Power to the Children

Twenty passionate educators came together last month at a conference in Plano, Texas. Hosted by Rivkie Block, Chabad’s representative here, together with Chabad’s Early Childhood Education Network (CECE), the conference united directors for workshops, classroom tours, and networking.

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, December 9, 2019

Today in Chabad History: 9 (Tes) Kislev

Staff Writer | News | Friday, December 6, 2019

Do Menorahs Belong in the Public Square?

The public menorah has become a ubiquitous symbol at shopping malls, parks and public spaces the world over. But arguments over holiday displays and the religious nature of their symbols have been waged in town halls, on city boards and have even reached the Supreme Court.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, December 5, 2019

Latte with a Side of Love

It smells like a cafe ought to. The rows of eclairs and tarts and cupcakes line the glass counter in perfect, high-caloric formation. Light streams in through large windows, dimpling the whipped cream on the flawlessly frothed drinks.

Dvora Lakein | News | Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Miracle Minyan in Omaha

“Hey Rabbi, getting ready for takeoff at Newark. Found four other Jewish guys on board. Think we can get a minyan?” At 4:00 A.M. last Monday, Moshe Rosenblatt pressed send on the text, turned his phone off and settled in for the three-hour flight to Omaha, Nebraska.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Amidst A Decline in Synagogues, Chabad Builds in Stony Brook

Village Chabad Stony Brook just built a new $4.6 million, 13,000 sq. ft. Jewish center in the heart of the New York town. “We are optimistic that this will invigorate and rejuvenate the Jewish community,” says Stony Brook resident and SUNY Professor Emeritus, Dr. Bernie Dudock.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Monday, December 2, 2019

Prayers and Aid in Aftermath of Albanian Earthquake

An earthquake that hit Albania early Tuesday morning has left death and wreckage in its wake. “People stand around their collapsed homes searching for loved ones and processing the reality that they are now homeless.”

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, November 28, 2019

Dreams Come True: Himalayan Hike for the Blind

The experience, typical for many Israeli backpackers, was very different for this particular group. Betty, fifty-six, has low vision capability and the rest of the group of hikers are blind and visually impaired. chabad

Yossi Sirota | News | Thursday, November 28, 2019

Miami and Rostov Bat Mitzvah Girls Celebrate Together

When Ava Greenwald celebrated her bat mitzvah last September in Bal Harbour, Florida, her parents went all-out. The party included a DJ, a special dress, a catered dinner in a hotel hall—all standard for her community. But Ava wanted her special day to be about more than just the frills and fanfare. So the young girl searched for a special project she could undertake in honor of her milestone. She thought of many different options but nothing really resonated with her. Chabad

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Focus on the Individual at Chabad Banquet

Over 5,800 Chabad rabbis and lay leaders celebrated the culmination of the weekend International Conference of Chabad Shluchim with the grand Gala Banquet on Sunday night night.

Ashira Weiss | News | Monday, November 25, 2019

Chabad Conference Goes All-Inclusive

A collaboration by the Ruderman Chabad Inclusion Initiative (RCII) and the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Shluchim will ensure that the conference, taking place this weekend in New York, is an example of inclusion.

Ashira Weiss | News | Sunday, November 24, 2019

Live Broadcast: Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries

Staff | News | Sunday, November 24, 2019

Chabad Counts Over 130 New Emissary Couples Since Last Year's Conference

The thirty-first annual International Conference of Shluchim is taking place this weekend in Brooklyn, New York. Among the 5,800 directors and lay leaders of Chabad centers in 100 countries who are expected to attend, over 130 of them are new emissaries.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, November 21, 2019

Hungarian Government Recognizes Chabad of Hungary

Today, the government of Hungary officially recognized EMIH, the Orthodox Jewish Communities Association, the umbrella organization of Chabad of Hungary, granting them “special status.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Birthday of the fifth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneerson in 1860 (5621)

20 Cheshvan Birthday of the fifth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneerson in 1860 (5621), the founder of the central Chabad-Lubavitch yeshivah, Tomchei Temimim.

News | Monday, November 18, 2019

Amid Unrest, New Emissaries Join Chabad of Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a battle zone now, with violent clashes and political protests crippling the colony. But Rabbi Mordechai and Goldie Avtzon at Chabad of Hong Kong are maintaining steady calm and focus. Last month, they recruited Rabbi Chaim and Menuchy Birnhack to serve the younger demographic of Asia’s World City.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, November 14, 2019

Digging the New Digs at Chabad of Indiana University

Chabad of Indiana University’s new home is only a short block away from its predecessor, but its central location acts as a magnet to the school’s 3,000 Jewish students. The new building boasts 7,000 square feet, almost double the space of its previous quarters, across tall-ceilinged, light-filled rooms. In most ways, it far surpasses Chabad’s home of 30 years

Dvora Lakein | News | Wednesday, November 13, 2019

It's Just About Being Jewish

The ballroom pulsated with the energy of 1200 college students meeting, dancing, playing games and snacking at the penultimate event of the 2019 Chabad on Campus International Shabbaton this Saturday night.

Ashira Weiss | News | Monday, November 11, 2019

The Israeli of Alamo

Together with Yossi Posner, Goldshmid spent the month of August visiting Jewish inmates in 32 prisons across the American South. The pair, both 25 years old, brought Judaism and hope to inmates on behalf of the Aleph Institute.

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, November 11, 2019

Isolated, But Not Alone

What’s it like to keep a kosher home where kosher food isn’t available? Or to give your children a Jewish education where none exists? The geographic isolation experienced by growing numbers of Chabad representatives who serve in places far from Jewish life, has spawned a community of its own.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Friday, November 8, 2019

Poway Street Renamed For Terror Victim

Local policy doesn’t usually permit streets to be named for people (unless they were historic personalities) but the council made an exception for this case. “This is an important moment to pay tribute to a life ended far too soon and one more special than I think we will ever know,” says Vaus.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Montenegro Appoints Country’s First Chief Rabbi

On Thursday, Montenegro, in the Balkans, appointed its first Chief Rabbi, at the opening ceremony of the Mahar conference.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Monday, November 4, 2019

A Path Out of Poverty and Into Jewish Service

Fifty students from Odessa and abroad currently attend Chabad’s Jewish University in Odessa. The Jewish University is the only institution of higher learning in the region where students can earn accredited bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business, law, and humanities while also engaging in Jewish studies.

Rena Udkoff | News | Monday, November 4, 2019

As Getty Fire Burns in LA, Chabads Offer Assistance

At about 1:34 on Monday morning, in the hills of Brentwood, California, a eucalyptus branch fell onto a power line, sparking a fire that quickly burned more than 500 acres. By 3:15 10,000 homes were evacuated.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, October 31, 2019

University of Pittsburgh Marks One Year for Tree of Life

On October 27, 2018, the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh became the site of the worst mass killing of Jews in America. At the nearby University of Pittsburgh, the outpouring of support for the Jewish community on campus was instant and firm.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Odessa's Orphans

The Jewish community, which provides hundreds of the city’s Jewish children with daily meals, shelter, and the education they need to hope for a better future, is now fighting for its survival. Today, community leaders describe a crisis that has reached “catastrophic” levels, leaving them without the critical funding needed to continue the most basic humanitarian services.

Rena Udkoff | News | Monday, October 28, 2019

Hot Meals and Warm Jewish Spirit Uplift Stranded Passengers in Barcelona

After technical delays forced a Norwegian airline traveling from Israel to New York to land in Barcelona, Spain, more than 100 passengers found themselves stranded with nothing to eat. The passengers, returning from the Sukkot holiday in the Holy Land, had already experienced a delayed departure. Many of them, kosher consumers, and unable to to exit the airport without visas, left many adults and children had run out of food.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, October 24, 2019

12 Hours in the Heart of the Hood

Members of 10 Atlanta Chabad centers met at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport for a six a.m. flight last Wednesday. The 83 travelers, ranging in age from four months to their mid-70s, took off into the sunrise for 12 hours of Soul travel.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, October 24, 2019

Treasures From the Chabad Library

The library’s collection was started by the founder of Chabad, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), and expanded with each subsequent Lubavitcher Rebbe. Throughout this timespan, it survived the ravages of Jewish travails—sustaining considerable losses in fires, confiscations by hostile governments, and relocations within Eastern Europe as Jews fled from one place to another—until it was finally smuggled out of communist Russia to the United States.

Baila Olidort | News | Thursday, October 24, 2019

Two Lesser-Known Jewish Holidays Occur this Week

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are the last two festivals during this month of the High Holidays. Shemini Atzeret is an extension of the Sukkot holiday, and will begin this year on Sunday evening, October 22 and is followed the following evening by Simchat Torah.

News | Sunday, October 20, 2019

Meet Hallandale's New CTeen Directors

That’s the winter I met the guy who would, some years later, become my husband. I met Joey at the CTeen International Shabbaton in New York.

Rachel Wilkes Goffstein as told to Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, October 17, 2019

How Can I Make This World A Better Place?

The plethora of biographical books and articles about the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, have typically summarized his impact on the Jewish community by emphasizing his love and care for every individual.

Chana Silberstein | News | Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Celebrating this Year: Sukkot

This week marks Sukkot, the holiday of booths (or huts). The seven-day Festival of Joy comes begins tonight, October 13, at sunset, commemorating the Clouds of Glory that G-d protected the Jewish people with during their travels in the desert following their exodus from Egypt 3,331 years ago.

Sheidle Fogelman | News | Sunday, October 13, 2019

Breaking Ground In Clearwater

One hundred and fifty community members gathered to break ground and lay the cornerstone of the new Feldman Campus for Jewish Life and the Tabacinic Chabad Center at Chabad of Clearwater, Florida

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, October 10, 2019

Learning Leadership, Life Skills, Love At South Florida Jewish Academy

They come from public schools, day schools, and yeshivahs, from homeschool and from no school. Fewer than half have diagnosed disabilities. Others are academically gifted, but socially challenged. Many are anxious or discouraged. And Baila Gansburg, principal of South Florida Jewish Academy (SFJA), believes in each of them.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Thursday, October 10, 2019

Yom Kippur With The Rebbe

The highest moment, for me, came at the end of Yom Kippur, when—after fasting for twenty-five hours—we affirmed loudly in unison, with all our energy, Shema Yisrael, and then, thrice, Baruch Shem, and finally, Hashem Hu HaElokim, seven times. This experience was unlike anything else I have ever experienced—the collective declaration of non-resistance, the articulated relinquishment of the illusion that life is in our control. It was profoundly liberating.

Mariashi Groner | News | Monday, October 7, 2019

Yom Kippur Escape . . . Nowhere To Hide

Humans have been trying to hide from G-d ever since the days of Adam and Eve. We know it can’t be done, but we try to do it anyway. In my own life, I procrastinate, letting duties of the heart pile up like unopened bills on the kitchen table. Eventually, I realize I’m just fooling myself. Futility of futilities, writes Ecclesiastes. Alas, it turns out that resistance, too, is futile!

Simcha Weinstein | News | Monday, October 7, 2019

Our Yom Kippur Prayers: Better Than The Angels

Somewhere in the middle of the cantor’s repetition of the Yom Kippur afternoon Mussaf service, I finally get to concentrate on the prayers for a few minutes. I didn’t really have the chance to do that until now. After all, in my role as a Chabad rabbi, I want to make sure that everyone who made it to synagogue on Yom Kippur is finding their way through the prayers with something that will linger and make a difference in to them well after the High Holidays season is over.

Levi Fogelman | News | Monday, October 7, 2019

Florida Community Steps Up to Bring Holiday Joy

In celebration of its 40th year, Chabad of South Broward, Florida, has launched a campaign to raise $40,000 for needy families in their area. Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus, who oversees 23 Chabad centers in South Broward, said, “Maimonides taught that one does not fulfill the observance of celebrating the holidays without helping the less fortunate.”

Tzipora Reitman | News | Monday, October 7, 2019

$6 Million Dollar Chabad of Charlotte Grand Opening

Chabad of Charlotte welcomed dignitaries and locals to the “Grandest Opening” of their stately, six million dollar campus on a balmy Sunday evening in September. At its first official event, the Epstein Family Chabad Jewish Center hosted a chic reception for adults and a concurrent children’s carnival. Over 800 people participated.

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, October 7, 2019

Fiftieth Chabad in the Lone Star State

In October, Rabbi Sholom and Chaya Block will be packing up the home they’ve lived in since their marriage eighteen months ago and setting out to serve the Jewish communities in Allen and McKinney, Texas. The Blocks will make history as the fiftieth Chabad couple serving the state of Texas.

Ashira Weiss | News | Friday, October 4, 2019

Cteen Judaism 101 in University Today

This fall, some 100 teenagers are expected to register as Yeshiva University non-matriculated students in a ground-breaking course on the tenets of Judaism. In conjunction with CTeen, Chabad’s Teen Network, the two-credit pilot course will cover topics of history and faith over 14 classes.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, October 3, 2019

Plugged In & Disconnected

“Students put their headphones in, stare at their cell phones, and walk right by us. But I don’t think it’s Judaism necessarily that they are avoiding: the University struggles to engage them also. I think this generation is looking for connections but needs help actually connecting.”

Dvora Lakein | News | Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Rosh Hashanah, Not Only a Jewish Celebration

This week, Jewish people the world over will be marking Rosh Hashanah, a holiday commemorating the beginning of creation. In most locations, public schools and government offices will allow leave for the first of the two-day holiday, which begins this year on Sunday evening, September 29.

Sheindle Fogelman | News | Sunday, September 29, 2019

Ancient Texts That Speak To Me: A CRY IS HEARD IN RAMAH

In the emotionally charged story of Mother Rachel weeping for her children, which we read in the haftorah on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, there is a passage about G-d’s promise of redemption. Unique among her compatriots, it is Mother Rachel who is hailed in Jewish liturgy and source texts as the Jewish people’s principal...

Rabbi Mendel Kaplan | News | Friday, September 27, 2019

Counted & Blessed

As soon as we got into the car, the Rebbe expressed concern. Might the photographer have been offended by his blessing? After all, the Rebbe said, she wasn’t Jewish, and she would not be celebrating Rosh Hashanah as her new year. The Rebbe suggested that I call Mr. Goldman and ask him to explain to Ms. Washington that on the Jewish New Year we pray for all of humanity.

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Friday, September 27, 2019

Historic: Two Synagogues and Two Torahs at the Banks of the Danube

At the shores of the Danube River, seventy-five years after 20,000 Jews were murdered there, the Jewish community of Budapest, Hungary celebrated this week the opening of two new Chabad centers and completion of two new Torahs.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, September 26, 2019

Chabad Regains Rights to Krakow Synagogue Before High Holy Days

Judge Jacek Blat of the court of Krakow ruled today that the Izaak synagogue must be returned to Chabad of Krakow and reopened to the Jewish community. Run by Chabad, the Izaak shul has become a hub for the local Jewish community and the thousands of visitors who come daily to pray, study, and procure kosher food, among a host of other community activities.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Sweet and Sweeter

Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah . . . the holidays in the Hebrew month of Tishrei are chock-full of traditions uniquely symbolic of our hopes and prayers for a year of forgiveness and sweet blessings. Here are some to consider:

Dvora Lakein | News | Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Chabad Makes it Easier Than Ever to Find a Service in Australia

As communities all over the world prepare for High Holy Day services, Chabad is looking out for the small towns, making sure cities of less that 1,000 Jews can celebrate as well. Chabad of Rural and Regional Australia (RARA) is organizing services and dinners for the tiny Australian Jewish populations in the cities of Newcastle, Darwin and the Sunshine Coast,.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Sixty Three Days

When she was almost two weeks old, Gila and I boarded an early morning Delta flight bound for my mother’s bedside. We repeated the trip twice more, visiting every two weeks like clockwork. I passed my sister and brother in transit during those two months; always someone at her side, as she had always been by ours. When Gila was eight weeks old, I drove my kids halfway across the country for what was unknowingly, and ultimately, goodbye.

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, September 24, 2019

REPOST: Shofar in Kaluga, Russia

As this was our first Rosh Hashanah in Kaluga, we wanted to invite as many Jews as possible to celebrate the holiday with us. But all we had to go on was an old list that the community had not updated in years. Many of the people on these lists had long since died.

Michoel Oishie | News | Monday, September 23, 2019

New $7 Million Chabad Center Opens in Flagstaff

Flagstaff, AZ - Dr. Merrill and Rhoda Abeshaus were among Northern Arizona’s pioneers of Jewish life back in the 1970s. When in 2006, they heard that Rabbi Dovie and Chaya Shapiro wanted to open Chabad of Flagstaff, they were skeptical. The Flagstaff Jewish community was too small, too uninvolved, they felt. But after taking into account the growing Jewish student enrollment at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and the city’s popularity among tourists, the Abeshauses changed their minds. They encouraged the Shapiros to come, and soon became their major supporters.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Friday, September 20, 2019

A Spiritual Injection for Azerbaijan's Hidden Jerusalem

Just about thirty miles from the Caspian Seashore, in the northeast of Azerbaijan, lies the only all-Jewish town outside of Israel and Kiryas Joel and New Square in the USA. Krasnaya Sloboda, or Qirmizi Qəsəbə in Azerbaijani was founded in 1742 by Fatah Ali Khan, the Muslim emir of the town of Quba, located on the other side of the river as a haven for the Mountain Jews. This Summer Chabad sent young Rabbi to invigorate the Jewish life there.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, September 19, 2019

In the Birthplace of Hippies: A New Chabad Center

It is known as the birthplace of the Hippie Movement (and counts some well-known Jewish hippies in its history), and on Sunday, the Haight Ashbury district of San Francisco celebrated the opening of its first permanent Chabad center.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Chabad Marks Birthday of Movement's Founder

On 18 Elul, Jewish communities the world over will mark the anniversary of the birthdate for Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad movement.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Gan Izzy in the City

It’s mid-summer and somewhere in a train car way below New York City a group of ninety kids are playing a lively, volley-ball like game involving red balloons they are trying to keep in the air. The train rounds a bend, the game is over and some kids start singing a camp song while others chat happily with their counselors and friends.

Ashira Weiss | News | Monday, September 16, 2019

Shabbat Brings Young Singles Together in Latin America

Over the last 30 years, every August the Peguisha has brought thousands of young Jews together for 4 day of workshops, lectures, kumzits and inspiration. 230 eighteen to thirty five year-olds from Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil joined this year’s weekend held at a beachfront hotel in Carilo, Buenos Aires.

Ashira Weiss | News | Friday, September 13, 2019

Kids Spend a Day Cleaning a Cemetery

The idea of a visit to the cemetery was hatched when Rabbi Nochum and Chyena Yusewitz of Chabad of Grass Valley were called to the bedside of a synagogue member on life support. The family was open to hearing about Jewish burial but had already decided to cremate. It took an agonizing few days before the family finally chose a Jewish burial for their loved one.

Aidel Cohen | News | Thursday, September 12, 2019

What's Joe DiMaggio Got To Do With Chabad?

Joe DiMaggio walks into a Chabad synagogue. This is not a joke. Although he died years ago, Joe has become a friend of our center. We even named our social hall in his honor.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Come From Away: A 9/11 Broadway Musical's Holy Message

Sudak’s ordeal is dramatized in Come From Away, a Tony award-winning musical in which his character plays a key role. The show is still running on Broadway, and after a sold-out streak in Dublin, it recently opened in London to standing-room-only audiences.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Historic Belarus Synagogue Restored To Jewish Hands

Two weeks ago, after years of unsuccessful recovery attempts that included a 1992 lengthy legal battle that failed, Chabad of Brest purchased the city’s second largest historic synagogue, the Hekdesh Shul. Built in 1886, the synagogue had been confiscated by the Nazis, together with the neighboring Jewish hospital, and housed wounded soldiers. When the Soviets reclaimed the city, it became a nightclub. It has since passed from hand to hand eventually being owned by a private individual and used as an office space. The iconic facade and inside architecture had been destroyed by the various occupiers but the original building remained.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Tuesday, September 10, 2019

They Biked Across America for Friendship

Chaim Weiss is about to enter his junior year of high school at a yeshivah in Far Rockaway, New York, with a summer experience under his belt that will rival that of most of his classmates. The sixteen-year-old was the youngest of a team of four cyclists who completed a six week, 3,100 mile ride across the breadth of the USA last Sunday raising $33,000.

Ashira Weiss | News | Monday, September 9, 2019

Buenos Aires: Tarnished Synagogue Returned to Former Glory

Knesset Israel Boca Barracas is a synagogue once more. Occupied by a squatter for the better part of two decades, the synagogue built in 1907 was desecrated when Rabbi Shneor Mizrahi discovered it six years ago. The Chabad representative to Barracas, a neighboring Buenos Aires district, determined to return the tarnished sanctuary to its former glory.

Dvora Lakein | News | Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Twenty Five Years After Genocide, Rwanda Rebounds

One of the fastest growing economies in Central Africa, and now one of the safest too, Rwanda has of late become a popular tourist destination. Chabad’s opening in Kigali, following the recent opening of the Israeli embassy there, makes it even more attractive to visiting Israelis, and Jewish travelers.

Chabad Headquarters | News | Tuesday, September 3, 2019

LifeTown: Reimagining Society, Redefining Inclusion

Set on five sprawling acres and surrounded by New Jersey’s hills and parks, LifeTown offers children and adults with special needs the opportunity to work, play, and learn together with their peers, with and without disabilities, in a rarefied setting of true integration.

Baila Olidort with Tzipora Reitman | News | Tuesday, September 3, 2019

For Tbilisi Students, this New School Year Heralds a New Building

It isn’t only a new school year for Tbilisi’s Jewish students. It’s an entirely new experience. On September 16, the first day of the Georgian school year, 107 students will sit at their shiny new desks at Or Avner Kiryat Moshe. Dedicated in May, the 40,000 square foot campus boasts side by side kindergarten and elementary buildings.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, August 29, 2019

Williamsburg Hosts Inaugural Jewish Arts Festival

When Rabbi Shmuly and Devorah Leah Lein arrived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the area’s palindrome ZIP code, 11211 was the address of a thriving art scene. “I had a dream from that moment to create a Jewish event that would be a fusion of Judaism and art,” Rabbi Shmuly says.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Florida Chabad Tackles Mental Health Conditions

“I was shaken,” Ella remembers. “She told me how her mother walked in as she was swallowing pills, intent on ending her life. And I felt terrible that I had not noticed that this teen was struggling.” The warning signs were all there, Ella says, “But I didn’t recognize them.”

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, August 22, 2019

Under the Umbrella: the Orthodox Rabbi and the Irish Catholic Walk to Shul

It was raining that Shabbat and I would not be driving. And the Torah prohibits us from carrying on Shabbat, so I didn't have an umbrella either. What I did have was a nice Italian suit and a score of congregants waiting for me at the synagogue.

Rabbi Yizhak Hecht | News | Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Students And Stress On Campus: Chabad at Texas A&M

This fall, Chabad will partner with Houston’s Jewish Family Services to offer a comprehensive Mental Health First Aid Training Day. The eight-hour CPR-style course will cover depression, substance abuse, trauma, psychosis, and mood disorders. Trainees will learn how to identify and triage these issues in themselves and among their peers.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, August 15, 2019

Five New Books For End-of-Summer Reading

There's lots of new books on the market this summer. Many of them have been created especially for the 25th anniversary of the Rebbe's passing. Below is a selection you can't miss!

News | Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Greenpoint, Brooklyn Gets First Permanent Center

High-rises are going up along the waterfront of Brooklyn's northernmost neighborhood, and now the eclectic locale has got its own Greenpoint Chabad House—Jewish Center. Rabbi Yisroel and Raizel Nissim have been serving the Greenpoint community for five years from just as many rented apartments and even the occasional AirBNB. “We’re excited to have reached this milestone so we can cater to a larger number of people, entertain more and add more programming from our own event space,” Rabbi Yisroel shared with Lubavitch.com.

Ashira Weiss | News | Friday, August 9, 2019

Hug in a Jug: Lovingkindness in Southern California

If you could put friendship in a dish, which food would you choose? The volunteers of “Hug in a Jug” have chosen chicken soup, and they serve it with smiles to seniors in Aliso Viejo, California. “We send chicken soup to Jews, many of whom are Holocaust survivors,” said Stillerman. “We send to non-Jewish seniors in the area also, and sometimes our volunteers ask for extras to deliver to the homeless.”

Aidel Cohen | News | Thursday, August 8, 2019

No More Tuna and Crackers ala Suitcase: Kosher is on the House

Chabad emissaries around the world are increasingly opening restaurants within, or near to, their centers. Mostly located in tourist spots, they offer a kosher meal and a welcoming environment for Jews who may otherwise balk at entering a synagogue. It’s also a great place to meet other travelers of the tribe.

