Ted Williams and Us

By Yochanan Gordon

Most of us have by now come to know who Ted Williams is. Just in case there are those reading this that have not chanced upon his internet video that has garnered over five million views and his subsequent life story, here it is in a nutshell. Ted Williams, born and raised in Brooklyn, was a former radio personality who ran into hard times with drugs, alcohol and the law which sadly spiraled out of control leaving him homeless and perhaps even worse – hopeless. Despite his negligence and the consequences that he suffered as a result he held onto that rather dormant sense of hope that one day he would be given another chance to succeed.

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Unlicensed Driver hits, kills Holocaust Survivor

NY Daily News

Rabbi Adler Moshe, a Holocaust survivor, was hit and killed by a driver in Brooklyn. Photo: VINnews.com

A Brooklyn man was arrested after running over a Holocaust survivor and killing him, police said Thursday.

As the 27-year-old man, was cruising westbound on Avenue J in Midwood about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday he hit 82-year-old Moshe Adler, a rabbi, who stepped into the crosswalk at E. Ninth St., police said.

NYC, Still Rattled from Storm, Faces More Snow

NEW YORK CITY [AP] — Another storm is taking aim at New York City, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg is still under fire for slow cleanup of a stubborn winter blast that kept streets clogged for days and delayed trash pickups, causing uncollected garbage to pile up for more than a week.The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for the New York City, plus parts of New Jersey, Connecticut and suburban Long Island, beginning Friday morning. Two to 5 inches of light snow could come overnight Thursday with heavier snow possible Friday into Saturday.

David G. Trager, Judge in Crown Heights Case, Dies at 73

NY Times

David G. Trager, a federal judge in Brooklyn whose rulings were pivotal in a racially charged case in Crown Heights and in the first civil suit to challenge the Bush administration’s practice of sending terrorism suspects to countries that employ torture, died on Wednesday at his home in Brooklyn. He was 73.

The cause was pancreatic cancer, his wife, Roberta E. Weisbrod, said.

After three decades as a lawyer, state investigation commissioner, federal prosecutor and law school professor and dean, Mr. Trager was named to the United States District Court for the Eastern District by President Bill Clinton in 1993. After assuming senior status in 2006, Judge Trager worked full time until recently. The district encompasses Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

Sicha of the Rebbe – Parshas Bo

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Torah portion Hashem (G-d) sends the tenth and final plague upon the Egyptian people and every firstborn in the land of Egypt died.

2. When Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) forewarned Pharaoh about the impending catastrophe that was about to befall him and his people, he told him that the plague would happen “Ki’cha’tzos Ha’lie’lah – at around midnight”.

Rashi explains that the actual prophecy which Moshe Rabbeinu received from Hashem to tell over to Pharaoh was that the plague of the firstborn would happen precisely at midnight, however Moshe Rabbeinu changed the wording to “at around midnight” because if he would say “precisely at midnight” and Pharaoh and his stargazers would make a mistake as to when the exact time of midnight is, they would say that Hashem was late or early (Heaven Forbid) in bringing the plague.

The Talmud Train Troop

Back in 1991, Rabbi Pesach Lerner, 56, was approached by Aryeh Markovich on the LIRR. He wanted to know if the Orthodox rabbi would be willing to teach the Talmud on the 7:51 a.m. train from Far Rockaway to Manhattan. (The Talmud is one of Judaism’s main texts, and it takes about 7½ years to complete one’s studies of it, Lerner says.) “I used to see a lot of people playing cards on the train,” says Markovich, 51, president of EyeMark Media. “And it really bothered me. I said, ‘Why don’t we do something for people to utilize their time productively and learn something, too?’ ”

Motzai Shabbos: Remembering Reb Yossi Tevel OBM

This Motzai Shabbos will mark the first Yohrtzeit of the passing of Reb Yossi Tevel, a man that was truly loved by all and touched many lives. His untimely passing shocked the community. Marking this day the family is hosting an evening in his memory in Lubavitcher Yeshiva this Motzai Shabbos.