Jewish TV making waves in Ukraine

Kiev, Ukraine — Once a relatively obscure rabbi, Moishe-Leyb Kolesnik is now a budding celebrity throughout Ukraine.

“I saw you on national television – quite often I hear this on the street,” said Kolesnik, a Chabad Lubavitch rabbi in his native town of Ivano-Frankovsk in western Ukraine.

The rabbi owes his sudden wave of fame to several appearances on “613,” a Jewish-themed show that is broadcast biweekly on UT-1, the main state-run channel in Ukraine. According to Kolesnik, most of those who recognize him on the street are non-Jews, as are the majority of the show’s audience.

Zhitomir Jews Get New Mikvah

Zhitomir, Ukraine — A monumental event has taken place in Zhitomir. The new Mikvah, housed in a separate building, has finally opened. The old Mikvah was located elsewhere, in a building recently condemned due to its age, which is soon slated for destruction.

Rabbi Shlomo Wilhelm, who serves as the Chief Rabbi of Zhitomir, Central and Western Ukraine, led the initiative to construct a new building to serve as a Mikvah. He worked closely with the organization ‘Union of Zhitomir Jews’ to make this a reality.

Landmark Manual Published for Jewish History Teachers

Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine — A presentation took place for the new teachers’ manual “The People of Israel are Alive”, which is aimed at eighth graders attending Jewish schools. The Ohr Avner Chabad Day School in Dneprodzerzhinsk is the first institution to use this book.

This successful project will benefit children in learning about the life of European Jews from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The teacher’s manual also includes methodological recommendations for teachers, maps, a glossary, and chronological charts (timelines showing the creation of the world until the modern era).

New Shluchim to Mexico

Rabbi and Mrs. Mendel Druk of Crown Heights have just moved to Cancun, Mexico where they will establish a new Chabad House serving the needs of the local Jewish residents and many tourists who visit the island.

The new Shluchim were appointed by Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch.

The new Shluchim can be reached via e-mail at mendeldruk@gmail.com

CrownHeights.info would like to wish the new Shluchim Hatzlocha Rabba on their Shlichus!

New Shluchim to New Jersey

Rabbi Kivi and his wife Zeesy (nee Goldman) Greenbaum will IYH be moving on Shlichus to Ewing, NJ where they will establish a new Chabad House on the campus of the College of New Jersey.

The new Shluchim were appointed by Rabbi Dovid Dubov the director of Chabad of Mercer County.

CrownHeights.info would like to wish the new Shluchim Hatzlocha Rabba on their Shlichus!

The new Shluchim can be reached via e-mail at unclekiv@hotmail.com