New Chanukah DVD from JEM for Distribution

BROOKLYN, NY [CHI] — JEM is pleased to announce the release of a new Chanukah DVD, featuring twelve segments including Sichos, personal encounters with the Rebbe, songs, and Chanukah moments, all focusing on the theme of Chanukah.

This Chanukah, you have the perfect way to share the Rebbe’s words and inspiration with your community and friends.

Chabad’s Tremendous Response to Terror

Stunned, lamenting, action. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy that struck Mumbai, India, last week, Chabad took action. In tremendous ways, the ultra-orthodox Hassidic Jews redirected their grief into positive action in order to combat the evil that quaked their world.

“This week, no one is celebrating,” said Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz, editor and publisher of the weekly newspaper, Yated Neeman. “But they are more united than ever before. After the atrocities in India, all of us are more united.”

Among the hostages who were killed by terrorists at Mumbai’s Nariman House were two Chabad Shluchim (emissaries) of the Lubavitcher Rebbe: Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his pregnant wife, Rivka.

No Charges Against Author of Suspicious Letter to Chabad

SCOTTSDALE, AZ — The man who sent a suspicious letter to Chabad of Scottsdale with references to the Mumbai bombings will not be charged, Scottsdale police said Thursday.

Scottsdale investigators did not release the name of the Scottsdale resident, but said he is a former Chabad student.

Emigre Spearheaded Jewish Education in North America

BROOKLYN, NY — Rabbi Tzvi Yosef Kotlarsky, a Polish-born Chasid who escaped war-torn Europe via Japan and China to ultimately participating in the building of the Chabad-Lubavitch school systems in Montreal and Brooklyn, N.Y., passed away Monday at the age of 91. Known by his Yiddish name Hirschel, the rabbi served as chief administrator of the United Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights section for decades.

Outpouring of Emotion Seeks to Make Sense of Mumbai Tragedy

BROOKLYN, NY — Perusing the more than 600 reflections submitted by readers to Chabad.org in the days after India’s worst terrorist attack, one thing becomes clear: In the course of their short lives, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg – the directors of the Chabad-Lubavitch center in Mumbai whose bodies and those of four other victims were recovered the night of Nov. 28 – managed to touch many lives.