(lubavitch.com) Mortarboards and congratulations will sail across the air at university campuses nationwide throughout May, as students take the big leap from studying the unknown to being there.

Once in possession of the all-important degree, graduates will have to grapple with a terrible job market and the responsibilities of living on their own. For those students who relied on their campus rabbi for a Friday night dinner or a listening ear, being alone on the other side of those hallowed walls can come as a shock.

“When students come to Penn they create a great bond with each other and with the rabbi [Rabbi Levi Haskelevich]. And of course, their interest in Judaism increases. But when they graduate, they are thrown into a really big place and it is hard to find a rabbi they’re comfortable with,” says Dr. Jonathan Abenaim, a cosmetic dentist in New Jersey and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Dental school.

That’s why he started the  Abenaim Program for Jewish Literacy, which, among other ventures, seeks to provide Penn alumni with a place to reunite and study with their Rabbi Haskelevich  even after they’ve moved on. “This program allows them to keep their Jewish continuity,” he says.

On the first Monday of every month, Haskelevich drives to Manhattan to get together with former students. Some want to talk about their dating lives; others have questions about their job searches or a recent layoff. After the personal meetings, Haskelevich hosts dinner and a class at a midtown office, sponsored by Abenaim.

On campus, Haskelevich keeps in touch via phone, email, and Facebook. Dozens of alumni gather in New York City for a winter Shabbaton and holiday parties he arranges. Haskelevich has officiated at numerous weddings for graduates, does regular counseling, and remains, many alumni tell him, “their only rabbi.”

As director of Chabad at Ohio State University for 13 years, Rabbi Zalman Deitsch has seen his fair share of students flip their tassels to the left. Deitsch turns into a headhunter after graduation, helping match graduates with jobs in their new cities. He believes that the all-consuming search for a good career often leaves graduates’ Judaism somewhere in the dust. 

“Sometimes students discard the strides they made in Judaism back on campus, with their funny roommates. They feel they don’t ‘need’ Judaism again until their marriages. It’s a problem bridging the two worlds.” Deitsch tries to alleviate the challenge by keeping in touch with students, hosting reunions, and publishing an alumni newsletter.

Rabbi Mendel Matusof also keeps tabs on the alumni of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He ships matzah for Pesach and hooks them up with local Chabad centers in their new towns. When he called one former student, she was grateful: “I am not involved with Jewish life anymore, it is really important that you called me and asked me how I’m doing.” 

Last year, several Badger alumni formed the Chai Club, as a means of staying connected and giving back. Alumni solicit their classmates for an $18 monthly contribution to help meet the Matusof’s $150,000 annual budget. 

“When we were students at Wisconsin, it never crossed our minds to wonder how Chabad was funded. Because of our appreciation of Chabad, we want to ensure that others will have the same experiences.”

One of the members of that board is Adam Poster, a 2008 graduate and a current student at the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harlem.

“I miss being around students in an easygoing atmosphere,” he says, “we were all there because we were proud and happy to be Jewish. There is no better place to test that commitment than on a college campus where everything is geared to partying and boozing.” 

Despite the availability of everything kosher in his New York home, Poster misses the camaraderie and motivation he found in Madison. He keeps in touch with Matusof now, “to tell him what’s going on in my life, for advice, and to keep me on my toes.” 

Poster will summer at the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, New Jersey. In tribute to his time in Madison, Poster hopes to give back to his contemporaries. “Every Jew is holy and special,” he says. “The only reason I know that is because Rabbi and Rebbetzin Matusof saw it in me. They helped me in all ways, not only Jewishly. Now I want to reach out to every Jew.”

Deitsch will reach out to his students one last time on the OSU campus at the annual Shabbaton before graduation. During the final Friday night dinner, a meal that means so much to students at campuses worldwide, Deitsch plans to leave his graduates with a parting message. 

“Keep learning. Don’t give up what you have gained in college. And find the Chabad House near you.”    

