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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.