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, August 6, 2019

President of Germany Visits Berlin Rabbi After Attack

But this week, Germany showed its intolerance of the incident when President Frank-Walter Steinmeier showed up on the rabbi’s doorstep. "I have come here to say that there is no place for anti-Semitism in Germany. I am here to declare this, as well as to visit a friend,” said the president.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Monday, August 5, 2019

Essay: On Vulnerability and Trust

When did it become fashionable to talk about the power of vulnerability as if it were something positive rather than an inevitable fact of life? We know our vulnerability, but we do not amplify it, and we do not become identified with it.

Chana Silberstein | News | Monday, August 5, 2019

Aeroflot Passengers Stranded on Shabbat No More

For the typical traveler, a delay will cause an important event to be missed, vacation days cut short, and work to be postponed. But Shabbat observant Jews have a whole host of larger, more intricate concerns. Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar met this week with Aeroflot CEO Villin Halichenko to tackle the issue. As the largest and most established airline carrier in the country, with many of its passengers observant Jews, Aeroflot may be in the unique position to accommodate.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Friday, August 2, 2019

Communist-Era Torah Uplifts Small Colonie, NY, Community

After years of waiting, an over 100-year-old Torah that was smuggled from communist Belarus finally found a home in a suburb of Albany, New York, at Chabad of Colonie. The Torah was donated by Tony (Naftoli) and Klara German, Colonie residents. “It was through true sacrifice that Tony managed to smuggle the Torah out of the Soviet Union,” says Rabbi Mordechai Rubin, who directs Chabad of Colonie with his wife, Chana.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, August 1, 2019

14th Annual Jewish Cultural Festival Draws Thousands to Guilford, CT

Rabbi Yossi and Rochel Baila Yaffe of the Shoreline have created an experience offering people the opportunity “to taste a little, listen a little and enjoy a little Jewish culture.”

Aidel Cohen | News | Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Poway: Healing in the Aftermath

The Yizkor service on the last day of Passover was to be Lori’s first opportunity to memorialize her mother who had died some months back. Instead, the Yizkor prayer was said for Lori. Just three months after Poway: a glimpse into the city, the Jewish community and the effect of a synagogue shooting on communities worldwide.

Rena Udkoff | News | Tuesday, July 30, 2019

After Two Torahs Stolen, Hawaii Community Writes Four More

She’ll never forget the night the Torah scrolls were stolen from the Chabad Center of Honolulu, Hawaii. “It was traumatic,” remembers Perel Krasnjansky, director of the center with her husband Rabbi Itchel. “It rocked the entire Island. Things like this just don’t happen in Hawaii.”

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Monday, July 29, 2019

Shall We Have Another?

Large families which emphasize the joy, and the immense opportunity of bringing children into the world, may even present a kind of “counter culture” wherein commonly held truisms about the burdens of parenting might be re-evaluated or even overturned.

Sarah Rindner | News | Thursday, July 25, 2019

10 Things to Know Before Sending Your Kid to Chabad Camp

Summer is here, school is out and if you’re one of the thousands of parents who have enrolled their kids at your local Chabad camp, we think there are some things you should know.

Ashira Weiss | News | Friday, July 19, 2019

Chabad School in Azerbaijan Ranked Among Top Twenty In The Country

Last week, Chabad’s Or Avner school in Baku was ranked by the State Examination Center (SEC) among the top twenty schools in Azerbaijan. The annual assessment is based on pedagogical and educational criteria established by the SEC and pronounced the Jewish school (K-12) one of the best for quality of education among all the schools in the Muslim-majority country.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Wednesday, July 17, 2019

First Jewish Youth Center Opened in Russia’s Far East

250 members of the Jewish community of Birobidzhan, Russia, celebrated the opening this month of Chabad’s 25 million ruble ($400,000), 6,500 square feet Jewish youth center.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Monday, July 15, 2019

Anniversary of Rebbe's Liberation from Soviet Prison

Today, on the Jewish calendar, marks the 91st anniversary of the miraculous liberation of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn, from Soviet prison.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, July 15, 2019

A Lone and Destitute Jewish Woman Gets A Jewish Burial

A convivial funeral home owner, a retired insurance investigator and a Massachusetts rabbi teamed up to bring an abandoned body to Jewish burial this morning. A bevy of volunteers joined the two-week long search that brought this seven-month ordeal to a close.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, July 11, 2019

When Friendship Isn't Only For Kids: The Circle Expands to 21 Plus

Friendship Circle for adults, which piloted this past year, will provide monthly opportunities for social and educational engagement for adults between twenty and thirty-five. The bi-weekly programs will include trips, holiday functions, and creative activities. Aside from a more mature bent, participants will have a say in choosing and planning their slate of programming. Like its parent organization, each participant will be paired with an adult volunteer with on-site therapists facilitating.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, July 11, 2019

Heirs to the Rebbe's Legacy

To anyone familiar with the Rebbe’s teachings, the principles of positive psychology that are so popular today echo the Torah-based ideals that the Rebbe advanced: training our eyes, our thoughts, our speech, and our actions toward the positive. In his countless interactions—often with people who were philosophically or ideologically in disagreement with the Rebbe—we observed this principle at work.

Baila Olidort | News | Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Jewish and Canadian Law Contrasted at Westmount Symposium

A lawyer and a rabbi come together in the opening line of many a joke, but at Chabad of Westmount they come together twice annually for some serious discussion.

Ashira Weiss | News | Monday, July 8, 2019

STATEMENT BY CHABAD-LUBAVITCH WORLD HEADQUARTERS

Every day that Jews are barred from entering the synagogue by armed guards is an unforgivable violation of the Jewish people!

News | Friday, July 5, 2019

10 Perspectives of the Lubavitcher Rebbe for Society in 2019

10 perspectives for present-day living, in the words of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, garnered from the extensive collection of his talks, writings and in-person conversations.

News | Friday, July 5, 2019

In the Numbers: Chabad's Growth in the Past 25 Years

"Will Chabad survive?" asked a headline in a leading Jewish journal in the days following the passing of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1994. At the time there were 1,325 Chabad institutions worldwide.

News | Thursday, July 4, 2019

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, A Master of the Spirit

What was it about the Rebbe, I am often asked, that set him apart as the Jewish leader par excellence of our generation?

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Thursday, July 4, 2019

Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of Lubavitcher Rebbe's Passing to be Marked Worldwide

July 6 (Tammuz 3) will mark twenty-five years since the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s passing in 1994. To commemorate, Chabad centers worldwide celebrated the Rebbe’s life and lasting legacy with community Shabbat dinners, events, lectures, and farbrengens. Here’s a round-up of some of the larger events:

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Russia: Humanitarian Aid During Flooding Disaster in Irkutsk

Torrential rains hit the Russian region of Irkutsk this week, causing the area to declare an immediate state of emergency. In response, volunteers in nearby Jewish communities mobilized to help the victims using local resources to assist those displaced. Irkutsk’s Chief Rabbi Aharon Wagner led the initiative, arranging food and drink shipments to the disaster areas.

News | Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Prison Reform Summit Brings Together 350 Leaders In Criminal Justice System

Three hundred and fifty people gathered together this week at Columbia Law School for Rewriting the Sentence, a two-day, high-level summit on alternatives to incarceration.

News | Tuesday, July 2, 2019

In Conversation with Nobel Prize Winner Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel, one of the most passionate Jewish voices of our time, enjoyed an enduring correspondence and personal relationship with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Mr. Wiesel, a professor at Boston University, spoke with Baila Olidort in May of 2013.

Baila Olidort | News | Monday, July 1, 2019

Serving Up Kosher at Wimbledon Tennis

Wimbledon Tennis starts this Monday and for the eleventh year, a kosher food stand will serve the needs of Jewish patrons.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, June 27, 2019

Poway Rabbi Addresses UN Session on Anti-Semitism

Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of Chabad of Poway addressed the UN General Assembly this morning during a special session on combating anti-Semitism. “Anti-Semitism is not a Jewish problem, this is a problem for the world,” said the rabbi, his left hand still bandaged where his index finger was blown off in an anti-Semitic attack on his synagogue eight weeks ago. He discussed recognizing the value of every human life, using social media as a platform for love and flooding the world with practical good deeds.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Illness Doesn't Disrupt Israeli Children's Summer Fun

It’s Firefighting Day at the Lev Chabad day camp at Meir Hospital, and four-year-old Shira Maatuf is impatient for activities to begin. She has been in the hospital for a few days with a lung infection and while it interrupted her carefree summer vacation, for Shira, the Lev Chabad activities at Meir Hospital are more than an acceptable substitute. The organization’s day camps offer a fun and meaningful alternative to what would otherwise be long, tedious and lonely days spent in a hospital ward.

Frayda Kaplan | News | Friday, June 21, 2019

It's Forty Years for Chabad of the Conejo

Over 1,300 people gathered at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza to celebrate forty years of Chabad in the Conejo, California. Headed by Rabbi Moshe and Matty Bryski with Rabbi Yisroel and Leah Levine and two other emissary couples and several assistants, Chabad of Conejo serves thousands of Jews. They often mark milestones with galas, but this one surpassed the norm.

Aidel Cohen | News | Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Summer Is Conference Season for Chabad Emissaries

Summer is conference season for Chabad emissaries. Whether they serve college students, teenagers, the elderly, the ill, or the professionals, a tailor-made conference provides them with tools to hone their skills, network with colleagues, and swap ideas.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Tennis Capital Gets New Center and Scores "Advantage Chabad"

It's a little over thirty years in the making, but Chabad of Wimbledon now has its very own center! Original concern: regulations in England specify that only properties designated with D1 certification are allowed to be used for non-residential use. After a year of exhaustive searching, the only D1 property they could find was rundown and significantly beyond their budget.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Limmud FSU Conference Addresses Anti-Semitism

Leading the commemoration for victims of recent anti-Semitic attacks at Limmud FSU’s second annual conference for Jewish Russian-speakers was Rabbi Avi Bukiet, director of the Center for Jewish Life in Arlington-Belmont. Several hundred Jewish young adults attended the event this Sunday, as part of Limmud FSU’s (Former Soviet Union) mission to strengthen Jewish identity for Russian-speakers.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Monday, June 17, 2019

Hamas Rocket Falls Outside the Chabad Center in Sderot

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Thursday night fell less than fifteen meters (fifty feet) from the Chabad center in Sderot and hit a neighboring yeshivah building. No students were in the building at the time as they had already left to spend Shabbat with their families.

Frayda Kaplan | News | Friday, June 14, 2019

A Compact Study Routine

On a recent flight somewhere over the Rocky Mountains, Doug Revere pulled out his trusty Chayenu, a weekly compilation of Torah lessons and thoughts. When he noticed his acquaintance’s interest, he passed the publication over the armrest. Then he pulled out a second copy for himself.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, June 13, 2019

Two New Jersey Teens Honored for Meal Program Initiative

It’s not very common for teenagers to be the honorees at a gala event, but that’s exactly what happened on May 22 at Chabad of Southeast Morris County in New Jersey. Oliver Simon and Sophia Smith, a high school junior and senior respectively, were awarded the first Teen Visionary Award at the annual Chabad Cares Gala, alongside three adult leaders.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Union College Chabad Celebrates First Shavuot with a Torah of its Own

When Sara Covelli walked across the stage at Union College last spring and accepted a rolled parchment proclaiming that she had earned her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Policy and Climate Change, her parents, Robin Laveman and Irwin Krasnow, sat in the audience, poised to give a graduation gift of a different rolled parchment of great significance.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Thursday, June 6, 2019

Massachusetts Rally Combats Anti-Semitism

Hundreds bearing supportive signs and Israeli flags gathered at City Hall in Peabody, MA on Wednesday for a peace rally. The event was the community’s response to an anti-Semitic incident that occurred on Memorial Day weekend.

Aidel Cohen | News | Thursday, June 6, 2019

South London's First Kosher Shop Honors Memory of Rabbi's Slain Brother

London's new kosher shop had previously operated informally out of the home of Rabbi Nissan and Sarah Dubov, who founded Chabad of Wimbledon in 1988. An expanded version of the shop, now called Kosher Corner, opened last month at the new Chabad center, and is run by the Dubovs’ son-in-law and daughter, Rabbi Yossi and Leah Zlata Moscowitz.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Leadership Training Trip to Begin for Young, Jewish Professionals

This upcoming June 16-23, Chabad's Young Professionals program is organizing a leadership trip to Russia for a select group of "ambassadors." Eligibility is restricted to 25-35 year-olds who are active members of the local CYP chapter and who are employed on a career track. The program seeks participants who demonstrate a passion for creating a sustainable Jewish community and who have previously held leadership and volunteering roles. ​

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Aleph Institute to Host National Summit for Alternative Sentencing

This June 17-18, Aleph Institute will partner with Columbia Law School to host Rewriting the Sentence, a summit on alternatives to incarceration. The high-level summit at Columbia University in New York City will highlight the range of alternative sentencing policies and the variety of incarceration alternatives presently available in the U.S. and abroad. Participants will identify cultural and political shifts in sentencing practices and evaluate the efficacy of incarceration alternatives.

Rena Udkoff | News | Monday, June 3, 2019

New Mikvah Opened In Gaithersburg, Maryland

At an event before Mother’s Day called “Mindfulness and Mikvah”, ninety women met to celebrate the opening of the Be’er Rachel Mikvah with a mix of yoga, meditation, song and dance. “The crowd was mix of those who had background knowledge of the mikvah and others who were really just curious,” says Barbara Friedlander, one of the four event organizers.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Sunday, June 2, 2019

Poway Ceremonies Mark One Month

Last month, darkness made its way into the foyer at Chabad of Poway, California. On Wednesday, it was a scene of joyous celebration.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, May 30, 2019

Itzhak Perlman, Ehud Barak Celebrate Opening of Campus/Community Chabad Center

Jewish college students in Jacksonville, Florida, and the city’s Southside Jewish community celebrated the opening of their new $3.8 million Morris and Lillian Tabacinic Chabad campus and Finker-Frenkel Chabad center earlier this winter, in style. Rabbi Shmuli and Chana Novack, of Chabad Southside, have been family to the area’s 500 Jewish college students and Southside community, and this new space provides a welcoming and more permanent home for them.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Monday, May 27, 2019

A (Permanent) Place to Call Home

Though it doesn’t have a synagogue or other Jewish infrastructure, Darwin, Australia now boasts one important Jewish edifice: a cemetery.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, May 23, 2019

20 Years in Oklahoma City and the Frontier is Friendly

When Rabbi Ovadia and Nechoma Goldman came to town in 1998, they were told Oklahoma City was reform country. “Nice thought, but you won’t last long here,” was the polite yet clear message. The couple, then in their twenties, was not deterred. Today, two decades later, the community is united around their presence.

Dvora Lakein | News | Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Texting Teens Compete in Jewish Knowledge

For better or for worse, teenagers spend much of their time on their phones—nine hours a day on average—making it an effective way to reach them. At seven o’clock, every Monday and Thursday evening, the cell phones of over 3,000 Jewish teens around the United States and Canada buzz as they receive a text message with a Jewish question and a multiple-choice answer. JText, as the program is called, engages teens using the medium most comfortable to them, offering an opportunity to learn more about Judaism with a tap on their phones.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Monday, May 20, 2019

Police Investigating Third Suspicious Fire Set At A Massachusetts Chabad Center

Massachusetts law enforcement is investigating three arson incidents that occurred at two Chabad centers.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Friday, May 17, 2019

Chabad of Galloway Bridges the Generations

In October of 2016, Rabbi Meir and Shaina (Matusof) Rapoport arrived to Galloway township to serve Jewish students at Stockton University. They purchased a property on the main street in town, a central location for students. “Chabad House–Jewish Student Center” read they hung a sign on their new door on Jimmie Leeds Road.

Shterna Karp | News | Thursday, May 16, 2019

Hundreds Expected to Shabbat in the Heights

This weekend, hundreds of adults and children from seventy five cities around the world will spend Shabbat in Crown Heights exploring the Chabad heartland.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Your Place Is Here: An Emissary Reflects With Candor

On the day of the mikvah inauguration, Reizy Zaklas took a break from all the hoopla to reflect as we sat in her kitchen. I began by asking her if she would be willing to share some of her personal experiences leading up to this happy moment. She did, at first with the caveat that she did not want these stories published. But after some persuading, she agreed. The following is an excerpt of our conversation.

Baila Olidort | News | Monday, May 13, 2019

Nurturing Leaders and Influencers at Chabad of Princeton University

“Chabad at Princeton was the first place I saw a Jewish community that was truly and equally open to Jews of all kinds—Jews whose theory and praxis were all over the place,” says Hoffman. “The Webbs provided me with a model for a radically inclusive definition of Jewish community irrespective of individual practice.”

Tzipora Reitman | News | Monday, May 13, 2019

The Lamplighters of Zagreb

"For the first time in Croatia, we have the experience of a Jewish community that is practicing all the traditions. And this has changed everything. Chabad is the rebuilding of Jewish life here.”

Baila Olidort | News | Thursday, May 9, 2019

Bat Mitzvah Club Ladies' Edition

Twelve young women and their families gathered around the Shabbat dinner table last month at Chabad of Whitefield in Manchester, England, to celebrate the completion of their bat mitzvah experience

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Wanted in Prison: Volunteers To Visit Inmates

Prison inmates are allotted a limited amount of visiting hours from family and friends. But for too many, visitors are rare. For some prisoners, years can pass before they receive a personal visit—whether it’s because they’re too far from family and friends for regular visitation or because their relationships have frayed. Contact with the world beyond the prison bars is often critical in the reintegration of prisoners into society once they've been released.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Wednesday, May 8, 2019

When is a Hill Not Just a Hill?

The natural playground is a living outdoor classroom where the children’s natural curiosity leads them to study caterpillars and collect millipedes. The playground uses materials like plants, boulders, logs, and earth mounds to provide a creative, interactive play experience. The environment facilitates the type of play that kept earlier generations occupied--a type of play that is becoming increasingly rare today.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Giving Back: New Jersey Teens Partner With Local Crisis Helpline

Last year, the New Jersey teens packed care packages that were personally delivered to needy children in Mozambique by Posner. But there are needy people just around the block too, and Posner believed it would mean a lot for the teens to see the direct effect of their giving. So this year, they partnered with Hunterdon Helpline, a local twenty-four-hour support service that responds to the at-risk population.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, May 2, 2019

#ShareShabbat: When a Hashtag is an Invitation to Services and Solidarity

This Shabbat, several thousand synagogues around the globe will throw open their doors to hundreds of thousands of Jews who will show, through presence and solidarity, “am yisrael chai.”

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, May 2, 2019

Why is Chabad Hosting an Anti-Israel Activist?

It was terribly upsetting for me to learn about a Jewish pro-Palestinian activist who was feeling right at home at Chabad. American campuses are so hostile to Israel today. As Jews, I believe we must speak in support of Israel, and that we must speak out against the organizations that threaten its survival.

Mendel Matusof | News | Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Nature Rules, but Miracles Happen

Do you believe in miracles? To ask a Jew this question is like asking a raindrop whether it believes in clouds.

Baruch S. Davidson | News | Monday, April 29, 2019

STATEMENT BY CHABAD-LUBAVITCH HEADQUARTERS ON THE POWAY SHOOTING

“Stop the dangerous downward spiral of anti-Semitism”

News | Saturday, April 27, 2019

Getting High on Jewish Pride

Did someone say Jewish teens are feeling intimidated? Not the two-thousand-five hundred who converged on Manhattan’s Times Square for a spectacular havdalah and Jewish concert in February. They came from 450 cities around the world and Times Square was rocking with Jewish pride.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, April 18, 2019

Five Communal Leaders Share Their Dream Seder Guest

Some of us would have loved to be a fly on the wall at the Seder described in the Haggadah: It happened that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarphon were reclining [at a Seder] in Bnei Brak. They were discussing the exodus from Egypt all that night . . . We asked Chabad representatives to tell us which biblical, Talmudic or medieval personality they’d like to have at their Seder table.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, April 18, 2019

Rabbi Aharon Serebryanski, 86

The Chabad-Lubavitch community world-wide mourns the passing of Rabbi Aaron Serebryanski, director of Australia's Chabad educational arm. Serebryanski, born in Ukraine, escaped the horrors of WWII by leaving to Asia and France with his parents and siblings. The family was sent to Melbourne in 1948 by the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, April 17, 2019

A First for Jamaica: Governor-General Declares Education and Sharing Day

Jamaica, a tiny 4,000 sq. mi. island in the Caribbean, declared April 16, 2019 as Education and Sharing Day. “This is incredibly historic,” says Rabbi Yaakov Raskin, Chabad rabbi and emissary to the island, of this first.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Monday, April 15, 2019

Minding the Mission: Jewish Education

The old hatreds that we imagined had ended with the Holocaust have now resurfaced. The anti-Semitic rhetoric and the anti-Semitic violence are back, both in the U.S and abroad.

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Monday, April 15, 2019

Dreading the Seder: When Dad is in Prison

They are hidden victims. Humiliated and financially devastated, the children, spouses, and sometimes parents, of Jewish inmates are left to struggle silently for their survival when the unthinkable has happened to them.

Rena Udkoff | News | Thursday, April 11, 2019

National Recognition for LA Preschool

A Chabad preschool in the heart of urban Los Angeles, California has recently received certification and commendation from the organization Nature Explore for “fostering highly effective, nature-based outdoor learning.”

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, April 11, 2019

Chabad on Call Distributes Seder Kits To Hospitalized And Homebound

There are more Jews attending Passover Seders than Yom Kippur services, according to a Pew Research study, but those spending the Holiday of Freedom in hospitals are usually unable to participate. Not anymore! With the new Seder-to-Go kit produced by Chabad on Call, chaplains and rabbis within the medical community now have a great resource for individual or hospital-friendly celebrations.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Two New Centers Open in Japan in Time for Passover

Two new Chabad centers opened in Japan, just in time for Passover this year, bringing the total in the country up to four. Rabbi Shalom Duber and Rachel Vaisfiche moved to Takayama from Israel, and Rabbi Dovid and Chaya Mushka Posner with their toddler, Mendel, moved to Kyoto from the U.S. Both centers, like many others in Asia, will be dedicated to serving Japan’s Jewish travelers, mostly young Israeli backpackers.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, April 4, 2019

Chabad of Sarasota Florida Presents Geriatric Compassionate Care Symposium

This prompted the rabbi to arrange the Dr. Schwartzbaum Geriatric Compassionate Care Symposium, taking place this Sunday. A half-day event, the program features four prominent speakers with the goal of helping the community make better decisions and spreading awareness about geriatric care and end-of-life. Steinmetz expects 250 people, 75 percent of whom aren’t members or friends of Chabad, including staff of local senior centers.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, April 4, 2019

Chabad for the Deaf Celebrates One Year

Based in the central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion and directed by California-born Rabbi Yehoshua Soudakoff and his Israeli wife Cheftziba, this unique Chabad center serves a large, but niche, community.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, April 3, 2019

After Hate Crime, People of Flagstaff Show their Hearts

On Monday, March 25, Rabbi Dovie Shapiro, director of Chabad of Flagstaff with his wife Chaya, was horrified to discover vandalism at the construction site of the Molly Blank Jewish Community Center. Swastikas had been painted and carved into walls, black paint and plaster dumped on the grounds, and thousands of dollars worth of valuable equipment, tools, and supplies were irreparably damaged.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Historic Village in Mexico Welcomes Chabad Presence

There are no traffic lights in the historic village of S. Miguel de Allende, Mexico, but now there is Chabad. Rabbi Daniel and Raizel Huebner, and their three children, moved to the city just before last Chanukah and have begun producing programs for the Jewish community.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, March 28, 2019

Chabad Opens in Chicago Suburb

Illinois just got a new Chabad center! The Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights now has its own Chabad presence. Since moving to the area at the beginning of this year, Rabbi Yaakov and Chaikie (née Weingarten) Kotlarsky and their daughter, Rochel, have hosted Chanukah events and even a recent Purim party—advertised as “magical”—as part of their inaugural events.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Monday, March 25, 2019

A Jewish Response to The Hamans and The Haters

I write these words days before Purim, and in light of current events, the story takes on new resonance. Our history is filled with attempts to reduce anti-Semitism by changing our approach to the world outside: be erased by keeping a low profile, or by excelling and contributing double: by integrating and assimilating with the greater society (even to the point of intermarriage) or by keeping to ourselves. Each strategy has sometimes seemed effective in the short-term. But none has consistently worked.

Chana Silberstein | News | Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Holocaust Survivor Meets With Students Pictured In Swastika Photo

The rabbi invited Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of the famous diarist Anne Frank, to share her story of survival and her message of tolerance with the pictured students and their families in a private meeting. Schloss was around their age when she was liberated from the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Rashi's Campus Rises

The event brought a measure of consolation and optimism to the 800 people who came to celebrate the grand opening of Rashi’s Campus, the magnificent new Chabad center named in Rashi Minkowicz's memory. Five years after her tragic passing, Rashi’s vitality is missed. But her energy continues to inspire.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Young Professionals Encounter Crown Heights

Two hundred and fifty Jewish young professionals arrived in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY last week for a weekend dubbed "Encounter: Crown Heights."

