Kinus Torah in Kansas City

On Sunday, Chol Hamoed Pesach, Chabad-Lubavitch Torah Learning Center, in Kansas City, Kansas, held its annual Kinus Torah.

The Kinus Torah is a forum in which local yeshiva students, who are home for Pesach, present Torah essays to the community.

Mazal Tov's View More

8 Likely with Swine Flu in NYC

Stock Photo

NEW YORK [AP] — At least eight students at a New York City high school probably have swine flu, but health officials say they don’t know whether they have the same strain of the virus that has killed people in Mexico.

New York Gov. David Paterson has directed the state Department of Health to monitor and respond to the cases.

Mazal Tov! – New Engagement!

We would like to wish Mazal Tov to Avremi Aizenman (Myrtle Beach, SC) and Lea New (Crown Heights) on their engagement.

The L’Chaim will IYH be Sunday, from 3pm to 7pm at 1373 President St [between Kingston and Brooklyn Ave].

Scotland’s Rabbi Jacobs Speaks in Parliament

Rabbi Jacobs presents MP Ken Mackintosh with with a Scottish Jewish Tartan skullcap made from 100% pure Scottish wool.

Rabbi Mendel Jacobs, Scotland’s only Scottish Rabbi and Minsiter of Synagogue -Shul In The Park, who is also Chabad emissary, visited the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh this week to lead the Time For Reflection for the Parliament.

Largest Group of Merkos Shluchim in New Zealand

CANTERBURY, New Zealand [CHI] — Fourteen Rabbinical Students returned to the Chabad headquarters in Canterbury, after spending their Pesach in Cities throughout the Island, organizing Sedorim, distribiuting Matzah and other Pesach essentials. “this was the most efective Pesach Shlichus ever” said Berri Spitezki, who coordinated the Islandwide Shlichus.

Israeli Charged with Fraud Extradited to US

LOS ANGELES, CA [AP] — A man accused of insurance fraud and other crimes has been extradited from Israel to Southern California, marking the first time Israel has extradited an Israeli to the U.S. on state charges under a binational treaty.

California insurance department officials announced Thursday that Moshe “Sanny” Assoulin was returned to the U.S.

Chabad of France To Convene National Conference

Lubavitch.com

PARIS — Chabad-Lubavitch representatives in France will convene for the first national conference, Sunday-Monday, April 25-26.

To date, there are 113 Chabad centers and 452 representatives, (men and women) serving France’s Jewish population. The conference will address issues pertinent to the country’s Jewish population needs, and the challenges specific to French Jewry.

Mazal Tov! – New Engagement!

I would like to wish a very hearty Mazal Tov! to a good friend Sruli Krasnianski (Brooklyn, NY) on his engagement to Dina Shpigelman (Montreal, Canada) !

The L’Chaim will IYH be Sunday night at Lubavitcher Yeshiva, 570 Crown St, [entrance on Albany Ave].

Former Surgeon General Looks Back at Hallmark Case Influenced by Rabbinic Law

By Allison Levy for Chabad.edu

Former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop, left, receives a collection of letters on health issues penned by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, as a gift from Chabad at Dartmouth.

In late 1977, Dr. C. Everett Koop made national headlines when he performed surgery on a pair of conjoined twins who shared one heart, separating the two infants. But the news didn’t so much center on the operation itself – at the time, Koop, the future U.S. Surgeon General under President Ronald Reagan, was a famed pediatric surgeon at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and foremost authority on the phenomenon of conjoined twins – as on the fact that the separation took place only after weeks of debate involving top doctors and one of the generation’s foremost authorities on Jewish law.

Life is a Mess – The Jewish Perspective On Challenge and Adversity

Rabbi Yossi Kahanov Shliach to Jacksonville, FL

Der baal agalah shmaised, dee ferd briken-zich, un-dervaile fort-men.
– Reb Mendel Futerfass;

Loosely translated:
The coachman whips, the horses lash-out and all the while the journey progresses.
————————————————————–
When things go wrong as they sometimes will
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill
When funds are low and debts are high
You try to smile but somehow sigh.
When life weigh’s you down more than a bit
Rest you must but never ever quit.
Life is queer it twists and it turns
As everyone at some point is apt to learn.
But don’t give up though the pace seems slow
You might yet succeed with just another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of clouds of doubt.
Many a failure will turn about
You may be a winner should you stick it out.
You never can tell how close you are
It may be very near when it seems all so far.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
It’s when things seem worst that you must recommit!
– Author unknown

My Space/Your Space: Teens Hash It Out

By Dvora Lakein for Lubavitch.com

What is a woman’s responsibility to her unborn child? Is it her right not to birth the infant? Is it her obligation to care for her child?

Teenagers in 21 American cities grappled with this issue and other hot-button topics at the recently concluded MySpace/YourSpace course offered through the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI), the adult education arm of the Lubavitch movement. This was the adult education institute’s first foray into the world of teenage minds, and by all accounts, it was a successful one. An additional 50 cities are on a waiting list to participate.