History was made in Sydney last night when the Jewish festival of Chanukah came to Parliament House for the first time since the New South Wales Parliament was established in 1856. The event was initiated and hosted by the Yeshiva Centre – Chabad NSW Headquarters under the auspices of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.
As the days of Pesach were approaching, an alcoholic man went to visit a community Rov with an interesting dilemma. “Rabbi, I’m a recovering alcoholic. Even though I could not control my drinking, I always stayed out of trouble. I always managed to manage my home and professional life, and I never put myself or anyone else in danger. I have been clean for a number of years, and I would like to fulfill the mitzvah of the Four Cups on wine instead if grape juice this year.”
Without a moment of hesitation the Rov answered, “Absolutely not.”
Despite the man’s explanations and protests, the Rov was adamant.
Some days before Yom Tov, this man came across the Rov in the street.
“You know, Rabbi, after I met with you, I explained my situation to another Rov, and he gave me a heter to use wine!”
Students at Leeds University in England glimpsed life in one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities last weekend through the recollections of Edwin Shuker, an expatriate Iraqi who fled his Arabian homeland as a boy.
“My particular passion was the teachings of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.” Born to an unobservant family in London, Rabbi Chaim Miller first encountered the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s teachings as a student at Leeds University. “His discourses impressed me in terms of their tremendous intellectual depth and brilliance,” he recalls.
Today, he is dedicated to disseminating these teachings to as wide an audience as possible. His Kol Menachem publishing house, which he founded in 2002 with philanthropist Meyer Gutnik, has already produced a number of popular works with extensive commentary culled from the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s public discourses and writings – the Gutnik Chumash, the Kol Menachem Haggadah and two books on the Rambam’s 13 principles of faith.
The Jewish Press recently spoke with Rabbi Miller about his background and Kol Menachem’s latest volume, The 13 Principles of Faith: Principles VI & VII.
Every moment a parent has with their child is precious, and no one can appreciate that more than one who has lost a child.
In memory of Shula Swerdlov, a”h, a beautiful little girl and young Shlucha who was tragically taken away from her family at the tender age of three, children around the world on will be learning with their parents during the eight days of Chanukah.
Usually, it’s the shopping on Canal Street and the never-dimming lights of Times Square that create the biggest impact on visitors to the City that never sleeps. But for the nearly 100 participants from the Greater Toronto Area who participated in the Chabad Youth Network New York Shabbaton, with Rabbi Shmuli Nachlas – CYN, along with Rabbi Meir Gitlin of Chabad Markham, gave these teens some very different things to remember.
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