Ashira Weiss | News | Monday, March 11, 2019

A Mezuzah for the Minister

He wouldn’t be the Chabad rabbi if he didn’t remember to offer the Jewish minister a mezuzah for her door.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Kids Torah Competition Crowns Championship Winners

Zachary Shapiro, 10, looked out from the stage to his family in the crowd. His hand hovered over the buzzer. The questions came fast, and he was ready: What are the names of the Hebrew months of the year in sequence? What blessing do you recite over freshly squeezed orange juice? What are Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles of Faith?

Staff Writer | News | Monday, March 4, 2019

New Pop-Up Restaurant in California Staffed by Adults with Special Needs

The kosher restaurant, which is open for dinner once a month at Chabad of Poway, is an opportunity for individuals with special needs to learn life skills. Through being responsible for its management, the hosts are taught skills for greeting, serving, cooking,and clearing.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, February 21, 2019

Princeton Chabad Breaks Bread — And Barriers

For the first time in the Princeton Club’s history, a kosher caterer took full charge of the facility, serving a kosher sit-down dinner for 130 guests. Although previously one could order individual kosher meals, and the Webbs had organized kosher buffets there for a few years, the December gala broke precedent.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Emerging From the Shadows, Zagreb's Jews Celebrate a New Mikvah

“It’s been a festival here all month leading up to the opening,” Raizy Zaklas, Chabad’s representative to Zagreb, Croatia told me Wednesday morning. She and her husband, Rabbi Pini Zaklas, were preparing for the formal inauguration of Zagreb’s new mikvah, the first in seventy years. Aromas were wafting out of Chabad’s kitchen, where a chef was preparing food for a crowd. Raizy was wrapping up a private Torah class with a local woman, and the rabbi was greeting guests who had come from abroad for the occasion.

Baila Olidort | News | Monday, February 18, 2019

Center City, Philly: New Mikvah in Old Synagogue

Center City, Philadelphia is home to some of the oldest synagogues in the United States, like the first Ashkenazic congregation established in the Western Hemisphere in 1795. One of these historic synagogues, the 100-year-old Vilna shul, known for its warm, inclusive services, is renovating its vintage sanctuary and moving weekly prayer services to the third floor to allow a new women’s mikvah to be built in its place.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Monday, February 18, 2019

We Fought For Their Freedom, But Where Are Russian-American Jews Today?

In the 1970s and ‘80s, many segments of American Jewry led protests and rallies under the banner, “Let My People Go,” agitating to bring Russian Jews out of the former Soviet Union. Where do these Russian transplants and their children and grandchildren figure today in the American Jewish community?

Rena Udkoff | News | Friday, February 15, 2019

Parkland and Coral Springs Teens Mark One Year from Tragic Shooting

As the first anniversary of last year’s tragic Parkland, Florida shooting arrives, memorial services and events are being held across Parkland and the Coral Springs area. “The mood has again become increasingly somber,” says Rabbi Mendy Gutnick of Chabad of Parkland.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, February 14, 2019

Atlanta Coworking Space By Day, Addiction Recovery At Night

Awareness about mental illness and addiction has grown in the Jewish community, but there is yet stigma associated with these issues. Jeff’s Place, a cafe and coworking space that hosts support groups and twelve-step meetings after hours, newly opened by Chabad Intown in Atlanta, hopes to change that.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Wednesday, February 13, 2019

New Book Celebrates Women

Tapping into the current public focus on women’s empowerment, Boca Beach Chabad in Florida launched a new platform where women’s life journeys, stories, and lessons are celebrated, shared, and given over to the next generation. The Women of Valor project includes a website for publishing these stories, events to highlight individual women’s achievements, and, the crown jewel, a Women of Valor Tribute coffee-table book for the preservation of these stories.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Shabbat of Inclusion to be Celebrated on Six Continents

This weekend hundreds of communities around the world will celebrate a global Shabbat of disability-inclusion and mental-health awareness. Dubbed ‘ShabbaTTogether,’ it is set for the second weekend of February, the designated Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month, or JDAIM for short.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, February 7, 2019

A Magnet for Millenials: Chabad Builds on Atlanta's Beltline

“The growth of Intown Atlanta points to the need for a reimagined urban Jewish community center,” says Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman, who, together with his wife, Dena, founded Chabad Intown in 1997 and built it into a thriving Jewish center.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Thursday, February 7, 2019

Families of Parkland Victims Mark Anniversary in Quiet Service

Memorial services were held this week at the Star of David Cemetery in North Lauderdale, Florida and at Chabad of Parkland for some of the Jewish victims of the Parkland school shooting.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, February 6, 2019

For Pittsburgh, New Jersey Kids Design Mezuzah Cases

In the days after the tragic synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, an email from a Chabad rabbi in Pennsylvania helped a New Jersey teacher channel her students’ concerns.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Somebody Has It, Somebody Needs It

The goods and clothing donation exchange is marking thirteen years of humanitarian aid in the tri-state area. They match donors to recipients for almost any household item imaginable. Directed by Rabbi Mordechai Hecht, Chabad emissary and rabbi at Anshe Sholom Chabad JCC, the organization aims to provide the material needs of the Jewish community.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, January 31, 2019

1,000 Expected at 10th Annual Russian Shabbaton

Three generations of Russian-speaking Jews will travel from twelve states to celebrate Jewish pride and identity at this year’s Connecticut-based Shabbaton. Rabbi Kasriel Kastel, program director at Lubavitch Youth Organization, is optimistic about the impact that the Shabbaton continues to have: “The knowledge that they are a part of a large community that cherishes their Jewish and Russian heritage is empowering to them.”

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, January 30, 2019

From 100 Countries: Chabad’s Female Emissaries Celebrate Success and Empowerment

Thousands of women—Chabad emissaries and their guests—gathered at the U.S. Armory in Brooklyn last night for a gala banquet, the finale of the five-day International Conference of Shluchos.

Ashira Weiss | News | Monday, January 28, 2019

3,000 Chabad Women Leaders Convene For International Conference

The thirtieth annual International Conference of Shluchos, known as “The Kinus,” begins today in Brooklyn, New York. Over 3,000 women—directors and lay leaders of Chabad centers in 100 countries—are expected to attend.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, January 24, 2019

Thousands of Children "Grow" Goodness for Tu BiSh'vat

“We are each responsible for the atmosphere around us,” said Mrs. Altie Wolvovsky to the group of twenty 5- to 11-year-olds gathered around her. A lively discussion about the environment and their impact on it ensued.

Ashira Weiss | News | Sunday, January 20, 2019

Belgian Rabbis Resolute Despite Kosher Slaughter Ban

For many of Belgium’s 30,000 Jews, 2019 brings with it some uncomfortable restrictions. A law proposed in June 2017, now implemented after a unanimous vote, has outlawed ritual Kosher slaughter in their country.

Ashira Weiss | News | Friday, January 18, 2019

Art and Design Meet in Chabad of Korea’s New Mikvah

Designed by the emissaries, the mikvah is uniquely Korean. Its roof is reminiscent of the curved, tiled designs that feature prominently in royal Korean architecture, and the waved aluminium panels on the left side of the building are a nod to the modern, high-tech vibe currently sweeping the country. The mikvah pool features intricate mosaic tiles placed along the walls that were artfully formed in the shape of a single droplet of water, encouraging one to contemplate the sanctity and rebirth associated with the waters of the mikvah.

Frayda Kaplan | News | Thursday, January 17, 2019

A Testament to the Rebbe's Exhaustive and Far-Reaching Scholarship

For most readers, the fascinating meanderings and careful reconciliations of apparently contradictory details will obscure the big insight that brackets the Rebbe’s writing: the “theory of everything”—the profound unity that pervades all of Torah thought. Block carefully prunes the Rebbe’s winding tendrils of thought to help the reader see the recurring themes in the Rebbe’s writings.

Dr. Chana Silberstein | News | Tuesday, January 15, 2019

An Undying Commitment: A Premature Passing, A Community's Resolve

A convoy of one hundred cars rolls solemnly through Akron’s Jewish community. People of every affiliation are coming to pay their last respects to the man “who built this community.” Over the course of thirty years, Rabbi Mendy Sasonkin managed to bridge the centuries-old gaps dividing Akron’s diverse Jewish population, promoting the culture of warmth and unity that has come to define the city’s Jewish community. How will the center hold without him?

Jonathan Zalman with Baila Olidort | News | Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Vanderbilt: An American Campus Where Jewish Students Feel Safe and Welcome

When the Chabad rabbi walks the streets of Nashville, he’ll often be greeted by strangers. “Bless you, rabbi!” or “Bless Israel, we pray for you,” they’ll say. The friendly reception towards Shlomo Rothstein, Chabad emissary at Vanderbilt University, and his wife Nechama, also prevails on campus, where the college community values the presence of Chabad. In this regard, Vanderbilt stands in sharp contrast to many other universities where anti-Israel demonstrations, anti-Semitic vandalism, and a general disdain for religious beliefs and practice make life difficult for Jewish students.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Monday, January 14, 2019

Building Communities: An Answer to The Loneliness Epidemic

How does a young couple begin to build a community? That question has been on my mind since my daughter and son-in-law became Chabad emissaries to an expansive rural town on the East Coast. For all its landmass, the town has a small population and is home to fewer than a thousand Jews. I couldn’t imagine how my daughter and her husband would go about creating a community there. Perhaps they should reconsider, I said, and look for a place where there is a greater need.

Baila Olidort | News | Friday, January 11, 2019

New In Adult Education: Crime And Consequence

Crime, punishment and justice from a distinctly Jewish perspective will be the topic of a new course launched by the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI). With criminal justice reform now center-stage in the United States, the course, a six-part series that will be offered beginning in February, at more than 400 locations worldwide, is well timed.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, January 10, 2019

In the Suburbs of Sao Paulo: A Jewish Community Opens a Synagogue

This ritzy S. Paulo suburb is home to one thousand Jewish families. Since 2005, Rabbi Eliyahu and Rivky Rosenfeld have been holding services, running a Hebrew school, and teaching classes in a small rented home here. The people were interested; the leaders passionate. But their success quickly became their greatest obstacle: there simply wasn’t enough room.

Dvora Lakein | News | Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Blog: But First Come For Shabbat

Learning about the People of the Book from the lived life: I can’t remember my first day of Hebrew school. My bar mitzvah portion is a blur. But I’ll never forget the day a rabbi told me to stop reading so many Jewish books.

Scott Hirsch | News | Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Partnering With Chabad On The Next Frontier

Chabad shluchim typically finance this work by fundraising inside the communities they serve. The practice fosters dynamic partnerships between local residents and shluchim who work together to build vibrant communities. But when three hundred Jews are scattered across a wide terrain as in some locations, they generally don’t have the resources to build the infrastructure that a Jewish community requires.

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Monday, January 7, 2019

Not Your Parents' Hebrew School

For generations of American Jews, Hebrew School has meant long, boring Sunday afternoons of tedious classroom lectures and Hebrew instruction. “If you are a working parent, you have to enroll your child in an after-school program,” says Rabbi Moishe Kievman, of Highland Lakes, Florida. As parents are already searching for premium after-school care for their children, they are only too happy to have it include a substantive Jewish education.

Rena Udkoff | News | Sunday, January 6, 2019

Jewish Revival in the Birthplace of Hip-Hop

When Rabbi Choli and Chana Mushka (Alevsky) Mishulovin first drove through the neighborhoods of South Bronx, they weren’t sure about setting up a Chabad center among the graffitied buildings. In the 1960’s, South Bronx had been a thriving, middle-class neighborhood where close to half of the population was Jewish. As crime rose, Jews began leaving. Twelve years ago, the last surviving shul closed its doors. Choli says it’s hard to know how many of today’s South Bronx residents are Jewish.

Shterna Karp | News | Thursday, January 3, 2019

Amos Oz And The Rabbi of Rivne

Four years ago, Amos Oz began an unlikely friendship with the Chabad representative to Rivne (Rovno), Ukraine.

Baila Olidort | News | Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Chabad of Short Hills Opens New Space

After decades of running activities out of two small family homes, Chabad of Short Hills, New Jersey opened a state-of-the-art 28,000-square-foot center on a nostalgic landmark on the city’s main street.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Friday, December 28, 2018

Jewish Leader in the Bronx Inducted into Local Jewish Hall of Fame

This November, the Bronx Jewish Historical Initiative, in conjunction with the Bronx Borough President’s office, inducted its Hall of Fame class of 2018. One of in the six Jewish notables inducted was Rabbi Levi Shemtov who directs Chabad of the Bronx with his wife, Sarah, for the past twenty-seven years.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Friday, December 28, 2018

Teens and Toys, Bringing Smiles to Montreal Hospitals

For children who are unwell during a holiday, the pain of a hospital stay can impede on the joy of the season. Rabbi Naftoli and Nechama Perlstein, directors of the Chabad Chai Center in Montreal, Canada, have worked to bring back the joy for more than twenty years. Through the Chai Center’s Toys for a Smile program, thousands of gifts are donated to hospitalized children for Chanukah.

Shterna Karp | News | Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Old Books Find New Home

In a casual conversation with the inmate librarian at the Grafton Correctional Institute in Ohio, Rabbi Shlomo Elkan learned that the library was in dire need of books. The prison volunteer chaplain and director of Chabad at Oberlin college realized that he could help. He and his wife, Devorah, began the People of the Book initiative, advertising all over campus that Chabad was asking students and faculty members to donate books they didn’t need anymore.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Sunday, December 23, 2018

500 Honor 40 Years of Chabad School on the French Riviera

Over 500 people gathered in the iconic Negresco Hotel this past November to celebrate forty years of the Chabad Kerem Menachem school, directed by Sara Pinson, in the French Riviera.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, December 20, 2018

New Chabad Center for America's Fastest Changing City

With an eye on the upward trending growth of the local population, Chabad House of Asheville recently celebrated the opening of a new, permanent center. “As people move in, we want them to know where to find us,” says Rabbi Shaya Susskind.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, December 19, 2018

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Joins Chabad in Packing Staples for the Needy

Every day, dozens of local and visiting volunteers head to the Colel Chabad warehouse in Jerusalem to pack food staples to be distributed to thousands of needy families all over Israel. This month, the division of Colel Chabad known as Pantry Packers was joined by U.S. Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, his wife, Tammy, and the embassy staff.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Today in Jewish History: Asarah (10) B’Tevet

On the 10th of Tevet in the Hebrew year 3336 (425 BCE), the army of Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar surrounded Jerusalem’s stone walls and laid siege on the city. This was the beginning of the end of the first Beit Hamikdash; on the 17th of Tammuz, 3338, the city walls were breached, and three weeks later, on 9 Av of that year, the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were sent into exile.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, December 17, 2018

Tackling the Text in Braille, JLI Teaches Torah to the Blind

Not one to shy away from a challenge, Rabbi Rivkin called up the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI), the course creators, known for their cutting-edge content and inclusive environment, and asked if they had any textbooks in Braille. They did. Already ten years earlier, Rabbi Mendel Bluming of Chabad of Potomac, Maryland, had helped arrange a partnership between JLI and the Jewish Braille Institute (JBI) to translate the standard JLI textbooks into Braille.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Monday, December 17, 2018

Latkes and Lights at the Oregon Zoo

Rachel is a program manager at the Union for Reform Judaism. She works to build inclusivity daily and is responsible for bringing diversity and equity to the Portland area. “It’s important for our children to have their faith and culture represented in public events,” she says, noting that the breakfast was part of Zoolights, a program that runs from November to January, outside of the zoo’s regular opening times, and allows members and visitors to view its more than 1.5 million speciality lights.

Ashira Weiss | News | Friday, December 14, 2018

Today in Chabad History: 5 Tevet

On the 5th of Tevet (Hei Teves) in 1987, the extensive library of the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, was declared as belonging to Agudas Chasidei Chabad Lubavitch. The U.S. Federal court issued this ruling after a lengthy, highly-publicized trial. The anniversary of this event is marked annually, by purchasing new sefarim (Jewish books) and studying them.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, December 13, 2018

Chabad House Bowery Goes Apping

A new app was launched by Chabad House Bowery, providing students and young professionals in the Bowery area of Manhattan (including students at NYU) with easier access to Chabad’s programming. A one-stop-shop, the app displays a full schedule of upcoming events, and allows users to order kosher food.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Germany: Light in the Footprint of Hate

As a light drizzle fell, thousands gathered for a historic Menorah lighting in Berlin, Germany. “I just watched a light extinguish a dark history at the foot of the Brandenburg Gate,” tweeted Richard Grenell, US Ambassador to Germany.

Ashira Weiss | News | Friday, December 7, 2018

NBA Teams Partner with Chabad for a Night of Jewish Pride

The American Airlines Arena in Miami, was transformed into a Chanukah celebration this Sunday as the Miami Heat hosted their tenth annual Jewish Heritage Night with Chabad of Florida. They join teams in all divisions of both the Eastern and Western Conferences hosting similar events this Chanukah.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Four Days of Chanukah Fun in Queens

Families in Queens, New York, once again have something to look forward as the annual Queens Chanukah Experience opens for four days of interactive, thematic fun beginning Sunday, Dec. 2. Every hour, children will be invited to watch an olive press demonstration or take part in a lively game show competition. In teams, they’ll compete to solve Chanukah riddles and memory puzzles.

Ashira Weiss | News | Sunday, December 2, 2018

60,000 Participants Celebrate Chabad Founder’s Holiday in Jerusalem

Over 350,000 books on Jewish and Chasidic themes were sold in less than ninety-six hours during Israel’s largest Chasidic book fair, hosted at Jerusalem’s Binyanei HaUma Convention Center. The sale was part of a four-day convention commemorating the nineteenth day of the Hebrew month of Kislev.

Frayda Kaplan | News | Thursday, November 29, 2018

Chabad Waterloo Celebrates Ten

The room erupted with a standing ovation at the tenth anniversary gala for Chabad of Waterloo as Rivky Goldman was presented with a bouquet of flowers “for all the cooking, counseling, and love you give to each student.”

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, November 28, 2018

From Imprisonment To Freedom

It’s a 220 year old celebration. And it happens all over the world. The 19th of Kislev, beginning at sunset on Monday evening and lasting through Tuesday, Nov. 27, will be marked globally with lectures and farbrengens—gatherings of people dedicated to the study of Chabad Chasidut—the mystical inner dimension of Torah study.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Tuesday, November 27, 2018

TanyaClass.com Celebrates Completion of Fourteen-Year Series

What started as a class of ten people studying the Tanya at Chabad of the Upper East Side in Manhattan became a global network of thousands, from every walk of life, studying the foundational text of Chabad online. This week, fourteen years later, TanyaClass.com will celebrate the completion of the entire five-volume work at a grand farbrengen on November 27.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Monday, November 26, 2018

Why I Support Chabad

“Chabad is the only proactive outreach Jewish organization that I’ve seen in my adult life and that’s something I want to support ... I’m a son of Holocaust survivors—my mother was orphaned in the Holocaust, and my father escaped the Ghetto, so I have an opinion about the importance of Jewish continuity."

Staff Writer | News | Monday, November 26, 2018

The Case for Religious Freedom: the Struggle to Expand a NJ Synagogue

Rabbi Dov Drizin never imagined that his Chabad House would become the centerpiece of a federal lawsuit. Arriving in suburban Pascack Valley, New Jersey, he and his wife, Hindy, found “an incredibly welcoming and gracious community” that was very receptive.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Sunday, November 25, 2018

Mumbai: On Tenth Anniversary, Nariman House Becomes Nariman Lighthouse

In the decade since Islamic terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba left 166 people in Mumbai dead, including Chabad representatives Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg, the city has seen little growth. The Nariman Chabad House, however, has undergone changes.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Saturday, November 24, 2018

Grateful or Entitled?

I am concerned about what kind of people are we raising, and I want to reverse this shift in our family that is making our children self-absorbed and entitled. How do we not spoil them? How do you teach children who “have it all” to appreciate what they have?

Sarah Alevsky | News | Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Jewish Life Thaws in Remote Arkhangelsk

Government archives show that Arkhangelsk, some 750 miles north of Moscow and more than three degrees higher than Anchorage, Alaska, was once home to two synagogues. Last month, the city’s small Jewish community inaugurated a new synagogue and community center.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Chabad Comes to Rescue of Diverted Flights

The Hendels weren’t the only emissaries to host stranded passengers that week: an Aeroflot flight to Israel was also delayed by the New York weather, and twenty Shabbat-observant passengers had to stay behind at the layover in Moscow. Rabbi Yakov and Sashi Fridman, who run a Chabad center out of a hotel near the airport, hosted them in royal fashion, together with their other sixty guests.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, November 19, 2018

How To Help Victims of California's Most Destructive Fire

“The Zwiebels provided us with food and some gelt just to tide us over,” said Randy, who likes to pepper his sentences with Yiddish phrases. “The moral support they have given us,” he adds, “has been tremendous.” The Chabad house has been turned into a refuge for displaced families. “We are appealing to your readers,” Rabbi Zwiebel told Lubavitch.com, “to help us help people who have suffered such terrible losses.”

Tzipora Reitman | News | Monday, November 19, 2018

California's Blaze Begins to Contain, Chabad's Help Expands

There are people who lost everything, people who lost a great deal, and people who are still under mandatory evacuation orders who are in need of material and emotional support. Chabad centers respond to reach all of them.

News | Friday, November 16, 2018

Synagogue Confiscated By Soviets Now A Jewish Orphanage

In a place where Jewish activities-were once conducted in secret, the Jewish community of Dnipro, Ukraine celebrated the renovation and reopening of its orphanage for boys on November 11.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, November 15, 2018

Ottawa Student Gives Back

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.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Open Hearts, Helping Hands at UMass Amherst

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.

Shterna Karp | News | Tuesday, November 13, 2018

A Veteran Torah for Veteran Soldiers

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.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Sunday, November 11, 2018

They Come With Hate; We Bring Joy

“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.

Ashira Weiss | News | Friday, November 9, 2018

Historic Synagogue Rises Once Again, Eighty Years After Destruction

Destroyed by the Nazis, one of Europe’s most impressive Jewish monuments, the New Synagogue of Konigsberg, has now been restored to its former glory.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, November 8, 2018

Chabad Opens in Morgan Hill

The city where a winning $3.5 million Mega Millions ticket, that matched five of the six numbers, was sold last month is hitting the spiritual jackpot too. The rapidly growing city of Morgan Hill will be welcoming a new Chabad presence in December. Chabad of California’s newest recruits, Rabbi Mendel and Chani (née Dalfin) Liberow and their toddler son Sadya, will be opening a Chabad center in Morgan Hill.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, November 8, 2018

Seventy-Five Years Later, Danish Locals Re-Enact Holocaust History

Seventy-five years after Denmark’s Jews were saved from the Holocaust, 100 people joined Chabad of Copenhagen’s rescue re-enactment at a Sukkot event on September 26.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Largest-Ever International Conference of Chabad Rabbis Concludes in New York

“Unbelievable to be at the world’s largest kosher dinner,” tweeted Michael Snow, Director of Jewish Affairs for NY Governor Andrew Cuomo. And as #kinus, trended on twitter, some 5,600 attended the annual Gala Banquet of the International Conference of Chabad Rabbis, last night.

Ashira Weiss | News | Monday, November 5, 2018

Seven In The Sunshine State: New Chabad Families In Florida

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.

Ashira Weiss | News | Friday, November 2, 2018

North Carolina Towns Welcome Chabad Presence

Thirty five miles north of Charlotte, suburban Lake Norman, named as one of “the best places in North Carolina to bring up a family,” is a fast-growing area that now features a Chabad center for the area’s Jewish families.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Statement From Chabad Lubavitch HQ On Pittsburgh Massacre

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.

News | Sunday, October 28, 2018

Shining a Light in Pittsburgh

As Shabbat ended, Chabad centers around Pittsburgh began to react to the tragic shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue, this morning. Eleven people are said to have been killed, and six injured.

Ashira Weiss | News | Sunday, October 28, 2018

In Jerusalem, Special Residents Get New Home

In the heart of Jerusalem, a stone’s throw from the famous Machaneh Yehuda outdoor market, stands Beis Finger Rehab Center. A state-of-the-art residence, it was opened earlier this year by Colel Chabad, Israel’s longest running social services organization (established 1788).

