Rabbi Avrohom Brashevitzky, Shliach to Doral, FL, takes a trip down memory lane in this pre-Yom Kippur essay on the unrivaled experience of spending Tishrei in Crown Heights, which he opted to share with the readers of CrownHeights.info.
Eliav and Elka (nee Brand) Benjamin (Crown Heights)
Dozens of Moscow Jews gathered early Friday morning at the Marina Roscha synagogue to perform Kaporos, after which they each received Lekach and a blessing for a sweet new year from Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar.
CrownHeights.info and Lubavitch Archives present a unique photo of the Rebbe distributing Lekach during Tishrei 5738 (1977), shortly before suffering a heart attack on Simchas Torah.
Mendel and Sara (nee Khan) Gottlieb (Los Angeles, CA)
The Yizkor (remembrance) service on Yom Kippur and Shmini Atzeret, in which special prayers are said in memory of the departed, may be the most well-attended synagogue service on the Jewish calendar. And throughout the night and day of Yom Kippur, there will be resounding sounds of amen to mourners saying Kaddish for those who have passed. This year, those who are not regulars will be able to recite the Kaddish like a pro with the help of a new app.
In this week’s edition of Letter & Spirit, we present a letter of the Rebbe in which he expounds on the very special and supernatural aspects of the mitzvah of shmitah. The letter was written through the Rebbe’s trusted secretary Rabbi Nissan Mindel, and was made available by his son-in-law Rabbi Sholom Ber Shapiro.
Eli and Rachel (nee Schechter) Tsvik (Crown Heights)
In an op-ed published in the New York Daily News, Crown Heights resident Eli Federman responds to the criticisms of ‘animal rights activists’ regarding the ancient Jewish tradition of Kaporos, laying out in clear and concise terms why they should leave the pre-Yom Kippur practice alone.
Ukrainian businessman Alexander Granovsky keeps a low profile and makes his contributions to Jewish life in the country discretely. But during an inspirational visit last month, at the gravesite of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, over the Sabbath prior to the High Holidays, he made a donation of 1 million dollars to the Chabad activities in hometown of Odessa, Ukraine.
In a sharply-worded letter released this morning, Rabbi Avrohom Osdoba, senior member of the Crown Heights Beis Din, responds to flyers advertising a Kaporos that purports to be under the Hechsher of the Beis Din. “It is my duty to inform you all, that this is an absolutely fraudulent and misleading advertisement,” he writes.
Chie Nishio, an 84-year-old photographer originally from Japan, spent large parts of the early 90s taking photographs of Chasidic life in Crown Heights. Two decades later, beginning today at 6:00pm and lasting through Feb. 1, 2015, she will be displaying 40 of these photographs in an open-to-the-public gallery at the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.
Last night, as hundreds of Jewish families gathered to perform the pre-Yom Kippur atonement ritual of Kaporos in Crown Heights, animal rights activists screamed “Murderers!” and waved signs of protest from behind a barricaded portion of Eastern Parkway.
The following op-ed was sent by an anonymous member of the Lubavitch community in Miami to CrownHeights.info, describing the hardship borne by a large family with copious Yomtov expenses when shelling out $23 for each Kapparos chicken, a phenomenon he describes as “price gouging.”
Shmuly and Dini Gutnick (Boca Raton, FL)
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