Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who came to Russia to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, sent a virtual prayer note through the “Western Wall” display shown at the new educational exhibition in front of the Kremlin in central Moscow. Highlight of the visit: an exciting surprise presented to Netanyahu by the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar, in cooperation with the Kfar Chabad weekly magazine * details inside.
Sholom and Sarah’le (nee Wilansky) Lesches (Montreal, Canada)
For children with special needs and their families, the simplest things can be indescribably challenging: visiting the dentist, getting a haircut, making a friend. To help those families and individuals in and around Essex County, N.J., a transformational new facility called LifeTown is on the way.
Following a very public fight between Oholei Torah that began with a ‘war of letters’ and later dragged out in a brutal court battle, both parties have signed a letter signaling the end of the rift and that “[they] have reconciled [their] differences.”
The Friendship Circle of Brooklyn treated their “super moms” to an enjoyable night out and some well deserved time for relaxation.
Representing the parents of yaldei hashluchim around the globe, Rabbi Elly Andrusier, shliach to Irvine, California, addressed an overflow crowd of bochurim at MyShliach’s annual evening of appreciating yesterday, Tuesday.
As many as nine people were injured, some of them critically, when terrorists opened fire with automatic weapons in the area of Sarona Market in Tel Aviv, Israel. Reports say the terrorists were dressing in Hassidic garb. Update: Four of the victims have died.
A group of young teenagers who were ‘playing hooky’ from a local public school walked past the Oholei Torah Mesivta Boys High School and started an altercation with the students there, which escalated until one Yeshiva student received multiple blows to the head. To make matters worse, police officers refused to take action and as of this moment have still not charged the assailant – citing fear of riots. UPDATE: Police have charged the assailant with assault as a hate crime.
Mendy and Laya (nee Zavdi) Gochafi (Crown Heights)
Shneur Zalman Kreiman (Palm Springs, CA) and Tzipporah Esther Schild (Monsey, NY)
Following a lively debate this afternoon, the New York State Senate, led by Majority Leader John Flanagan, voted to overturn the New York City Council’s recent passage of a plastic bag tax.
Avremi Raichik (Los Angeles, CA) and Rivky Hartman (Crown Heights)
With sadness we inform you of the passing of Rabbi Dovid Shloush, OBM, the chief Sephardic rabbi of Netanya, who was a dear friend of the Chabad community and the proud grandfather and great-grandfather of several Chassidim of the Rebbe. He was 96 years old.
Mendel Ezagui (Crown Heights) and Shaina Rabinowitz (Montreal, Canada)
About a year ago, Chabad of East Boca Raton, Florida, under the leadership of Rabbi Ruvi New, got approval from the city to begin construction on a magnificent synagogue and community center. Neighbors immediately filed three separate lawsuits to stop the project, and this morning, they prevailed in one of them.
Rabbi Nachman Simon, Shliach to Delmar, a suburb of Albany, interviewed New York State Assemblyman Walter Mosley, whose district includes parts of Crown Heights, for a TV talk show called ‘The Jewish View,’ which he co-hosts with Marc Gronich.
After many years of delay, government officials in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad (which was formerly the German city of Konigsberg, annexed by Russia following WWII) approved the rebuilding of one of Europe’s most magnificent synagogues, which was destroyed on the eve of Kristalnacht in 1938.
