Long Island begins task of storm clean-up

Workers filled a trash container with soaked carpet, floor boards and office furniture Thursday at Congregation Beth Sholom Chabad in Mineola.

Rabbi Anchelle Perl tried to save what he could, but the water had been a relentless invader at the Willis Avenue temple.

“It came up through the sump pump in the boiler room,” said Perl, a 53-year-old Long Beach resident.

Like many Long Islanders, Thursday was about surveying damage and mounting a cleanup after drenching rain pummeled the island a day earlier.

More pictures in the Extended Article.

At the Un-Camp, Girls Explore Their Jewish Identities

Killington, VT — In Vermont’s most southern tip, just a short drive from the New York border, the hills are very much alive. In the cozy lounge area of the Trailside Lodge, a girl is teaching her friends a dance. Two guitars lean on a couch and a pair of dirty sneakers sit on a chair. Girls swim outside, while inside music is playing and the sound of laughter reverberates in the walls.

Chabad California launches Friday Light campaign

Los Angeles, CA — Chabad of California is spearheading a massive campaign to encourage Jewish women to light Shabbat candles.

The campaign to distribute Shabbat candles, first launched 33 years ago by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, is plunging ahead full force again after the organization purchased over one million candle packs, each containing a pair of candles, a wrist bracelet and a leaflet with prayers and information on Shabbat.

A New Campus For Jewish Education

Los Angeles, CA — Chabad of California today announced the acquisition of a 23,000 square foot building on La Cienega Boulevard that will become the new campus of the Cheder Menachem elementary school, named after the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson. Plans are underway for a full renovation and upgrade of the facility, which is located just south of Pico Boulevard in the heart of West Los Angeles’ Jewish community.

Time Out for Jewish Kids from Industrial Ukraine

Donetsk, Ukraine – The summer camp for girls, organized by the Jewish community of Donetsk, has just come to a close. With residents of Ukraine’s Donetsk Region knowing just how much living in a highly industrial region can take a toll on your health, the local community decided to hold this event outside the region – at a resort on the coast of the Azov Sea.

This is the twelfth season the Jewish community of Donetsk has run the ‘Gan Israel’ camp run by Chabad Lubavitch. Like those before it, the youngsters enjoyed games, sports, contests, lessons on Jewish traditions, crafts, swimming, and other activities. ‘Time Capsule’ was the theme of this year’s camp, with the kids exploring important dates in Jewish history. Highlights included trips to the circus, horse riding, and a boat trip.

Active Summer for Jewish Youth of Bryansk

Bryansk, Russia –- Despite the fact that many residents of Russia use their summer holidays to take a break from everything, Jewish youth in the city of Bryansk have decided to carry on their activities as usual. Through the ‘STARS’ program, they have been enthusiastically living an active Jewish life.

Participants meet up twice a week in order to attend lessons on the Torah and to discuss the actual developments and challenges concerning the Jewish community. They also enjoy the guidance of Chief Rabbi of Bryansk Menachem Mendel Zaklos, who is serving the region as a Chabad Lubavitch emissary.

Students Get an Instant Shabbat in Vermont

Burlington, VT — Last semester, Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Zalman Wilhelm and his wife Chani spent the minutes between 1 and 2 a.m. each Friday waiting for an unusual special delivery. Like clockwork, a visitor would emerge from the darkness at the home of the directors of the Chabad House at the University of Vermont, knock on the door and drop off a box of some challah rolls.

The mysterious early morning delivery is a quirky snapshot of the Shabbat-to-Go program, in which the Wilhelms assembled 80 Shabbat “care packages” and passed them out to students each Friday. The free kits included grape juice, a candle, a small snack and instructions on how to celebrate Shabbat; each package had a sticker on the outside telling students what time the sun would set that evening so that they could light the Shabbat candle at the proper time.

Jewish Summer Camp Opens in Uzbekistan

Tashkent, Uzbekistan — This week, the Jewish community of Uzbekistan announced the grand opening of the ‘Gan Israel’ summer camp. Aimed at children and teenagers, this current retreat involves over 100 girls of various ages. Participants were bussed out to the camp site on Sunday.

This year’s camp will take place at a resort, located near the village of Oktash, which has been rented by the Jewish community especially for this event. The youngsters were very pleased to find two swimming pools, a sauna, and a playground at their convenience. Here, they will enjoy a variety of sports, competitions and educational programs focusing on Jewish traditions.

Australian Art Hub to Get Mikvah Worthy of its Reputation

Malvern, Australia — A Melbourne suburb which was once the home to seven Victorian governors and now has become something of an artsy oasis for the country’s intellectual set, is getting a new mikvah.

The Jewish ritual bath, which will be decorated with greenery and will boast a plush waiting room, has been designed with the goal of attracting more woman to the observance of family purity laws.

And partly in deference to its surroundings, right above the pool’s entrance will hang a mural depicting a sunset, which happens to be right around the time women go to the mikvah.

Jewish Camp Wraps Up in Mogilev

Mogilev, Belarus – In Belarus, the ‘Gan Israel’ Camp operating in the city of Mogilev has drawn to a close for the season. This fun and educational three week retreat was organized by the Jewish community of Mogilev, a member of the Association of Jewish Communities of Belarus and Chabad Lubavitch.

Jewish Youth Seminar Wraps Up in Volgograd

Volgograd, Russia – This week in Russia’s Volga Region, the Jewish community of Volgograd hosted the international seminar ‘Jewish WorldView ‘. The event involved 33 youth from 13 different settlements across Russia and Ukraine, some of whom attended such an event for the first time. Many others were glad to meet up with friends they made at last year’s gathering.

Jewish Community Welcomes its New Rabbi

In a decade of living in the Mexican tourist hub that is Cancun, Samuel Rovero, 40, has dedicated much of his time to building up the local Jewish community. He helped found the community center in 1997, and two years ago, served as president of the 200-strong community.

But there was still something missing for Rovero: the presence of a rabbi, the kind of central authority the businessman remembers anchoring the tightly-knit Jewish community in his hometown of Guadalajara.

Chabad translating Jewish texts into Russian

Moscow, Russia — The Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia announced a five-year project to translate 50 Jewish religious texts into Russian.

According to federation spokesman Baruch Gorin, the project, called The Library of Jewish Texts, is aimed at Russian-speaking Jews worldwide and non-Jewish Russian speakers interested in getting acquainted with Judaism.

Chabad Couple Named To New Virginia Tech Librescu Chabad House

Blacksburg, VA — In an exclusive interview with Lubavitch.com, Rabbi Yossel Kranz, executive director of Chabad of the Virginias, named the young couple who formally accepted the offer to head the new Chabad House opening next month at Virginia Tech.

Rabbi Elazar and Rivkah Bloom, both with advanced science degrees and Chabad outreach experience, tied up loose ends with Rabbi Kranz late on Sunday. Earlier in the week, an innkeeper chose Chabad’s bid for her bed and breakfast that stands a block from campus, to become the home of the new Chabad House, named for Liviu Librescu. The inkeeper gave V Tech Chabad six months to secure the funds to complete the purchase.

Belarus Jewish Camp Witnesses Record Turnout

Minsk, Belarus –- The Association of Jewish Communities of Belarus, one of the largest Jewish organizations in the country, will soon be hosting a summer camp for Jewish children. The event gets underway in July in a scenic place on a lakeshore near Pinsk, a city located in the Brest Region.

Sholom Malinkin, the Chair of the Association, explained. “This is the first time ever that we have been able to organize the camp for about 300 children,” explained Sholom Malinkin. “They come from 20 different towns across Belarus, including firstly those cities with a Chabad Lubavitch emissary.”