(lubavitch.com) After a tense 24 hours during which the Wesleyan University campus was under lockdown, students and faculty are venturing back onto campus grounds, relieved to learn that the gunman who shot and killed a fellow student Wednesday night, is now in police custody.

Stephen Morgan, the suspect in the case with no connection to the university, reportedly called police from a gas station in Meriden, Thursday night, where he waited for them to arrest him.

Rabbi Yosef Wolvovsky, Chabad representative to the campus and surrounding area, told lubavitch.com that his phones, which have not stopped ringing all day, went quiet after word got out that Morgan was arrested, a sign of relief amid sadness. Now that the fear, which gripped the campus and neighboring communities, is gone, everyone's beginning to focus on the tragedy, he explained.

“There’s a lot of sadness among the students, and those who knew the victim are simply devastated.”

21-year-old Johanna Justin-Jinich, a junior from Colorado, was shot by Morgan at a campus bookstore where she worked.

According to Wolvovsky, a vigil will be held for the victim on campus, Friday, at 1:00. No word as to funeral plans for Justin-Jinich, who is Jewish, have been disclosed.   

Chabad will also be on campus all day, said Wolvovsky, reaching out to students with opportunities to channel their grief and sadness into constructive acts and mitzvahs to honor the memory of Johanna.

“Everyone here’s been traumatized, and there’s a real need to connect with students at this time in a way that will be uplifting to them.”

“I think of what we need to do now  as ‘Operation Light.’” Wolvovsky has already made plans to set up a booth at the USDAN Center where he and some of his colleagues will be available all day Friday, to talk to students, share opportunities to do good, and distribute Shabbat candles—an especially meaningful mitzvah apropos of the tragedy, he explained.

“We’ll be there to talk to students about their feelings, about the soul, and about the difference they can make in choosing to make a commitment to do something good.”   

UPDATE 11:42 p.m. EST: According police in Meriden, Connecticut, the suspect in the shooting, Stephen Morgan, was arrested Thursday night, and is in police custody.

(lubavitch.com) Following the shooting Wednesday of a student at Wesleyan University, Chabad's Rabbi Yosef Wolvovsky has been inundated with calls and emails from students.

“The campus is basically in lockdown, and students on campus must wait this out in their rooms,” says the Chabad rabbi. “Some of them are quite worried and frantic and need to hear a familiar voice that is aware of what is going on.”

Wolvovsky is encouraging them to follow all the safety instructions and security advisories.

Police have launched a nationwide manhunt for 29-year-old Stephen Morgan who shot  21-year-old Johanna Justin-Jinich, a junior from Timnath, Colo., at her job at a cafe inside Broad Street Books, a popular bookstore.

Middletown Police Chief Lynn Baldoni said investigators uncovered evidence of anti-semitic sentiments in the shooter's personal journals, suggesting that he may be focused on the Wesleyan community campus and the Jewish community in particular.

Rabbi Wolvovsky, Chabad representative to Glastonbury who also serves Middletown’s Jewish community, told lubavitch.com that he's also in contact with representatives of the ADL and Jewish Federation to “ensure that local Jewish organizations are apprised of developments in the case, and that security measures are adequate.”

Campus officials have also been in touch with Rabbi Wolvovsky asking for his help in keeping students safe.

“Students are asked to remain on high alert and to be extra-vigilant,” said Rabbi Wolvovsky. He’s made counseling available to students who are under stress as a result of the shooting.

Students who were not on campus when the shooting happened, and all non-essential staff are asked to stay off the campus grounds until it is deemed safe to return.

“We’re here for them in any way they need—be it lodging or food,” says Rabbi Wolvovsky, “to help them adhere to the precautions by campus officials.” Students are welcome to contact him at 860-659-2422, and by email at: rabbi@chabader.com.

Wesleyan is a private university with about 2400 students. Approximately one third is Jewish.

(lubavitch.com) Chabad representatives from around the nation were among the 6500 guests at this year’s AIPAC Conference, which concluded Wednesday, in Washington D.C.

“Lobbying for the security of the people of Israel was, for me, an important part of the convention. I was happy to do that; I felt that I was doing something. Though politics is not my realm, I truly gained a lot," said Rabbi Elazar Green. 

