Mivtzoim

Four Decades of Car Menorahs Lighting the Way

You know them when you see them, and when you see them, you know it’s Chanukah. The car menorah is a uniquely American innovation—a marketing gimmick created by young yeshivah students in the early 1970s as a way to spread awareness and the message of the eight-day Jewish holiday. Today, they can be found across the globe and on all kinds of vehicles.

Mivtzoim Outside Home of Subway Bomber

While law enforcement agents were searching the Kensington, Brooklyn, home of Akayed Ullah, the would-be suicide attacker who had detonated a pipe bomb in a Manhattan subway on Monday, Rabbi Yisrolik Langsam, who heads a Chabad outpost in the area with his wife Mushkie, arrived at the scene to pass out donuts and Chanukah menorahs and wrap tefillin with Jewish people present — from law enforcement, the media and passersby.

Mitzvah Tank Office Expects Bigger Sukkos Season

With Sukkos quickly approaching, dozens of Bochurim and Shluchim have already confirmed their Sukkah Mobiles for this coming Chol Hamo’ed. After tremendous efforts, by Bochurim and Yungerleit, the Sukkahs are ready to be assembled, rental contracts are already confirmed and much more has already been done in advance of what promises to be the biggest Sukkah Mobile season yet.

Herzliya Mayor Apologizes Over Tefillin Fine

Following the incident in which a Chabad Chosid was fined for offering passersby to put on Tefillin, the mayor of Herzliya came to the office of Rabbi Reli Halperin, put on Tefillin, and announced the cancellation of the outrageous summons. The two parted with a hug.

Stranger Offered Tefillin, and Family Is Transformed

Hyman Millstone and his first grandchild, Aidan, with the tefillin and prayerbook given to him by a “man from Chabad” on the campus of San Diego State University in the 1970s.

Rachel Millstone, a congregant at Chabad of East County in San Diego, CA, relates how an unexpected mitzvah performed by her father on a college campus in the mid 1970s transformed their entire family for generations.

The Untold Story of the ‘Are You Jewish?’ Guys

Hailing a yellow cab, grabbing a slice of pizza after a Yankees game, strolling through Central Park . . . these are some of the indelible parts of a New York City experience. So, too, is the sight of yeshivah students clamoring from a converted RV—better known as the “mitzvah tank”—tefillinand Shabbat candles in hand as they ask tourists and locals alike: “Excuse me, are you Jewish?” This is their story.

Bar Mitzvah in the Wake of Terror Attack

In response to the terror attack in Manchester which left 23 dead and over 60 injured, the most devastating attack to hit England in over a decade, a vigil memorial was held in the city’s Albert Square. Students of Yeshivas Lubavitch Manchester participated in the vigil, and encouraged any Jews they met to do a Mitzvah in memory of the victims.

Chabad Rabbi Returns to Roots in North Dakota

Rabbi Sholom Ber Orenstein recites Psalms at the resting place of his great-great-grandfather.

A Chabad rabbi from Crown Heights, whose great-great grandfather served as spiritual leader of the the Jewish community of North Dakota for 53 years, returned to the state to conduct a Pesach Seder this year.