In this week’s edition of Letter and Spirit, we present a letter from the Rebbe in which he connects the teachings of the Frierdiker Rebbe on Parshas T’ruma – the construction of the mishkan – with our eternal and constant obligation of Torah chinuch and its dissemination. The letter was written in English through the Rebbe’s trusted secretary Rabbi Nissan Mindel, and was made available by the latter’s son-in-law, Rabbi Sholom Ber Shapiro.
Speaking at a press conference in Crown Heights, the mother of the stabbing victim, Mrs. Rivkah Brikman, called on police to apprehend the attacker and thanked G-d that her son was not killed.
A new bandage invented by Israelis aims to save lives by stopping otherwise unmanageable bleedings in the field and in hospitals.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg sees an opportunity emerging in presidential politics after Hillary Clinton’s blowout defeat in New Hampshire combined with Donald Trump’s ascension in the tumultuous Republican race.
24 years ago, on the 2nd of Adar Aleph, Mrs. Pesha Leah Lapine, HYD, was murdered al kiddush hashem. The horrific killing shocked the community, and the Rebbe took it very personally – attending her Levaya with pain visible on his face. A gallery of photos from that Levaya was acquired and restored by JEM, and can be viewed in the extended article – along with the translated diary of an Israeli Bochur who transcribed his firsthand account of the events of that fateful day.
On Sunday night, as residents of Hong Kong were ushering in the Chinese New Year, members of Hong Kong’s Jewish community—men, women and children—took the streets, quite literally, to distribute food packages to the city’s homeless.
Member of the Israeli Knesset Yoel Razbozov (Yesh Atid) is attending the wedding of the daughter of Russia’s Chief Rabbi, Berel Lazar, which is currently underway in Moscow. To his right is philanthropist Lev Leviev, and to his left is director of the Leviev Foundation, Rabbi Dovid Mondshine.
Alternate side parking (street cleaning) regulations will be suspended Friday, February 12, for Lincoln’s Birthday and Monday, February 15, for Presidents Day. All other regulations, including parking meters, remain in effect.
A knife covered in dried blood was located Thursday morning and turned over to the police by Shomrim. The six-inch serrated blade is believed to be the one used in the unprovoked attack on a Crown Heights Jewish man Wednesday afternoon. Police are investigating it as a possible hate crime.
Twenty cents an hour. That is all some employees in America get for their hard work, and only because of their disabilities. Big change is way past due, and advocates spent the day on Capitol Hill lobbying congressional and other leaders to make it happen.
The committee of Keren Yisroel Aryeh Leib, a Gemach that benefits Many Crown Heights families, is inviting the community to join its annual Melava Malka, which was originally cancelled due to the blizzard and will instead take place this Motzai Shabbos at Beis Rivkah-310 Crown Street, beginning at 8:30pm.
Rabbi Mendel Lipskar is the Executive Director of Chabad of South Africa. He also serves as the rabbi of the Shul at Hyde Pak in Johannesburg. He was interviewed by JEM’s My Encounter with the Rebbe project in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August of 2014.
