Wellesley-Weston Chabad’s Torah scroll completed

The U.S. Postal Service has a building in New York City, inscribed with the motto “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Well, on Sunday Feb. 12, a massive blizzard kept just about everyone indoors. Many local events were canceled, and hundreds of flights were canceled in Boston, leaving thousands of stranded travelers.

But, in Wellesley, more than 100 friends and community members gathered in the midst of the storm for ahistorical event – the completion of a Torah scroll.

Written by hand, using a quill and special ink on dozens of sheets of hand-prepared animal parchment, all sewn together to form a long scroll, Jews believe that a Torah is a living embodiment of the Divine Will.

Holocaust survivor, 76, finally gets his bar mitzvah

It may have taken 63 years but Herman Rosenblat is finally able to celebrate being a man.

Rosenblat, formerly of Bay Terrace, received his Bar Mitzvah today at Congregation Beth Sholom Chabad in Mineola. Although most Jewish boys celebrate at age 13 — the age when the child becomes responsible for himself under Jewish law — Rosenblat was hardly in a position for balloons and streamers: the 76-year-old Polish immigrant spent his 13th year in a concentration camp during World War II.

Rosenblat celebrated with about a dozen friends and local congregants, eating cookies and dancing the Hora. But his journey from near death in a German concentration camp to celebrating his life in a Mineola temple is just one of Rosenblat’s amazing tales.

Chabad leader pleads guilty, gets fine

Rabbi admits to wrongful use of his property; other charges by town dropped

Rabbi Avraham Bechor, who operated the Chabad Center of Randolph out of his West Hanover Avenue home, pleaded guilty Wednesday night in municipal court to deviating from the originally approved use of the property. The charge was based on his running a religious school in the house. Bechor was fined $250 and costs, and three other related charges against him were dropped by the township.

The cleric also pleaded not guilty to another charge related to safety regulations under the township construction codes. That charge will be heard in township court at a later date.

The school originally run in the house now is based at the Mount Freedom Jewish Center.

Rare Video of the Rebbe

The blizzard that hit NYC in the beginning of this week had awakened some memories in the staff over at shturem.net. Presented here is a very rare video clip of the Rebbe arriving at 770 during a snow storm around 30 years ago.

Click Here To View The Video

Lawsuit exposes Chabad power struggle in Israel

Our dirty laundry hits world financial news

Chassidei Chabad Lubavitch Yeshiva Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Wilshansky, Beit Chana Schools head Rabbi Shlomo Raskin, and members of Chabad Israel, which manages the movement’s activities in the country, have petitioned the courts to prevent Tzeirei Agudat Chabad (Chabad Youth Organization in Israel) chairman Rabbi Yosef Y. Aharonov and five members of Tzeirei Chabad from taking it over.

Wilshansky and Raskin asked the court to forbid the respondents from making material changes Tzeirei Chabad’s foundation documents, signatory rights, directors, and membership, or making any other fundamental changes. The petitioners claim that this is an attempt to illegally take over Tzeirei Chabad, and through it, Chabad Israel in general.

Food fight waged in Texas prisons: Lawsuit seeks kosher diet for Jewish inmates

Efforts being made to help rehabilitate Jewish prisoners through Yiddishkeit

In early October 2005, a lawsuit was filed in federal court against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for denying kosher meals to an observant Jew incarcerated in Texas. The suit charges that by not providing the plaintiff, Max Moussazadeh, a nutritionally sufficient kosher diet, the TDCJ is in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, which otherwise secures “the free exercise of religion by protecting inmates from any unlawful imposition of a substantial burden on an individual’s religious exercise.”

Counsel for the plaintiff is The Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, an interfaith, nonprofit agency based in Washington; co-council is Latham & Watkins LLP. Defendants in the suit are the TDCJ and the Eastham Unit in Lovelady, Texas, where the plaintiff is incarcerated, and which receives federal funding for the meals it serves. These include a pork-free, meat-free or regular diet tray only – none of which qualifies as kosher under the laws of kashruth.