Rabbi Green serves the communities of Lancaster and York, Pennsylvania and the Jewish students of Franklin and Marshall University. He attended the conference for the first time this year at the behest of a close friend and community activist, Elliott Weinstein.

“I invited him because he’s the rabbi,” says Weinstein, a commercial real estate appraiser. “It is important for the general Jewish community to see Chabad’s presence. We are all Jews, one people with one heart. It’s good to remind ourselves of that occasionally.”

While in Washington, the two met with local congressmen, Todd Platts and Joe Pitts, who, says Weinstein, “heard our cause and understood our position.”

“The world’s a mess,” he says. “We must get Congress to understand what we understand.”

Part of Rabbi Chaim Bruk’s enthusiasm about his first foray into AIPAC, was the opportunity to learn about the true nature of events in Israel. “I obtained a lot of information to share with the Jewish and non-Jewish population of Montana, to counteract the biased media’s distortions,” says the Bozeman rabbi. “I see myself as an ambassador to educate the Jewish people about the importance, holiness, and beauty of the land of Israel.”

Bruk participated in most of the sessions as well as an exclusive Synagogue Initiative Lunch with 200 rabbis and cantors. He was particularly interested to hear from Michael Oren, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s choice for Israel’s next ambassador to Washington.

During his speech, Oren referenced his relationship with Chabad. Speaking later with Rabbi Bruk, Oren told him that as a teenager living with his family in New Jersey, he’d spent two years studying with Chabad’s late Rabbi Sholom B. Gordon of Maplewood, New Jersey. Oren’s father, Lester Bornstein was executive director and a member of the board of trustees of Newark’s Beth Israel Medical Center, where Rabbi Gordon served as chaplain for many years.

In addition to the sessions for synagogue affiliates, more than 1,000 young political activists participated in private functions. Greeting them at a reception May 3rd, were representatives from several Jewish campus organizations, including Chabad, Hillel, and the Jewish fraternity of North America, Alpha Epsilon Pi.

Rabbi Yossy Gordon, Executive Vice President of Chabad on Campus International Foundation was at the conference. “Chabad cares deeply about Israel,” he said, pointing out that Campus representatives encourage their students to visit Israel on Birthright and IsraeLinks, which provide students with “a very powerful Jewish experience and a heightened level of Jewish awareness and pride.”

Jewish pride at the campus level, says Rabbi Yudi Steiner, is “the first line of defense against anti-Israel expression. First Jews must have confidence in their own Judaism.”

Steiner has been working with the student community of George Washington University since 2008. This was his first AIPAC experience.

“Typically,” he says, “the students involved in Israel are our future Jewish leaders. Those engaged in activism are also interested in learning about our heritage.” Steiner hopes that by spending time with these “leaders,” he will be able to “segue into discussions about what Chabad offers on campus in regards to Judaism and study.”

Beyond the politics and pundits, the conference represented a wholly visceral experience for many joined by a love for Jewish people and the land of Israel. “I felt very good about being there with 6,000 of my brethren,” said Rabbi Gordon. “I felt very good about being Jewish.”

(lubavitch.com) The world’s most comprehensive adult Jewish education program will host the fourth annual National Jewish Retreat this August. The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute will present a plethora of Jewish ideas over five days at the Hyatt Regency in Greenwich, Connecticut. Of the 400 expected participants, some arrive with little Jewish background while others have completed a formal yeshiva education. With dozens of sessions to choose from, there is literally something for everyone.  

Amongst the 30 featured speakers are Senator Joe Lieberman, Connecticut’s Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, noted historian Dr. Jonathan Sarna, and NYU professor Lawrence Schiffman. Dr. Schiffman, chairman of the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at NYU and a distinguished authority on the Dead Sea Scrolls. He will speak about “Israel, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Jews,” a topic, he says, that is “quite relevant to the modern Jewish student.”

