8-day, 2-Seder observation forms a pillar of Jewish faith

The story of the Exodus of Hebrews from Egyptian bondage forms a foundation of the Jewish religion, and many Tucson Jews will hear it not only tonight, when Passover begins, but again Thursday night.

Though Passover dinners, called Seders, can last for four hours and require complicated cooking, it’s common for Jews to attend two straight Seders.

University of Arizona sophomore Sarah Langert will attend one with her parents tonight and a second one at her grandparents’ house Thursday night.

Boro Park’s Night Of Shame And Disgrace

I was sitting in a local hotel room in Albany, after a late New York State Assembly legislative session, when I received the first call that alerted me to a volatile scene in Boro Park. I was secure in the knowledge that the community’s relationship with the NYPD and my personal relationship with the 66th Precinct and One Police Plaza would foster a climate of understanding and conciliation.

Confident that Boro Park residents would conduct themselves in the manner of bnei Torah, of shomrei Torah u’mitzvos, I expected the next caller to tell me it was all over, that calm heads had triumphed and that people continued to go about their extensive pre-Pesach preparations. Instead, for nearly four hours lawlessness, chaos, and disorder reigned in Boro Park and cast the community in a light from which I hope we can recover untainted. But I am not sure we will.

Cyprus Celebrates Pesach As Never Before!

This Pesach, Chabad of Cyprus will be organizing four sedorim with hundreds of people in attendance. The main seder will be held at the Chabad House in Larnaka, where a over 250 people have made reservations and even more are expected to attend. The local Jews of Larnaka will be joined by many traveling business people from around the world, as well as Israeli and American tourist. Rabbi Zeevi Raskin will lead the Hebrew seder, while Motti Seligson and Yudi Steiner will run the seder in English.

Another two sedorim will take place on the Turkish-North side of Cyprus, where bochurim have koshered an Israeli owned hotel and are expecting many Israelis who often spend their vacations in Cyprus, to take part in the seder. A number of bochurim have flown into Cyprus from Israel to assist in the Pesach preparations, including Shaykee Farkash, Motti Herzog, Yosi Prag, Menachem Shikevitch and Aharon Ullman.

NY State Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Suozzi Visits the Ohel!

Earlier today Tom Suozzi, Democratic Candidate for Governor of New York State, visited the Ohel accompanied by R. Mendy Heber Shliach to Glen Cove, the hometown of Mr. Suozzi.

More Pictures in the Extended Article!

Chabad to organize first seder dinner for students

Matazh, red wine and a variety of traditional Jewish dishes will be some of the items decorating the table at the Chabad House on the night of April 12, when the Jewish holiday of Passover begins. This eight-day holiday will start off the celebration with the first Passover seder for FIU students.

“It’s not your average seder. It’s going to be interactive and entertaining,” said Rabbi Levi Friedman of FIU’s Chabad House, the organization for Jewish students at FIU that will be hosting the Seder.

Chabad’s seder is for students of all Jewish backgrounds, even those who have never experienced a seder before. For Jews outside of Israel, the Passover seder takes place the first two nights of the eight-day holiday. So on the night of April 13, students will have another chance to experience the second seder.

Host In Chief

Hawaii governor makes kosher seder in her mansion an annual event.

In early 2002 Linda Lingle, the former mayor of Maui and then head of the Hawaii Republican Party, stopped by the seder we were running at the Chabad House in Honolulu. We had already finished the fourth cup of wine, so my husband, Rabbi Itchel Krasnjansky, duly introduced her to the guests as the “future governor of Hawaii.”

It was six months before the gubernatorial election, and she had not yet officially declared her candidacy for that office.

Lingle, who is Jewish and had known us for six months, stood by quietly and smiled.

Toussaint and 2 Other Union Leaders Sentenced for Transit Strike

The man behind the billions lost during the transit strike gets 10 days in jail and a fine $1,000.

Roger Toussaint, the president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, was sentenced today to 10 days in jail and fined $1,000 by Judge Theodore T. Jones of the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn in connection with last December’s transit strike.

The sentence is not to take effect for 30 days, and Mr. Toussaint can appeal the ruling during that time.

Two other officials of the 33,700-member local, Ed Watt, the secretary-treasurer, and Darlyne Lawson, the recording secretary, were each sentenced to $500 fines.

Mr. Toussaint and the two others were found to be in contempt of court for refusing to order their members back to work after the illegal strike commenced late in December, during the busy holiday season. The strike ended on Dec. 22, after three days of turmoil.

Rebbe’s birthday highlights divisions in Chabad

“There was an amazing turnout,” said Yoni Kahana, one of the organizers of the evening. “Everyone came away with renewed faith in the imminent coming of the rebbe, our messiah. He may not have come on Sunday night. But he will truly be revealed any second.”

However, leading Chabad figures, among them Menahem Brod, the group’s official spokesman, claimed the rally and its organizers were unauthorized.

Around the World, Countdown to the Seder . . .

With passports in hand and suitcases filled with matzah and kosher meat, 700 Chabad-Lubavitch rabbinical students are making a mass exodus from their yeshivas and teaching positions to bring Passover to the far corners of the world.

Early this week, 172 American rabbinical students boarded jets for Wyoming, Ghana, Bolivia, Croatia, Peru, Nepal, Republic of Congo, and Cypress. Aussie Chabad-Lubavitch rabbinical students will be bringing Passover to the Outback, New Zealand. Chabad rabbis in training from Israel will be crisscrossing China, Thailand, Laos. In Russia, Ukraine and 15 countries in the region, hundreds of rabbinical students will be hosting Passover Seders across 11 time zones.