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, October 25, 2018

Running to Renton: A New Jewish Center Opens in a Seattle Suburb

Situated a half hour drive from downtown Seattle, Renton, borders Lake Washington and has become the go-to suburb for families looking to escape Seattle’s rising housing prices and big-city environment, yet live close enough to commute for work.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Creating a Home For the Young and Professional in Jerusalem

As a young, single, immigrant to Israel, Levi Margolin struggled to find a community he felt comfortable calling his own. Now, eight years later, Levi and his wife Aidel, a native Jerusalemite, work to create that community for young professionals in the holy city they have made their home.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Branching Out to Southern Utah

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.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, October 18, 2018

$3.2 Million Student Hub for Dartmouth Chabad

The details fell into place like the pieces of a puzzle perfectly completed. That, say those in the know, is how last weekend’s grand opening of the Hillary Chana Chabad House of the Rohr Chabad Center at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, came to be.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Site of New Hebron Neighborhood Was Purchased By Chabad In 1909

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.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Chabad of Hunterdon County Breaks Ground

Last week, the Hunterdon County’s Jewish residents broke ground on a $4.7 million Jewish community center. The 17,000-square-foot Yakov and Hava Telyas Chabad Jewish Center facility, featuring a synagogue, social hall, library and kosher kitchen, will go up on ten acres of land.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Long Island Rabbi Receives Senator's Award

This afternoon, October 15, Senator John E. Brooks stopped by the Chabad Center for Jewish Life on Hewlett Avenue with a delivery for Rabbi Shimon and Chanie Kramer. The couple received a NYS Commendation Award in recognition of their contribution to the community.

Shterna Karp | News | Monday, October 15, 2018

Russian Chief Rabbi Alarmed by Treatment of Chabad Representatives

In an urgent letter to Sweden’s government officials, Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar expressed “grave concern” for the wellbeing of its Sweden’s Chabad emissaries, Rabbi Alexander and Leah Namdar, and their family. The Namdars have raised their family of 11 in Gothenburg and were fined €73,000 as a penalty for homeschooling their children.

Baila Olidort | News | Friday, October 12, 2018

Texas-Sized Hospitality At Chabad For Medical Patients And Their Families

Rabbi Lazer and Rochel Lazaroff take care of patients and their families who come for treatment to any of the twenty-one hospitals in Texas Medical Center: lodging, hot meals, commutes, and other support services relieve families of some stress during their difficult ordeal.

Sarah Ogince | News | Thursday, October 11, 2018

The Future Is Here: Tuition-Free Jewish Day School in Myrtle Beach

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.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Wednesday, October 10, 2018

A Bereavement Minyan Group On Whatsapp in Montreal

Some mitzvahs are all about acts of kindness. These are performed without any expectations of a “thank you.” Paying last respects is one of them. So when Rabbi Levi New of the Montreal Torah Center in suburban Hampstead, Quebec, reached out asking for help to complete a minyan [quorum of ten men] for the Kaddish to be recited at a burial site, the positive response surprised him.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Chicago Mayor Proclaims Day in Honor of Holocaust Survivor

Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proclaimed Tuesday, October 9th, Eva Schloss Day in Chicago. Eva Schloss, stepsister of Anne Frank, has been sharing her personal story and will speak this evening at an event hosted by Chabad of Lakeview.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Full Exposure: Pittsburgh University Executives See Israel For Themselves

American colleges and universities are in the grip of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel propaganda. Here’s what Chabad leaders at Pittsburgh colleges have done to create a safer environment for Jewish students, and foster thoughtful conversation on campus.

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, October 8, 2018

In Arizona, a New Center for a New Year

As the Jewish New Year opened in Fountain Hills, Arizona, so did its new community center. Rabbi Mendy and Tzipi Lipskier inaugurated 4,500 square-foot center just in time for Rosh Hashana.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Come, Pray, Connect: Minyan, Millenials and Why Services Matter

Over the past two decades, synagogue membership has declined across the United States, with less than one-third of American Jews choosing to affiliate with a congregation. According to the 2013 Pew Research Center Study, only twenty-three percent of U.S. Jews attend synagogue on a regular basis. And many rabbis suspect that self-reporting inflates that number.

Rena Udkoff | News | Thursday, September 20, 2018

The Abiding Optimism of Chabad Emissaries in Africa

When Paul told the visiting students about his father’s situation, they arranged to visit him after the holiday. “According to the map, Kitengela seemed to be about a 50 minute drive away,” says Plotkin. The trip turned out to be twice as long as expected, with multiple twists and turns on rough dirt roads and prolonged delays for sheep crossings.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Thursday, September 20, 2018

Simple Shtieble, Soaring Sanctuary, Yom Kippur Is Calling

There is a “synagogue crisis” at large, and Chabad is not unaffected. Chabad rabbis and rebbetzins do draw crowds to their community events. Shabbat dinners and adult educational courses are well attended. Jews are engaging with us, and often in impressive numbers. But that’s not davening.

Baila Olidort | News | Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Four Communal Leaders Share Personal Regrets and Resolutions

The High Holidays are a time dedicated to repentance and reflection. We’ve asked four Chabad leaders to share with us some of the regrets they feel as communal leaders, and what resolutions within the scope of their leadership responsibilities they’d like to make in the coming year.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Friday, September 14, 2018

New Chabad Representatives to Duluth, Edge of the Great Lakes

Minnesota’s port city on the shores of Lake Superior is will soon have new Chabad representatives. Rabbi Mendy and Tirtza Ross and their two children will move shortly after the conclusion of the Sukkot holiday. Duluth’s Jewish population is small. Rabbi Mendy Ross estimates about 1,000 Jews living in the region. “But who knows? There could be even more.” But small is fine. “We’re not looking to attract thousands of participants to a big event."

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Friday, September 14, 2018

Sitting Next To Your Spouse In An Orthodox Synagogue

This time of year, when people may feel more motivated to attend synagogue for High Holiday services, the mechitzah separating the men and women sometimes becomes a sticking point. The world is evolving with more equal rights for everyone. If Chabad would accommodate mixed gender seating, it would have wider acceptance. Why don’t you adopt this practice to better fit with the times?

Rivka Slonim | News | Thursday, September 13, 2018

Have We Become Too Sophisticated For Yom Kippur?

Something has changed. In our minds, Yom Kippur has become complicated. The service doesn’t speak to us—the idea of sin no longer resonates. Praying all day in a foreign language seems alienating, fasting uncomfortable. And anyway, isn’t change something personal that can’t be scheduled, but has to happen on our own timetable?

Chana Silberstein | News | Thursday, September 13, 2018

Helping Hearing-Impaired Hear the Sound of the Shofar

When the time to sound the shofar arrived, one man approached me and, through the interpreter, asked if he was permitted to touch the shofar. I didn’t initially understand the meaning behind his request, but it became clear when I saw him stretch out his hand and lightly hold the shofar with me each time it was sounded, his eyes closed in deep concentration.

Tzvi Lipinski | News | Friday, September 7, 2018

Taking Stock Before the New Year

We are in the final month of the Jewish calendar year—traditionally a time dedicated to taking spiritual stock of the year past. Examining our successes and failures, we need to look at those areas of life that are in our control. Have we given our relationships the time they require? Have we been more thoughtful and kind to our parents, our spouses, our neighbors? Has our bond with our people, our heritage, and our G-d grown stronger this year?

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Tuition-Free Hebrew School Offered in Orange County, NY

Beginning this fall season, enrollment will be tuition-free for all new students at Chabad Hebrew School in Orange County, NY. The Hebrew School meets every Sunday morning for two hours of what Chana Burston terms, “FUNdamental Jewish experience that will last a lifetime.” Through hands-on activities and projects, 5-13 year old students are invited to engage in Jewish discovery.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Public Jewish Hour: 88 Years, Going Strong

It’s Wednesday afternoon and young men are streaming out of the yeshivah on Brooklyn’s leafy Eastern Parkway. Armed with snacks, crafts, and sheafs of paper, 180 instructors head to 90 public schools around New York City. Released Time is an offshoot of the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE). Their “Jewish Hour,” as it’s often called, was instituted by the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, in 1941.

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Book Review: The Scientist Who Is A Chosid

Book Review: Both Brawer and Green are scientists who came to Chabad as adults. Both bring their scientific background to the table as they reflect on how they grapple with truth; both share some of the insights that have been most instrumental to their own thinking; both share their spiritual inspirations and journeys of growth with extraordinary candor.

Dr. Chana Silberstein | News | Thursday, August 30, 2018

Rohr Chabad House University of Wisconsin Nearly Triples Its Space

The new construction gives students 10,000 sq. feet of space over the current 4,000. The $4 million project gained major support from the Irwin A. & Robert D. Goodman Foundation, the Rohr Family Foundation, and local donors.

Tzipora Reitman | News | Tuesday, August 28, 2018

New Chabad Opens In Downtown Raleigh, North Carolina's Capital City

What motivates young couples to pick up and move from their families and comfort zones to an unfamiliar place—without convenient access to Jewish resources—to build a community from scratch? It’s the Rebbe, they’ll all tell you.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Monday, August 27, 2018

Kulanu Circle: An All-Inclusive Hebrew School

“Is today Hebrew School?” Mendel Mann asks hopefully each Sunday morning. For the last three years on Sunday mornings, Mendel’s mother Devorah Leah has made the fifty-mile drive from South Beach to Kendall, Florida so the twelve-year-old can be part of the Kulanu Circle.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, August 23, 2018

Traveling to Aruba? Check out Chabad.

Traveling to Aruba? Meet the Blasbergs. Here's some information that will make your kosher island stay a little easier.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, August 22, 2018

From The Frat House to The Chabad House

Today, a third generation of Chabad representatives are serving Jewish students on American campuses. An alumnus of The University of Texas, Austin, Rabbi Zev Johnson has a high relatability factor. He’s been there, done that.

Sarah Ogince | News | Monday, August 20, 2018

In Florida, Plans Underway For a 100,000 Square-Foot All-Kosher Assisted Living Facility

When Rabbi Aron Lieberman moved to the small city of Lauderhill, Florida, thirty seven years ago, the city’s Jewish community was made up of mostly older people, many Holocaust survivors among them. This year, the Aishel House—an assisted living community—is about to become a reality.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, August 16, 2018

A Living, Thriving Judaism: How Our Personal and Global Impact Starts at Home

I am not sure that my children knowing about Jewish ritual, history and lore will make them better people, and yet a part of me feels they should have it in their lives. How can I make it relevant to them? The Torah begins with the creation story, and it is really a story lived by every human being, every day.

Sarah Alevsky | News | Tuesday, August 14, 2018

In Venice, FL, a City of Seniors Establishes a Jewish Future

It’s got one of the most senior populations in the country. But growing up in Venice, Florida, the children of Chabad representatives are bringing new life to the city’s elderly. In the process, they learn to relate with compassion and kindness.

Sarah Ogince | News | Monday, August 6, 2018

Where There's Peet's Coffee, There You'll Also Find Chabad

On their first wedding anniversary, next month, Rabbi Mendy and Menucha Blank will be moving to the S. Francisco Bay area to open Chabad of Emeryville. It’s an up-and-coming commercial city, headquarters to companies like Pixar and LeapFrog, nestled between Oakland and Berkeley and directly across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Thursday, August 2, 2018

Remembering the Rebbe’s Father

Today in Jewish History, the passing of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Levi Yitzchak Schneerson (1878-1944), father of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. After being arrested by Soviet authorities and interrogated for his activism on behalf of the Jewish community, he was sentenced to five years of exile and sent to Chi’ili, Kazakhstan, in the remote Aqtobe region in Central Asia. He passed away in Almaty, Kazakhstan, physically weakened by the hardship of his exile

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Florida Rabbi Speaks on DOJ Religious Liberty Panel

Chabad's Rabbi Ruvi New shared his 10-year battle to build a synagogue at the U.S. Department of Justice event Religious Liberty: Our First Freedom and Why it Matters. Opening remarks were made by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, after which Rabbi New and a panel of religious leaders examined the state of religious justice in the United States.

News | Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Empowered to Choose, Even Behind Bars

Prison reform is a buzzword among politicians and lawmakers, but one rabbi who can report on the efficacy of rehabilitation from within, says the impact cannot be overstated. “A prisoner’s existence is painful, but these guys are on fire with the idea that by looking for opportunities to give they can choose to live.”

Ashira Weiss | News | Monday, July 30, 2018

Chabad on Campus Accepts ZBT Fraternity Award

Chabad on Campus International received the prestigious Richard J.H. Gottheil Award, alongside Hillel International, from the Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) fraternity on Saturday night. Zeta Beta Tau is the world’s oldest Jewish fraternity.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, July 25, 2018

First Chabad for Singer Island

It’s a long way from Sweden’s cold winters where Rabbi Berel Namdar grew up. He and his wife Tzivia, originally from Tennessee, are moving to Singer Island, Florida, where they will be opening Chabad of Singer Island and the Beaches, the 18th center in the Palm Beach area.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Auschwitz, The Polin Museum, The Chabad Tent

When was the last time Jews sparred over Talmudic arguments in Polish? Thousands of visitors encountered this scene in April, awed to discover that "faith didn't die in the Auschwitz" (Nissen Mangel). Judaism in Poland is alive and thriving. Baila Olidort, Director of Communications at Chabad-Lubavitch HQ, reflects on a visit to Poland...

Baila Olidort | News | Sunday, July 22, 2018

The House That Miriam and Meir Built

The countercultural movement of the sixties and seventies was the segue to a period of great spiritual ferment. Inspired by the zeitgeist, young Jewish rebels struck out in search of their own truth. Outriders of the baal-teshuvah movement, Meir and Miriam Rhodes reflect on their life journey.

Baila Olidort | News | Thursday, July 19, 2018

Arizona State To Add Kosher Option For Jewish Students

Arizona State University (ASU) is becoming especially friendly to Jewish students. The research university, made up of five campuses across the Phoenix metropolitan area, is home to 3,500 Jewish students. Thanks to the efforts of Chabad representatives Rabbi Shmuel and Chana Tiechtel, kosher lunches and dinners will now allow Jewish students to more easily follow the dietary laws.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Washing Cars For Charity

Instead of spending their summer break traveling, relaxing, or taking a seasonal job, the teens at Chabad of Orange County’s CTeen are using their free time to give back. In tribute to Adi Wolff, a friend and active member of their CTeen chapter who tragically passed away earlier this year at the age of 14, teens in the area took time off from their vacations for a week of community service.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Tuesday, July 17, 2018

FIFA Fans Score Shabbat at Chabad

As players and fans gear up for the FIFA World Cup Finals to be held this weekend, Chabad centers around the host country are making their own preparations.

Ashira Weiss | News | Friday, July 13, 2018

Chabad Women Talk About Life in Their New Digs

The story of four Chabad women who land in four new places. Is "culture shock" the right word?

Dvora Lakein | News | Friday, July 13, 2018

Chabad Female Composer Aims For the Heights

“If words are the pen of the heart,” wrote Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Chabad Rebbe, “then music is the pen of the soul.” Though Sarah Dukes' music has played all over the world, and has even made it to the first-round ballot of the GRAMMYs, Sarah views her music from a Chassidic perspective, with the belief that it can make a positive impact on the world.

Mushkie Engel | News | Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Chabad on Call

Among the many resources Chabad on Call offered at the event—like specialty prayer pamphlets, psalms booklets and meaningful cards—a new cultural sensitivity course was introduced. Designed for rabbis to present to local medical staff, the course covers key topics like kosher and Shabbat restrictions or the Torah's view on end-of-life.

Mussi Sharfstein | News | Monday, July 9, 2018

Hikers go the Extra Mile for Kids with Special Needs

Upwards of five million people visit the Grand Canyon each year, but at least one group came for more than just the scenery. Earlier this month, thirty-six women took time away from work and family commitments for a three-day hike to raise funds for Friendship Circle.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, July 4, 2018

The Best Traveled Teenagers in the World

When she turned 16, Nechama Zukin of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, caught the travel bug. Summer stints as a camp counselor in Pennsylvania; Chernigov, Ukraine; London; and S. Paulo, Brazil gave her wings. Her itinerary would land her in places that people twice and three times her age still have on their bucket lists.

Rena Udkoff | News | Monday, July 2, 2018

Jerusalem, A City of Peace

This Sunday (July 1) is the 17th of Tammuz, a day of fasting and prayer that commemorates the destruction of Jerusalem. Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, Chairman of the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of Educational/Social Services, shares the significance of the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, from a biblical perspective.

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Thursday, June 28, 2018

It Started With A Shmooze

Affectionately named “The Shmooze,” this group meets at the Highpoint Condos, a retirement village where most of its members reside. Rabbi Silverman agreed to make the arrangements for Joshua's bar mitzva at the nearby Children's Village youth rehabilitation, but members of The Shmooze also wanted to participate.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Jewish Teens Meet in Pennsylvania For Leadership Training

The fifth annual CTeen retreat hosted thirty-five teenage leaders from chapters in twenty-five U.S. cities and Quincy from the U.K this weekend. Along with their CTeen directors, leaders are responsible for creating innovative programing that aim to instill their peers with Jewish values. In addition, chapter leaders are given the opportunity to collaborate with each other to coordinate international CTeen events.

Ashira Weiss | News | Monday, June 25, 2018

Camp Gan Israel: Why They Keep Coming Back

It’s a new season at the largest Jewish camp network in the world. Former campers are coming back with their own children, hoping to impart the Jewish joy and pride they received at Camp Gan Israel to the next generation.

Rena Udkoff | News | Thursday, June 21, 2018

The Rebbe Created a Culture

It is easier, of course, to stay within our safe spheres. So we speak mostly of the Rebbe’s love and acceptance. But that doesn’t convey the experience of the Rebbe honestly. We need only look at how he responded to people who sought his advice, to see that he always pushed the boundaries, relentlessly goading them out of their comfort zones.

Baila Olidort | News | Friday, June 15, 2018

Jewish Tourists will Celebrate Shabbat and Kosher in the FIFA Capital

This year, Russia hosts the The 2018 FIFA World Cup June 14-July 15. Local Chabad centers are prepared to welcome Jewish soccer (football) fans and spectators. In Moscow alone, 32 Chabad centers served by more than a hundred Chabad emissaries are on the ready. Two halls in the city center have been set up to accommodate 1,000 Shabbat guests for the two weeks the games will be held in Moscow. A Shabbat-friendly hotel, recently opened by emissaries Rabbi Yakov and Sashi Fridman, will also offer hundreds of visitors and locals alike a Shabbat oasis in the Russian capital.

Rena Udkoff | News | Thursday, June 14, 2018

In the Shadow of Hate, a Display of Jewish Pride

As the anti-Israel Al Quds Day parade marched through the streets of central London this Sunday, an event celebrating Jewish pride was in full swing in the neighboring district of Islington.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, June 14, 2018

The Story of Jewish Learning Partnerships Across the Seas

When Meryl Abrams of Princeville, Kauai was preparing for her son’s bar mitzvah last year, she reached out for support from over 5,000 miles away. “I needed someone to teach him, so I asked Malka if she could help,” says Meryl.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Jewish Life Grows on the Cayman Islands

Steve Cummins is a local Jewish businessman who grew up attending the Isaac M Wise Reform Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio. After years of hosting communal events and doing his best to keep Jewish life alive on the Cayman Islands, he knew he needed to bring in an expert.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, June 12, 2018

In Zhitomir, A Community Celebrates Life With A New Torah

A traveling Chabad emissary was left for dead last winter when beaten in an anti-semitic attack at the Zhitomir central train station in Ukraine. This month, a Torah is being celebrated in his name.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Russia Welcomes the Young and the Jewish

Twenty six Jewish, young professionals, hailing from nine cities in the US, Canada and Europe, met last week in Moscow for a global summit. Beginning in St Petersburg, the program traced the footsteps of Soviet refuseniks who kept Jewish life under Communist rule alive at great personal risk. The tour highlighted the small Jewish network that sustained itself during Russia’s dark days, and from which Russia’s flourishing Jewish communities today have emerged.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Is Bitcoin The New Charity?

Debates on the virtues and fragilities of cryptocurrencies pepper the public conversation. Some of the more tech-savvy among Chabad’s shluchim are adding bitcoin and cryptocurrency wallets to the donation pages of their websites to keep their fundraising options on the cutting edge.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, May 30, 2018

The Bar Mitzvah Boy Who Gave Back

Hebrew school attendance is a struggle for many Jewish kids who’d rather not give up their free time to attend extra classes. For one boy preparing to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah in Highland Mills, NY, the struggle was how to give back to the Hebrew School he’d attended the past few years.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Historic Newtown Wins Approval to Build First Mikvah

Steeped in historical value, Newtown, Pennsylvania’s entire business district is part of the National Register of Historic Places. Despite the hurdles involved in building in such a district, Lubavitch of Bucks County has secured approval to build the county’s first mikvah.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Prayers and Mitzvahs for A Four Year Old Boy

Four-year-old Shmuly Oirechman was seriously injured when an arrow struck him in the eye. It was a family fun day in honor of Lag B’Omer when children play with bows and arrows. Shmuly’s right eye was severely damaged

Ashira Weiss | News | Monday, May 28, 2018

Saved During Kristallnacht, A Torah Scroll Comes To Colorado

For Jewish parents and educators in the twenty first century, there is a constant need to find the balance between celebrating our history and living in the present. A small Torah scroll currently being taken to visit communities around the world is helping to fuse that gap.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, May 23, 2018

A New Documentary Features Jews in The Bush

Untold Australia is Australia's latest SBS series—featuring the lives of ordinary, and sometimes extraordinary, citizens. Today, a new documentary airs. Outback Rabbis follows the lives of the two families who direct Chabad of RARA (Rural and Regional Australia).

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Jewish Women In Long Island Live With Hope

When Cindy Knoll was diagnosed with breast cancer at 31, her youngest had just celebrated her first birthday. Her husband and family kicked in to care for her, and Cindy credits her survival to the tremendous support she received. But not everyone has a system that heals and cares and does the dishes. Based at the Chabad Center for Jewish Life in Merrick, Long Island, the Circle offers support groups, financial backing, home cooked meals, and a shoulder to cry on.

Dvora Lakein | News | Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Granite State Opens New Chabad Space

Chabad of New Hampshire had been sharing space with Rabbi Levi and Shternie Krinsky and their nine children. Community events were held in rented venues. Yom Kippur services meant a few mile walk to a downtown location that was big enough to house their congregation.

Ashira Weiss | News | Monday, May 14, 2018

Protesting the Protesters, Changing the Face of BDS on Campus

A student who had an entire class curriculum changed due to its anti-Israel bias, has been honored at last month’s 7th Annual Jerusalem Post Conference.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, May 10, 2018

Frontier Fund Offers Small Chabad Centers Some Relief

In 2009, help came in the form of a grant by The Frontier Fund of Machne Israel, the social-services division at Chabad-Lubavitch Headquarters. “Heaven-sent” is how Wilhelm describes the two-year grant. “It freed me up to dedicate more time and energy to our real objective—to reach out to more Jews in Norway. The programs we established using these funds are successful still today.”

Dvora Lakein | News | Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Not For Perks And Benefits

Chabad moved to Iceland this month, marking the 100th country/territory exposed to Chabad's reach. Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, Chairman of Chabad-Lubavitch Educational/Social Services, describes the motivation behind establishing centers all over the world.

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Monday, May 7, 2018

Despite Emigration, A Jewish Center Opens in France

The rise of anti-Semitism in France has been driving many Jews from the country. Most leave for Israel. Others are fleeing the bigger cities and heading south to the French Riviera. Le Cannet, a small suburb on the northern border of Cannes is home to two hundred fifty Jewish families. Last month, Chabad of Cannes opened Le Cannet’s first synagogue.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, May 2, 2018

It's Not All Greek Over Here

Run by Chabad’s representatives to Athens, Rabbi Mendel and Nechama Hendel, Gostijo prepares traditional Sephardic and Greek foods that are popular with natives and tourists, Jewish and not. The restaurant, in the city’s hip center, boasts a talented chef and a trendy menu. Many of Gostijo’s reviews highlight the surprise diners feel upon receiving such a warm welcome. For Hendel, the restaurant is more than the antidote to a kosher tourist’s suitcase of matzah and tuna. “It’s not only a place to eat. It’s a warm place for people to get together, it’s a home away from home.”

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, April 30, 2018

Uncovered in Germany? Chabad Rabbis Say No Way!

The rally featured local politicians and supporters of all nationalities and religions. Topped with kippahs of all stripes, materials, and styles, Berlin stood to attention, loudly demonstrating, “Never again.” Chabad's emissary, Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal stood on the dais at the event.

Dvora Lakein | News | Friday, April 27, 2018

Tefillin, Prayer and A Piano

When community members heard about Alan’s special Bar Mitzva, they came together to make it “a Bar Mitzva to remember.” “I don’t know a lot of people, so I had been planning a very small family event,” shares Inna. “But Alan has touched a lot of people through his music. A lot of people know him, and they all came together to make it into something very special.”

Frayda Kaplan | News | Thursday, April 26, 2018

When it rained, it poured

It’s the “wettest spot on earth,” but last week, Kauai received more precipitation than even it could handle. Rabbi Michoel and Zisel Goldman coordinate Jewish life on Kauai where they have been living with their family for the past five years. Since the flooding began last weekend, they have been in touch with Jewish residents in isolated areas, fielding calls for help and support. They are also providing something to all northern residents that no one else is.