“On a simple level our knowledge of Jewish history is part of our identity—of our past, our present, and our future. But specifically, we can learn from this period in history: about the relationship of religion to the government; themes of Moshiach; the overall issue of sectarianism in Judaism; as well as the extent to which a person should separate from Jewish law.”    

Visiting students will also have the benefit of lectures by Rabbi Manis Friedman, Rabbi Yossi Jacobson and Chasidic feminist Rivkah Slonim. They’ll pack in ideas metaphysical from the Tanya, organ donation in Jewish law, and a Talmud class before lunch and return to the lecture halls for an afternoon of American Jewish history, Kabbalah and film, and life after death. 

“Attendees compare the difference between a typical JLI course and this retreat to the difference between day camp and overnight camp,” explains director Rabbi Yoni Katz. “The distinctiveness of this week is that it is a total immersion experience.”   

Come August, Dr. Peter Pflaum will pack his bags at his Newport Beach, California home and, for the fourth time, fly to the retreat. By now, he says, his participation is a given. “I first heard of the retreat from a Chabad rabbi I study with,” he says. 

“I attend a lot of Jewish education courses and no other place in the world offers such broad exposure to so many different subject matters in such a friendly and dynamic environment. “They offer so much, in such a short period of time. It is chicken soup for the soul.”

Rabbi Heshy Epstein is on the Board of Directors of JLI and is passionate about his chairmanship of the Institute’s summer retreats. “The Lubavitcher Rebbe always said that we can change the world through education. How can we raise a new Jewish generation? Through motivating and compelling people—and that is achieved through teaching them.”

JLI instructor Rivkah Slonim believes that the Institute “brought Chabad’s philosophy to a whole new level: one’s passion can only be achieved through study.” Chabad’s representative to Binghamton University is no stranger to the lecture hall and she is particularly excited about attending this year’s retreat for the first time. “I love to teach. I always look forward to teaching people who want to study. And, of course, I plan on learning from them as well.”  

Text-based it may be, but the week’s goal is to take the lessons beyond the book and into the students’ everyday lives. Heavier classes are book-ended by hands-on workshops such as challah baking, scribal techniques, and tips on how to run a traditional Shabbat meal or pray from a siddur. Jewish films, Chasidic art exhibits, and a rousing concert will round out the experience.

“Personally,” says Epstein from his South Carolina home, “I am looking forward to our mini study hall, which will be equipped with texts and rabbis for one-on-one learning opportunities. I am also excited about our mock beit din (Jewish court of law in which several prominent rabbis will take us through modern day cases through the lens of Talmudic thought.”

“I feel like I am back in school again,” laughs Pflaum, “without the intimidation of having to complete tests. It is five days of warmth, education, and community.

“For someone who likes education like I do, it is like dying and going to heaven.” 

(lubavitch.com) Working parents can deduct childcare expenses from their taxes, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a landmark decision which upheld a Tel Aviv District Court decision.

In supporting their unanimous position, the five-justice panel of Eliezer Rivlin, Miriam Naor, Edna Arbel, Elyakim Rubinstein and Esther Hayut said they view childcare expenses as a necessary expenditure that enables parents to work and earn an income, calling it “a necessary result of natural parental responsibility for their children."

For Rubinstein, his decision was helped by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson’s writings on the laws and practice of charity in a book entitled Mitzvat HaTzedaka (The Mitzvah of Charity), later published in a second edition named Shaarei Tzedaka.

“It’s well known the obligation of charitable giving in Jewish law, as well as its unparalleled power and significance,” wrote Rubinstein in his decision, listing Mitzvat HaTzedaka as his source. “As far as amounts, the Code of Jewish Law instructs one who is well off to give the poor a fifth of his earnings, or a tenth for one of average earnings. This is known as Ma’aser Kesafim – tithing one’s earnings.”

Justice Rubinstein compared earnings that are eligible for donations of the fifth or tenth, to earnings that are eligible for taxes. “But the obvious question about charity is: what qualifies as one’s earnings from which a fifth or tenth should be donated?”

