Historian Immanuel Etkes has blazed a trail through the forest of Hasidic writings and biographical scholarship about the founder of Chabad, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, and produced a new sort of biography that gives a full picture of this spiritual giant and charismatic leader. The following is a review of his work by David Assaf:
Purim is a time of great joy, when the Jews experienced a miraculous “turn around”- Haman, viceroy to the most powerful king of that time, was killed, and the Jewish people restored to safety and saved from annihilation. Purim’s unrestrained joy is often marked with drinking. Like everything in life, alcohol consumption needs to be understood and used with moderation and discretion.
My interview with Reb Chaim Miller of the Kol Menachem Library of Jewish Classics was not our first time meeting. His dream in life is, through his ability to convey some of the most complex ideas, to make a positive and lasting impression which will shape the face of generations to come.
About 100 members of the Jewish community on University of Illinois campus, including alumni, students, teachers and rabbis danced and marched their way down Green Street around 2 p.m. Sunday in celebration of completing its first Torah.
Mendy Moscowitz (Chicago, IL) and Chaya Epstein (Columbia, SC)
DELAWARE, PA [CHI] — Students of Darchai Menachem who excelled in school and accumulated the right amount of ‘points’ over the last 12 weeks, were all rewarded with a full day trip up to the Shawnee Mountain, a ski resort that’s a two hour drive from Brooklyn, where the students took skiing lessons and spent a day on the ski slopes.
Little ‘Mordechais’ from Lubavitcher Yeshiva on Crown Street got to feel what he felt when Haman led him around on the king’s horse and dress, when they all got to ride on a pony in front of their school this morning.
Boruch and Chanie (nee Lison) Weingarten (Crown Heights)
Take part in the Mitzvah of Machtzis Hashekel, while accomplishing the beautiful Mitzvah of helping Chassanim and Kallos.
Police brass pushing arrest and ticket quotas could find themselves in jail for up to a year under a bill that state Sen. Michael Gianaris plans to introduce tomorrow.
Dovid and Hindy (nee Gray) Harrison (Red Bank, NJ)
New York Jews getting ready for Purim skipped the costume parties Sunday to focus on giving back. Doing extra charity is a must during the two-day celebration that begins Wednesday night and honors Queen Esther for saving the ancient Persian Jews from slaughter.
The 5th graders of the Lubavitch Boys’ school in London enjoyed a wonderful shabbaton last week, which the class earned with their ‘davening points.’
Physicist Cyril Domb, whose advancement of theoretical physics led to new understandings of everyday phenomena, passed away last week at the age of 91. A mathematical prodigy, he also was an accomplished Talmudic scholar and authored dozens of articles on the interplay between the Torah and science, in addition to several Jewish scholarly works.
Congressman Bob Turner (R-Brooklyn), who replaced disgraced Congressman Anthony Wiener in a special election last year, introduced yesterday the Tax and Education Assistance for Children (TEACH) Act of 2012. If passed, the bill will provide a tax credit of up to 5,000 dollars for families who send their children to private schools and eliminate “double taxation” on parents who send their children to non-public schools.
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