Dvora Lakein | News | Wednesday, April 25, 2018

New Initiative Challenges Anti-Israel BDS on American Campuses

In response to the anti-Israel BDS movement on American university campuses, Chabad on Campus and Belev Echad have formed a partnership. Together they are bringing IDF veterans to visit campuses across the country and share their stories with faculty and students.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Drawing Lines of Private Space, Women Explore Jewish Intimacy

From April 18 to 26, Chabad representatives on Long Island will be celebrating the “Week of the Jewish Woman.” As society grapples with questions of appropriate behavior and gender equality, it may be a good time to return to the Rebbe’s vision, and to ask what it was exactly that he saw.

Sarah Ogince | News | Monday, April 23, 2018

The G-d I Believe In Can Upend Nature . . .

A Chabad rabbi shares his thoughts on Creationism. The Torah says that the world was created in six days, about 6,000 years ago. How can I relate to a Torah (and to religious leaders) that insist on interpreting Genesis literally? As someone who respects science, how can I invest in a religion teeming with Creationists?

Joshua A. Krisch | News | Thursday, April 19, 2018

Building Blocks of A Community In Gwinnett County, GA

Some years back, Chabad purchased a property in the Peachtree Corners neighborhood with the dream of one day building a full center to serve the local community. Now Rabbi Yossi Lerman, director of Chabad of Gwinnett has launched a novel, pre-building Legacy Bricks campaign.

News | Wednesday, April 18, 2018

When Politics and Religion Don't Mix: Chabad at Oberlin College

This October, fliers calling for an end to “Jewish privilege” appeared all over the Oberlin College campus. Promoting Jewish observance in that kind of environment might seem a daunting task, but Rabbi Shlomo and Devorah Elkan are not intimidated. Chabad representatives to the Ohio college town since 2010, they would get to know Oberlin’s long history of progressive politics on the job. The learning curve was steep.

Sarah Ogince | News | Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Book Review: Torah From The Warsaw Ghetto

In 1950 a buried manuscript from the Warsaw ghetto was uncovered. "We live in an age in which faith is approached critically, as if it were a scientific equation to be proved and demonstrated—as if logic were its measuring stick and argument could brace it and make it stronger." Learn about faith from those who were forced through it.

Dr. Henry Abramson | News | Thursday, April 12, 2018

Everything Is Illuminated

Baila Olidort | News | Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Food Distribution Helps Families in Need

For a family living on an already tight budget, the added expense of preparing for Passover can seem insurmountable. This struggle is what motivated Rabbi David Okunov of Brooklyn, New York to initiate a free Passover food distibution for the needy.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, March 29, 2018

More Questions For The Seder Table

Jewish people love to ask questions. As part of the Passover tradition, we ask four at the Seder table. But if you pay attention, there’s usually a question in every statement and every answer. In honor of Passover, we asked four Chabad representatives our own set of questions.

News | Thursday, March 29, 2018

Israel's President Rivlin Makes A Wish

Remarks by Israel’s President, Reuven Rivlin on March 19, 2018 at a conference sponsored by TheMarker, an Israeli daily business newspaper published by Haaretz. "I’ve come here in honor of Israel’s 70th birthday with a rather unusual wish, namely, that we succeed to build up the “middle”; that we learn to love and value the attribute of the 'beinoni.' Remarks of this nature, I admit, would have been out of place at an economic conference some years back. But thanks to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Chabad’s conceptual ideas have made it into our modern day vernacular."

News | Tuesday, March 27, 2018

States Proclaim Education and Sharing Day

Governors in States all across the Union are proclaiming March 27th 2018, Education and Sharing Day “in recognition of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson’s outstanding and lasting contributions toward education, morality and acts of charity throughout the world.”

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Sacrilegious in Scandinavia

You could be forgiven for thinking that the bans on circumcision, kosher slaughter, and religious education are coming from the governments of Soviet Russia or Germany of the 1930s. But you would be mistaken. As Jews worldwide celebrate the festival of freedom this year, some of Europe’s most progressive, secular countries are challenging the fundamentals of Jewish faith and practice.

Sarah Ogince | News | Thursday, March 22, 2018

An Intergenerational Passover Experience

In this age of smart technology, the messaging and information children absorb often leave parents out of the loop. Chabad representatives around the world see the seder as a time to bridge the generational gap.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, March 21, 2018

How Matzah Created An Attitude Shift

The noise is amped up, the kids are animated. Rabbi Levi Landa is dressed up as Moses. Elaborate backdrops and props depict the story of the Exodus from Egypt. And then Landa notices a little boy at the back of the room. The child with autism is sitting at the far end, his hands tightly covering his ears. It all started with a matzah.

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, March 19, 2018

Shabbat of Meaning for Texas Students

The BDS movement on campuses has intimidated Jewish students who are often afraid to openly identify. Working to combat that, Chabad representatives from across the Lone Star State inspired Jewish Pride last weekend, celebrating a spirited Shabbat with more than 150 students.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, March 15, 2018

Diaspora Jews Explore Israel, Uncover A Richer Jewish Identity

American Jews, recent studies report, are increasingly feeling that Israel is just not all that important to them. But eight days of sightseeing and soul searching in the Holy Land may have been a game-changer for many, if not all of the 800 participants at the the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute’s recent tour of Israel.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, March 15, 2018

Why Won't You Call My Daughter Up To The Torah?

The prevailing myth of bar and bat mitzvah as being the finale of their Jewish education marked by the memorization and chanting of a Torah portion is one of those ineffective practices I’d like to replace with something more meaningful. When did this begin and how did become the hallmark of bar/bat mitzvah?

Sarah Alevsky | News | Thursday, March 15, 2018

KOSHER DINING COMES TO KU CAMPUS

Jewish students and professors make up about eight percent of the general population at the University of Kansas. Following the fall college break, they were welcomed back with the opening of its first ever entirely kosher kitchen at Oliver Hall.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, March 7, 2018

New Jewish Cemetery Inaugurated in Moscow

A new Jewish cemetery has recently been inaugurated in Moscow’s Vastrikovsky neighborhood. The nearby old Jewish cemetery is nearly full, and remaining plots are costly.

Ashira Weiss | News | Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Can An Underfunded School Actually Transform a Community?

Small Jewish day schools—those with less than 100 students—occupy a fragile place in our society. Located outside of centralized Jewish communities, these schools must fight for recognition, not only from foundations, but also Jewish Federations, potential donors, and prospective parents. With no endowment funds, they still accept every Jewish student regardless of financial ability. Working on shoestring budgets, they must compensate with creativity to develop cutting-edge curriculum on par with local private schools. Welcome to the new frontier of Jewish education.

Chava Lieba Witkes | News | Sunday, March 4, 2018

Students at Yale, Vanderbilt and UF Dedicate Purim to Parkland Victims

With news of the Parkland school shooting so fresh in their minds Carly Weiss, 21, and Rebecca Papilsky, 22, both students at University of Florida felt the need to do something to support the victims and their families.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, March 1, 2018

Teenagers and a Giving Purim Spirit

Maybe it’s because the news has been so heartbreaking lately, but Jewish teens at CTeen chapters around the USA are looking to make their Purim as meaningful as it is fun.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Students to Bring Purim Joy to Israel's Northern Border

In Israel, dressing as a soldier is a popular choice of Purim costume. But living as a soldier on an isolated base during this holiday is not as popular. Purim, the most joyful day on the Jewish calendar, usually coincides with early March. The holiday this year takes place on the eve of February 28 and lasts through Thursday, March 1st on the Gregorian calendar. While the Israeli army makes every effort to help its members observe Purim, IDF soldiers in the border patrol units can have a lonely time of it.

Frayda Kaplan | News | Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Kosher in Corsica

In 2017, Chabad’s representative to Corsica, Levi Pinson, approached Jean Michel about opening a kosher kitchen to serve the growing number of Jewish tourists, holiday home owners and destination weddings on the French island. With Chabad on the island, Corsica has become an alluring vacation destination for the kosher consumer. Jean-Michel thought Pinson’s proposal for a kosher catering service a wise investment and opened a second kitchen, certified kosher by Rabbi Pinson.

Frayda Kaplan | News | Thursday, February 22, 2018

Florida Governor Meets With Parkland Chabad Community Leaders

“We cannot just wait to respond to the next crisis. We need to deal with the fundamental moral void and emotional darkness that currently exists and is causing so much violence and suffering.”

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Monday, February 19, 2018

February Is Jewish Inclusion Month

Inclusion seems to be the buzzword of the year. But what does it mean? This February the Ruderman Chabad Inclusion Initiative has partnered with Friendship Circle International to get this word into the limelight.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Monday, February 19, 2018

A "Jewish Embassy" In South Korea

Since 2008, Rabbi Osher and Mussy Litzman, South Korea’s first permanent rabbi, have been the address for all things Jewish to the 500-1000 Jews living in Seoul at any given time. To Jewish diplomats, English teachers, businessmen, students and US army families living in South Korea’s capital, the Chabad House is a “Jewish Embassy.”

Frayda Kaplan | News | Monday, February 19, 2018

Young Jewish Professionals Down Unda' Create A Community

Chabad Young Professionals of Melbourne celebrated their two-year milestone this week with a gala at the River Room in the chic Crown Towers downtown. Members of CYP were joined by friends, supporters, local rabbis and community leaders as they marked another successful year of a fledgling organization with their first annual gala.

Ashira Weiss | News | Thursday, February 15, 2018

A New Chabad To Open In The Granite State

Rabbi Berel and Rochy Slavaticki and newborn son Mendel are moving to the town of Durham, home to the University of New Hampshire. UNH, a liberal arts college and public research university, comprises of 15,000 students. 600 of them are Jewish.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Chabad To Open in Iceland

But there’s been a growing interest among a diverse group of local Jews, particularly young families, to cultivate a Jewish community in Reykjavik. And a recent tourism boom has been bringing millions of visitors (outnumbering the country’s population of seven to one) to experience its northern lights, its volcanoes and lava fields. It seems a good time, say Avi and Mushky Feldman, to be setting down roots in the land of fire and ice.

Baila Olidort | News | Sunday, February 11, 2018

Hot Meals in Cold Snow

Rather than slowing down during this latest snowfall, in which Moscow saw over half of their monthly snowfall come down in one day, Shaarei Tzedek Chessed Center has kicked their activities into high gear. The regular distribution of food packages to the homebound and elderly, have been supplemented with blankets, portable heaters and window sealing kits.

Ashira Weiss | News | Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Gearing Up For SuperBowl Sunday With A Kosher Tailgate Party

“Patriots and Eagles fans may find themselves in Vikings territory, but Chabad’s kosher tailgate party will be their Jewish home away from home,”

Frayda Kaplan | News | Friday, February 2, 2018

When the Taps Run Dry

Cape Town, South Africa’s second largest city, is facing a drought so severe that city officials are planning to turn off all water on April 12. Sarah Wineberg doesn’t remember the last time her kids had a normal bath. They’ve been bathing in a bucket, one after the next, using the same water.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, February 1, 2018

Wounded IDF Soldiers Feted In New York

B’Lev Echad (translated as “with one heart”) was founded by Rabbi Uriel and Shevy Vigler of Chabad Israel Center of the Upper East Side in 2009. Many members of the Chabad Israel Center community served in the IDF, inspiring the rabbi and rebbetzin to honor the wounded veterans for their sacrifice and service.

Frayda Kaplan | News | Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Tu B'Shevat: Where's the Fruit?

But in fact this plant-based holiday takes place in the middle of winter. Considering that the fruits of the trees haven’t yet begun to grow, why celebrate the occasion by eating them?

Rena Greenberg | News | Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Moscow's Jewish Museum Remembers Sobibor

Today in Moscow, Israel’s Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin paid tribute to the Sobibor uprising. At an exhibition hosted at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center titled Sobibor: Victorious over Death, they joined in marking seventy-five years since the historic day.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Monday, January 29, 2018

In Love With My Neighbor . . .

For many college students who visit Chabad on Campus, this sense of pluralism and sensitivity is a draw. But once the Chabad emissary introduces the idea of marrying Jewish, all that talk of acceptance flies out the window. Wouldn’t it be more ethical, even more Jewish, to support intermarriage?

Joshua A. Krisch | News | Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Kosher At NFC Championship

Last night’s NFC Championship in Philadelphia gave Kosher football fans something to chew on. As the Philadelphia Eagles headed off against the Minnesota Vikings in a last game before the Super Bowl.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Monday, January 22, 2018

Vienna's Jewish Renaissance

The revival is arresting. Fritz Bittman, one of few remaining Jews born in the shadows of the Holocaust, offers a rarefied perspective. He considers the arc of change from the post-Holocaust years when young Jews had only negative associations with their Jewish heritage. “Without the work of Chabad in Vienna, a lot of youngsters here would not know what Judaism is. The Lubavitcher Rebbe has released a lot of sparks.”

Baila Olidort | News | Thursday, January 18, 2018

Israel's PM Unveils Memorial at Mumbai Chabad House

The Living Memorial will include the couple’s apartment, where signs of devastation were preserved for posterity. The floor above will showcase exhibits commemorating the entire siege, and all its victims. It will be the only such museum in the country.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, January 18, 2018

Moshe Holtzberg Returns to Mumbai

Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited the preteen to visit Mumbai when he was in Israel this past July. In an emotional meeting in a Tel Aviv hotel, the two embraced warmly. “I love you and your people in India,” Holtzberg told the prime minister, sharing his dream of returning to his birthplace. He vowed to continue what his parents had begun. “I will be the director of our Chabad House,” the adolescent promised.

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, January 16, 2018

When Swiping Left Falls Short

What does the world at large have to learn from Chasidic dating? That is the question Evan Beloff and Oscar-winning producer Frederic Bohbot, two young, secular, Jewish filmmakers from Montreal, set out to answer with their documentary “Kosher Love.” In under forty-five minutes, the audience is introduced to a happily-married couple who met through a matchmaker, a Jewish hip-hop artist looking for a lifetime companion, and Yisroel Bernath, who’s been called “The Love Rabbi” by Montreal Gazette.

Chava Lieba Witkes | News | Monday, January 15, 2018

Pilgrimage to Historic Landmark in Ukraine

The early 90’s brought the fall of communism and the refurbishing of Judaism’s iconic sites in Eastern Ukraine. One of these is the small town and resting place of Chabad’s founder, Rabbi Shneur Zalman, famously known for authoring “Tanya” and the “Code of Jewish Law."

Mendel Levin | News | Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Book Review: Teaching The Teachers

If secular models of education have seen the teacher move from being the sage on the stage to the guide on the side to the peer in the rear, the Jewish model is one in which our teachers remain always present, their words of guidance and encouragement echoing on our ears and steadying our course even years after we have gone off on our own.

Chana Silberstein | News | Tuesday, January 9, 2018

It Takes A (Jewish) Village

In a place where the Chanukah aisle at Target is tiny, like the kosher aisle in the local supermarket, Jewish parenting means being proactive. “Here in Portland, we constantly have to analyze and ask ourselves, ‘If it’s so hard, why am I doing it? Does Judaism really matter to me?’” It’s a question that many Jewish parents ask, and one that has brought three leading Jewish organizations together to help parents explore.

Chava Leiba Witkes | News | Tuesday, January 2, 2018

The Chabad Tanya And The Nigerian Flag

Rabbinical students in Nigeria created a makeshift publishing house earlier this year, transporting paper and printers across six cities in the western African country. Often they flew from city to city. Sometimes a pickup truck was their method of transport.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, January 1, 2018

Everyone’s Birthright

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Critical Thinking Meets Chanukah Fun

STEM is a new-age curriculum designed to engage children in science, technology, engineering and math. This Chanukah, it was integrated in children’s programming at Chabad centers around the world.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Helping Seniors Get Cyber-Savvy

The Cyber-Seniors program began in 2009, when two teenage sisters noticed how much technology had improved their grandparents’ lives, allowing them to keep in closer touch with their children and grandchildren. The sisters developed a training manual and recruited their friends to visit nursing homes, where they taught seniors how to use email, Facebook, and YouTube.

Sarah Ogince | News | Monday, December 18, 2017

Chanukah Lights at the Polish Parliament

Poland’s new Prime Minister was sworn in Tuesday evening, December 12, as Chabad kindled the first light of Chanukah, in the Polish Sejm (Parliament), where the two events were hosted back-to-back.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Home Depot Partners With Chabad For Inclusive Chanukah Experience

You wouldn't think that Home Depot's aisles of plumbing supplies and construction materials would be an attractive Chanukah hang-out for Jewish families. In fact, Jewish comedian Modi quips that Home Depot is Latin for “Jews you have no business shopping in this store."

Frayda Kaplan | News | Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Chabad Mumbai: Remembering, Rebuilding

Nine years ago this week, terrorists stormed the Nariman Chabad House in Mumbai. Members of the Islamic terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba held Chabad representatives Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg and four of their guests hostage, before brutally murdering them. Two-year-old Moshe Holtzberg was saved by his nanny.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Thinking About Giving Thanks

What are you thankful for? At the 6th annual International TGIS Shabbaton, the hundreds of teenagers who participated said they’re thankful for Shabbat. High school students who participated locally in cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Manchester in the UK, united in their regions for a phone-free 25-hours.

Shaindle Fogelman | News | Thursday, November 23, 2017

Chabad To Open in Uganda

30th Annual Conference Ends

Staff Writer | News | Monday, November 20, 2017

Book Review: My Story

My Story: Forty-one individuals share their personal encounters with the Rebbe, Published by Jewish Educational Media

Miri Birk | News | Wednesday, November 15, 2017

From Air Force to Arizona Emissary

If I ever had any doubt that events in my life are divinely ordained, that certainly is a tapestry showing that I am, now, exactly where I'm supposed to be.

Mushkie Engel | News | Thursday, November 9, 2017

Jewish Students' Shabbat in NY

More than 1,200 students from 120 universities from around the world converged on Crown Heights last weekend for the annual Chabad on Campus Pegisha.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, November 9, 2017

Oh, Barcelona!

In a country where religion is often met with skepticism, and where being a tiny minority makes Jewish life “not easy,” this is remarkable, observes Axel Santilo a local businessman who has been involved with Chabad for many years. “We are up against a lot of prejudices.” Anti-Semitism. And ignorance. There are a lot of people who just don’t know. “People are always asking me, ‘What is a Jew? What is kosher?”

Baila Olidort | News | Tuesday, November 7, 2017

IL Governor Rauner Joins Chabad Emissaries in Prayer at Western Wall

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner was joined by Rabbi Avraham Kagan of Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois on a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem Tuesday night.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, November 2, 2017

Wordsmith: Tamim

The tamim is unflappable. He does not sway with the winds of change, nor bend to meet the expectations of others. He is a simple and straightforward person. What you see is what you get.

Shmuel Loebenstein | News | Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Keeping That Daily Appointment with G-d

What these books will do is give you the roadmap to find your own “Mezherich” so that you too can learn how to daven.

Chana Silberstein | News | Thursday, October 26, 2017

Israeli Minorities Find A Platform at Stanford University Chabad

Less than twenty-four hours before it was due to begin, an event scheduled to take place at Stanford University’s Hillel facility earlier this week was abruptly cancelled.

Ruthy Procaccia | News | Friday, October 20, 2017

A Shabbat Dinner for Wine Country Survivors

With California’s wine country reeling from this week’s horrific wildfires—the most destructive of their type in California’s history—Chabad of Sonoma County is rallying the forces to bring comfort and unity to a community ravaged by disaster.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, October 19, 2017

It Happened At The Dinner Table

It’s the only state in the U.S. where support for Israel is as official as its state-issued motor-vehicle license plates. In 2014, when entrenched hostility toward the Jewish state inhibited pro-Israel Americans from speaking out, South Carolina dug its wheels in.

Baila Olidort | News | Tuesday, October 17, 2017

For motorists stuck in traffic, a sukkah mobile sweetens the delay

The site of the illuminated musical mobile Sukkah amidst the standstill brought a smile to frustrated drivers crawling through the traffic.

News | Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Moving Out

To get her sukkah to Inwood Park in Manhattan on Sunday, artist Shaina Denburg detached its walls. But even in pieces, it didn’t fit in her rented U-Haul.

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Kathmandu Emissary Organizes Rescue on Yom Kippur

It was the night of Yom Kippur, and Rabbi Chezky Lifshitz was not in shul.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, October 2, 2017

Puerto Rico Chabad Coordinates Private Relief Planes

With Puerto Rico reeling from Hurricane Maria and island residents struggling to find basic items such as fresh water, food, and fuel, Chabad of Puerto Rico has been arranging shipments of supplies from the US mainland.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, September 28, 2017

Our Kitchen Hand

Brittany Karpin, 21, has autism and is non-verbal, yet feels right at home in this bustling kitchen that serves up 70,000 meals a year to the needy.

Mushkie Engel | News | Thursday, September 28, 2017

Remembering Rebbetzin Chana: Jewish Feminine Role Model

Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson, a feminine role model of Jewish activism and proponent of Jewish scholarship, mother of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and wife of Rabbi Levi Yitzchok, is being remembered today, on her yahrzeit.

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Tuesday, September 26, 2017

A First for Sukkot in Shanghai

Rabbi Shalom Greenberg has celebrated Sukkot in Shanghai every year since 1998, but this year’s the first that he’s been able to legally import the traditional arbaah minim—four species—into Mainland China.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, September 25, 2017

Puerto Rico Chabad Rabbi Appeals For Help

It was the morning of Rosh Hashana, and the folks over at Chabad of Puerto Rico were preparing for the holiday as a category four hurricane moved in fast and furious.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, September 25, 2017

Dinner Raises Money for Free Meals in South Florida

How to raise money for dinner? Why, host a dinner, of course.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, September 19, 2017

A Mikvah in the Dominican Republic—Seventy Years Later

The newly-inaugurated mikvah in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic looks like any other Jewish ritual bath. Bricks of Jerusalem stone line the walls, the water is blue and clear, and the decor features light pastels.

Mushkie Engel | News | Tuesday, September 19, 2017

In Irma Aftermath, Campus Chabad Stays Put and Open

"A disaster like Hurricane Irma can be frightening, but it also brings people together and highlights the wonderful community on campus."

Staff Writer | News | Monday, September 18, 2017

Finding Their Place: Israelis in America

It was the winter of 2011, and Rabbi Shmulik Gurary was driving up and down the streets of suburban Baltimore looking for a sign.

Rena Udkoff | News | Wednesday, September 13, 2017

St. Thomas: Preparing for Rosh Hashana Amid Irma Recovery

It’s been nearly a week since Hurricane Irma smashed through St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands on September 6, and Chabad Rabbi Asher Federman is making the rounds, surveying the damage as he speaks by phone.

Esther Gopin | News | Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Battered by Irma, Chabad of Florida Organizes Relief Efforts

It was Friday morning as Floridians were bracing for Hurricane Irma, when Rabbi Mendy Dubrowski, director of Tampa’s Chabad Young Professionals chapter, received a call from his colleague.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, September 11, 2017

Chabad of Bakersfield Cuts the Ribbon

After fifteen years of fostering Jewish life in sunny California, Rabbi Shmuly Schlanger and his wife Esther have finally opened the doors to the permanent home of Chabad of Bakersfield.

Nehama Silvers | News | Monday, September 11, 2017

Repost: Chabad Marks Birthdate of Movement's Founder

On 18 Elul, Jewish communities the world over will mark the anniversary of the birthdate Rabbi Schneur Zalman on Liadi...

Staff Writer | News | Friday, September 8, 2017

CTeen Takes On Summer 2017

With four travel programs and a new initiative assisting chapters in facilitating local road trips, CTeen has used the summer months to reach and engage with over 200 teens by providing them with immersive overnight experiences.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, September 7, 2017

Illinois CTeen Organizes Houston Food Drive

Teens around Northbrook, IL geared up last week to help those in need in Texas with food drives, fundraisers, and bake sales.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Colorado Governor Vows Zero Tolerance for Anti-Semitism

After a recent rash of anti-Semitic attacks in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper showed his support for the Jewish community with a visit to Chabad of Colorado Springs.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Jewish Cemetery Vandalized in Ukraine

A few days before UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pronounced anti-Semitism “alive and well,” the Jewish cemetery of Svalyava, Ukraine, was vandalized.

Chava Leiba Witkes | News | Monday, September 4, 2017

Emerging From the Flood Waters: True Kindness

Chava Leiba Sneiderman | News | Sunday, September 3, 2017

Holy Cow!

Until last July, Downtown Brooklyn, the third largest business district in New York and home to five local universities with many Jewish students, did not have any local kosher eateries.

