The Customs of Tu B’Shevat

By Eliezer Wenger for Chabad.org

On the 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar we celebrate Rosh HaShonah L’Ilonot,the “New Year for the Trees.” Some customs for this day:

• It is customary to increase in the amount of fruits one eats on the 15th of Shevat, in order to praise G-d who created all these species of fruits.

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Photo Gallery: MyShliach Melava Malkah

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — On Motzei Shabbos, MyShliach held an evening of appreciation for their dedicated volunteers, at the Jewish Children’s Museum in Crown Heights. Those attending the evening were participants of MyShliach’s Caring Mentor Program, a program that connects shluchim’s children with volunteer mentors. Since its inception, the program’s objective has been to facilitate open communication between the children and their mentors. Each week, MyShliach’s mentors call up their assigned child to Farbreng, learn a Sicha, or simply encourage the child through difficult times.

More pictures in the Extended Article! (Photos By: Levi Teitelbaum)

But I Have a Girlfriend Who is Not Jewish?

The following is part two of a fascinating encounters that Daniel a member of the Chabad house in Antwerp experienced with the Rebbe, special thanks to Rabbi Shabtai Slavaticki and the editorial staff of the Avner institute for putting this together, to learn more about the Rebbe Visit: www.portraitofaleader.blogspot.com

Feds: ‘Highly Dangerous’ Conditions at Kings County Hospital

By John Marzulli for the Daily News

CROWN HEIGHTS — Federal probers found “highly dangerous” conditions in Kings County Hospital’s psych ward and accused staffers of covering up the death of a patient who was ignored in the emergency room for 24 hours.

For nearly a year, the Justice Department has been looking into accusations patients were drugged and brutalized at the psych unit known as “G Building.”

Music City Hosts a Hakhel Shabbaton for 3 Southern Jewish Comunities

NASHVILLE, TN [CHI] — Last Shabbos, Chabad of Memphis, Tennessee, led by Rabbi Levi and Rivky Klein, Chabad of Nashville, Tennessee, led by Rabbi Yitzchok and Esther Tiechtel, and Chabad of Birmingham, Alabama, led by Rabbi Yossi and Frumie Posner, and Rabbi Yossi and Miriam Friedman, together with members of their respective communities gathered for a most memorable Shabbaton Retreat at the luxurious Loews Vanderbilt Hotel, in Nashville, Tennessee.

More pictures in the Extended Article!

Marriage Unites Campus Centers from Across America

By Chanee Grossbaum for Chabad.edu

Reuven Kasten and Tziporah Hoffman’s wedding took place outside of Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y.

BROOKLYN, NY — The wedding of Reuven Kasten and Tziporah Hoffman looked, at first glance, like a typical wedding of two Chabad-Lubavitch Chasidim. Standing beneath a wedding canopy in the pouring ran outside of Lubavitch World Headquarters in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, N.Y., the bearded groom wore a hat, while the bride was bedecked in a flowing white gown and intricate veil.

Chabad Makes Judaism Accessible

By Pam Pollan for the Telegram

Students from the Chabad Hebrew School display menorahs they made for Hanukkah. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

WESTBORO, MA — Chabad of Westboro is part of an international Jewish outreach organization.

“We try to make Judaism accessible to everyone. We have a whole different idea about Judaism than your average temple. Sometimes temples are trying to gather funds, and money has to be given. We just want Jews to feel welcome and comfortable wherever they’re at, in a nonjudgmental atmosphere,” said Dvora Green, who, with her husband, Rabbi Michoel Green, started the Westboro Chabad six years ago. The group invites people to come and share a Jewish experience and get involved, she said.

Two in Chanukah Attack Cop Pleas to Avoid Jail

Illustration Picture

BROOKLYN, NY – The first two of eight rowdies charged in a hate-fueled attack on a group of Jewish straphangers in Brooklyn on Chanukah 2007 took no-jail deals Friday.

Four more are slated to take similar deals next week, sources said.

Rebbe Picture! – Farbrengen 1977!

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Crown Heights.info together with the Avner Iinstitute is happy to present a unique of the Rebbe from a farbrengen of 1977. to learn more about the Rebbe visit: www.portraitofaleader.blogspot.com

Statement from Aguch and Merkos followed Court Victory

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — In a statement late Friday afternoon Aguch and Merkos welcomed the news of the appeals court rejecting the appeal from Cong. Lubavitch, Inc. In the statement they accused CLI of ‘injecting themselves’ into the proceedings and Donald Kravet, an attorney for Merkos is “looking forward to the implementation of the Courts’ rulings” in the transferring control of 770 from CLI to Aguch and Merkos.

Full Statement in the Extended Article.