50 years ago, in the anxious days leading up to the outbreak of the Six-Day-War, the Lubavitcher Rebbe launched his first Mivtza (campaign) – that every Jewish male above the age of 13 should put on Tefilin, and he assured that in this merit G-d would show the Jewish people miracles. The rest is history.
This week, we present a letter from the Rebbe in which he clarifies the concept of shmitta – going beyond the limited understanding of it as merely a sabbatical for the land to recoup its strength. The letter, written originally in English, is from the archives of the Rebbe’s personal trusted secretary, Rabbi Nissan Mindel.
Rochester, N.Y. boy scout Benjy Spanjer was getting impatient. It had been nine years, and the 17-year old was more than ready to advance to the highest achievement in the boy scouts hierarchy, that of the eagle scout.
The Jewish community of Paris, France, gathered together Wednesday night to mark the Shloshim since the passing of Rabbi Mendel Deutsch, HYD, a former member of their community who was brutally murdered by thugs in the Ukrainian city of Zhitomir.
A car slammed onto a busy sidewalk in Times Square about an hour ago, killing at least one person and injuring 22 others. Police say the incident is not terror related.
The rainstorm that came down upon Brooklyn on Lag B’omer did not stop the over 1,000 participants who arrived for the Parade in Kensington. They were all in high spirits and enjoyed the magnificent program.
An Israeli settler opened fire when a group of Palestinians crowded around his car and pelted it with rocks in the West Bank today, Thursday. One of the rock throwers was killed.
How do you explain and make the Aseres Hadibros relevant to your children and students? Watch how Rabbi Manis Friedman uses The Visual Aseres Hadibros Card to explain the Ten Commandments in less than ten minutes, so that even a puppet could understand.
Over two hundred people gathered together on Monday, at an event hosted by Kehillath Jeshurun in Manhattan, to explore the life of the Rebbe.
Rabbi Benjamin Blech is associate professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and author of many books including, among others, Understanding Judaism, If God is Good, Why is the World So Bad, and the Idiot’s Guide to Jewish History and Culture. He was interviewed by JEM’s My Encounter with the Rebbe project in January of 2012.