Explaining the answer, Rubinstein’s primary source was a Chabad publication, Sichat HaShavua, which highlights Rabbi Schneerson’s teachings. “The law states that someone who needs to hire a caregiver for their children so that they can go out to work can deduct the wages from their earnings when calculating their charitable obligations. We have here a precedent from Torah law that necessary expenses, including caregivers, are not included when totaling one’s earnings. The connection is clear.”

Quoting Torah sources in court proceedings is part of the unique relationship shared by the Israeli legal system and the Jewish Torah-based legal system.

Chabad Rabbi and Dayan, Emmanuel Chaviv, is the dean and director of Lubavitch Kollel for rabbinical and judicial studies in Beitar, Israel. He is also a former member of the Department for Hebrew Legal Research, which codifies Israel’s laws and presents Torah law and the Jewish legal perspective to judges and lawyers.

“When Israel was established in 1948, they passed the Law and Administration Ordinance which preserved many of the prevailing laws at the time, including Ottoman, British and Jewish religious law,” Chaviv told Lubavitch.com. “But family relations laws like marriage and divorce, and any situation not yet covered by secular law, are decided only according to Jewish law and the Torah.”

Rabbi Chaviv said that he used to constantly field questions about current cases, “The judges are very respectful of the Torah and interested in hearing what it has to say about the situations they are considering.” Cases lacking secular law, he said, fell to the department to present the law according to the Torah.

According to Chaviv, many of Israel’s judges have regular study sessions in Jewish law. Furthermore, shared Rabbi Chaviv who used to pray in the same synagogue in Jerusalem’s Katamon neighborhood with Justice Rubinstein, judges in Israel are officially supposed to be able to learn Talmud.

“I always found it fascinating that for centuries, Jews have been having scholarly legal debate about issues which the legal systems of the world are either just beginning to grapple with or still struggling to handle.”

The legal battle over tax exemption for childcare expenses began when Tel Aviv lawyer Vered Pery tried to deduct payments to her son’s daycare center. The assessing officer rejected the deduction and Pery appealed to the District Court. The Supreme Court decision accepted the District Court's stance that without supervision, Pery couldn’t earn any income. Thus, childcare is an expense required in order to earn income.

Many welcomed the judgment, citing the tax exemption as encouragement and support for single mothers trying to make ends meet.

For Geulah, a single mother of two in Beitar, the ruling is good start. “It’s hard to really understand what a single parent goes through trying to raise kids and cover all the bills on their own. You need all the help and support you can get.”

A year and a half ago, Geulah was working for a hi-tech company, losing money by leaving early each day in order to meet her kids, ages 8 and 10, after school. When they got sick, she said, thing became difficult. “Sometimes I found a neighbor to watch them and a few times I brought them to work. There were times I had to leave them at home, sick, by themselves. I had to go to work.”

Out of work, she said she receives child allowance from the government and is loaded with loans. Her ex-husband moved back to the states and “is completely out of the picture.”

“I am happy to hear that things are slowly changing, but there is a long way to go. Mothers like me are alone, carrying a heavy burden by themselves.”

(lubavitch.com) In a landmark case heralded by religious rights activists, Cooper City, Florida was forced to admit its unlawfulness in preventing Chabad of Nova from opening its center. Five years in the making, this victory is particularly sweet as Rabbi Shmuel and Chaya Gita Posner have been looking for a permanent home since 2004 when they moved here to serve the 600 Jewish students of Nova University. Until this decision, that home remained elusive. 

Last week, the city’s insurer agreed to pay Chabad and its lawyers a total of $800,000. Pending the city commissioner’s approval, Chabad will walk away with $330,000, including the jury award and 2.5 percent interest. 

Franklin Zemel, a partner at Arnstein and Lehr LLP, served as Posner’s attorney during the two-year battle. “I am happy with the result of this case if other cities learn the lesson and don’t mistreat religious institutions,” said Zemel. “But I would be a lot happier if Rabbi Posner never had to go through this fight to begin with.”