The New York Post on R. Chitrik’s Passing

Reflections of a Former Matchmaker

I am a former matchmaker, and I have recently quit the field, and am moving on to a new profession. The reason for which I have quit my job, is because of troubles that I have been experiencing with the parents of my clients.

I wanted to bring to people’s attention, a issue which troubles many, the issue of “Shadchonus” – matchmaking. Many parents are struggling in finding a suitable match for their sons and mainly, their daughters. This is not the place to detail all the causes which have brought upon these difficulties, but the following words may cast more light on the issue

I am a former matchmaker. The reason why I have quit this ever-important field is connected with many of you, the parents. Many of these incidents [which have caused me to stop working] should not strike you by surprise, as they have happened with you. So please take this to your attention

We will first begin [discussing] the perspective of I, the matchmaker. I am here in order to help you with one of the uttermost crucial and essential tasks of your lives. Since this is such an important task, then why do people wait and expect me to chase them? Why do I have to wait an entire week in order to receive an answer or update? Why don’t people call and tell me how the date went; was it successful or not? Is it proper that I should be left in the dark?

New Shluchim To Washington DC

Rabbi Bentzi & Rochie Sudak from Crown Heights will be moving to Washington, DC where they will be joining Rabbi & Mrs Levi Shemtov of American Friends of Lubavitch.

Hatzlocha Rabba!

The Sudak’s can be reached via e-mail: bsudak@chabad.org

Hitler Goes on Trial in Boca

“The False Witness,” a Chabad-sponsored play that puts Adolf Hitler on trial for crimes against humanity, enjoyed a two-day run in Boca Raton, Fla., this past weekend.

Part courtroom drama and part history lesson, the interactive performance — in which the audience is sworn in as the jury — brings a virtual who’s who of antisemitic history to the stand in an effort to ascertain just who bears final responsibility for the Holocaust.

According to the play’s co-authors, Robert Krakow and Ilan Lewinger, the piece breaks fresh ground in its approach to the question of where ultimate responsibility for the Holocaust lies. Playwright Krakow, a onetime trial lawyer who has been at work on the piece for 17 years, also has a bit part in the production. At the play’s end, he appears in the guise of jury foreman and polls the audience for a verdict.

Over 600 pack Hall in historic celebration of Shabbos

Munching on gefilte fish and challah, over 600 Harvard affiliates—Jews and gentiles alike—packed Annenberg Hall last Friday night to observe the beginning of the Jewish sabbath.

Embattled University President Lawrence H. Summers delivered the opening remarks of the event, dubbed Shabbat 1000.

When his name was announced, the audience responded with vigorous applause, which surged again when Summers stepped up to speak.

“It’s a thrill to attend a warm and friendly Harvard meeting,” quipped the president, who arrived at 6:45 p.m. accompanied by his wife of two months, Professor of English and American Language and Literature Elisa New.

Governor, Jewish Community Fight Xenophobia in Perm Region

At a recent youth conference on various aspects of modern life in Russia, Governor of Perm Region Oleg Chirkunov made an important statement in support of inter-ethnic tolerance. During the discussion, a participating member of the National People’s Party and an activist in the Movement against Illegal Immigration, Mr. Kirilovich stated that he and his friends have decided that racially-motivated murder was no longer effective and, therefore, they would instead be pursuing legal ways of their political struggle. The Governor denounced this statement, remarking that there is no place in the Perm Region for organizations that incite racial or national hatred within society and that legal proceedings should be initiated against the group based on this statement.

New Shluchim to Singapore

Rabbi Shai & Naomi Vaknin of Montreal, Canada will IYH be moving on Shlichus to Singapore where they will be working with the Bochurim and the local
community. The couple can be reached via email shyyehoshua@hotmail.com.

The Vaknin’s were appointed by Rabbi Mordechai Abergel and facilitated by Rabbi Aharon Fehler of the Shluchim Office Placement Bureau.

The Placement Bureau works with Yungerliet and Shluchim to assist them in finding their ideal position for Shlichus. We have positions available! If you are looking for Shlichus, or a Shliach look to fill a position please go to www.shluchim.org/placement today.

Hatzlocha Rabba!