Daily Archives: January 27, 2006

Chabad Event To Aid Katrina Victims

With a few spare minutes today and a couple of simple knots, UCSB students can help provide those who were hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina with some much-needed warmth.

Students can make no-sew blankets for Hurricane Katrina victims and their children, as well as the victims themselves, today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Arbor and from 4 to 6 p.m. in Santa Cruz and Francisco Torres Residence Halls. Volunteers can also make blankets from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Chabad House, located at 6655 #B on Abrego Road.

“It’s a way we can help out on a smaller scale, although it’s a huge mitzvah, which is the Hebrew word for a good deed,” Chabad Program Director Rochel Loschak said. “Every blanket counts, and every little good deed we can do makes a better world.”

Mystery of Time

Fairfax Chabad offers a class in Jewish mysticism.

A few years ago, Doris Snyder got the feeling that she had something more to learn about her Jewish faith. She needed answers to questions about things like the Jewish concept of life after death, she said. She had attended programs at Chabad Lubavitch of Northern Virginia, a Jewish outreach organization with a campus in Fairfax, and chanced to see adult education classes offered through the organization.

“I almost tripped over Chabad,” said Snyder. Before long, she and daughter Beth Axelrod were attending every one. Through Chabad, Snyder said, she has studied subjects such as the spiritual issues of right and wrong surrounding the Holocaust, and the stories of Biblical characters in everyday life.

“You come away with knowledge about things on a level you never knew existed before,” said Snyder, comparing the classes to studying philosophy. “It’s that feeling of never getting there, but the pursuit is extremely exciting.”