New Engagement!
Refoel (Rafi) Stein (Flatbush, NY) and Tova Lea Steinmetz (Monsey, NY)

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New Engagement!
Shui Kastel (Sydney, Australia) and Sheva Tennenhaus (Hallandale Beach, FL)

Letter & Spirit: Chabad and Israeli Politics
In this week’s edition of Letter & Spirit, we present a letter from the Rebbe to an individual who questioned Chabad’s involvement – or lack thereof – in various politically-connected activities in Israel. The letter was written through the Rebbe’s trusted secretary Rabbi Nissan Mindel, and was made available by the latter’s son-in-law, Rabbi Sholom Ber Shapiro.

Court Upholds NY State Vaccination Requirement
New York state’s requirement that children be vaccinated in order to attend state-funded schools does not violate parents’ religious rights under the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.

8 Sifrei Torah Dedicated to Victims of Terror
Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar will not be forgotten. In so many ways, the worldwide Jewish community has made it a point over the last six months to remember the names and the lives of these three Israeli teenagers kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in June.

Music Video: Hang ‘Em Low
This music video, produced on behalf of C-Teen – Chabad’s Teen Network – by Moshe Raskin of Swish Media, encourages Jewish boys and men all over the world to be proud of their Jewish identity and let their Tzitzis hang low – and be seen by all!

Shliach Co-Chairs Florida Governor’s Inaugural Prayer
On Tuesday, January 6, Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus, director of Chabad activities in south Broward, Florida, Co-Chaired the Governor of Florida Inaugural Prayer Breakfast, the only Rabbi to serve as one of six Co-Chairs for this prestigious, traditional event, that preceded the Inauguration of the Governor by 3 hours.
Misdiagnosis Raises New Doubt on NYC Approach to Milah
The NYC Health Department has come under increasing scrutiny for its ongoing campaign against metzitzah b’peh (MBP) after a recent diagnosis at a New York City hospital of neonatal herpes following a bris milah was discredited upon further testing by a New York State laboratory.

NYC to Ban Foam Containers This Year
New York City will ban food establishments from using plastic foam containers, and shipping centers from using packing peanuts, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Here’s My Story: All for the Cause
Mr. Moshe Salzberg lives with his family in Montreal, Canada. He was interviewed for JEM’s My Encounter with the Rebbe project in his home in January of 2011.

Boruch Dayan Hoemes: R. Yaakov Yosef Lepkivker, 86, OBM
With sadness we inform you of the passing of Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Lepkivker, OBM, of Bnei Brak, the patriarch of a prominent Lubavitch family and the father of three longtime members of the Crown Heights community. He was 86 years old.

Art Exhibit a Celebration of Baal Teshuva Experience
What imagery might be conjured in one’s mind when contemplating the road traveled by a secular Jew on his or her way to a future life of Torah observance? If this Jew is a painter, a musician, a poet, a dancer or any other soul of artistic persuasion, what scenery, symphony or passionately penned lyrics could we expect to emerge from the depths of such an endeavor upon arrival?
New Engagement!
Chanoch Rosenfeld (Crown Heights) and Mushkie Junik (Crown Heights)

Bnei Brak Anash Welcome First New Torah in 42 Years
The Lubavitch community of Bnei Brak celebrated the completion of a new Sefer Torah – the first in 42 years – to be housed at the local Chabad Shul which bears the name of the Alter Rebbe.
Baby Girl!
Moishy and Rivka (nee Moskovitz) Korf (Crown Heights)
New Engagement!
Ari Dorfman (S. Paul, MN) and Ilana Yarmak (Los Angeles, CA)

Chabad Mobilizes to Help Israeli Snowstorm Victims
Schoolchildren throughout Jerusalem awoke Wednesday morning to an announcement more common for North America than for the Jewish state: snow day, no school. A storm flowing from Eastern Europe is drubbing northern and central Israel with heavy winds and snow.