In 1980, a man by the name of Harold Kushner wrote a book entitled: When Bad Things Happen To Good People. The book became an instant bestseller and the author went on to become a prominent writer and lecturer. This of course is not without good reason. Kushner has after all, dared to tackle a highly complex and disconcerting subject.
As the Chabad emissary in Zhitomir, Ukraine, I visit Paris occasionally to fundraise and purchase supplies. In between appointments, I often step into the synagogue for a few precious moments of Torah study.
Leshana Tovah Belimud HaChasidus ve Darchei HaChasidus, Tikosaivu VeTichosaimu!
Today, Yud Tes Kislev, “The Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus,” marks 215 years since the release of the Alter Rebbe, R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chasidus Chabad, from prison in the year 5559 (1798). This year also marks 201 years since the Alter Rebbe’s Histalkus. In honor of this auspicious day, which is referred to by Chasidim as the “Holiday of Holidays,” Farbrengens are being held around the world!
More than 10,000 participants are expected to convene at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center Thursday through Monday to purchase or peruse some 250,000 books and attend workshops and lectures at the annual Chasidism Fair, the world’s largest event of its kind.
This year, Yud Tes Kislev falls out on Friday; the Rebbe referred to it in 5727 as the “long Yud Tes Kislev,” and encouraged that the holy day, the Rosh Hashana of Chassidus, be celebrated every day of the weekend. We have a compiled a list of Farbrengens taking place over the coming days in the Extended Article.
A little over two weeks ago, CrownHeights.info broke the shocking news that a 12- year-old boy was punched in the head by two black teenagers, who ran off laughing with their friends. At the time, no one had any idea that this incident was just a small part of a much bigger and more sinister trend occurring all over the country.
Without any warning, an Israeli Chabad rabbi is kicked out of Moldova and finds himself detained in a Turkish airport. Rabbi Shmuel Eidelman’s fascinating story of Hashgacha Protis was printed in this year’s Chanukah edition of the OK Kosher Spirit magazine:
A New York state legislator says it’s time to crack down out the violent “knockout game” in which youths “sucker punch” innocent bystanders for kicks.
Reacting to a spurt of anti-Semitic attacks by an African-American youth gang on Jews, Crown Heights’s incoming councilwoman is urging the two communities to refresh their relationship so that the attacks don’t harden biases for future generations and destroy the fragile gains of the past two decades.
On the first night of Chanukah, the New York Islanders (4-6) will be looking for a miracle in their game against the Winnipeg Jets (5-4), and will be hosting ‘Miracle on Ice,’ with a halftime Menorah lighting, skating on the coliseum ice and free dinner.
A seventh grade student of Oholei Torah was struck by a car yesterday evening while crossing Eastern Parkway’s service lane after dismissal.
One hundred and fifty students from the 10th and 11th grades at the FJC’s ‘Or Avner’ Jewish high schools in Russia participated for the first time in their lives in an emotional journey to the death camps and Jewish Ghettos in Poland.
The boys’ division of the Crown Heights Friendship Circle got together this past Sunday to celebrate the various ‘Yomei D’pagra’ that take place during the festive month of Kislev.
Harel Dabush had two dreams: He wanted to celebrate his 6th birthday. And he wanted to go to first grade.
Good old detective work lead to the apprehension of the two teenage girls who attacked an 11-year-old boy on his way to school Monday morning.
The Pakistani spy agency ISI was actively involved at every stage of the Nov. 26, 2009 Mumbai terror attack, possibly the most vicious and far reaching terror attack since 9/11, Bruce Riedel, former CIA analyst, writes in The Daily Beast.
The YouTube channel ‘Jewish Life’ conducted an exclusive interview with the world-renowned Chasidic singer, Benny Friedman.
1
