It was a bittersweet event, filled with the conflicting emotions that come with extreme sadness mingled with joy. You could sense the powerful feelings, blending in the air along with the fuzzy white confetti drifting down from the cottonwood trees above.
Bochurim in the Smicha Program at Yeshivas Tomchei Tmimim “Chovevei Torah” in Crown Heights pose for a group photo after they successfully completed their studies in the laws of Issur V’heter (Kashrus).
Baci Weiler, a female Jewish student who caused a social media firestorm when she uploaded photos of a Lubavitcher Bochur putting tefillin on her after mistaking her for a man, issued a public apology to him, which she posted to her Facebook page.
YSP began this year with an on time departure from Crown Heights. After the quick one hour bus ride, the Talmidim piled into the Zal, where Rabbi Goldberg greeted them with the traditional YSP speech
A crowd of some 250 friends and supporters gathered at Chabad of Peabody, Massachusetts for a dedication ceremony of their new Chabad House.
Levi and Freidy (nee Bell) Katzman (Staten Island, NY)
Yekusiel (Kushi) and Fraida Malka (nee Yarmush) Shusterman (Bel Air, MD)
Rabbi Nachman Simon, Shliach to Delmar, a suburb of Albany, interviewed New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind on ‘The Jewish View,’ a cable TV talk show. Hikind discussed the Education Investment Tax Credit and other issues involving the New York Jewish community, and talked about an encounter he had with the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Mendy Sagorsky (West Orange, NJ) and Leora Stein (Flatbush, NY)
Bernard Baumgarten of Sunrise, Fla., says his situation is all too common. Past his 90th birthday, he is looking for a place to live where he and his wife, Lily, can enjoy the rest of their golden years without having to bother with shopping or cleaning. And he also doesn’t want to compromise their religious ideals: He wants there to be a synagogue close enough for them to walk to on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
Yossi and Devory (nee Wolff) Rosenberg (Brawley, CA)
Jewish tradition says everyone is equal at the end. Reporting for The Forward, Martyna Starosta takes a fascinating look inside a Boston casket factory that makes simple pine boxes and more elaborate coffins for the Jewish deceased.
Rabbi Zvi Drizin, a Shliach in Dallas, TX, published on his blog the following open letter to Baci Weiler, a woman whose photo of her putting on Tefilin with a Lubavitcher Bochur – who thought she was a male – took social media by storm.
Just in time for summer vacation, one of the Twins from France stopped by the offices of the Friendship Circle of Brooklyn to donate hundreds of their latest DVDs to be enjoyed by all the families of the Friendship Circle over the summer months. The gift was heartily accepted by FC director Berel Majesky, himself a twin.
A 96-year-old man was critically injured after being struck by a tractor trailer, then by a car which dragged him some 50 feet on Albany Avenue. Both the car and truck then fled the scene, leaving the man barely clinging to life. Update: The man died from his injuries.
Good news for drivers who are trying to find street parking in the city: There’s now an app for that.
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