Panels reject Chabad plan

LA JOLLA, CA — A proposal by conservative Jewish group Chabad was roundly rejected by a second planning group committee Thursday.

The proposal calls for demolishing an existing single-family home at 2466 Hidden Valley road and replacing it with a two-story, 11,666-square-foot structure to include a synagogue, a rabbi’s residence, a social hall with attendant kitchen and a small preschool.

Op-Ed: The New Gangster

The era of the mob has come to a close. Once the fixtures of the back alley and in-your-face sudden attacks, the Capones and Gotiis have been relegated to movie screenings. The mafia still exists, but like bad Hollywood take-offs, they are generally try-hard copycats.

However, many would argue that a new brand of mobsters have become legitimate criminals. Drive-by shootings are replaced by character assassinations in the drive-by media. A refusal of their demands will welcome impossible ones. Their wars have become deadlier and dirtier. Although wrong and offensive, they are backed by legal authority.

A nation once united by a union force is now hostage to a fierce union movement that is more of a confederacy. The land of the free has been placed in shackles with the exception of the few resistant brave. These labor unions will twist their victims’ arms until they cry mercy, and finally yield. Claiming to protect workers’ rights, the union offends the freedoms granted them in the Bill of Rights. It is their way or the highway, and they are eager to take the low road to suit their interests.

Dear Rebbetzin Raichik and the entire Raichik Family,

I join the Khal Adas Chassidim worldwide in mourning the loss of your dear husband, father and brother. Indeed this is a great loss to you. However this is really a great loss to each and every one of us Chassidim. Not only because of the impact and the special position he had in Tzeirei Agudas Chabad enabling Hafotzas Hamayanos in Eretz Yisroel, which is a top priority by the Rebbe and therefore is a top priority by every single Chassid, but also because of the unique, special, different, and extraordinary Chassidishe traits that Yossi possessed.

He was the example of a true Chassid. He was real, genuine, and true. There was no facade, no impression. Everything with him was face value. What you saw, you got. What was on the in was on the out. This came across in all aspects of his life. He was true as a father, true as a friend, true as a Chassid, true as an employer and true as an employee. And in everything that went along with it.

Continued in the Extended Article.