20 Students in One Yeshiva Discover They Are Cousins

Descendants of Rabbi Chaim Ben-Zion Raskin (left) pose for a picture at their Tomchei Temimim yeshiva in Kiryat Gat, Israel.

In a world where large families are not unheard of, it’s not uncommon for a student at a Chabad-Lubavitch run yeshiva to find a cousin or two among his peers. But at the Tomchei Temimim post-high school rabbinical school in Kiryat Gat, Israel, a full 10 percent of the student body and a teacher recently learned they were all related.

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Jewish Business Network Returns to Ft. Myers

News-Press

Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz, right, leads a meeting Thursday at Chabad Lubavitch of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers. Minkowicz and others at the gathering are also part of the Jewish Business Network.

The Jewish Business Network of Southwest Florida is making a comeback by popular demand.

UPS Driver Robbed at Gunpoint

CROWN HEIGHTS [CHI] — A UPS driver was robbed at gunpoint earlier today by a fearless and calculating bandit, who ditched his firearm and later went back to recover it. The robbery took place in broad daylight right near Kingston Avenue, and police ignored crucial information provided by Shomrim.

Major Accident on Empire Injures 3, Pins Driver

Crown Heights [CHI] — A pickup truck and a sedan collided mid intersection on Empire Boulevard, sending one through the front of the liquor store and the other up onto the sidewalk. One pedestrian, an elderly woman was hit and critically injured.

Confirmed: Sardines Are Kosher

New York Times

Just so you know: Canned sardines are kosher. This judgment would appear to be definitive, based on DNA evidence. Genetic testing by a parasitologist at the American Museum of Natural History has confirmed that the recent discovery of small worms in canned sardines does not render them treyf, or unkosher. It may render them unappetizing, but that judgment is up to the consumer.

Former Deadheads Launch Bowery Synagogue

NY Post

Rabbi Dov Yonah Korn with an NYU Student.

What a long, strange trip it’s been. A former Deadhead couple who became Hasidic Jews are set to open what will be the only synagogue on the Bowery — a stone’s throw from where the Ramones’ favorite punk club, CBGB, once stood.

Remembering Menachem Mendel Oberlander, 20

Menachem Mendel Oberlander, of blessed memory, had been ill for as long as I had known him. My brother knew him before he got sick, but I did not. Mendel was the son of Rabbi Baruch and Batsheva Oberlander, head Chabad representatives to Hungary. A bright and questioning child, he was fluent in four languages.

Israeli Embassies in India and Georgia Attacked

In New Delhi, India on Monday, the wife of an Israeli diplomat was injured when a bomb attached to her car exploded while she was driving. Just after dropping her kids off to school, according to Israeli media accounts, the bomb detonated. She was able to complete the drive to the Israeli Embassy where she was taken to a hospital for medical treatment.

Speaker Boehner Addresses Aleph Conference

Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner (R-Ohio), poses for a photo with attendees of the conference in the Shul of Bal Harbour.

Aleph hosted a military weekend for 75 U.S. military personnel and their spouses as part of its 5th Annual “Military Training Conference and Shabbaton.”