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Farbrengen on the Space Coast Celebrates First Jewish Astronaut, Garrett E. Reisman to Reside on the Space Station

Astronaut Steve Maclean (Left) speaking with Rabbi Zvi Konikov.

A unique Farbrengen (Jewish gathering) was held Monday night at the Cocoa Beach Hilton with family and friends of Garrett Erin Reisman, the first Jewish Astronaut to reside on the International Space Station just hours before Shuttle Endeavor roared towards the Space Station in a spectacular night launch from Kennedy Space Center.

Organizer, Rabbi Zvi Konikov, director of Chabad of the Space & Treasure Coasts first met Dr. Reissman in Israel after the Shuttle Columbia Tragedy. Reisman flew to Israel as NASA’s representative to console Rona Ramon and Ilan’s family. The Ramons travelled from Israel to share in the joy of Reisman’s launch of Shuttle Endeavor to the Space Station. Asaf Ramon, eldest son of the late Ilan Ramon, received a special release from the Israeli Air Force to attend the launch.

More pictures in the Extended Article!

Shlichus
4
Mazal Tov's View More
New Engagement!

Yaakov Levy (Crown Heights) to Mimi Stern (Houston, TX)
New Engagement!

Mendel Schaffran (Brooklyn, NY) to Chana Friedman (Pittsburgh, PA) L’Chaim: Tonight, Wednesday, 8:00pm at Lubavitcher Yeshiva Crown Street
Baby Boy!

Zev and Chaya Mushka Shusterman from Coral Springs, FL had a baby boy!
New Engagement!

Mendel Vardi (Yerushalayim, EY) to Sara Namdar (Gothenburg, Sweden) L’Chaim: Tuesday, the 4th of Av, 8:30pm at The Garden House 1386 S. Johns Pl
Baby Girl!

Sholom and Chaya Mushka (nee Rosenfeld) Katz from Lauderhill, FL had a baby girl!
Baby Girl!

Ari and Chanie Greenwald from Crown Heights had a baby girl!
New Engagement!

Israel Guetta (Netanya ,Israel) to Sterna Benmoussa (Paris ,France )
New Engagement!

Avremel Rapoport(Clarks Summit, PA) to Faigy Liberow (London, UK) L’Chaim: Tonight, Tuesday, 8:00pm at Lubavitcher Yeshiva Crown Street
New Engagement!

Menny Leitner (Monsey, NY) to Bracha Goldberg (Monsey, NY) L’Chaim: Sunday, July 20th, 7:30pm at Bais Yosef Meir Simcha Hall 19 Olympia Ln, Monsey
New Engagement!

Mendy Sulami (Los Angeles, CA) to Aidel Spielman (Crown Heights)
New Engagement!

Tsvi Feygin  (Teaneck, NJ) to Faigy Kahn (London, UK)
New Engagement!

Shmuel Gurary (Buffalo, NY) to Esther Leeba Eidelman (Manchester, UK) L’Chaim: Tonight, Thursday, 8:00pm at Rubashkin’s Downstairs
Baby Boy!

Sendy and Mali (nee New) Labkowsky from Crown Heights had a baby boy!
Baby Boy!

Yehuda and Raizel Marrus from Davie, FL, had a baby boy!
New Engagement!

Shalom Alon (Kfar Gidon, EY) to Bluma Potash (Noe Valley, SF, CA)
New Engagement!

Jack Abramson (NW4, London, UK) to Shayna Ash (Johannesburg, South Africa)
Baby Boy!

Mendel and Soro (nee Brennan) Manne from Penn Wynne, PA had a baby boy!

Ronald Lauder and other Jewish Philanthropists.

“I would like to donate money for a 'big cause' – something tremendous, awesome. What does the Rebbe suggest?” the following is an excerpt from the new book on the Rebbe “The Rebbe Inspiring a Generation” to see more on the book see: InspiringAGeneration.com.

The following is an encounter that took place shortly before the Passover holiday, when a philanthropist approached the Rebbe, wanting to make a generous donation to a Chabad institution. Apparently, concerning the definition of a “generous donation,” the Rebbe had different ideas. From this we learn that the “little things” done quietly, behind the scenes, can often prove to be in the Rebbe's eyes a far greater cause.

