As it is customary to check our mezzuzos and tefillin in the month of Elul, we share a letter of the Rebbe about the mitzvah of mezzuza, in which the Rebbe discusses the validity of pointing out the benefit/reward of doing a mitzvah – as when he initiated the mezzuza campaign and pointed out the benefit of a mezzuza. The letter, written originally in English, is from the archives of the Rebbe’s trusted secretary Rabbi Nissan Mindel.
Sholom Ber Borenstein (Italy) and Sara Duato (Crown Heights)
Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries throughout Houston gave the gift of exhaustive material and spiritual sustenance to fellow victims of America’s second most costly tropical storm, Hurricane Harvey, last year. Upon the anniversary of the monumental disaster as the city continues to reflect on and dig out from the nightmarish catastrophe, another gift has been proffered: A new Chabad center in one of the hard hit locales.
With sadness we inform you of the passing of Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Fogelman OBM, a noted educator who merited to have the Frierdiker Rebbe serve as sandek at his bris. He was 88 years old.
I am the son of Rabbi Chaim Gutnick, who fled Europe during World War Two and made his way to Australia, where I was born. In his work as a community rabbi, my father was very much guided by the Rebbe, and I would like to relate here a few anecdotes which my father had shared with me.
Levi and Debby (nee Nacca) Ladaev (Crown Heights)
Yitzi Katz (Miami, FL) and Chavi Rubin (Crown Heights)
Sixty-one years ago—on the 20th of Elul, corresponding to Sept. 16, 1957—a former Jewish member of independent Latvia’s parliament, the Saeima, passed away in anonymity while imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital in the Soviet Union. His name was Mordechai Dubin, and he had once been a leading figure in pre-war Europe who famously used his considerable political influence for the benefit of Jews in need of assistance.
Leibel Scheiman (Des Plaines, IL) and Nechama Rapoport (Ventnor, NJ)
The 18th of Elul marks the birthday of two “great luminaries,” the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidism and the Alter Rebbe who founded the Chabad movement.
Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz, director of Chabad Lubavitch of Southwest Florida, delivers his insights on Parashs Ki Tavo. This week he answers the question: How do we have such a great healthy self esteem? – based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
The latest public campaign to ban circumcision in Denmark fell apart earlier this month after the nation’s ruling party stated its qualified opposition to the measure. Yet, Jews in Denmark—as well as in many other nations in Europe and around the world—are continuing to face high hurdles to maintain the legality of the 4,000-year-old religious practice that is a cornerstone of Judaism.
A section of Carroll Street in Crown Heights was renamed “Sarah and Michoel Behrman Way” in a ceremony on Sunday afternoon.
This week’s edition of MyLife: Chassidus Applied with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Episode 227, will air tonight, Sunday, here on CrownHeights.info, beginning at 8:00pm. This week Rabbi Jacobson will address the topics: How Can I Balance Hiddur Mitzvah Without Becoming Obsessive Compulsive? Are the Rambam’s Dietary Directives the Proper Halachic and Chassidic Way to Eat? As a Ger I Wonder at Times Whether My Mitzvos Have Any Effect? Chassidus Applied to Chai Elul, Parshas Ki Tavo and the 6th Week of the Shiva D’Nechemta; Lessons from Elul 15: Establishment of Tomchei Temimim 121 Years Ago
A Jewish woman was violently assaulted and mugged by two black females as she walked on Carroll Street on her way home on Saturday night.
Julia Landis, CTeen leader from Manalapan, New Jersey, has a new favorite story to tell after returning home from CTeen’s third annual Heritage Quest. “Life changing isn’t the word. This is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me and my family.”
Beis Rivka Day Camp ended last week with a hop, skip, and bounce as campers jumped on huge bouncing balls, Jewish music, and live entertainment after enjoying a delicious BBQ! Each day of camp began with warm greetings from chayusdikeh counselors, was filled with a whirlwind of fun, and ended with smiles and hugs.
