Shliach Rabbi Levi Backman from the Chabad Jewish Center in Bellingham, WA, made it to the front page of the Bellingham Herald in their coverage of Birchas HaChama.
Full Scan of Paper in the Extended Article!
Residents of Atlantic county NJ and members of chabad at the Shore observe a rare Jewish Practice of Birchat Hachama, Blessing of the Sun. Rabbi Avrohom Rapoport leads the Ceremony.
In Jerusalem, New York and other major Jewish population centers, thousands thronged to participate in the once-in-28-year Jewish ritual of blessing the sun. In the Democratic Republic of The Congo, there weren’t thousands, not even hundreds. But they rose at the crack of dawn Wednesday morning to conduct their own blessing-of-the-sun ritual on the Congo River.
MIAMI [AP] — Around the Passover table, people drink red wine, swallowing a symbol of freedom, deliverance, redemption and release. But not Joe Nevenansky. Not this time.
On Wednesday he and his family celebrated the ancient Israelites’ liberation from Egyptian slavery, but he drank grape juice instead. Years ago he would have doubled or tripled the four glasses of wine traditionally imbibed during the ritual meal on the first day of the Jewish festival.
CNN’s Barbara Starr talks to the U.S. Navy’s top admiral in the region about the piracy crisis.
UPDATE: Sunday, the hostage has been rescued and 3 of the 4 pirates killed.
TORONTO [JTA] — Palestinian officials have called on Canada to cancel a planned exhibit of the famed Dead Sea Scrolls, saying it would violate international law.
In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and directors of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Hamdan Taha, director general of the archaeological department in the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, alleges the scrolls were acquired illegally by Israel when the Jewish state annexed East Jerusalem in 1967.
HONOLULU [KGMB9] — Scores of Hawaii residents from all walks of life gather this morning at Ala Moana Beach Park, to perform the rarest event on the Jewish calendar: They will gather together, peer upward toward the sun, and recite a blessing known as “the Blessing of the Sun.”
Local participants join millions of others across the globe who perform the outdoor blessing ritual at synagogues, schools, beaches, public parks and private homes.
More pictures in the Extended Article!
Hundreds of men, women and children turned out at K’hal Tzemach Tzedek Lubavitch of Monsey today, Wednesday, Erev Pesach 5769, April 8, for the once-in-28-year Birchas HaChama.
More pictures in the Extended Article!
Shliach, Rabbi Yisroel Rapoport officiated at Shacharis services, followed by a Birchas Hachamah ceremony with over 60 participants of all ages. To everyone’s delight the sun came out and shined brightly. Afterwards everyone was invited to a full course breakfast. Matzahs were distributed and chametz was burnt.
More pictures in the Extended Article!
BROOKLYN, NY — Following their recent expulsion from Russia, several rabbis have been working across phone lines and emails guiding their communities in Passover preparations.
Chabad representatives Rabbi Yisroel and Aliza Silberstein were living in Vladivostok, a port city on the Pacific Ocean, until they were forced to leave in February. Now, from their temporary residence in Brooklyn, the dedicated couple is still taking care of their community’s needs.
GOSHEN, NY [CHI] — The students at the Chabad Hebrew School, directed by Rabbi Pesach and Chana Burston held an interactive “Model Seder” for both students and parents in Chabad’s Goshen location. “The Seder is full of traditions, stories and observances and it’s important for parents to learn how to conduct a Seder in their own home” says Chana Burston. Her husband, Rabbi Pesach, led the model Seder wearing a “matzo pattered tie!”
WASHINGTON [AP] — President Barack Obama hosted close friends and staff at a private White House meal Thursday evening to mark Passover. It’s part of the new president’s effort to reach out to Jewish voters.
The White House said the Seder meal was traditional, including matzo, bitter herbs, a roasted egg and greens in the family dining room in the executive mansion. The evening also featured the reading of the Haggadah, the religious text of the holiday.
BROOKLYN, NY [CHI] — On Wednesday Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined community leaders and children in song and celebration for a Birkat Hachamah ceremony led by Shliach Rabbi Aaron L. Raskin. The Talmud teaches that every 28 years the Sun returns to the same position, at the same time of day as that of the beginning of creation. A special blessing—Birkat Hachamah (“the sun blessing”)—is recited to mark this moment in time. Wednesday’s gathering was a project of Congregation Bnai Avraham and Chabad of Brooklyn Heights.
NEW YORK [FDA] — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today warned consumers not to eat Strubs Norwegian Style Sliced Smoked Steelhead Salmon in 300 gram packages because of potential contamination with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. L. monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen that can cause serious illness and death.
Distributed by West Side Foods Inc. of Bronx, N.Y., the smoked steelhead salmon was imported from Canada, and 13 cartons were sold to three kosher retail stores in New York and Maryland.
We would like to wish Mazal Tov to Peretz and Shaina (nee Kahn) Schmukler (Montreal, Canada) on the birth of their son.
May the newborn be a source of Nachas to his parents, grandparents and Klal Yisroel.
IRAN — Members of the Chabad organization smuggled a huge quantity of matzot into Iran last week in order to enable local Jews in the Islamic Republic to celebrate the Passover according to tradition.
Some 20,000 Jews currently live in Iran. The authorities allow them freedom to practice their religion, but forbid the import of Israel-made products to the country, an act that could cost a person three years imprisonment or the revoking of his passport for five years.
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