The philanthropist waited impatiently outside the Rebbe's office. Ignoring the swirl of black-coated bodies of students and secretaries around him, he instead concentrated on himself—not without satisfaction, he felt, considering his reasons for coming. No doubt the Rebbe would be impressed as well.

Rebbe, I Would like to Donate Money for a ‘big cause’

Ronald Lauder and other Jewish Philanthropists.

“I would like to donate money for a ‘big cause’ – something tremendous, awesome. What does the Rebbe suggest?” the following is an excerpt from the new book on the Rebbe “The Rebbe Inspiring a Generation” to see more on the book see: InspiringAGeneration.com.

The following is an encounter that took place shortly before the Passover holiday, when a philanthropist approached the Rebbe, wanting to make a generous donation to a Chabad institution. Apparently, concerning the definition of a “generous donation,” the Rebbe had different ideas. From this we learn that the “little things” done quietly, behind the scenes, can often prove to be in the Rebbe’s eyes a far greater cause.

The philanthropist waited impatiently outside the Rebbe’s office. Ignoring the swirl of black-coated bodies of students and secretaries around him, he instead concentrated on himself—not without satisfaction, he felt, considering his reasons for coming. No doubt the Rebbe would be impressed as well.

Something Jewish
5
The New York Times

There was the joke about shooting the police commissioner.

There was the defense of illegal immigrants, because who else “takes care of the greens and the fairways in your golf course?”

There was the concern that pushing them out of the country would make the United States a “piranha,” not a pariah, in the eyes of the world. And there was the description of a tree the Parks Department was cloning as being the one that “George Washington supposedly slept under and had an apple fall on his head, or maybe it was Newton, or one of those guys.”

Bloomberg Seeks New Outlet After Radio Show Shake-Up

The New York Times

There was the joke about shooting the police commissioner.

There was the defense of illegal immigrants, because who else “takes care of the greens and the fairways in your golf course?”

There was the concern that pushing them out of the country would make the United States a “piranha,” not a pariah, in the eyes of the world. And there was the description of a tree the Parks Department was cloning as being the one that “George Washington supposedly slept under and had an apple fall on his head, or maybe it was Newton, or one of those guys.”

NYC News

Annual Maple Street Shul Melava Malka

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] – This past Motzoai Shabbos the “Maple Street Shul, Cong. Ahavas Moshe” held their annual Melava Malka. R. Eli Blachman opened the evening with a brief history about the Shul and the support the Rebbe gave it.

More pictures and a video in the Extended Article!

Crown Heights News

Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik, left, co-director of the Chabad Jewish Student Center at Colorado State University, helps students prepare for last week’s Shabbat 100 in the newly-koshered kitchen of the university’s central dining hall.

FORT COLLINS, CO — The Rocky Mountain Collegian student newspaper at Colorado State University in Fort Collins heaped kudos on the Chabad Jewish Student Center serving the school for succeeding in its months-long effort to kosher a kitchen in the main dining hall.

Students Praise University’s First-Ever Kosher Kitchen

Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik, left, co-director of the Chabad Jewish Student Center at Colorado State University, helps students prepare for last week’s Shabbat 100 in the newly-koshered kitchen of the university’s central dining hall.

FORT COLLINS, CO — The Rocky Mountain Collegian student newspaper at Colorado State University in Fort Collins heaped kudos on the Chabad Jewish Student Center serving the school for succeeding in its months-long effort to kosher a kitchen in the main dining hall.

Shlichus
NY Post

Ivaylo Ivanov
BROOKLYN, NY — The crazed hatemonger arrested for stashing pipe bombs in his Brooklyn Heights apartment and scrawling swastikas on local synagogues has worked as a paid confidential informant for the NYPD.

The startling disclosure that the shadowy Ivaylo Ivanov, 37, was employed as a witness for hire emerged in a public hearing in Brooklyn Criminal Court last Tuesday, where red-faced prosecutors were forced to drop charges against a businessman for alleged possession of stolen property after Ivanov's involvement in the case surfaced.

In that case, Officer Eddie Lau, of Park Slope's 78th Precinct, last July used Ivanov to launch a criminal case against Abdul Rehium, an Egyptian national who owns Computer Wiz, a Flatbush Avenue store that buys and sells new and used electronic gear, court records reveal.