Nehama Silvers | News | Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Small Town, Big Dreams

In a small corner of southwestern New Jersey lies little known Gloucester County. In 2007, with a Jewish population of about 1,000, the sleepy town was not the most promising destination for a rabbi looking to build.

Chava Leiba Witkes | News | Wednesday, August 23, 2017

The Great American Jewclipse

“The world will be getting dark for two minutes. It’s a great opportunity for us mortals to add light to this universe.”

Mushkie Engel | News | Friday, August 18, 2017

The Kitchen Table and Other Sacred Spaces

As I spoke to the people who collaborated with their Chabad representatives on this project, I understood: they are not visitors and this was not a dispensary. Chabad, it was clear, had become their home.

Baila Olidort | News | Friday, August 18, 2017

Jewish Community of Curitiba, Brazil, Honors IDF Soldiers

Nearly 400 members of the Jewish community of Curitiba, Paraná, in South Brazil packed a lavish hall last Monday evening to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the victory of the Six Day War and the launching of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s tefillin campaign.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Teens and Seniors Link Hearts

At a time when most middle-schoolers and teenagers are preoccupied with their Snapchat stories or the latest Adidas shoe, Shelly Klein finds it a refreshing shift to see her son “slow down” and be committed to bringing joy to the elderly and the community at large.

Chava Leiba Witkes | News | Monday, August 14, 2017

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson

The 20th of Av marks the 734d year since the passing of the Rebbe's father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson.

Staff Writer | News | Friday, August 11, 2017

Remembering Summer 1956

Sixty one years ago this summer, Friday morning, July 13,1956, concluding the two weeks in Europe, we flew from Rome to the Holy Land.

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Thursday, August 10, 2017

Torah Receives Royal Welcome in Queensland, AUS

Two hundred people danced through Kewarra Beach’s streets Sunday accompanied by a live band, a passel of photographers, and a ritual canopy. The center of all that attention? A brand new Torah scroll.

E. Gopin | News | Thursday, August 10, 2017

Chabad Unveils New Tech Innovation Lab on Campus

In their latest move, Illini Chabad has unveiled a purpose-built innovation and study co-working space.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, August 7, 2017

Tisha B'Av: Remembering for a Better Future

The idea of remembering, and the traditions that facilitate remembering are everywhere embedded in Jewish life, enabling us to bridge the wide gap between past and present, not for the sake of keeping us tethered to the past, but so that we will have a future to look forward to as Jews.

Baila Olidort | News | Monday, July 31, 2017

“Talmud Day” Commemorates Years of Learning in Sacramento

Five years ago, Rick Brodovsky, a Sacramento, California native, was at a crossroads. Confronted with difficult decisions and an unclear future, Brodovsky turned to his local Chabad rabbi for advice.

Nehama Silvers | News | Friday, July 28, 2017

Kosher Comes to Jamaica—in the Form of Jerk Falafel

With the opening of the Kosher Hot Spot & Welcome Center in Montego Bay, Chabad of Jamaica is fusing two different food styles into an incredible Israeli-Jamaican culinary experience.

Esther Gopin | News | Thursday, July 27, 2017

History in the Making: A Jewish Revival Sweeps Yiddish-Speaking Birobidzhan

A mikvah under construction in Birobidzhan? Yes, and it will be the first for the Jews of the Jewish Autonomous Region in Russia’s Far East, where Chabad is leading a revival.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, July 24, 2017

Meet Randy Kersh

Meet Randy Kersh. A 22-year old student at the University of North Florida, Randy dreams of becoming a Reform rabbi. He was prom king at his high school in Cooper City, and he’s the co-president of his campus Chabad student group, the Jewish Ospreys. Randy also has Down syndrome.

Mushkie Engel | News | Monday, July 24, 2017

A Bar Mitzvah in Laos

Nestled between Thailand and Vietnam, Laos presents a daunting challenge to new Chabad reps Rabbi Shalom and Tammy Glitzenstein.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, July 13, 2017

Breaking Bread in Buenos Aires—With 1,499 Friends

Students and young Jewish professionals celebrated Shabbat dinner at the La Rural convention center. They talked and sang and bonded over a three-course catered dinner that lasted until the wee hours of the morning.

Esther Gopin | News | Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Chabad Teams Up with AEPi in Vienna for Mass Fraternity Bar Mitzvah

Earlier this month, five university students from the Lauder Business School in Vienna were joined by their families from Switzerland, Germany, Hungary and Ukraine as they celebrated their bar mitzvahs.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Today in Chabad History: 12-13 Tammuz

The twelfth of Tammuz (this year: July 6) is the birthday of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of blessed memory. It is also the day when the Rabbi received a notice of freedom from his exile in Kastroma, Russia.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Survivor Moshe Holtzberg Pledges to Return to Mumbai

“I want to ask you something from all my heart… please continue to remember my parents.”

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Knesset Speaker Visits Site of Former Incarceration

Israeli Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein recently paid a visit to a place where he was once kept captive: the infamous Butyrka prison in Moscow, the site of his three-months-long incarceration in 1984.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, July 4, 2017

A First for Forsyth

Most synagogues don’t hold press conferences to announce the purchase of a permanent location, and most synagogue press conferences aren’t attended by the mayor, the chief of police, three county commissioners, state and local representatives, and members of the Chamber of Commerce.

Mushkie Engel | News | Monday, July 3, 2017

Chabad Keeps Up at Kent State University

Rabbi Moshe and Mussie Sasonkin, who opened a campus Chabad center in May, recognize the opportunity that presents for interfacing with students individually.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, June 26, 2017

The Rebbe's Yahrtzeit

The life of a tzaddik is not a life of the flesh, but a spiritual life consisting wholly of faith, awe, and love of G‑d. - Tanya

Staff Writer | News | Monday, June 26, 2017

Jewish Youth Center Opens in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia

A new children’s educational center opened its doors in FJC’s Jewish community of Krasnoyarsk, Southern Siberia this week.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, June 22, 2017

Small-Town Jewish Communities Get a Holiday Boost

While many American Jews spent the days leading up to Shavuot baking cheesecakes, 110 Chabad rabbis were busy boarding planes and busses to different remote locations across North America.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Lubavitch International Wins Rockower Award

Lubavitch International won two awards in AJPA (American Jewish Press Association) Simon Rockower Awards Competition for Excellence in Jewish Journalism.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, June 19, 2017

Jewish Life Blooms in Boquete, Panama

Boquete, Panama is a small town in the Chiriqui province in Panama’s interior, little more than thirty miles away from the Costa Rican border.

Nehama Silvers | News | Monday, June 19, 2017

Locals Work Together to Build Merrick’s First Mikvah

It seemed an unlikely prospect that the women of the small suburban community of Merrick-Bellmore-Wantagh in Long Island would one day have their own mikvah.

Esther Gopin | News | Monday, June 19, 2017

“Mi Ani? Modeh Ani!”

A clever advertising campaign in Tel Aviv has put oomph and dazzle into a traditional Jewish ritual. Slick video clips appearing on Chabad of Tel Aviv’s “Modeh Ani” social media pages feature singers and actors celebrating the morning ritual of giving thanks.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Small-City Chabad Emissaries Convene in Catalonia

A picturesque city in northeastern Catalonia famous for its medieval architecture and the old Jewish Quarter, Girona was host to the first-ever European and Central African Regional Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries earlier this week.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Stained Glass Windows Shine Light on Mitzvah Campaign

It was a hot August morning in Mequon, Wisconsin, when Rabbi Dovid Rapoport completed the Shacharit services and gently closed his siddur. “I don’t mind leading services,” the senior Chabad emissary joked, shielding his eyes against the sunlight streaming into the synagogue, “but some stained glass windows would sure be nice.”

Esther Gopin | News | Friday, June 9, 2017

At Wesleyan University, Jewish Life Sees Progress

In 2014, the Connecticut Jewish Ledger listed Rabbi Levi and Chanie Schectman on their annual “Movers and Shakers” list. For those who knew them, this didn’t come as a surprise; since the couple had opened Chabad at Wesleyan in 2011, they had had an increasing impact on Jewish students at Wesleyan University

Nehama Silvers | News | Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Wordsmith: Chayut

Chayut in this sense means a combination of verve, liveliness, spirit, enthusiasm, vigor. Pour all those words into a pot, stir on high until you get chayut, a useful new addition to your vocabulary that is ready to be used immediately in everyday conversation with your local Chasid.

Shmuel Loebenstein | News | Monday, June 5, 2017

The Shluchim Office Relaunches International Tefillin Bank

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the tefillin campaign, the Shluchim Office will reopen the International Tefillin Bank.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, May 29, 2017

Estonian Jewry Celebrates 10 Years of First Jewish Center Since WWII

Last Thursday marked the 10th anniversary of the Jewish Community Center in Tallinn, Estonia, celebrating ten years of the first Jewish establishment built in the country since the Holocaust and a decade since Estonia became the last European country to finally get its own synagogue.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, May 29, 2017

Crown Heights Street to Be Named After Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, May 24, 2017

1967 News Piece: Half Million Jews Observe Tefillin at Western Wall

In honor of Yom Yerushalayim and 50 years since the reunification of Israel, we present this article, which was originally published by Lubavitch News Service in 1967, discussing the success of the Tefillin campaign since its inception days before the war began.

FLASHBACK! | News | Wednesday, May 24, 2017

A New Home for Calgary’s Jews

It was a cloudy day in May when Chabad of Calgary hosted 700 guests to celebrate the grand opening event of their new center.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Tefillin: The Pulse of Israel

As head of the Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency, Yossi Cohen’s routine is anything but humdrum. Beginning his day at the crack of dawn, the recently appointed director is responsible for counterterrorism and the security of the Jewish state.

Rena Udkoff | News | Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Nine Million Dollar Building is First of its Kind in the World

The Jewish Youth Network offers programming and classes for Toronto’s younger set. Students can earn high school credits through after-school Torah classes, volunteer at a variety of teen-directed initiatives, participate in trips and retreats, and hang out in a fun and safe environment.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, May 18, 2017

Of Boy Scouts, Rabbis, and Mikvehs

To become an eagle scout, Rochester boy scout Benjy Spanjer was required to undertake, lead, and manage a project that would benefit a school, religious institution, or community. His choice? Help renovate a local mikveh.

Nehama Silvers | News | Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Today in Jewish History: Kfar Chabad Established

The village of Kfar Chabad was established 68 years ago today.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, May 17, 2017

New Kids on the Block

As far as neighborhoods go, South of Market does not have the best reputation. The half-square-mile area is patchwork of abandoned warehouses and organic juice bars, where the homeless share sidewalks with robotics engineers fresh out of Stanford.

Chava Lieba Witkes | News | Thursday, May 11, 2017

Re: In Conversation With Géza Röhrig, Lead Actor of Son of Saul

Re: In Conversation With Géza Röhrig, Lead Actor of Son of Saul

News | Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Re: Woman’s Strength

Re: Woman’s Strength

News | Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Re: Made in the Image of G-d: The Jewish Way in Death and Burial

Re: Made in the Image of G-d: The Jewish Way in Death and Burial

News | Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Re: Jewish Federations and Chabad Find a New Way Forward

Re: Jewish Federations and Chabad Find a New Way Forward

News | Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Los Alamitos HS Students Pick Up Shawarma, Hebrew, and Foreign Language Credits at Chabad

There are very few things that can stop teens from sleeping in on Sundays, but Los Alamitos Hebrew High has them jumping out of bed.

Dora Lieberman | News | Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Low Tech Cool Brings Hi-Impact Change To South Africa

Everyone, no matter their financial capacity, has something to offer another and these little arks could be quickly and painlessly filled before being gifted to someone less fortunate.

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, May 9, 2017

For Jewish Students at ASU, It’s Time to Play Ball

Chabad’s new student recreation center gives Jewish ASU students a place to hang out and have fun

Nehama Silvers | News | Monday, May 8, 2017

Florida Chabad Wins Grand Prize in “Give Day” Contest

Chabad of Clearwater, Florida, took home first place in a local contest this week, coming ahead of nearly 600 other nonprofits in the greater Tampa Bay area in a bid to win grand prize.

Staff Writer | News | Friday, May 5, 2017

As French Jews Arrive In Israel, Chabad Reaches Out

French students and residents in the port area now have a Chabad center of their own

Esther Gopin | News | Wednesday, May 3, 2017

What’s Your Hunger?

A members-only operation like Costco, The Family Store sells subsidized groceries and home goods to over 500 Jewish families. In a city where a bottle of kosher milk costs five dollars, even working individuals in Montreal struggle to put food on the table.

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Survivors of Terror: Israel's Double Orphans Grow Up

In Israel, doubly orphaned survivors of terror and their grandparents pick up the pieces.

Rena Udkoff | News | Thursday, April 27, 2017

Pie (No Longer) in the Sky

Thirty-five minutes is all it takes to cook one of the new, highly-anticipated kosher Gino’s East pizzas. But for Rabbi Yosef Moscowitz, the man responsible for bringing Chicago’s world-famous pie into kosher homes, it took closer to five years.

Scott Hirsch | News | Thursday, April 27, 2017

Moses, Mirrors and the Trauma of Birth

There is something starkly disconcerting—almost sacrilegious—about taking a “biographical approach” to the life of Moses.

Chana Silberstein | News | Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Jewish Federations & Chabad Find A New Way Forward

Toledo Chabad and the Federation broke the mold. Together, they formed an effective partnership that has since served Toledo’s Jewish community, making it a model of cooperation.

Rena Udkoff | News | Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Chabad of Berlin Publishes German Prayerbook, Marks Holocaust Remembrance Day

A new German-language Orthodox siddur makes the Jewish prayer book accessible to modern German speakers.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, April 24, 2017

My Heart Is In Samara...

Dina Deutch served as an emissary in Samara, Russia, since 1997. With 5,000 Jewish residences on their mailing list, Dina and her husband built an impressive coterie of educational programming, social services and religious outlets in Russia’s sixth largest city.

Dvora Lakein | News | Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Rabbi Mendel Deitsch, 64, OBM

We mourn the passing of Chabad emissary Rabbi Menachem Mendel Deitsch, who passed away Saturday in Jerusalem after sustaining severe injuries in an anti-semitic attack last October.

Staff Writer | News | Sunday, April 16, 2017

Russia: Thousands Attend More Than 500 Public Seders Across the Country

Over 500 public Seders were attended by thousands of Jews in Russia this year.

Staff Writer | News | Friday, April 14, 2017

Illinois Declares Education and Sharing Day, Welcomes Passover with Gov. Rauner

In what has by now become a tradition, Governor signed a proclamation declaring 11 Nissan as "Education and Sharing Day.”

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, April 13, 2017

Thousands of Berlin Jews Receive Assistance for Pesach

This year, over 1,000 welfare-supported Jewish families in Berlin received generous food baskets in honor of the holiday of Passover.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, April 13, 2017

A Passover Message for Today

Let us come together at the Seder table, and celebrate the dignity, the humanity, the goodness and the G-dliness that unite us.

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Friday, April 7, 2017

From Cemeteries to Celebration: Jewish Students Spend Spring Break in Berlin

While their classmates were spending spring break in warmer climates, 18 Jewish students from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign traveled to Berlin for a week long Alternative Spring Break.

Lazer Cohen | News | Friday, April 7, 2017

Book Review: Early Years

“What was the Rebbe’s childhood like? Who were his contemporaries? What kind of schooling did he receive? Who were his mentors and teachers? What role did he play in the efforts to preserve Judaism under Soviet oppression?

Chana Silberstein | News | Thursday, April 6, 2017

Zaidy’s Passover Seder

Few holidays compete with Passover’s child-centered rituals. The seder packs customs and narratives enough to animate a child’s imagination all year round.

Baila Olidort | News | Wednesday, April 5, 2017

New Nursing Center, First of its Kind, Opens in Moscow

It was a small but impressive ceremony last week marking the opening of the Shaarei Tzedek Jewish Chesed Center which provides professional nursing care to about 2,000 elderly Jews, free of charge.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Chasidic And Unconventional

Chavie Bruk moved to Bozeman, Montana with her husband Chaim in 2007. Their community has grown steadily since and so has their family, but not in the most conventional of ways.

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, April 4, 2017

“We Need Your Prayers”

In September 2014, Lubavitch International ran a three-part series on the cities affected by the war. Three years later, we asked Rabbi Vishedski to update our readers.

Baila Olidort | News | Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Baking Bread in Brooklyn

An educational matzah experience attracts over 2,000 visitors a season—including the occasional senator.

Chava Lieba Witkes | News | Monday, April 3, 2017

Reshaping the Jewish Landscape in Northern Arizona

A groundbreaking ceremony this past Sunday, March 26, for the Molly Blank Jewish Community Center, now marks a new era for Flagstaff's Jewish community.

Esther Gopin | News | Friday, March 31, 2017

Park Slope Redux

Sarah Hecht is the founder of Chai Tots, an award-winning group of preschools in Brooklyn. As the mother of 13, the 51-year-old is a dynamo: 10 months of the year she directs her popular schools, while the summer finds her in the Catskills running a sleepaway camp for 300 teenagers.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, March 30, 2017

Woman of the Amazon

Dvora Raichman is no newbie to the Amazon. The 29-year-old grew up in the region’s largest city, Belem, Brazil, and now serves as an emissary to remote Manaus, in the middle of the jungle.

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Shabbat 1000 Unites Pennsylvania Universities

One thousand students, faculty, administrators, and alumni from ten Pittsburgh-area universities celebrated Shabbat at Carnegie Mellon’s Wiegand Gymnasium on the weekend of March 24.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, March 27, 2017

Book Review: Who Are You Calling Selfish?

Something powerful happens when we recognize that raising children is something greater than the vehicle to our personal fulfillment and happiness: it is a sacred responsibility.

Miri Birk | News | Monday, March 27, 2017

Purpose in Pudong

When Nechamie Greenberg and her husband Avraham moved to Pudong, China, in 2006, the section of Shanghai was only 20 years old.

News | Thursday, March 23, 2017

Virginia Tech Fights Back

It was another ordinary Saturday afternoon when Chabad Rabbi Zvi Yaakov Zwiebel stepped out of the Chabad Librescu Jewish Student Center, located just across the street from Virginia Tech University, to find the lawn littered with over a hundred leaflets bearing hand-drawn swastikas.

Esther Gopin | News | Tuesday, March 21, 2017

G-d Doesn’t Work For Me

Highland Park, Illinois, is an affluent suburb north of Chicago where Michla Schanowitz and her husband Rabbi Yossi serve as directors of North Suburban Lubavitch Chabad.

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Made In The Image of G-d

With the number of cremations now surpassing the number of burials in the United States, many rabbis have been moved to take a proactive approach and educate their communities about Judaism’s view on death, burial and the afterlife.

Rena Udkoff | News | Monday, March 20, 2017

The Great Jewish Food Debate Comes to U. Penn

For the past 71 years, philosophers, noted academics and Nobel laureates have come to argue whether the Hamantash, the pastry traditionally eaten on Purim, is greater than the Latke, the potato pancake eaten on Chanukah.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, March 16, 2017

Holiday Highlights: Festive Purim Celebrations Brighten up Moscow’s Winter

Thousands of people took part in more than a hundred different events that were held in Moscow over Purim this year.

Shie Deitsch | News | Thursday, March 16, 2017

Mikveh Renaissance

For a growing number of women in the digital age of 2017, the ancient ritual of mikveh immersion is becoming the spiritual restorative of their choice.

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, March 13, 2017

Purim Joy To Permeate Tel Aviv

With fifty designated "party points" located around the city, Purim in Tel Aviv is set to be an awesome experience.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, March 9, 2017

Unfurling The Scroll

Purim celebrates a familiar plot: A nation threatened with destruction is saved at the eleventh hour when its enemy’s plans are miraculously thwarted.

News | Thursday, March 9, 2017

Opposition Leader Bougie Herzog Visits Jewish Institutions in Moscow

Israeli Opposition Leader and head of the Zionist Union Mr. Isaac (Bougie) Herzog was invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Parliament to visit Moscow this week.

Shie Deitsch | News | Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Chabad at University of Illinois Opens Hospitality House

Students and parents at the University of Illinois Urabana-Champaign now have a place to unwind and spend a quiet night.

E. Gopin | News | Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Flashback: Lubavitcher Rebbe Arrives in the United States

It was a typically brisk windswept March morning, that Tuesday back in 1940, which saw a crowd of several thousand at New York's pier 97, gathered there to witness what was to be one of the finest hours in Judeo-American history.

Lubavitch News Service-1965 | News | Tuesday, March 7, 2017

New Mikveh Opens in Abuja, Nigeria

Jewish Women in Nigeria finally have a mikveh of their own. The new addition to Abuja—a clean and modern oasis in the literal and figurative Nigerian desert—brings an ancient practice to Jewish women in West Africa.

Staff Writer | News | Friday, March 3, 2017

Wordsmith: Iskafya

Iskafya is the mind showing the body who his boss. “So, mister,” says the mind. “You want to indulge in that indulgence? Do you? No. Not today.”

Shmuel Loebenstein | News | Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Conversations With The Conductor

For everyone who regularly recites Tehillim (or is ready to start), this is a book that will considerably deepen—even transform—the experience.

Chana Silberstein | News | Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Bibi Netanyahu Meets with Sydney Jewish Community and Australian PM

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and his wife Sara visited Sydney’s Central Synagogue Wednesday as part of an official diplomatic trip to Australia.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Life Sketches: Tefillin in the Eldridge St. Shul

This past summer, my wife and I and our 12-year-old daughter spent a few days in New York for her bat mitzvah. We love Jewish history so we visited the historic Eldridge Street Synagogue on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Rabbi Yossie Denburg | News | Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Chabad at Wash. U Hosts Landfill-Free Shabbat Dinner

Chabad at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, held their first landfill-free Friday night dinner this past January, where everything not eaten was either composted, reused, or recycled.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, February 20, 2017

Chabad Opens in Mar del Plata, Argentina

It was just over a month ago, on the fifth of Tevet, that Rabbi Zalmi and Patsonia Lipinski relocated to Mar del Plata to open the 37th branch of Chabad in Argentina.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, February 16, 2017

Pursuing the Path of Peace

Empowered by the Rebbe’s vision, inspired by the Rebbetzin’s devotion and guided by the Torah, the ways of Chabad shluchos, together with their husbands, are clearly “ways of pleasantness, and all their paths are in peace.”

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Thursday, February 16, 2017

Woman’s Strength

Shluchot from all corners of the world gathered to draw inspiration and knowledge from an extended weekend jam-packed with workshops and events at the International Conference of Shluchot. 3,500 women from 90 countries celebrated at the event’s banquet dinner, which took place Sunday, February 20.

Baila Olidort | News | Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Life Sketches: 32 Year Later

During the holiday of Sukkot, our son, today the Chabad representative at the University of Madison, received a random $500 donation from someone in Colorado.

Faygie Matusof | News | Monday, February 13, 2017

Re: From Heartbreak to Hope: Chabad Takes Children Off the Streets

Lubavitch International's readers respond

News | Thursday, February 9, 2017

Chabad at Stockton University Purchases New Center

When Rabbi Meir and Shaina Rapoport and their son Mendel moved to Galloway Township, N.J., in September of 2016 to serve the Jewish student body at Stockton University, they knew that they’d need a bigger space—and fast.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, February 9, 2017

Re: Tell Them It’s Never Too Late

Lubavitch International's readers respond

News | Wednesday, February 8, 2017

If You Build It, You Will Come

Chabad of Columbia gets a new home, by the people for the people

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, February 6, 2017

Today in Jewish History: Yud (10) Shvat

Yud Shvat is one of the most important events in the Chabad-Lubavitch calendar.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, February 6, 2017

Chabad to Open on the Greek Island of Rhodes

Well over 150,000 Israeli tourists visited the Greek island of Rhodes in 2016. For many, the first question asked when they arrived was, “Where is the local Beit Chabad?”

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, February 2, 2017

Chabad Emissary Opens Illinois’ Annual “State of the State” Address

Rabbi Avraham Kagan, director of government affairs for Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois and Rabbi of Chabad of River North, delivered the invocation at the joint session of the Illinois House of Representative and Senate in Springfield, Illinois.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Jewish Federation of Chapel Hill Recognizes Chabad Representative

Rabbi Zalman and Yehudis Bluming receive the Earl and Gladys Siegel Award

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Chabad Representative Curates a Unique Judaica Collection

Staff Writer | News | Sunday, January 22, 2017

Moving Forward

“Pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the awe of it, men would swallow one another alive.” (Ethics of the Fathers, Chapter 3)

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Friday, January 20, 2017

Life Sketches: The Empty Seat

A gentleman comes over and asks if he could sit down in the empty seat next to mine. It is the only available seat left in the whole place. I introduce myself. “I know who you are,” he says. “You’re the chief rabbi here.”

Yosef Yitzchak Wolff | News | Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Portland, Oregon: School's Closed, But Chabad Preschool Takes Shabbat Party Online

In a unique and creative effort to compensate for all the fun children are missing at school, The Gan - Portland Jewish Preschool is taking its weekly Shabbat party online.

