Major Matzah Shipment for Central Asian Jewish Community

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan – Not long after the joyous holiday of Purim has passed the Jewish community of Tashkent has already begun making the necessary preparations for a successful celebration of Passover. The initiative is being headed by Rabbi David Gurevich, the Chief Rabbi of Uzbekistan and a Chabad Lubavitch emissary.

The latest development in the community’s efforts is the arrival of a large shipment of matzah in Tashkent. From this major center, smaller matzah packages will be distributed to dozens of Jewish communities spread across Uzbekistan, as well as the neighboring country of Tajikistan.

This shipment constitutes a humanitarian action to benefit local Jews in a time when most local Jews still find themselves in a difficult economic position. This undertaking was made possible through the logistical and financial support of the FJC CIS and Ohr Avner Foundation, headed by FJC President Lev Leviev, together with the Uzbekistan Branch of the World Lubavitcher Movement.

Chabad Buys House on 113th St.

After Eight Years, Rabbi Blum to Move Jewish Outreach Organization Into New Digs

After eight years of running Chabad Columbia out of his apartment, Rabbi Yonah Blum is moving the organization into a five-story brownstone on 113th Street. [Ed Note: This comes along with R. Blums birthday this shabbos]

According to Blum, the purchase of the building is a means of intensifying Chabad’s relationship with Columbia. The relationship was officially established just this past year.

“We’ve been throwing around the idea of getting a proper building for a while already, but it’s very difficult to find property in the Morningside Heights area,” said Blum. “When we found out that this building was available, we approached our donors, George and Pamela Rohr, and they helped us purchase it.”

Matisyahu: Rabbi or Rebel?

Matisyahu is now an international phenomenon; he is a reggae singer with a difference. Instead of dreadlocks he sports a trilby. His beard is predicated on the Kabbalists’ theosophy instead of Rastafarian tradition and his clothing places him in an Ultra Orthodox Jewish enclave rather than a black ghetto. This week he released his latest CD entitled YOUTH and it seems that Matisyahu’s tremendous success so far is about to reach unprecedented heights. Predictably, this man’s singing antics are deeply controversial.

Many have asked the following questions. Is it correct for a Chassidic Jew to be singing in clubs and bars? Is Matisyahu using his talent to bring G-dliness to the profoundly unG-dly and thus sanctifying G-d’s name or is he achieving the opposite?

Bucktown’s first Jewish center opens with a Purim bash

At first glance, the Moscowitzs’ home looks no different than any other of the town houses that line Bucktown’s quiet residential streets. But the home of Rabbi Yosef Moscowitz and his wife, Sara, is in its own way entirely distinct because it’s currently doubling as the neighborhood’s first Chabad center.

Chabad centers, says Mosco-witz, are geared toward serving Jews in communities where there may be few official places of worship. There are about 4,000 of them worldwide, but Moscowitz says his center will be the first in the West Town area, which, he says, most Jews often must leave to find a synagogue proper.

A $65 Table, and a Tale to Tell Around It

Funny how a piece of furniture can bring strangers together.

Beau Willimon and his friend were looking for a table for their apartment in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

On the Web site Craigslist, they saw an elegant oval dining table with a rich mahogany finish: $65. Mr. Willimon called the number. The man at the other end, a Mr. Klein (he never volunteered a first name) would not deliver the table unless he had the money in hand. So Mr. Willimon and his friend took the long train ride to Crown Heights. This was eight weeks ago, on a damp Tuesday night.

Purim fest survives torrents

For a few moments Tuesday, two young rabbis driving Kaua’i’s drenched highway came to know the meaning of “torrential rain.”

Yet rabbis Yossel Groner of Melbourne, Australia, and Dovid Tilson of Randolph, N.J., braved the rain-slicked roads on Tuesday, the day Kaua’i saw fatal flooding that swept away homes, because of the concept of “hashgacha protis,” or divine providence. They knew where they were meant to be — celebrating the joyous Jewish festival of Purim.

Purim in the Shtetel

“Purim in the Shtetel” was celebrated and in keeping with the Chabad tradition of creating fun and exciting holiday programs for the Jewish community, Chabad of Alexandria/ Arlington hosted its 5th annual Purim around the world party Monday at a hotel in Pentagon City.

Purim commemorates the escape of the Jewish people from annihilation by the ancient Persian Empire, and is celebrated by the exchange of food packages between friends, by giving charity to the poor, by eating a traditional festive meal and by reading the story of Purim from the Megillah, or Purim scroll.