‘Nazi’ Thug $niched for NYPD

NY Post

Ivaylo Ivanov

BROOKLYN, NY — The crazed hatemonger arrested for stashing pipe bombs in his Brooklyn Heights apartment and scrawling swastikas on local synagogues has worked as a paid confidential informant for the NYPD.

The startling disclosure that the shadowy Ivaylo Ivanov, 37, was employed as a witness for hire emerged in a public hearing in Brooklyn Criminal Court last Tuesday, where red-faced prosecutors were forced to drop charges against a businessman for alleged possession of stolen property after Ivanov’s involvement in the case surfaced.

In that case, Officer Eddie Lau, of Park Slope’s 78th Precinct, last July used Ivanov to launch a criminal case against Abdul Rehium, an Egyptian national who owns Computer Wiz, a Flatbush Avenue store that buys and sells new and used electronic gear, court records reveal.

NYC News
Christine Pizzuti - Poughkeepsie Journal

Chaya Hecht, 5, and her brother, JJ, 4, make sand art at one of the game stations at the Pre-Purim Festival at the Congregation Agudas Achim in Kingston on Sunday.

KINGSTON, NY — In anticipation of Purim, the celebration of the rescue of Jews from Ancient Persia, Chabad Lubavitch of Ulster County held a Pre-Purim Carnival Sunday at the Congregation Agudas Achim in Kingston, complete with fire juggling and a “Guess How Many Hamantaschen Are in the Jar” table.

Pre-Purim Carnival: Families have holiday fun

Christine Pizzuti – Poughkeepsie Journal

Chaya Hecht, 5, and her brother, JJ, 4, make sand art at one of the game stations at the Pre-Purim Festival at the Congregation Agudas Achim in Kingston on Sunday.

KINGSTON, NY — In anticipation of Purim, the celebration of the rescue of Jews from Ancient Persia, Chabad Lubavitch of Ulster County held a Pre-Purim Carnival Sunday at the Congregation Agudas Achim in Kingston, complete with fire juggling and a “Guess How Many Hamantaschen Are in the Jar” table.

Shlichus
3

Staying Grounded

Sue Fishkoff – J Post

By the time Matisyahu loped onstage for what had been billed for days as a surprise appearance at last week’s Jewlicious festival – an annual event organized by Beach Hillel at the Long Beach JCC – it was a surprise only to festival organizers.

Jewish News
48
Alexis Fitts - New Haven Advocate

NEW HAVEN, CT — I'm a Jew of the stomach: bagels and schmear, kugel and latkes are as spiritual as I get. My mother was raised by post-Holocaust transplants of Eastern Europe—a nervously practicing bunch—and the ideology seeped between generations. I wasn’t bat mitzvahed, I’ve never been to synagogue, and the closest I get to religion is washing away my neuroses with a blanket disclaimer: “I’m Jewish!”

Whoever Said “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” Never Ate at Yale’s Chabad House

Alexis Fitts – New Haven Advocate

NEW HAVEN, CT — I’m a Jew of the stomach: bagels and schmear, kugel and latkes are as spiritual as I get. My mother was raised by post-Holocaust transplants of Eastern Europe—a nervously practicing bunch—and the ideology seeped between generations. I wasn’t bat mitzvahed, I’ve never been to synagogue, and the closest I get to religion is washing away my neuroses with a blanket disclaimer: “I’m Jewish!”

Shlichus
2
Tamar Runyan - Chabad.org

Last week, vandals scrawled swastikas on
Jewish graves in Berdichev, Ukraine. They
targeted the tomb of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak,
an 18th-century Chasidic master.
BERDICHEV, Ukraine — Police in Berdichev, Ukraine, arrested the leader of a new anti-Semitic group responsible for vandalizing the tomb of 18th-century Chasidic master, according to Rabbi Moshe Thaler, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary there.

Thaler discovered the damage to the building March 2. He found windows smashed and part of a wall missing. The structure houses the grave of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, one of the students of the Baal Shem Tov's successor, the Maggid of Mezrich. He was a contemporary of the first Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.

When Thaler returned the following day, the wall had been broken down completely and someone had scratched a swastika into the building's door. Police, along with Mayor Masily Mazur, visited the site March 4 and opened an investigation.

Alleged Vandal of Chasidic Master’s Tomb Arrested in Ukraine

Tamar Runyan – Chabad.org

Last week, vandals scrawled swastikas on
Jewish graves in Berdichev, Ukraine. They
targeted the tomb of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak,
an 18th-century Chasidic master.