Staff Writer | News | Friday, January 13, 2017

Life Sketches: Tevye in the 99-Cent Store

I walked into the 99-cent store on Poway Rd. and noticed a man smiling at me so I gave him a big “Hello!”

Mendy Rubenfeld | News | Thursday, January 12, 2017

Israeli President Ruvi Rivlin Visits Tbilisi’s Great Synagogue

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Chabad of Vail Overturns 1970s Amendment, Establishes Religious Center

Chabad Jewish Center has just purchased a building to be used as its permanent home, overturning a longstanding amendment in the process.

E. Gopin | News | Monday, January 9, 2017

Yeshiva Offers Progressive Masters In Chaplaincy

Chaplaincy opens up a world beyond the rabbinate, for women and others who want to be involved in pastoral care.

Dvora Lakein | News | Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Australian Prime Minister Visits Central Synagogue in Sydney

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy joined the pre-Shabbat menorah lighting ceremony at the Central Synagogue of Sydney this past Friday.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, January 2, 2017

Life Sketches: The Pushka in My Hand

Mark,* the father of a six-year-old girl, recently lost his wife. I listened silently to his heartbreaking story. Was there anything I could do for my newfound friend? Anything I can say that would bring him comfort?

Shmuly Hecht | News | Monday, January 2, 2017

In Conversation With Géza Röhrig, Lead Actor of Son of Saul

Son of Saul actor Geza Rohrig talks with Lubavitch International about his role in the film, his poetry, and his journey to Chabad.

Baila Olidort | News | Thursday, December 29, 2016

Overview: Chanukah 5777 in Moscow, Russia

For Russia’s Jews, the Chanukah holiday, its lights and message of religious freedom and the triumph of good over evil has particular resonance. Here are some holiday highlights.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Hebrew Academy Attempts Guinness World Record for Biggest Latka

Bring on the puns: Huntington Beach community members, along with students and faculty of Hebrew Academy, took the adage “go big or go home” very seriously on Friday as they attempted to fry and flip the world's first 7-foot traditional Chanukah latka.

E. Gopin | News | Tuesday, December 27, 2016

New Center for Jewish Life Dedicated in Stamford, CT

Situated on a prime two acres of land along one of Stamford’s busiest thoroughfares, the 20,000-square-foot center provides much-needed space for Chabad’s many activities.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, December 26, 2016

Who Is The Teacher In That Photo?

When you look at photographs of Jewish life in Europe before the Holocaust, do you wonder who the people in this picture were. Did they survive the Holocaust? What were their names? And who are their children? Where are they now?

Leah Namdar | News | Monday, December 26, 2016

Book Review: For the Love of Truth

Peace and Truth. The two qualities are often at odds. It is easy to maintain the peace if we are willing to bend the truth, and easy to tell the truth if we don’t need to worry about who will be hurt by it.

Chana Silberstein | News | Thursday, December 22, 2016

Berlin Jewish Community to Step Up Chanukah Activities Following Attack

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Chabad of Aventura Breaks Ground on New Facility

Aventura Chabad’s new facility showcases incredible growth from trailer to multimillion-dollar center

Staff Writer | News | Monday, December 19, 2016

Prime Minister and Sarah Netanyahu Visit Great Synagogue in Astana, Kazhakstan

Bibi Netanyahu shares words from the Rebbe at Kazhakstan Great Synagogue

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, December 15, 2016

Illinois Governor Takes Dreidel for a Spin

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner Gets a Gimmel

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Prime Minister Netanyahu Visits Chabad School in Baku, Azerbaijan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah met with children at the Azerbaijan Ohr Avner Chabad Jewish Day School today, where they spoke with the students the miracle of Chanukah.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Stapleton Community Unites Across Faiths To Combat Anti-Semitism

After encountering anti-Semitism in their community, Jews and non-Jews unite to show support in Stapleton

Esther Gopin | News | Tuesday, December 13, 2016

New Shluchim to Spring Hill, Florida

Rabbi Chaim and Seema Lipszyc will be moving to Spring Hill, Hernando County shortly after Chanukah to provide Jewish resources to the 3000 Jews living in Hernando County and nearby Citrus County.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, December 12, 2016

From Heartbreak to Hope

More than 700,000 children live in state-run institutions in Russia and Ukraine. Many go to bed hungry, never see the inside of a classroom and endure abuse, neglect, and deprivation. Approximately 8,000 Jewish children are orphaned and homeless throughout the former Soviet Union.

Rena Udkoff | News | Thursday, December 8, 2016

Wordsmith: Derher

The phrase “I hear you” is the linguistic equivalent of a homeless orphan with no siblings. It makes sense in English on a very practical level, but it is a phrase whose richness can only be fully realized in light of its Yiddish origins and philosophical significance.

Shmuel Loebenstein | News | Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Life Sketches: The Convert at Kol Nidre

It was 1991, our first year in Solon, and a week before our model Passover Seder when a woman in a local supermarket approached me.

Zushe Greenberg | News | Monday, December 5, 2016

Editorial: Face Value

Some years ago while working on a story about a Chabad representative who led a dramatic Jewish revival in a South American country, I interviewed a local donor, an older European businessman with a thick Yiddish accent.

Baila Olidort | News | Thursday, December 1, 2016

Chabad at Johns Hopkins Hosts 13th Annual Dinner

“Chabad’s acronym for Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge and its central philosophy and goals are remarkably similar to the mission of The Johns Hopkins Hospital.”

Baila Olidort | News | Thursday, December 1, 2016

Re: Face Value: Being Jewish at Home and on the Street

Lubavitch International's readers respond

News | Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Chabad To Open in South Dakota

B. Davids | News | Sunday, November 27, 2016

Holocaust Survivor Celebrates Bar Mitzvah at Age 88

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Rabbi Eliemelech Zwiebel, Spiritual Mentor to Many, 75

Rabbi Eliemelech Zwiebel, the spiritual mentor at the Rabbinical College of America, passed away suddenly yesterday at age 75.

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Monday, November 21, 2016

Souls-on-the-Don: A Photographic Journey

Souls on the Don, not unlike Humans of New York which provides a glimpse into the lives of strangers, open a lens onto the lives of others living far away, and thus revives a nearly forgotten chapter of Jewish history.

Rena Udkoff | News | Sunday, November 20, 2016

Nazi's Daughter Visits Grave of Father's Victims

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, November 15, 2016

New Jewish Learning Center Opens in Louisville, Kentucky

The Louisville Slugger, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Fort Knox, the Kentucky Derby, and even Muhammad Ali all have their roots in Kentucky’s largest city. Now, Louisville can boast of its latest addition: Chabad’s new Jewish Learning Center.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, November 14, 2016

“Tell Them It’s Never Too Late”

A world traveler, a long-time talk radio host, a man of remarkable knowledge and great musical talent, David O'Malley finally learned what it was that he was looking for in the last weeks of his life.

Baila Olidort | News | Thursday, November 10, 2016

Lehigh University Students Celebrate New Chabad Center

On Sunday, October 30, 2016, Jewish students at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania were celebrating—and it wasn’t because of Halloweekend.

Esther Gopin | News | Monday, November 7, 2016

Bethlehem Chabad Purchases Historic Adams House for New Center

Adams House, a local landmark located in Bethlehem, NY, has had a long and varied history. First built in 1838 by Nathaniel Adams, the founder of Bethlehem’s Delmar hamlet, the Greek Revival has been home to the town hall, volunteer fire department, post office, and most recently, NYSARC. This October, after nearly a year of vacancy, Adams House’s newest inhabitants moved in. The latest in a long string of prestigious institutions, Bethlehem Chabad now calls Adams House their home.

Esther Gopin | News | Friday, October 28, 2016

It’s A Lemon. It’s An Orange. It’s An Esrog!

Dvora Lakein | News | Sunday, October 16, 2016

Three New Shuls Open in Moscow Neighborhoods

Shie Deitsch | News | Friday, October 14, 2016

Chattanooga Celebrates New Jewish Center

Hundreds of Chattanooga Jewish community members, visiting dignitaries, and other well-wishers celebrated the opening of the newly renovated Chabad Center for Jewish Life in historic Fort Wood.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, October 5, 2016

The Hertog Study: Tracking Jewish Continuity Through Chabad on Campus

A new third-party study on Chabad’s impact on Jewish students at American college campuses challenges Jewish philanthropic organizations to take a closer look at how their charitable giving measures up and where their investments yield the most significant returns.

Baila Olidort | News | Thursday, September 29, 2016

Israel’s President, Shimon Peres, 93

Chabad mourns the passing of Shimon Peres, Israel’s elder statesman and two-term Prime Minister who died early Wednesday morning.

News | Wednesday, September 28, 2016

A Jewish Wedding In Seoul, South Korea

When Rachel and Jeff Czerniak came to the Chabad rabbi in Seoul asking that he officiate their marriage, they made history with the first Jewish wedding in the South Korean capital.

Esther Gopin | News | Friday, September 23, 2016

Puerto Rico Jewish Community Inaugurates New Chabad Center

Some 300 of Puerto Rico’s Jewish community turned out to celebrate the grand opening of the Rohr Chabad Center and new mikveh last week.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Grand Opening of New Chabad Center, Mikveh in Belgrade, Serbia

On his first visit to Belgrade, Rabbi Yehoshua Kaminetsky was stranded. The room he booked was taken, and no area hotel had any availability. With nowhere to go, he spent the night in a hotel lobby, and told himself that he’d never move to Belgrade.

Staff Writer | News | Friday, September 16, 2016

New Synagogue Opens in Moscow’s Domodedovo International Airport

A new synagogue serving Jewish travelers who pass through Russia's busiest airport opened this September.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, September 15, 2016

Chabad at University of Wisconsin Wins Motion To Expand

It was a textbook case of competing values. The need for vibrancy and growth vs the desire to preserve the historic came head to head when Chabad at the University of Wisconsin sought permission to demolish an old house on its property. No one could say how the City of Madison’s planning commission would finally decide the motion.

Baila Olidort | News | Thursday, September 15, 2016

It Takes a Community: Vernon Hills Jewish Residents Renovate New Chabad House

When the Susskinds moved their Chabad House into a new facility, they had to renovate the entire building. Luckily, they didn't have to do it alone.

Esther Gopin | News | Friday, September 9, 2016

First & Only Food Truck on Campus at Vanderbilt University, And It’s Kosher!

Craving Bubby's Brisket? Chabad of Vanderbilt's got you covered. "Aryeh's Kitchen" is the first and only food truck on campus at Vanderbilt University, and it's fully kosher.

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Oslo’s Jews Dance in the Streets, Hoping for Better Days Ahead

Chabad of Oslo, Norway, hosted a historic Torah dedication ceremony as they celebrated the completion of a new Torah scroll with a parade, banquet, and concert.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, September 5, 2016

Kosher Comes to the Amazonian Rainforest

What’s a Chabad rabbi to do if he wants to help Jews in the in the Amazon Rainforest keep kosher? Rabbi Arieh Raichman, Chabad representative to Manaus, Brazil, has been chewing on this conundrum for some time now.

News | Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Chabad Completes New Center in Vancouver Island, Victoria

Chabad of Vancouver Island, Victoria, opened the Verrier Family Chabad Centre for Jewish Life and Learning last Wednesday, August 24th, in a historic ceremony.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, August 29, 2016

A Homecoming: 500 Chabad Rabbis Convene in Russia

500 Chabad representatives from former Soviet countries and Europe convene in Russia once again

Baila Olidort | News | Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Children of Prison Inmates Go Camping

In 2011, Aleph Institute established the Aleph Institute Jonathan Stampler Camp Fund, giving children of incarcerated parents the chance to attend Jewish summer camp by offering generous subsidies and scholarships.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Chabad Opens in Cochise County, Arizona

New Shluchim move to Sierra Vista, Arizona to provide services to local Jews.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, August 22, 2016

Wordsmith: Shtus D’kedusha

As is true of every close-knit cultural group that enjoys a history, traditions and habits particular and peculiar to it, conversations among Chabad Chasidim are typically peppered with terms that have meanings particular and peculiar to it.

Shmuel Loebenstein | News | Thursday, August 18, 2016

August 16, 1940: 770 Purchased

It was on August 16, 1940, that 770 Eastern Parkway was purchased.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Books: APIKOROS OR IGNORAMUS?

Many years ago an apikoros (heretic) moved into a Jewish town, and word of his presence soon spread. The local Rabbi had never met an apikoros before. Intrigued, he came to the apikoros and asked him, "Are you really an apikoros?"

Miri Birk | News | Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Life Sketches: Cheesecake for Bibi

It was a Saturday night in 2012. Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu was sitting shiva after his father’s death and my husband and I felt that as his neighbors—we both live in the Talbiyeh neighborhood—it would be appropriate to send our condolences.

Chana Canterman, | News | Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Life Sketches: A Rabbi and a Priest

So a rabbi and a priest walk into a bar. No, this is not a joke, it’s a true story. But it wasn’t a bar, it was a restaurant. The rabbi was me and the priest was from the Archdiocese in Johannesburg.

Yossy Goldman | News | Tuesday, August 9, 2016

New Mikvah in Siberia Marks Rebirth of the Jewish Community

Omsk’s Jewish community celebrated the opening of a new women’s mikvah last month. Community-funded, the building project garnered the support of more than 1,000 local residents.

Rena Udkoff | News | Monday, August 8, 2016

Have Kosher, Will Travel

Helene Bortz is planning her next family vacation. A mom of four grown boys and the director of a non-profit, Bortz enjoys traveling the world with her physician husband, and likes to visit at least one or two new countries every year.

Rena Udkoff | News | Thursday, August 4, 2016

Adults in Preschool: A Peek Inside Osher’s Classrooms

The school’s parents bequeathed it the name “Osher,” meaning both happiness and wealth, reflecting the joy and enrichment Osher provides.

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, August 1, 2016

Jewish Life Grows at McGill University

After being displaced from their campus Chabad House digs for some three years, hundreds of Jewish students who find a haven at Chabad of McGill University are finally settling back into their newly remodeled Chabad House

Rena Greenberg | News | Thursday, July 28, 2016

On the Prowl: Missionaries in The Holy Land

One day, after arming soldiers with maps, he watched them enter their armored personnel vehicles and drive off on a routine mission. As he watched them on the grainy screen, the two vehicles hit an IED [roadside bomb]. Thirteen comrades, including a dear childhood friend, were murdered.

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, July 25, 2016

We Used To Call It A Mitzvah

The other day I heard someone say Chabad was “a humanitarian Jewish organization.” I cringed. She had just come from an event promoting a “groundswell of transformative social good.” One of the stage props was a larger-than-life photo of the Rebbe.

Baila Olidort | News | Thursday, July 21, 2016

Hungarian Yeshiva Desecrated by Nazis Restored to Jewish Community

Hungarian-born Jewish children may not appreciate the rich background to their summer camp experience. An old synagogue in Mád that has stood empty and dilapidated for over seven decades will, come next week, serve as their camp base.

Rena Udkoff | News | Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Diary: Italy 1956-2016

I was a rabbinical student then, and traveling with me were nine of my fellow students. The Rebbe had sent us on a mission to bring moral support to the Jews of Israel, specifically to those living in Kfar Chabad, near Tel Aviv.

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Monday, July 18, 2016

Terror on the French Riviera: Nice Jewish Community Reels From Attack

The girls saw tens of people killed, including “babies in carriages and elderly,” before they ran to take shelter in a nearby restaurant.

Rena Greenberg | News | Thursday, July 14, 2016

Op-Ed: Healing the Racial Divide

It was only months later, on Feb. 6, 1992, that, as a 5-year-old returning home from elementary school, I was informed of the murder of my mother by a black man in an act of cruel hatred and bitter violence.

By RABBI AVRAHAM LAPINE | News | Monday, July 11, 2016

Elie Wiesel: “Therefore Be Jewish”

The passing this Shabbat, June 2, of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, has been garnering reactions from leaders and laypeople around the world. A prolific author and Nobel Laureate, Wiesel brought the evil of the Holocaust into the public conversation stirring the conscience of society at a time when survivors’ voices were not readily heard.

Baila Olidort | News | Sunday, July 3, 2016

UpStart Awards ZABS Place National Recognition

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, June 20, 2016

West Orange Celebrates Opening of New Chabad Center

The Jewish community of West Orange, NJ participated in the dedication of Chabad’s new center, June 14. The center is located at 401 Pleasant Valley Way in West Orange.

News | Sunday, June 19, 2016

Chabad Rabbi Competes on CHOPPED

It is Leap of Faith, literally and otherwise, the latest episode of the Food Network’s popular cooking competition, Chopped. Rabbinic contestant, Rabbi Hanoch Hecht, Chabad’s representative to Rhinebeck, New York, faced off with three other clerics in the episode airing June 21, 2016.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, June 9, 2016

FJC Kickstarts Exciting New Summer Program

This year, 30 members of EnerJew gathered in Moscow to work on their new project, SummerJew, which will see these same camps staffed with local EnerJew members.

Etti Krinsky | News | Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Changing the Landscape of Jewish Life in the FSU

On Sunday, the Jewish community will celebrate the holiday of Shavuot, marking the Sinai revelation, when the Jews received the Torah 3,328 years ago. Now thousands of Jews, no longer under Communism’s hammer and sickle, can appreciate its meaning at a profoundly advanced level.

Dvora Lakein | News | Friday, June 3, 2016

Philanthropist Mr. David Chase, 86

Philanthropist extraordinaire, Mr. David Chase, a founding member of the Machne Israel Development Fund and Chairman of the Board of the Rabbinical College of America, passed away at the age of 86. .

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Friday, June 3, 2016

Wordsmith: Farbrengen

Faint echoes of German can be heard in Yiddish. Translators and lexicographers struggling to capture the meaning of a Yiddish word can sometimes amplify those sounds until a rich and nuanced definition resonates from the German origins.

Shmuel Lobenstein | News | Thursday, June 2, 2016

Remembering Rivky

Rivky Berman, a young woman who battled serious illness while serving as a Chabad emissary, passed away Monday. Rivky’s pluck and perseverance, her larger-than-life attitude in the face of great challenge, made her an inspiration to many. She was 29.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Tefillin on the Run: Chabad at the Comrades

The Comrades Marathon is to South Africa what the New York City Marathon is to the United States. Only two times as long.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, May 26, 2016

Memorial Museum Opens to Honor Jewish Life in Brazil

Yona Krasilchik arrived in Sao Paulo in 1908 with a small group of landsmen from Bessarabia. By 1912, he had helped build Kehilat Israel, the city’s first synagogue, and soon after, a Jewish hospital, cemetery, and school.

News | Tuesday, May 24, 2016

European Jewish Forum for Women Meets in Prague

When the Nazis invaded Prague in 1939, they seized Judaica collections from around the region. Their goal: to replace the Jewish Quarter’s residents with the “Museum of the Extinct Race.”

Dvora Lakein | News | Friday, May 20, 2016

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD: Male and Female He Created Them

Does the world really need another book about Women and Judaism? Like the “Mommy Wars”—the subject often makes women enemies of one another.

Chana Silberstein | News | Thursday, May 19, 2016

Jewish by Design: Chabad at FIT

They meet weekly in A320, an unassuming club room at the iconic Fashion Institute of Technology. Students of toy design, fashion, and business, they gather each Tuesday to create something ever more eternal.

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Mental Health Awareness Grows on College Campuses

The first crisis the young Chabad rabbi encountered when he arrived at the University of Pennsylvania was a suicide. The victim was the son of a faculty member and Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, the campus’ new Chabad representative...

Dvora Lakein | News | Sunday, May 15, 2016

Former Choir Boy Turns Chabad Campus Rabbi

During a two-week period several years ago, Matthew Devlin felt hopeless. The 18-year-old came to rest his head one night on a table in a Manhattan Starbucks.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, May 12, 2016

260,000 Study Sessions And Counting

The organization, which matches people as study partners, celebrated its 10th anniversary at a gala dinner honoring its volunteers. Those volunteers, who commit to weekly half-hour sessions for at least three months, are the mainstay of this organization.

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, May 9, 2016

LUGANSK: Forgotten Refugees, Emissaries in Exile, Jewish Community Holds On

Over the past two years, the Lugansk community has relied on the critical support of Jewish communities around the world who have galvanized to lend resources and moral support to Jewish refugees and locals alike. Central among them, is the Jewish community of Weston, Florida, which has been assisting the Lugansk community for many years.

News | Thursday, May 5, 2016

Chabad of UCF To Expand

A two-acre property down the block from the University of Central Florida campus will soon see a a three million dollar facility go up. The space, conducive to their growing community of about 6,000 Jewish students, will reflect the vision of Rabbi Chaim and Rivkie Lipskier.

Etti Krinsky | News | Thursday, May 5, 2016

Chief Rabbi Mirvis Participates at Inauguration of Chabad of Buckhurst Hill

The fast growth of Chabad of Buckhurst Hill prompted three moves until most recently, they moved into new premises, a space five times bigger than their previous one.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Uruguay: Looking Back, Moving Forward

Uruguay’s tight-knit Jewish community was stunned last month when a prominent Jewish businessman was murdered in Paysandu, a small city 235 miles north of the country’s capital. David Fremd, a beloved leader in the Jewish community, was stabbed ten times in the back while the assailant shouted, “Allahu Akbar.”

Dvora Lakein | News | Sunday, May 1, 2016

Editorial: Making the Exodus Personal

As the UN and the EU continue to stoke the fires of anti-Semitism with their sanctimonious condemnations of Israel, here in the U.S., a spate of new books and articles examine the disconnect of young American Jews from their roots and its implications for the relationship of diaspora Jewry to Israel and to the Jewish people.

Baila Olidort | News | Thursday, April 21, 2016

And You Shall Tell Your Child . . .

The overriding purpose of the observance of the Passover Seder and all its many rituals, says the Torah, is v’hee-gadta l’vincha—to teach your children. To teach them their family narrative that allows them to grow from their roots, giving them the knowledge and the confidence to claim their place as children of the Jewish people who received the Torah at Sinai in all its particulars.

News | Wednesday, April 20, 2016

A Bed, a Table, a Chair and a Lamp

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Monday, April 18, 2016

A Model Seder at A Catholic University

For the past 21 years, the Weisses have worked with the South Florida community nearby the university, but struggled trying to establish a Chabad presence on the campus.

Etti Krinsky | News | Sunday, April 17, 2016

Moscow Opens Goodwill Center In Time For Passover

A second-hand furniture and clothing shop offers affordable goods.

Etti Krinsky | News | Thursday, April 14, 2016

A Model Practice Seder Made of Chocolate

From chocolate Seder plates, to four cups of chocolate milk, the students got their chocolate fix through all fifteen steps of the Seder.

Etti Krinsky | News | Tuesday, April 12, 2016

A Year After the Earthquake, Chabad of Nepal Prepares for Annual Seders

The city is still far from a complete recovery, but Chabad emissaries to Nepal, Rabbi Chezki and Chani Lifshitz are planning their annual Passover seders.

Etti Krinsky | News | Monday, April 11, 2016

JLI Toward Inclusion

In an effort to educate the greater public, RCII has teamed up with JLI, the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, creating Toward Inclusion, a compelling course that will advocate for, and advance, the inclusion of people with disabilities.

Dvora Lakein | News | Tuesday, April 5, 2016

A Prayer Book for the Blind

For the first time ever, Russian readers who are blind can follow in the siddur. The first Russian translation of the prayer book in braille was released the day after Purim.

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Making Merry With Kharkiv Jewish Community

Still in the throes of struggle, the spirit of triumph reigned supreme as the community marked 25 years since Rabbi Moshe and Miriam Moskovitz arrived here in 1990 to rebuild Jewish life following the fall of communism.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Putting Hope into Hospice

Hospice patients know they are living on borrowed time. Most are given a prognosis of six months to live. According to Medicare laws, a doctor signs a hospice primary diagnosis, where the emphasis turns to palliative care.

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, March 28, 2016

Purim: Seeking Unity Toward Positive Reversals

When, back in the middle ages, a Jewish convert to Christianity brought his grievances against the Jews to Pope Gregory IX, his complaints led to the famous Disputations of 1240.

Baila Olidort | News | Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Jewish and Lost in Mormon Country

In 1996, a young rabbi walked onto the grounds of Youthcare, a residential treatment center for troubled teens in Provo, Utah on a mission. He was looking for a certain Akiva Greenfield...

Rena Greenberg | News | Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Aftermath of Attack: Istanbul’s Jewish Community Is Strong

The victims almost all Jews from Israel on a tour of Turkey, it is a question of some concern, especially to Turkey’s thriving Jewish community of about 15,000. Three Israelis were killed, and at least five seriously injured.

