When Young Idealism Leads

BROOKLYN, NY [CHI] — Much talk is heard about today’s teens, corrupted more than ever by messages of how to dress, eat, think, socialize, shop, recreate or otherwise indulge in endless decadence to gross excess.

But should one have been in attendance at the recent annual convention of the Volunteer Leadership Club, quite the opposite picture emerges.

The New Siddur causing a revolution in the FSU

BROOKLYN, NY — If you find yourself in the foreseeable future in one of the synagogues or schools in the FSU you might have an illusion that you are by the Western Wall. Well this illusion is nearly reality! Tzivos Hashem of the C.I.S. under the directorship of Rabbi Yossi Glick is responsible for the vast amount of noise erupting lately in the FSU. Their Publishing House, directed by Rabbi Shmuli Brown has printed the first of a kind Siddur with Russian translation and transliteration.

The Siddur for daily prayers comes with a new translation geared to young adults, and with numbered paragraphs making it easy for the reader to switch from the Hebrew to the translation or transliterated text. Prayers are marked with symbols that let the reader know whether to sit or stand at that prayer.

“Kids in Action” Brings Holidays to Life for Uruguayans

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Reaching Uruguay’s thousands of Jews one kid at a time. That’s what Rochel Shemtov’s initiative does through a series of fun-filled educational programs it brings to local schools monthly.

New Torah Scroll Evidence of Buenos Aires Community’s Growth

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Hundreds of community members took to the streets in the middle-class Colegiales neighborhood of Buenos Aires to welcome a new Torah scroll given to the local Chabad-Lubavitch center directed by Rabbi Eli and Devorah Leah Levy.

Rabbi’s New Role

A man who created extraordinary connections during his 13 years as the Rabbi at Sydney’s Great Synagogue is now making links of a different kind in Bondi.

When Rabbi Mendel Kastel talks, people listen. He is an imposing presence, but his slightly American-accented-voice doesn’t need to be raised for attention to swing his way. In the time since he moved to Sydney from New York in 1988, Rabbi Kastel has become a familiar figure in both the Jewish and wider community, creating programs that benefit teenagers and others in need.