London Friends’ Hurricane Hell

The holiday of a lifetime turned into a nightmare for three Jewish friends from London this week after Hurricane Wilma left them stranded in Mexico without food or water.

An excerpt of the article: [click the extended article like to read the whole story.]

Further east in Florida, there were reports of succahs being ripped out of the ground when the hurricane struck.

According to Chabad of Hallandale’s representative Rabbi Rephael Tennenhaus, telephone pole wires shook “like lulavs”. But the rabbi said he expected the hurricane to cause more people than usual to attend simchat torah festivities as many had been prevented from cooking.

Today in 1992…

… A New York City jury acquits 17-year-old Lemrick Nelson of murdering Yankel Rosenbaum, an Australian Hasidic scholar killed in rioting in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn in August 1991 following the traffic death of a black child hit by a Hasidic driver.

This from the Australian newspaper “Herald Sun”.

Simchat Torah holiday honors completion of a yearlong cycle of reading scrolls

Excerpt from a local FL news paper:

…Meanwhile, over at the Chabad Lubavitch celebration at Bais Menachem in Salt Lake’s Sugar House neighborhood, men tossed back shots of vodka and whiskey and sipped on bottles of Michelob Ultra. Drinking on Simchat Torah, while nowhere commanded and not a part of most Jewish celebrations, has become tradition in some circles – a part of the festivities.

“Oh, yeah. The rabbi is lit,” laughed Alysse Eisen Silk, as Rabbi Benny Zippel’s voice boomed from the men’s side of the room. In Orthodox Judaism, men and women are separated in synagogue sanctuaries and while dancing.

A First Dance for the New Year: Jewish Students Bond With the Torah

Minutes to midnight on University of Pennsylvania’s fraternity row, as the ‘Sox were on their way to trouncing the Astros in overtime, the guys at Sigma Nu got a knock at the door. It wasn’t the pizza guy. Chabad of UPenn’s Rabbi Levi Haskelevich and Rabbi Ephraim Levin offered the frat a chance to dance with the Torah in honor of the Simchat Torah holiday.

“In Chasidic philosophy, Simchat Torah propels you into the rest of the year,” said Chabad on Campus executive committee member Rabbi Menachem Schmidt. “You can give a class forever, but when someone takes a Torah and dances with it, that makes a connection that is extremely powerful.”

When Rudy Tossed Arafat

Ten years ago this week, the UN was marking its fiftieth anniversary with a series of events around New York City, including an Oct. 23 invitation-only Lincoln Center concert performed by the New York Philharmonic for a glittering list of dignitaries and diplomats. When Rudy Giuliani spotted Yasir Arafat and his entourage making their way to a private box seat near the stage that evening, the mayor immediately ordered the Palestinian leader off the premises.

The man in the street cheered the mayor’s gutsy move, but the city’s liberal elite was appalled. “The proper role of New York, as the UN’s home city,” sniffed The New York Times, “is to play gracious host to all of the 140 or so world leaders present for the organization’s gala 50th birthday celebrations.”

CIA gets new powers; Jew-haters make hay

On Oct. 26, John D. Negroponte, the first director of national intelligence, released a detailed National Intelligence Strategy for coordinating the nation’s 15 spy agencies. It calls for building up the ranks of intelligence operatives and analysts and delineates new global missions. One of the top three key missions cited is to “bolster the growth of democracy and sustain democratic states.” Reads the 20-page document: “We have learned to our peril that the lack of freedom in one state endangers the peace and freedom of others and that failed states are a refuge and breeding ground of extremism. Self-sustaining democratic states are essential to world peace and development.” The other missions outlined in the document are “defeating terrorists at home and abroad” and “preventing and countering the spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction.”

Weathering Wilma: Chabad Is On Call Again

Stuart Katz, general manager of IsraAir, never thought he’d spend an all night session on the phone with rabbis from Chabad. But that’s what happened on Thursday night as members from Lubavitch headquarters’ relief team scrambled to bring thousands of self-heating meals to Florida communities recovering from the wrath of Hurricane Wilma.

By 2 p.m. on Friday, Rabbi Shalom Wilhelm was still burning up the phone lines with Katz as IsraAir used its contacts to find precious cargo space on a flight into Fort Lauderdale. Cargo flights into the stricken area were nearly non-existent, and those flying were already packed tight with Federal relief supplies.

The Weekly Sedra – Bereshit

When the Torah was given 3318 years ago through Moses, he instituted that it be read publicly at least once a week to insure that it never be changed or forgotten (G-d forbid).

So this week marks the 3318th time that we begin reading the Torah since it was given.

The first thing we notice is that the Torah begins with how G-d created the world 5766 years ago (which can be derived by adding the generations listed later on).

Celebrating Simchat Torah, Hurricane and All

As Hurricane Wilma walloped Hallandale, Florida, the local Chabad weathered the storm without wavering from their Simchat Torah holiday plans.

Morning prayer services were postponed until noon, when Wilma was projected to be on her way out, but not canceled. The evening’s grand community dinner and plans to dance with the Torah that night were still on as well. All food had been prepared in advance of the storm, last minute purchases were made yesterday – ahead of Wilma’s winds. Chabad of Hallandale’s representative Rabbi Rephael Tennenhaus expects the dinner and dancing to draw a larger crowd than ever, especially since loss of electricity prevented most from cooking for the holiday. “The mitzvah of the holiday is to be joyous,” Rabbi Tennenhaus told Lubavitch.com via cell phone as the winds roared. “Everyone will be grateful they made it through the storm and are able to celebrate the holiday.”

Wilma Hit Hard

Power is still out out in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami and will probably be that way for the next few weeks.

Click Here For The Newscast

NASA’s Coverage and Tracking of Wilma