Posner’s tale opens in 2005 when he founded a Chabad center for the University students. His problems began when he erected a welcoming sign a few weeks later. “We had been searching for a place near the campus, and when this vacancy in the shopping center opened, we grabbed it. Almost immediately, the sheriff sent us a list of citations.” 

“They told us straight out, ‘you’re not welcome. You can’t operate a synagogue here, this is a place for business only,’” recalls Posner. “We approached the city a few days before Rosh Hashanah so that we could hold services for the High Holidays. The mayor didn’t want to talk to us. 

After consultations with various prominent attorneys, and the recognition that his position was legally valid, Posner realized his only choice was to take the city to court. The suit was filed in 2007. Last summer, Miami U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga determined that the city violated federal religious protection law when it twice changed its zoning codes to prohibit religious organizations from opening in commercial areas. 

Though Chabad is the clear victor, Posner still has a lot of work to do. “People don’t want to be involved when you’re in the middle of a court case. It is very, very hard to rebuild, much harder than building from scratch.” For the past two years, Posner has held small gatherings in his home. Even with the award money, he does not know where he will be able to find a new property.

When he moved to town a couple of years ago, Neil Kirschbaum was looking for a synagogue during his stint at medical school. He met with a few local rabbis, and “got along well with Rabbi Posner and decided to stay.” Kirschbaum is a regular at Posner’s Friday night dinners and holiday events, but he recognizes that more of his colleagues would have joined him had Chabad been permitted a more central location.

“The inconvenience definitely made it more difficult. A lot of students come to a campus and don’t know to look for Chabad. But when it is in front of them, they come and start having a good time. It’s not like everyone becomes super-religious, but they get a good feeling for Judaism, for their heritage.” 

“Chabad’s presence definitely has a huge impact on students.”

For his part, Posner is ready to get to work, on the important things. “I have no hard feelings. I just want to do the right thing. It is very unfortunate that we can’t find common ground to make the world a better place. After all, that is all we are here for.” 

(lubavitch.com) An age-old facet of Jewish life, mikvah usage has seen a tremendous upswing in recent years. Today, women observing the rituals of Jewish family laws can dip in 1600 mikvahs around the world, halakhically constructed pools of rainwater that are frequent examples of artful and sensitive design.

Mikvah.org/calendar, a new website launched Wednesday under the auspices of Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, seeks to demystify the various calculations inherent in maintaining the laws of family purity. These laws, which evolve around a woman's monthly cycle, are complex and intricate. Most brides and women who undertake the mitzvah study the details before marriage, often with a teacher, and employ the use of  a calendar as a tool to observing mikvah.

But for those new to the practice or unfamiliar with the ins and outs, observing these laws can be daunting. “A lot of work and thought went into the site,” explains Project Manager, Chaya Klein. “We based it very much on our experiences working with women around the world, trying to fill the vast lack of knowledge we have found.”

In development since 2004, the new site is based on the organization’s crisp paper calendar. Participants need only to upload their personal information in order for the website to provide detailed calculations. Organizers believe the new system will fill a gap for people who are new to the practice or have forgotten how to compute it. The hope is for people to understand the laws as they are being computed for them. On-call experts  are available in 10 time zones to answer any legal or technical questions.

Mikvah.org/calendar is an offshoot of Mikvah.org, which provides a mikvah directory as well as spiritual and practical advice for half a million global users. The new site is debuting at no charge to participating women and will eventually bear a nominal annual fee. Privacy is assured and plans are underway to have the site translated into other languages.

South Africa’s Jewish Community 

(lubavitch.com) It is early on Monday morning and the bus is rolling into the Chabad House parking lot on Aintree Avenue. Forty senior citizens, from across the city and surrounding suburbs, enter the center. For the next several hours, these men and women will study various aspects of Jewish thought and tradition. After learning, they will enjoy a hot, catered lunch. 

For many of these older adults in Johannesburg, it is much more than the stipend that they gain from these daily classes. Most of their children have left the country of their youth to plant new roots in Australia, the United States, and Israel. For their parents, lonely and often poor, these classes are both physical and spiritual lifelines. 

