei Temimim.” First of all, contrary to the title’s suggestion, this isn’t a new concept. Yeridas hadoros is normal, not breaking news.
When you walk into a typical Lubavitch yeshivah gedolah, you see bochurim sitting over seforim and conversing. They are presumably discussing whatever is inside the sefer open in front of them. It looks pretty good.
Some Jews bought a house and moved in. “So what?” you might ask. If it were anywhere else in the world, little notice would be taken. But in this case, the home is in Hevron, and the last owner was an Arab.
I am a student in 10th grade. It is irrelevant if I had Facebook or not. I just want to clarify a bit about what my school is all about.
I always knew my son’s school was special. Oholei Torah has always been at the forefront of educating our boys. However, I did not really appreciate how special the school’s role models are until our son became gravely ill.
Usually when you visit a school you walk down a quiet hallway and peer in the little windows in the classroom doors. You see one teacher talking to a bunch of students. Every 50 minutes or so a chime goes off and the students fill the hallway and march off to their next class, which is probably unrelated to the one they just left.
The annual Kinus HaMechanchim will be held on Monday 25 Tammuz, July 16th and Tuesday 26 Tammuz. July 17th. This announcement came today from the Merkos Chinuch Office. The Kinus will be held at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Danbury CT, I hour 15 min Brooklyn. The women’s Kinus will be held at the DOLCE, Norwalk on 12-13 Tammuz, July 2nd and 3rd.
Over the past decade, thousands of words have been spilled, in conversation and in print, over the alarming rate of our youth going off the derech. Accusations have been made against our school systems and against the parents. The rabbonim, the mashpiyim and even our store vendors have been blamed.
About a month ago, a letter came out signed by many Chabad Rabbonim, Roshei Yeshiva and Mashpiim urging bochurim to get married earlier, at the age of 20-21, instead of what has been the common practice to begin getting involved in shidduchim at 23-24.
We are living in a time when many families are struggling. Some don’t have money for their most basic necessities, heaven forbid. Some have basic parnosso, thank g-d, but little beyond that. Simchas haven’t slowed down; it seems that celebrations are ever increasing.
Now that the deadline has passed, a typical question I’ve been asked these past weeks is, “did you submit your application?” This of course is in reference to the position for Chief Rabbi.
The following is an incident that occurred On Shushan Purim, Friday, March 9th 2012.
I wasn’t planning to write about this since I initially figured this was solely a private matter. After replaying it in my mind and talking about it with friends and family, I realized that it is should be shared with others too, since it wasn’t about my family and me personally, but rather it happened to us because we are Jewish, making it relevant to any Jew.
In honor of the month of Adar, a reader sent us this humorous poem (re: op-ed) about the things Lubavitchers talk about in Crownheights.info op-eds:
As an early subscriber to the energy and intentions that Chevra Ahavas Yisroel brought to the table, I have to say I am truly proud of their accomplishments… a new building, a loyal following and packed house every Friday night, with people who genuinely care about davening. Apparently they now have a consulting Rov, and are continuing to grow by leaps and bounds. Kol Hakavod.
I was invited to attend the Dr. Phil show last week to offer commentary on their feature story about a young and beautiful woman who had a tale of unsettling circumstances in regard to her Chassidic background. As the Dr. Phil show unfolded, I listened intently to a young woman named Pearl Reich who, at the age of seventeen, was betrothed to a man for whom she was clearly unsuited, at her parents’ discretion and against her will.
I am a Crown Heights girl born and bred. A few years ago I moved with my family to upstate to New York. Each time I come back to Crown Heights, I am sadden and shocked to see how our girls and women are moving away from Torah and Yiddishkeit (in their actions and in the way they are dressing). I have wondered why we are losing so many of our girls from the Torah way.
Here I am, a regular Lubavitcher Yungerman who grew up in a Chassidishe family, of which all members currently serve as Shluchim, facing the hard reality that I may never be like them. It’s not that I want to copy them that I am upset, and definitely not because I have nothing else to do; I really want to be a Shliach.
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