Staff Writer | News | Sunday, March 20, 2016

Editorial: Decoding a “Fleeting Chirp”

Simply stated: Science has now discerned and confirmed that emanating gravitational forces caused by collisions trillions of light-years away can reach us here on earth, and has proven that these forces cause an actual ripple effect on space and time as we know it.

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Friday, March 18, 2016

A Community Grows, A Generation Gap Closes

The generation gap grows wider and wider, but in the Jewish community of Venice & North Port, FL, one team of Chabad representatives might have found a way to fix that.

Etti Krinsky | News | Thursday, March 17, 2016

War Hero Recalls Auschwitz

Albert Rosa, has five such medals, including an honorable purple heart. Now, for the first time in 55 years, he opened up about his time in Auschwitz.

Etti Krinsky | News | Wednesday, March 16, 2016

New Chabad Center Meets Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Opening in time for Purim is a Chabad House serving the Great Barrier Reef and its neighboring towns.

Etti Krinsky | News | Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Moscow Inaugurates New Center to Feed Families

The new Bikur Cholim center in Moscow, a facility focused on goodwill, specializes in delivering meals to the families who have put their needs aside. Their new kitchen will prepare and provide meals for those who are in need and their busy families.

Etti Krinsky | News | Thursday, March 10, 2016

Acts Of Kindness for Judah

The UC Berkeley campus is no stranger to conflict and dispute. Anti-Israel protests led by students are quite common. But on March 10th, students will set aside polarizing opinions and divisive protests for a Day of Loving Kindness in memory of Judah Marans.

Etti Krinsky | News | Tuesday, March 8, 2016

If You Build, They Come

The spa-like ritual bath has has been lauded in local media for its beauty and elegance, drawing hundreds of visitors eager to have a look at the luxurious facilities featuring gold-plated fixtures and elegant furnishings.

Rena Greenberg | News | Monday, March 7, 2016

Blog: Progress In 180 Words

My special needs son has taught me to redefine progress. Checks on a chart, mastery of a "program" are a very small part of the story. Indeed, those achievements never added up for him. He was and is more than the data, and it seemed that only those professionals who understood this deeply could reach him.

Raizy Metzger | News | Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Authorities Restore Synagogue to Jewish Community in Odessa

In a decision that has been repeated in many cities in the Former Soviet Union, authorities are restoring to Jewish communities synagogue buildings that were confiscated back in the prewar years.

News | Monday, February 22, 2016

Women’s Mikveh To Open in Nigeria

West Africa will open the doors to its very first state-of-the-art mikveh in late spring 2016. Launched at the initiative of Rabbi Israel and Haya Uzan, Chabad representatives to Abuja, capital of Nigeria..

Rena Greenberg | News | Thursday, February 18, 2016

Blog: "How Long Are You Going to Be On the Fence?"

Rabbi Josh Gordon would have known how to start this post. He would have just the right joke that would span the utter void I am feeling now.

Rivka Chaya Berman | News | Friday, February 12, 2016

Ruderman-Chabad Advocate for Disability Reform

Twenty cents an hour. That is all some employees in America get for their hard work, and only because of their disabilities. Big change is way past due, and advocates spent the day on Capitol Hill lobbying congressional and other leaders to make it happen.

Staff Reporter | News | Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Jewish Community Mourns Rabbi Yehoshua Binyomin Gordon, 66

Rabbi Yehoshua Binyomin Gordon, 66, Chabad representative of Encinco, California since 1973, passed away on Monday, 28 Shevat 5776, after battling an illness.

Staff Writer | News | Monday, February 8, 2016

Elevating Life Inside America's Prisons

As the iron cell door clanged shut behind her, 37-year-old Marcia Singer* felt herself going numb. Staring down at her prison issued jumpsuit...

Rena Greenberg | News | Sunday, February 7, 2016

House Calls in New Hampshire

Preparing for the New Hampshire primaries next week, the presidential candidates and their volunteers will do almost anything to win the votes of the Granite State’s citizens. They’ll even make house visits.

Staff Writer | News | Thursday, February 4, 2016

With the Women of Chabad: Time To Heal, Time To Celebrate

It was a celebration of Jewish women who saw past differences and disparities in age, language, cultural backgrounds, and economic status.

Baila Olidort | News | Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Sister Time: Chabad Representatives Chill in New York

Their daily routines are intense. Many begin at dawn, mothering large families, leading day schools, preschools, and adult education courses that sustain and grow the communities they helped build.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, January 28, 2016

Blog: Progress In 180 Words

I was fighting the stereotype of the centuries-old, self-sacrificing, nurturing balabuste with the progressive, intelligent persona of the contemporary Jewish woman.

Rivkie Block | News | Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Blog: Progress In 180 Words

In a country where communications were extremely controlled and limited, today, without leaving my office, I use social media, webinars, Skype to reach out to more people than I could have at any one time in my entire pre­internet life.

Boruch Gorin | News | Monday, January 25, 2016

Samarkand: Where Men Became Giants

In the 1964 Presidential election, Republican candidate Barry Goldwater is famously remembered as quoting the Roman orator, Cicero, in the following bold assertion: “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice!

Miri Birk | News | Thursday, January 21, 2016

Wordsmith: Mekusher

Some words don’t translate well from Hebrew to English, while others translate seamlessly but gain unintended meaning.

Shmuel Lobenstein | News | Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Chandler, Arizona: Preschool to Chuppah, A Desert Community in Bloom

The postcard arrived at the right moment for the Mazers. Recently settled in Chandler, Arizona (Jewish pop. 4,000), the couple was looking for a Jewish education for their five-year-old.

Dvora Lakein | News | Monday, January 18, 2016

Kivun: A New Model for Jewish Charter School Children

A group of second graders sit in a circle in a colorful New York city classroom as their teacher leads them in a guided meditation of the Adon Olam prayer. Weaving in Hebrew words from the prayer as she describes trees, animals and people, the teacher asks the children to imagine a world stripped of these basic earthly elements.

Rena Greenberg | News | Thursday, January 14, 2016

Finding Family, Faith, Future With Chabad of Binghamton

Tevye the dairyman was at a loss to explain the whys and wherefores of his Jewish traditions. Not so the digital natives and newly minted college grads who came to celebrate old-fashioned yiddishkeit and its relevance to life made meaningful by those very same traditions.

Baila Olidort | News | Monday, January 11, 2016

Coffee and More: Chabad of Ashland Moves Into Former Starbucks Space

When Starbucks on South Ashland’s busy Siskiyou street—just off Southern Oregon University’s campus—chose not to renew its lease last April, students, faculty and local residents were left with one less dig for hanging out and getting a late night caffeine boost.

Etti Krinsky | News | Thursday, January 7, 2016

Contested In The Courts, Public Menorahs Now Inspire Unity

High ranking Government officials in just about every important capital in the world are honored to participate in these public events.

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Thursday, December 31, 2015

Birobidzhan’s Leader Wraps Tefillin With Chabad

Today, some 4,000 Jews live Birobidzhan, the Jewish autonomous oblast established by Stalin in Russia’s Far East. During their visit, Mr. Alexander confirmed that construction would soon begin on a mikveh—the first in Birobidzhan.

Staff writer | News | Monday, December 28, 2015

A Time To Reap

Dvora Lakein | News | Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Russian Prime Minister Joins Dedication Of Historic Synagogue

Etti Krinsky | News | Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Berlin: Syrian Refugees' Children Join in Lighting Menorah at Brandenburg Gate

Children of Syrian refugees and Jewish children from the local community participated in the lighting at Germany's Brandenburg Gate. The menorah was kindled by Germany's Minister of Culture, Professor Monika Grütters and Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, rabbi of the Berlin Jewish community.

lubavitch.com Staff | News | Thursday, December 10, 2015

Follow The Lights: Chanukah Photo Gallery

Lubavitch.com Staff | News | Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Judea Lives: Chanukah Lights Answer To Terror

Baila Olidort | News | Monday, December 7, 2015

Chabad of Cambodia Acquires New Center for Growing Activities

Located in Daun Penh district’s Chaktomuk commune, the new facility will serve Cambodia’s small expatriate Jewish community

Rena Greenberg | News | Saturday, December 5, 2015

Chanukah Lights Will Illuminate Paris After All

Rena Greenberg | News | Thursday, December 3, 2015

The Buzz in Maine: Roxanne Quimby of Burt’s Bees Dedicates Chabad House in Memory of Burt Shavitz

Burt Shavitz, the iconic face and co-founder of Burt’s Bees, made his home in a former turkey coop in the woods of Northern Maine. Now, after his recent passing, his name will be emblazoned on the brand-new Chabad House in Portland, Maine: Burt’s Campus.

Dvora Lakein | News | Thursday, December 3, 2015

Roundtable Repost: The Rebbes and How They Shaped Chabad

News | Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Commemorating 19 Kislev

The feeling was exalted and surreal as hundreds packed a banquet hall earlier this week on the Moscow River, across the Russian White House

News | Monday, November 30, 2015

Survivors of Terror Unite World Jewry in Wedding

"We cried with you as you grieved over the brutal loss of your beloved father Yaakov and brother Netanel ה׳ יקום דמם."

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Friday, November 27, 2015

JLI Elevates Lunch Break in Israel’s Corporate Offices

Inspired and underwritten by the late Prime Minister's son, Mr. Yair Shamir, formerly a Member of Knesset and Minister of Agriculture, the project commemorates the centennial of Prime Minister Shamir's birth.

News | Thursday, November 26, 2015

Jews of Ivanovo, Russia, Celebrate a Place of Their Own

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Prayer In 180 Words

I was born to a family of deep Chasidic roots, and I have been davening [praying] for 45 years.

News | Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Guinness World Records Certifies World’s Most Valuable Dreidel

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Innovative Israeli Model Guides Families Out of Poverty

Founded in 2002, in memory of Rabbi Levi Bistritzky—the city’s late chief rabbi, Chasdei Lev began in a small warehouse where families in need were invited come pick up basic food staples. It has since turned into a multifaceted center to assist impoverished families get onto a financially stable track.

Dovid Zaklikovski | News | Monday, November 16, 2015

Old Wells, Fresh Water

Baila Olidort | News | Friday, November 13, 2015

Chabad Turns the Lens on Jewish Teens, Young Jewish Professionals

In the past year, Chabad has sent 75 new emissaries worldwide in a concerted effort to best serve the unique Jewish needs of teens and young adults

Rena Greenberg | News | Wednesday, November 4, 2015

PROFILE IN COURAGE: The Tzadik of Leningrad

Rabbi Yitzchak Kogan knows the lay of the land in a land where knowing was dangerous. He did what needed to be done even when doing was verboten. A crackerjack on the KGB playing fields, he learned early to tell the good from the bad

Baila Olidort | News | Monday, November 2, 2015

Alan Dershowitz Defeats BDS Proponent in Debate at Oxford

Professor Dershowitz debated Australian-born human rights activist Peter Tatchell over the BDS movement against Israel, defeating Tatchell by 133-101.

Samuel Bodansky | News | Monday, November 2, 2015

New Synagogue Edition of the Kehot Chumash (Pentateuch)

The single-volume edition includes the acclaimed five-volume interpolated translation Kehot Chumash.

News | Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Sober and Spiritual

Some 100 Americans die every day from drug overdose. According to the Center for Disease Control, drug abuse is now the leading cause of fatalities in the U.S., surpassing death from car accidents,

Miriam Davids | News | Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Where BDS Threatens, Jewish Pride Beckons

As a direct response to the rising anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment nationwide, Chabad on Campus headquarters will be opening 19 new campus centers

Rena Greenberg | News | Monday, October 26, 2015

Superior Ultimate Origin

Avrohom Dubosky | News | Sunday, October 25, 2015

Shabbat for A Million? International Project Gains Traction

Rena Greenberg | News | Friday, October 23, 2015

Oprah's Belief Series Features Wedding of Chabad HQ's Own Staff Writer

Janet Segal | News | Thursday, October 22, 2015

S. Petersburg's Oldest Synagogue Reopens

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Netanyahu to Chief Rabbi Lazar: Some of our friends are naïve


Staff Writer | News | Monday, October 19, 2015

Safed Educational Pioneer Aaron Leizer Ceitlin, 62

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, October 15, 2015

Defying Religious Stereotypes on Israel’s College Campuses

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Wednesday, October 14, 2015

USA vs Florida: Kosher Food Now Ensured for Inmates

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Like the Students of Aaron

As we worry about the number of young Jews who fall off the radar, we need to take a critical look at how Judaism is conveyed: Do we empower students with a direct Torah learning program or are we degrading the experience with a glib approximation? Are Jewish schools producing students who can interface intelligently with their identity or will they lack the knowledge and skills to communicate it forward faithfully?

Baila Olidort | News | Friday, October 9, 2015

A Chabad Campus Welcome: Mezuzah Season

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Wednesday, October 7, 2015

For Donetsk’s Jews A New Year Begins With Hope But Not Enough Help

Dina Vishedski and her six children fled the war-torn city a year ago, at the end of August, when the bombing and gunfire made it dangerous to remain at home.

Rena Greenberg | News | Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Rare Manuscripts from 19th-Century Chabad Leader in New Exhibit

Chabad Library exhibits manuscripts from the life of Rabbi Menachem Mendel, known as the Tzemach Tzedek

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, September 24, 2015

A Better World for Our Children?

Yehuda Krinsky | News | Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Chabad of VA Installs Accessible Bimah So All May Participate

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, September 8, 2015

100 Year Celebration of Kazan’s Historic Synagogue

Rena Greenberg | News | Thursday, September 3, 2015

Revisiting R. Schneur Zalman: The Alter Rebbe

Chana Silberstein | News | Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Vancouver Island Breaks Ground on New Chabad Center

Reported by Etti Krinsky | News | Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Congressman Ted Deutsch: Chabad Inspires Him to Speak His Conscience

Rosie Jacobs | News | Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Ruminations on the Parsha: Shoftim

Rabbi Yossel Kranz | News | Friday, August 21, 2015

Nanotech Engineers Decode Talmudic Texts

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Friday, August 21, 2015

Success In 180 Words

News | Thursday, August 13, 2015

Interview with Russian Transportation Magnate David Aminov

Baila Olidort | News | Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Reflections On Leadership

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Through A Lens Daily

Miri Birk | News | Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Desperately Seeking Jews in the Australian Outback

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Monday, August 3, 2015

Shabbat Nachamu, Shabbat Shalom!

News | Friday, July 31, 2015

High Marks for Parisian Chabad School

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, July 30, 2015

Helping Jews Meet & Marry

Rena Greenberg | News | Wednesday, July 29, 2015

In The Footsteps of Their Parents

Rena Greenberg | News | Tuesday, July 28, 2015

The Tefillin Box

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, July 23, 2015

Women Front, Center of Budapest’s Budding Jewish Community

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Wednesday, July 22, 2015

In Once-Judenrein Germany Jewish Life Blossoms

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, July 16, 2015

Rabbi Simcha Zirkind, Pioneer of Chabad Activities in Quebec, 76

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Sunday, July 12, 2015

Learning Life Lessons From Wacky Science

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, July 9, 2015

Train Station To Auschwitz Now A Shelter for Refugees Fleeing ISIS

Rosie Jacobs | News | Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Soul Strings Beckon, A Conductor Follows

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, July 2, 2015

Center With A Soul Goes Up In Wilmette, Illinois

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Friday, June 26, 2015

The Rebbe's Advice for Life

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, June 18, 2015

Bethesda, Chevy Chase Jewish Communities See Remarkable Growth

Rena Greenberg | News | Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Knesset Reflects on Rebbe's Legacy

Rosie Jacobs | News | Tuesday, June 16, 2015

German Foreign Minister Meets With Chabad Community Leaders

Rosie Jacobs | News | Thursday, June 11, 2015

Chabad Rabbi Inspired South Carolina’s Anti BDS Law

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Upscale and Kosher in Siberia

Rosie Jacobs | News | Monday, June 8, 2015

Rabbi Binyomin Klein, Member of Rebbe's Secretariat, 79

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Friday, June 5, 2015

Rio Jewish Community Prepares for Summer 2016 Olympics

As Rio di Janeiro prepares to host the summer 2016 Olympics, the city’s local Jewish community is busy with its own preparations.

Mushkie Junik | News | Wednesday, June 3, 2015

What’s Inside That Pretty Mezuzah Case?

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Tuesday, June 2, 2015

The Shmuel Rohr Brit Milah Clinic of Russia Opens

Staff Writer | News | Monday, June 1, 2015

Wordsmith: Chasid

Shmuel Lobenstein | News | Friday, May 29, 2015

In Time for Shavuot: Israel’s Chief Rabbinate Revises Tablet Logo

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, May 21, 2015

A Terror Survivors’ Reunion

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Book Review: Transitions In Language And Leadership

Chana Silberstein | News | Monday, May 18, 2015

After 30 Years, Rabbi Fulfills Promise to Dying Mother

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, May 14, 2015

Nepal Crisis Worsens Following Second Quake

Rosie Jacobs | News | Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Official Goverment Reception in Germany Serves Kosher

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Preparing Them for Bar Mitzvah: Rabbi Works With Special Children

Michele Alperin | News | Monday, May 11, 2015

Only Kosher Eatery Opens in Western Ukraine

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Friday, May 8, 2015

Lag B’Omer After The Earthquake

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, May 7, 2015

Uncovering The Artist Within: Exhibit of Works by Children With Special Needs

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Partnerships For Jewish Life

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Friday, May 1, 2015

Nepal Update

Rosie Jacobs | News | Thursday, April 30, 2015

Students Take First Prize At Connecticut State Science Fair

Mushkie Junik | News | Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Thailand Chabad Rep Awarded the Jerusalem Unity Prize

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Des Moines Diary: Pastrami for the Soul

Miriam Karp | News | Tuesday, April 28, 2015

President Obama Welcomes Chabad-Lubavitch to the White House

The White House | News | Monday, April 27, 2015

New Chaplaincy Program to Train Rabbinical Students

Mushkie Junik | News | Monday, April 27, 2015

Nepali Locals, Travelers, Find Food, Solace at Chabad

Rosie Jacobs | News | Monday, April 27, 2015

Nepal Jewish Leaders Appeal For Help As Crisis Deepens

Rosie Jacobs | News | Sunday, April 26, 2015

Nepal Earthquake Survivors Flock To Chabad

Rosie Jacobs | News | Saturday, April 25, 2015

Education Olympics Finalists Compete in Jerusalem

Rosie Jacobs | News | Thursday, April 23, 2015

Judaism Grows in Pacific Northwest

News | Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Chabad Provides Himalayan Trekkers With Satellite Phones

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Chabad Starbucks Club: College Students Get Into the Giving Habit

S. Fridman | News | Thursday, April 16, 2015

Kehot Publication Garners Benjamin Franklin Book Award

Rosie Jacobs | News | Wednesday, April 15, 2015

A Day School Grows in Brooklyn Heights

Maayan Jaffe | News | Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Abandoned in Kharkiv? Community in Crisis Struggles for Survival

Baila Olidort | News | Thursday, April 9, 2015

In Pursuit of Practicable Freedom

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky | News | Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Seniors Study Talmud, Reap Social Benefits

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Education Lessons from President Reagan’s Speech

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Tuesday, March 31, 2015

A Leap of Faith

News | Tuesday, March 31, 2015

In Montreal, Communal Seders Not Just for Needy

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Sunday, March 29, 2015

Children of Chabad Reps Deliver Winning Speeches in Federation of Greater Vancouver’s Contest

Rosie Jacobs | News | Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Not Just for Kids : Hands-On at the Matzah Bakery

At Chabad of Rochester, Rabbi Nechemia Vogel decided to appeal the inner child of his community’s adults. After 30 years of catering to generations of children, the Rochester Matzah Bakery opened its doors to an adults night only event.

Mushkie Junik | News | Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Decoding the Origins of Jewish Tradition

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Monday, March 23, 2015

Historic Birmingham Synagogue Restored

300 members of the community of Birmingham, England met in the Jospeh Cohen hall to celebrate the rededication of the 159 year old Singers Hill Synagogue.

Mushkie Junik | News | Thursday, March 19, 2015

Keeping Pre-Bar-Bat Mitzvah Coming Back For More

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Monday, March 16, 2015

Digging Deeper: Groundbreaking for Rashi’s Campus

B. Davids | News | Sunday, March 15, 2015

Historic California Ranch Acquired by Jewish Camp

Rosie Jacobs | News | Wednesday, March 11, 2015

A Measure of Jewish Pride: Germany’s Largest Mezuzah Gets Notice

Rosie Jacobs | News | Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Kharkiv's Woes Didn't Stop Purim Pomp

Staff Writer | News | Monday, March 9, 2015

Nonagenarian Thanks Russia for Liberating Her from Auschwitz

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Monday, March 9, 2015

Packing Purim Parties

Esther Mordechai | News | Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Mother of Autistic Child Promotes Inclusion, Kindness

“In 1964 this condition [autism] was virtually unknown, still in its infancy. I was overwhelmed, and unsure of how I would cope,” says Chana Sharfstein, the driving force behind Building Bridges: An Evening of Awareness and Appreciation for Individuals with Special Needs.

Rosie Jacobs | News | Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Teens Take Jewish Pride to Heart and Home

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Monday, March 2, 2015

UC Berkeley Student Senate Passes Bill Condemning Anti-Semitism

S. Fridman | News | Thursday, February 26, 2015

Mezuzahs for Maryland’s Jews in Uniform

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, February 26, 2015

Thawing Out in Winnipeg's New Kosher Café

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Wednesday, February 25, 2015

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon To Greet Jewish Teenagers

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will address the teens via video on Sunday, at the CTeen banquet dinner. He is expected to offer a particular message of solidarity for the 110 Jewish teen delegates from France.

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, February 24, 2015

36 Orphaned Bat Mitzvah Girls Celebrate in Jerusalem

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Port Washington’s Chabad Representative Inducted as Police Chaplain

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Sunday, February 22, 2015

French Municipality Names City Street for Jewish Educator

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Chabad Families, Communities, Grow in Small, Remote Communities

Rena Greenberg | News | Thursday, February 12, 2015

Another War Casualty for Donetsk Jewish Community

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, February 12, 2015

Cyprus: A New Jewish Center for Growing Community

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Thursday, February 12, 2015

A Community Experience for Jewish Students at CU

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Wednesday, February 11, 2015

At The Hermitage, An Award for Jewish Activism

News | Tuesday, February 10, 2015

City of Mystics Nurtures IDF Soldiers With Resolve

News | Monday, February 9, 2015

A Help Line for Holocaust Survivors in Moscow

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Sweden's Court Hears Case for Religious Freedom, Again

Baila Olidort | News | Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Jewish Teen Volunteers Take “Power” Prize

Rena Greenberg | News | Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Danish Jews Explore Heritage

Staff Writer | News | Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Australia Honors Pioneer of Chabad Synagogue

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Monday, January 26, 2015

Ottawa Government Grant Supports Chabad’s Initiative for Seniors

Staff writer | News | Thursday, January 22, 2015

Historic Nevada Cemetery Restored

Staff Writer | News | Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Deaf, But Not Excluded

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Dust Particles: Levi Robin, Singer/Songwriter

News | Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Musicians With Special Needs Release Recording

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Sunday, January 18, 2015

Learning Parenting To Raise Healthy Children

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Sunday, January 18, 2015

Unseen, Unheard, Poor Philadelphia Demographic Becomes Community Concern

Rena Greenberg | News | Thursday, January 15, 2015

Chief Rabbi of Kfar Chabad, Israel, Rabbi Mordechai Ashkenazi, 71

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Promise Made by Little Hungarian Girl During WWII Fulfilled

Dovid Zaklikowski | News | Wednesday, January 14, 2015

$1 Million Ruderman Chabad Initiative To Promote Inclusion

The Ruderman Family Foundation (RFF) has put $1 million towards the establishment of a partnership with Chabad-Lubavitch in order to create a culture of inclusion for people with disabilities within some 4,200 Jewish communities worldwide.

News | Tuesday, January 13, 2015

STATEMENT BY CHABAD-LUBAVITCH HEADQUARTERS

Chabad representatives in France have and will continue to further enhance security measures to protect the men, women and children who come to study, to pray, and to socialize at Chabad Houses. But they will not shut down the vibrant Jewish life that they have nurtured in Paris, and that the city’s Jews have now enjoyed for many decades.

News | Sunday, January 11, 2015

France: In Face of Anti-Semitism, Jews Deepen Identity

Friday's terror siege on a kosher supermarket in France, in which four people were killed, is the most recent of anti-Semitic violence that has targeted the country's Jews. The old scourge refuses to die, but this time around Jews refuse to hide.

Rena Greenberg | News | Sunday, January 11, 2015

Parshat Shemot: "Je Suis Charlie"

Today, I am not only Chanie. I am Charlie. I am Shmuel, Mordechai, Andrea, Zeri, Noach, Mery, Sara

Chanie Zaklikovsky | News | Friday, January 9, 2015

All Dressed Up And Ready To Go

Natalie Ling | News | Thursday, January 8, 2015