More than ten years after he first met the local Chabad representatives, Harley Finkelstein and his wife Lindsay Taub, have decided to give back to the center, donating half a million dollars to purchase a permanent home for the Rohr Chabad Student Network.
When hackers broke into university printers and distributed anti-Semitic flyers two years ago, the University of Amherst community was shaken by the spike in blatant hatred.
What was once an unused, invalid Torah scroll, dedicated to army veterans, is now fully-restored and being used at a Chabad center serving Jewish uniformed officers. Rather than sitting in disuse, an inspired rabbi from Flatbush found the perfect new home for this Torah just down the road.
“When I saw the swastika and the infamous Nazi slogan ‘Arbeit macht frei’ (work sets one free), I was shocked and hurt,” Rabbi Benjy Brackman wrote in an email to his congregants at Chabad of NW Metro Denver.
Under her leadership as Chabad representative in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Leah Aizenman and her community developed a model for free Jewish education. Now in its third year the program, called Jewish Education Myrtle Beach, is giving 75 percent of the city’s Jewish children a first-rate, tuition-free Jewish education.
In January 1909, the fifth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneersohn (known as the Rebbe Rashab), purchased Beit Romano, a mansion and its surrounding courtyard, located in the heart of the Hebron Jewish community for 22,000 silver rubles—10,000 of that as the down payment.
Chabad has been in Utah since 1992 and is now opening a third branch in the state. Rabbi Mendy and Chaya Cohen, and their two young children, are setting up shop in St. George.
Since the last November, the state of Florida has welcomed thirteen Chabad families. Lubavitch.com caught up with seven of the most recent of these young idealists, to hear about their goals and challenges, and how they’re impacting the Sunshine State.
The Chabad movement mourns for those who were murdered while in synagogue on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. To the survivors and families of the individuals cut down by vile hatred, we extend our heartfelt condolences. May G-d give you solace and comfort in the days and weeks ahead as you negotiate the unexpected and vicious loss of your loved ones.
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