Landmark Manual Published for Jewish History Teachers

Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine — A presentation took place for the new teachers’ manual “The People of Israel are Alive”, which is aimed at eighth graders attending Jewish schools. The Ohr Avner Chabad Day School in Dneprodzerzhinsk is the first institution to use this book.

This successful project will benefit children in learning about the life of European Jews from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The teacher’s manual also includes methodological recommendations for teachers, maps, a glossary, and chronological charts (timelines showing the creation of the world until the modern era).

New Shluchim to Mexico

Rabbi and Mrs. Mendel Druk of Crown Heights have just moved to Cancun, Mexico where they will establish a new Chabad House serving the needs of the local Jewish residents and many tourists who visit the island.

The new Shluchim were appointed by Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch.

The new Shluchim can be reached via e-mail at mendeldruk@gmail.com

CrownHeights.info would like to wish the new Shluchim Hatzlocha Rabba on their Shlichus!

New Shluchim to New Jersey

Rabbi Kivi and his wife Zeesy (nee Goldman) Greenbaum will IYH be moving on Shlichus to Ewing, NJ where they will establish a new Chabad House on the campus of the College of New Jersey.

The new Shluchim were appointed by Rabbi Dovid Dubov the director of Chabad of Mercer County.

CrownHeights.info would like to wish the new Shluchim Hatzlocha Rabba on their Shlichus!

The new Shluchim can be reached via e-mail at unclekiv@hotmail.com

Fledgling Chabad House Hailed as Club of the Year

When Rabbi Levi and Hadassah Backman arrived at Western Washington University in Bellingham, they didn’t expect their Chabad House to win an award in just under a year-and-a-half. But on May 31 – the date represented the completion of the Backmans’ fifth trimester serving the students and surrounding community – Associated Students, the university’s umbrella organization of student activities, awarded the Backmans’ student club the religious “Club of the Year” commendation.

In its presentation, Associated Students hailed the 17-month-old Chabad House, one of 20 religious clubs at Western Washington, for bringing “Shabbat for everyone to campus.”

New Shluchim to Toronto

Rabbi Sholom and Mrs. Devora Lezell have recently moved to The Beaches community to establish a new Chabad House, serving the needs of the Jewish communities of Toronto East.

The Lezells were appointed by the head Shliach of Ontario Rabbi Z. A. Grossbaum

The new Shluchim can be reached via e-mail at Chabadbeaches@aol.com

CrownHeights.info would like to wish the new Shluchim Hatzlocha Rabba on their Shlichus!

Chabad home to Houston’s first-ever designated-dishes mikvah

Houston, TX — Bouncing on the balls of his feet, soon-to-be-65-year-old Rabbi Shimon Lazaroff hardly could conceal his excitement as the massive concrete mixer rounded the corner of Fondren and Portal the morning of June 27. “This is a historic occasion!” he proclaimed, hoisting a large push broom into the air. “No more trips to the chiropractor!”

New Website to Document the Journey of Merkos Shluchim

A new website has just opened and will follow the journey of Bochurim on Merkos Shlichus in 12 locales around the world.

RovingRabbis.com is being launched through Chabad.org and will feature Bochurim on Merkos Shlichus in Berlin, Germany, Caribbean, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Saskatchewan, Shanghai, South West Germany, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin blogging about their experiences.

Jewish Youth Seminar Held in West Siberia

Omsk, Russia – In the west Siberian city of Omsk, a seminar took place for young activists involved in the local Jewish community and the ‘Omets’ Youth Club.

This event was held at a resort not far from town and featured lectures by visiting specialists. One of the highlights of this gathering was when Rabbi Levi Druts, from the Moscow Yeshiva, told the young men about how he found his way back to Jewish traditions.

Jewish Boys Choir Performs at Cultural Festival

Donetsk, Ukraine –- Last week, Donetsk hosted a performance by the ‘Pirchei Donetsk’ Boys Choir. The concert was organized in celebration of Youth Day in Ukraine, for which the Donetsk Municipal Council and the ‘AISEC’ Student Association organized the Festival of Culture.

Participants came from as far away as Jamaica, Columbia, France, Jordan, Turkey and Malaysia. The ‘Pirchei Donetsk’ Choir represented Israel, without ever having actually visited the Holy Land. This remains an unfulfilled dream that the boys and their leaders, Alexandra Mirlakha and Zinaida Zenyuk, eventually hope to realize.

A Camp of Their Own

Naperville, IL — Rabbi Mendy Goldstein counts among his fondest memories the times he spent at Jewish summer camps during his youth.

You’ve Got a Friend Project Pairs Teens with Special Needs Youngsters

Germantown, MD — The first couple of times 17-year-old Olessia Rubin visited 6-year-old Moishe this spring, she said the developmentally delayed boy was kind of shy and a little hesitant to hang out with her.

But by the time she went to visit Moishe last week, that had all changed.

Canberra to get first Mikvah

Canberra, Australia — The small Jewish community in the Australian capital of Canberra is building a mikvah.

Aharon Serebryanski, a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi from Melbourne, has pledged to fund Canberra’s first Jewish ritual bath. Approximately 600 Jews live in Canberra, whose lay-led community has no rabbi or kosher butcher. Orthodox and liberal Jews share prayer facilities at a Jewish center.

Summer Programs Abet Moscow Jewish Seniors

Moscow, Russia – The ‘Shaarey Tsedek’ Charity Center in Moscow has arranged for a variety of summer programming for its clients, mainly elderly Jews. “Our activities are broad ranging, designed to complement those permanent programs offered year-round,” explained Chana Shulkina, the Head of the Leisure Program at ‘Shaarey Tsedek’. “Our clients will have the opportunity to attend various lessons, sports and clubs focused on their own specific interests.”

Urals Jewish Community Inaugurates Summer Camp

Yekaterinburg, Russia – Summer camp season has commenced for 150 children from the Urals Region of Russia thanks to the initiative and organization of the Jewish community of Yekaterinburg, a member of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia. Together with their parents and family members, the youngsters gathered in the Jewish Community Center for the opening ceremony of the ‘Gan Israel’ Day Camp, the camp is sponsored by the Ohr Avner Foundation headed by Mr. Lev Leviev.