“It combines ancient Jewish traditions with a modern twist, as we focus on doing interesting and innovative holiday programs, yet still keeping with the holiday theme,” said Rabbi Mordechai Newman, director of Chabad of Alexandria/Arlington.

Purim In Lithuania

This year’s Purim in Vilnius, Lithuania, will long be remembered by the city’s Jewish community.

Six hundred Jews, from Vilnius and neighboring Kaunas, were treated to a Purim extravaganza at the Forum Palace concert hall. The megillah reading by Rabbi Sholom B. Krinsky, Chabad representative to Lithuania, was followed by musical performances by Chabad’s very own students. The crowd enjoyed one belly laugh after another as Israeli comedian Y. Levinzon, originally from Odessa, entertained.

Sponsored by Chabad, the event made the Purim holiday come to life. “People looked forward to this with so much anticipation, and they were grateful for the opportunity to participate in the holiday,” says Rabbi Krinsky.

More pictures in the Extended Article!

Supreme Court Rules: 770 Belongs To Aguc”h & Merkos

In a summery judgment in the Supreme Court by Judge Ira B. Harkavy, he decisively says that 770 belongs to Aguch and Merkos, and that ‘the Congregation’ has no rights to these Properties. The judge went into surprising detail about the Rebbe and Lubavitch and how the ‘Gaboyim’ have no claim whatsoever.

The judge signed of with saying “As result, that part of plaintiffs’ motion seeking a permanent injunction is granted and those branches of the Congregation’s motion to dismiss the TRO, remove any plaques, and reimburse the Congregation and police department are denied. The injunction shall be effective against all named defendants and any other person or entity with notice of the injunction.” And “This court has considered all other arguments of the Congregation and finds them to be without merit”

Granting summery judgment declaring that plaintiffs Agudas and Merkos have all right, title and interest in and to 770 Eastern Parkway (“770”) and 784-788, respectively, and that the Congregation has no rights in these properties, and granting a permanent injunction enjoining defendants from any further acts of vandalism, theft, harassment, trespass and/or nuisance with respect to the premises in general and the new plaque in particular, together with a mandatory injunction directing the Congregation to cease and desist from interfering in any manner with plaintiffs’ effort to maintain a commemorative plaque or otherwise interfering with plaintiffs’ interest in and enjoyment of the premises.

The verdict can be viewed in its entirety in the Extended Article!

USDA Slaps Kosher Slaughterhouse

One of the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouses was censured by the United States Department of Agriculture for using inhumane methods in its slaughtering process.

AgriProcessors, a Chabad-Lubavitch-owned slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa, was criticized in an internal report by the Department of Agriculture and later warned about its methods in a letter from the department. Since then, the procedures in question have been changed.

The slaughterhouse drew attention from the government in 2004 after an animal rights organization released an undercover video showing gruesome footage of cows being killed at the plant. AgriProcessors has faced questions from the Orthodox Union’s kosher division and criticism from the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly. The slaughterhouse has made some changes to its operations, but it has defended its old methods as consistent with kosher law — which aims to minimize suffering for the animal, among other things. The newly released report says the company had “engaged in acts of inhumane slaughter.”

Chabad Outfit To Endorse Military Chaplains

An ultra-Orthodox organization will start endorsing chaplains for the United States military, ending the 88-year-long monopoly on endorsements held by the multi-denominational body that had vetted all previous candidates.

The Aleph Institute, an organization linked to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement previously known for helping Jewish prisoners, was approved last month by the Department of Defense to endorse chaplains. Endorsing agencies provide a required seal of approval for any religious leader who wants to join one of the three branches of the military. The Miami-based Aleph Institute will join the Jewish Welfare Board’s Jewish Chaplains Council, which, since 1918, has been the only body endorsing Jewish chaplains. The chaplains council is run by the Jewish Community Center Association and brings together the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements to vet candidates.

The approval of a Chabad-Lubavitch body is particularly notable because Chabad rabbis — known for their eagerness in reaching out to unaffiliated Jews — are currently not able to become chaplains because of a military regulation banning beards. The new body will endorse rabbis from other corners of the Orthodox world, but it is also likely to lead any efforts to overturn the military’s prohibition on chaplains having beards. In the past, Orthodox rabbis have quietly complained that the Jewish Chaplains Council did not seem interested in working to change the rule. The chaplains council also has been under pressure because of a general shortage of Jewish chaplains in the military.