BERDICHEV, Ukraine — Police in Berdichev, Ukraine, arrested the leader of a new anti-Semitic group responsible for vandalizing the tomb of 18th-century Chasidic master, according to Rabbi Moshe Thaler, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary there.

Thaler discovered the damage to the building March 2. He found windows smashed and part of a wall missing. The structure houses the grave of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, one of the students of the Baal Shem Tov’s successor, the Maggid of Mezrich. He was a contemporary of the first Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.

When Thaler returned the following day, the wall had been broken down completely and someone had scratched a swastika into the building’s door. Police, along with Mayor Masily Mazur, visited the site March 4 and opened an investigation.

Chabad News
Collegian

Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik

FORT COLLINS, CO — The university's 3-year-old Chabad organization has spent the entirety of its existence fighting with the City of Fort Collins and the university for bits and pieces of recognition and Friday night they got anther one.

After a month of toil and argument with Lory Student Center Dining Services, Rabbi Yerachmeil Gorelik finally convinced them to allow him and Jewish students to kosher the LSC kitchen for the first time in CSU history.

Congrats to the Chabad of Fort Collins

Collegian

Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik

FORT COLLINS, CO — The university’s 3-year-old Chabad organization has spent the entirety of its existence fighting with the City of Fort Collins and the university for bits and pieces of recognition and Friday night they got anther one.

After a month of toil and argument with Lory Student Center Dining Services, Rabbi Yerachmeil Gorelik finally convinced them to allow him and Jewish students to kosher the LSC kitchen for the first time in CSU history.

Shlichus

Mazal Tov! – Its A Boy!

We would like to wish Mazal Tov to Shloime and Alyson Feldman (Crown Heights) on the birth of their son.

May the newborn be a source of Nachas to his parents, grandparents, relatives and Klal Yisroel!

Mazel Tov's
FJC.ru
TOMSK, Russia — Jews of Tomsk have been faced with a disturbing new incident that has them shocked. Several vandals struck the city's Synagogue. The incident took place on Wednesday night and involved throwing stones through the windows of the building, which hosts a wide range of programs carried out by the local Jewish community.

As typically occurs in similar incidents, the culprits arranged to carry out their crime in the midst of night, after which they immediately ran to conceal their identity. This has made the police's work even more difficult to perform, since no witnesses have been identified so far.

Siberian Synagogue Struck by Vandals

FJC.ru

TOMSK, Russia — Jews of Tomsk have been faced with a disturbing new incident that has them shocked. Several vandals struck the city’s Synagogue. The incident took place on Wednesday night and involved throwing stones through the windows of the building, which hosts a wide range of programs carried out by the local Jewish community.

As typically occurs in similar incidents, the culprits arranged to carry out their crime in the midst of night, after which they immediately ran to conceal their identity. This has made the police’s work even more difficult to perform, since no witnesses have been identified so far.

Chabad News

BP Markowitz joining legislation co-sponsors at Brooklyn Borough Hall press conference announcing mortgage foreclosure moratorium legislation. Photo by Kathryn Kirk.

BROOKLYN, NY — On March 7, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined Assemblymember Jim Brennan (D-Bklyn), Senator Frank Padavan (R-Queens), Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and Bertha Lewis, Executive Director of ACORN, at a Brooklyn Borough Hall press conference announcing foreclosure moratorium legislation. The bill would place a one-year moratorium on foreclosure and give at-risk homeowners a chance to work with lenders to find fair and equitable ways to restructure their loans and protect their homes.

Boro Pres Merkowitz Throws Support Behind Legislation Protecting Homeowners

BP Markowitz joining legislation co-sponsors at Brooklyn Borough Hall press conference announcing mortgage foreclosure moratorium legislation. Photo by Kathryn Kirk.

BROOKLYN, NY — On March 7, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined Assemblymember Jim Brennan (D-Bklyn), Senator Frank Padavan (R-Queens), Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and Bertha Lewis, Executive Director of ACORN, at a Brooklyn Borough Hall press conference announcing foreclosure moratorium legislation. The bill would place a one-year moratorium on foreclosure and give at-risk homeowners a chance to work with lenders to find fair and equitable ways to restructure their loans and protect their homes.

NYC News