Despite the ever-present trickle of emigration, and beyond the high-security fences, the 75,000 Jews who proudly call the tip of Africa home are quick to point out that life here is vibrant. 

In Johannesburg, a city which built its fortune deep in the gold mines, a different precious gem is being excavated today: Jewish life. 

The local Chabad outposts, there are 10 in Johannesburg, say that regardless of the country’s unique challenges; they are committed to staying put. “We are building strong communities,” declares Rabbi David Masinter. “Our goal here is to make Jewish life as accessible as possible.” Masinter and a dozen other Chabad rabbis service the 60,000 Jews still living in Johannesburg. To achieve their goal “of touching every Jewish life,” Chabad runs programs for the entire spectrum of the community, from posting a list of Jewish baby names on their website to lectures for senior citizens. 

But it is not only the Jewish community that Chabad of Johannesburg serves. “We learn in Jeremiah to take care of the people of the entire city,” explains Masinter. To help promote good values, Masinter says Chabad has instituted is a series of books translated into several African languages teaching morals and ethics. Another initiative sent 6,500 packets of carrot seeds to poor, black townships. The children there are encouraged to plant their own gardens and learn the value of self-sufficiency and partnership.       

These outreach efforts, which have received numerous civic awards, stem from the Rebbe’s instructions to prepare the world for the coming of Moshiach through acts of goodness and kindness. 

South Africa may be disparaged in international media, but its Jewish community is admired for its uniqueness. South African Jews, whether in their native land or in transplanted homes, are known to be close-knit and very traditional. Compared to Jews in other parts of the globe, South Africans have some of the lowest levels of assimilation: intermarriage here is less than 10 percent. “At least 80 percent of the community,” says Masinter, “has a strong Jewish awareness. “And we have very little anti-Semitism here,” he adds.  

For holiday, Joburgers often hit the beaches of Kwazulu-Natal. Their Jewish needs are taken care of there, by the full-time Chabad House which services 40 local families and thousands of annual visitors. Julia Prosser, a noted historian who recently completed a book about the history of the Jews in the region, speaks highly of the local Chabad center. 

“It is marvelous what they have accomplished,” Prosser says. “The Rabbi [Shlomo Wainer] travels hundreds of kilometers visiting tiny settlements, in search of Jews. He brings them back into the community.”

Prosser says that in her youth there were 10,000 Jews in Durban. Today, there are less than 2,000. Though the community is small, she says, “a lot of people have become involved through Chabad’s efforts. Jewish life is thriving.”  

Jewish life is also flourishing under Cape Town’s balmy skies and the sweeping shadow of Table Mountain. Rabbi Mendel Popack has been servicing the city’s Jews since he and his family arrived in South Africa’s second-largest city in 1975. 

“When we arrived, there were no mikvahs,” Popack recalls, “and my wife had to travel two hours by plane to Johannesburg to use their ritual bath.” Within a few years, Popack built Cape Town’s first mikvah, and today 140 local women use it regularly. 

There are 150 students in Chabad-sponsored schools here, and many more spend their afternoons at the children’s multimedia center at the Chabad House. “Everything necessary for a Jewish life is available here,” Popack claims, including a Judaica store he operates. “The large supermarkets vie for our business and stock every kosher product imaginable,” he says. Programs that operate in communities around the world, such as JLI (the Jewish Learning Institute) and Friendship Circle, are run here with a special flair. Demand is acute, says Popack, and new centers in outlying regions have recently opened.

But even Popack admits that the numbers are falling. “At its height there were 25,000 Jews in Cape Town,” he says, “today there are only 18,000.” Popack believes that “South Africans are notorious for being wandering Jews.” Many left in 1977 and in the early 1990s during national crises. And in the intervening years, he says, there are always a handful, “who wonder whether to wander.”

For Popack, and the many other Chabad families who devote their lives to the people of this country, there is no wondering. “I am not leaving town because the Lubavitcher Rebbe sent me,” he declares. 

“We have a lot of work to do. Until every Jew is taken care of materially and spiritually, we have a lot of work to do.”