LOS ANGELES, CA [CHI] — Tuesday, December 30th, 8:00pm, over one hundred young Lubavitchers throughout Southern California came together at the Loews S. Monica Hotel to commemorate the 30th day following the untimely deaths of Rabbi Gabrielle and Rivka Holtzberg; the Chabad emissaries who were killed during the Mumbai terror attacks.
The following is a Yechidus of the Rebbe, with Shmuel Avidor, a writer for Israeli newspaper Yediot Achronot, Regarding the Six Day War. It’s an excerpt from the new book on the Rebbe www.inspiringageneration.org
What should I write in the newspapers about the spiritual arousal, as an outcome of the Six Day War, which many Jews are experiencing?
We would like to wish Mazal Tov to Sruly and Rivka (nee Grossman) Bryski (Crown Heights) on the birth of their daughter.
May the newborn be a source of Nachas to her parents, grandparents and Klal Yisroel.
Much is being said about the state of book buying and learning. But if we are going to discuss seforim, we should really look back to Hei Teves—the victory of the seforim. Put simply, the message the Rebbe conveyed at that time was that we should do more:
“In recent years great and wonderful things in the area of spreading Yiddishkeit have been accomplished … If so, the question is raised, why was it necessary that in this era and in this area there should be a problem?”
For more than 40 hours, we held our breaths. Who could breathe, who could function, with our very own ‒ Jews, Lubavitchers, shluchim ‒ hostage?
Sifrei kodesh bullet ridden; a Chabad House full of blood and bodies. We all davened, pleading with Hashem, each in our own way . . . and then we heard the terrible fatal news.
The shock, the pain, the tears we cried, the denials we threw up to Hashem. But it’s easy to forget, distracted by the very normalcy of our lives.
HALLANDALE, FL [CHI] — A record breaking crowd of 12,0000 men, women and children participated in the 29th annual South Florida Chassidic Chanukah Festival, at Gulfstream Park and Casino in Hallandale Beach.
The evening was dedicated to Rabbi and Mrs Gavriel Holzberg and the victims of the Mumbai Massacre. Star performances were put on by child prodigy Ethan Bortnick and Avraham Fried. Greetings to the Festival were sent by President Bush and Governor Crist. Proclamations were issued by Broward County, and the cities of Hollywood and Hallandale.The Proclamations called for 107 days to increase in goodness and kindness, from December 20th till 11 Nissan.
More pictures in the Extended Article!
We would like to wish Mazal Tov to Mayer and Zehavit (nee Vaknin) Rosenbloom (Montreal, Canada) on the birth of their daughter, Mazal Dina.
May the newborn be a source of Nachas to her parents, grandparents and Klal Yisroel.
Email your Simcha or Mazal Tov to MazalTov@CrownHeights.info !!
POSTVILLE, IA [VIN] — The general director and one of the owners of Zoglobek company, Eli Zoglobek, is presently negotiating to purchase the Agriprocessors meat plant owned by the Rubashkin family, which supplies 60% of the American kosher meat market, and has a $400 million annual turnover. This is according to Israeli Hebrew Newspaper Sha’ah Tovah.
MANCHESTER, UK [CHI] — A ‘Car Menorah’ on the brand new Bentley of the known philanthropist Mr Zalman Klyne, who participated in this years ‘Chanukah Menorah Parade’ in Manchester, England.
A couple more pictures in the Extended Article
This weeks Living Torah, titled “L’Chaim” (Volume 57, Episode 225)
Living Torah is a member supported project Become a member today at LivingTorah.org
Also available with Hebrew, French, Russian and Spanish subtitles in the Extended Article.
We would like to wish Mazal Tov to Yisroel and Chanie (nee Levine) Bongart (Crown Heights) on the birth of their daughter.
May the newborn be a source of Nachas to her parents, grandparents and Klal Yisroel.
JERUSALEM, Israel — Lindenwood University senior Ben Joseph Woods landed in Israel two weeks ago expecting, in his words, “to bop around the country and visit friends.” What he didn’t expect was to be caught in the middle of renewed violence between the Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas militants in Gaza.
Thursday marked the shloshim, or the 30-day mourning period following the murders of Rabbi Gabi and Rivka Holtzberg. Within the world of Chabad-Lubavitch, the day will be thoughtfully marked with prayers, tzedaka and mitzvahs.
The tragedy in Mumbai made international headlines and was followed by millions. But for the immediate families of the victims, it is a devastatingly personal, private calamity. While the rest of us move on as move on we must, Gabi’s and Rivka’s parents and siblings, and those of the other victims, will need to negotiate their grief and loss in the privacy of their own hearts. G-d alone can heal their great sorrow, but they will be with us in our daily thoughts, our prayers, and our actions.
VANCOUVER, Canada [CHI] — For the first time ever, there was a ‘Chanukah Car Menorah Parade’ in Vancouver. There were about 30 cars driving through the freezing streets, doing Mivtzoim. There was a local TV network following the cars and reporting on the parade and Mivtzoim, making a great kiddush Lubavitch and a huge Persum of Chanukah. There are a couple of more pictures in the extended article.
Revolutionary Educational Tool Launched. It took three thousand years! But, the truth is out! And now you can read it to your children, as well! And it’s spreading fast! The powerful king is not so unstoppable. And the seemingly incapable man is actually a king! We are speaking about the two kings each of us has inside. The Bad King, is our selfish impulsive side, the yetzer hara. The Good King is our rationale, good side, the yetzer tov. But we all know that. Right?
It’s not so simple. It took the author four years developing this latest book series for it to finally reach press. Two Kings is here and available now! Two Kings is being presented as a worldwide educational revolution evolving. It is being launched by Israel Book Shop a world s leading Jewish publisher based in Lakewood, N.J. And authored by Rabbi Fishel Jacobs (www.RabbiJacobs.com) a well-known Chabad rabbi and halachic author.
Jewish tradition tells us the first 30 days of mourning are the most intense. This week we mark end of this period since the terrorist attack against the Chabad Center in Mumbai. It’s been a watershed event for world Jewry and Chabad. It will have a long lasting effect in diverse ways.
It has sparked an existential dialogue within Chabad. “Why have we become a target for the unfathomable.” A few days after the attack, a group of Jewish security experts told me, “You guys are on the frontlines, it was only a matter of time.” That’s the practical perspective you would expect from security gurus. At a farbrengen held last week for California shluchim that question was at the core of the evening. Rabbi Ezra Schochet, rosh yeshiva, dissected the issue. The intellectual inquiry did not bring him, or us, solace. At the end he said, “We have a question, a question without any answer.”
FOR MILLENNIA Jews have grappled with the same questions, seeking to pierce the mystery of divine providence. Shluchim were promised special blessings. Years ago a Chabad supporter suggested to the Rebbe in a private audience that he give more kudos to his shluchim. While the Rebbe showed appreciation, it was done in his classic understated style. Hassidim felt it an honor to serve the Rebbe’s higher purposes. After hearing the question, the Rebbe’s face took an austere look. He told the man, “They all have children.”
CROWN HEIGHTS [CHI] — This Thursday, Hey Teves 5769, Shnas Hakhel, Oholei Torah Mesivtah made a Kinus in honor of the The Shloshim for the Shluchim massacred by terrorist in Mumbai. Rabbi Paltiel Mashpia at the Lubavitch Yeshiva spoke, along with Rabbi Pinya Korf Mashpia in Oholei Torah Mesivtah. Rabbi Shpilman, brother-in-law of Rabbi Gavrel, spoke about Misiras Nefesh.
Pictures from Kinus in the Extended Article
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