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.

There may be a dusting of snow on the tall trees of Flagstaff as people gather for the first Rosh Hashanah services in Chabad’s brand new center, the Molly Blank Jewish Community Center, but inside, hearts will be melting, thanks to the warm atmosphere and beautiful new surroundings.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.