New Engagement!
Moishi Schmerling (Zurich, Switzerland) and Rochelle Sputz (Montreal, Canada)
Weekly Letter: What Is Crucial in Special Needs Education
As we approach the holiday of our liberation from Egypt and our becoming a nation, we present an eye-opening letter of the Rebbe in which he emphasizes the crucial importance of Jewish national identity in education, and in particular in the education of individuals with special needs. The letter, written originally in English, is from the archives of the Rebbe’s personal trusted secretary, Rabbi Nissan Mindel.
Pizza Wars, Beis Din, and the New York Times
Amid the turmoil surrounding the ‘Crown Heights Pizza Wars’ between Basil and Calabria, there has been a lot of confusion among the media and the public regarding the Halachic concept of ‘Hasogas Gvul.’ Writing for the Five Towns Jewish Times, Rabbi Yair Hoffman seeks to clear up some of the fog surrounding the issue.
Friendship Circle Boys End Adar on High Note
The Boys of the Friendship Circle of Brooklyn and their buddies from local Yeshivas gathered for a unique event to culminate the joyous month of Adar. Billed as an evening of “Music and Talent,” the young adults joined at the JCM for a most memorable evening.
A Fitting Tribute to the ‘King of Pants’
If you’re familiar with bell bottoms, then you’ve crossed paths one way or the other with Eugene “Gene” Kule, the late garment-industry visionary who introduced them to the American market and defined an era. Kule, an exuberant Brooklyn-born clothing businessman who passed away last month at the age of 84, was an industry innovator who in a half-century-long career became known as the “King of Pants.”
Laws and Customs: Nissan and Pesach
Rabbi Shmuel Lesches, Magid Shiur in the Yeshiva Gedola of Melbourne, Australia, has compiled a guide to the laws of the month of Nissan and the Yom Tov of Pesach for the benefit of the wider Lubavitch community.
LYA Navi Lessons Come Alive in Israel
Like many students their age, the students of Lubavitcher Yeshiva Academy (LYA) in Longmeadow, MA, studied the conversation between Chana and Eli Kohen Gadol at Shiloh, at the beginning of the book of Shmuel. As a result of her prayer, the prophet Shmuel was born, and Chazal established rules for shmoneh esray following Chana’s example.
Do the Seder the Right Way This Year
Ask Rabbi Yonah Avtzon of Sichos in English what keeps him up at night and he will tell you it is the new English translation of the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch that he and his team of scholars have been working on for the past several years.
Did You Say the ‘Nasi’ Today? (Gimmel Nissan)
From the Safer Haminhagim: Every day from Rosh Chodesh Nissan until the twelfth of the month, one reads the passage that describes the offering brought on that day by a particular Nasi, or tribal prince, for the dedication of the altar of the Mishkan. Yehi Ratzon in the Extended Article.
Yeshivas Kayitz Kingston Announces Head Staff
Yeshivas Kayitz Kingston—an exciting summer program for 8th grade and Mesivta age boys—has recently announced its head staff for the upcoming summer.
New Engagement!
Zalman Korf (Delray Beach, FL) and Dina Basch (S. Paulo, Brazil)
Here’s My Story: Extended Family
Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin has served for over three decades as in the US Army, ending as Assistant Chief of Chaplains of the US Army, where he held the rank of Brigadier General. He authored numerous articles and 38 books on philosophy and the Bible. He was interviewed by JEM’s My Encounter with the Rebbe project in March of 2011.
Meet the Rabbi of Idaho’s At-Risk Teens
Rabbi Mendel Lifshitz started visiting Cherry Gulch, an Idaho-based therapeutic boarding school for boys, more than a decade ago. At the time, the school was looking for better ways to serve its Jewish students. The rest is history.
‘We Don’t Have Children, But We Have Spiritual Children’
In a new feature titled From Park Slope to Pudong, Lubavitch.com author Dvora Lakein profiled six women serving as Chabad emissaries in disparate places around the world. The first of the series is an interview with Mrs. Michla Schanowitz of Highland Park, Illinois.
New Engagement!
Yuda Israel (Brazil) and Gila Bardwigdor (Crown Heights)
Picture of the Day: Toronto, Canada
Rabbi Yirmi Cohen, along with his son Mendy, delivers a box of handmade Shmura Matzah to Mrs. Gila Martow, who is the only Jewish Conservative Parliamentarian in all of Canada.
New Shluchim to Alpharetta, Georgia
Rabbi Gedalya and Ruthy Hertz will be moving as new shluchim to Alpharetta, Georgia, where they will join the community as assistant Rabbi and Rebbetzin, leading community outreach and women’s programming, following in the footsteps of the community’s late Rebbetzin, Mrs. Rashi Minkowicz, OBM.
