lubavitchinternational

‫ב’’ה‬
Volume 2, Issue 5
1
W W W. LU BAV I TC H . C O M
LUBAVITCHINTERNATIONAL
NEWS FROM THE CHABAD–LUBAVITCH GLOBAL NETWORK | DEC. 2011/JAN. 2012
Photo credit: Yossi Percia
WALKING THE WALK
OF THE CHABAD EMISSARY
NEW TORAH
o
nly a stone’s throw from Zuccotti
Park where protestors clashed with
police before being evacuated in November, scores of Wall street businesspeople
and residents took to dancing in the rain
on November 16, at the museum of
Jewish Heritage on Battery Place.
The occasion was the dedication of a
newly completed Torah scroll by Chabad
of Wall street. Area residents, businesspeople and professionals turned out in
the pouring rain to participate as the
“Chabad is a global safe
haven. And Chabad of
Wall Street is a safe
haven for the many
troubles of Wall Street.”
scribe filled in the final letters in with a
quill. Rabbi shmaya Katz, director of
Chabad of Wall street, led a lively procession outside as revelers danced with
the new Torah, escorted under a canopy
on an elaborately decorated truck that
drove slowly down Battery Place.
At an elegant, intimate dinner that
followed, guests honored the memory of
mrs. Charlotte (sarah) Rohr, matriarch
of the distinguished Rohr family, in
whose memory the Torah was commissioned. The funds for the two-and-a-half year
long project were raised by Chabad of
Wall street. “We wanted to reciprocate
and show our gratitude to mr. George
Rohr for the support and dedication to
Jewish causes that he, his father
mr. sami Rohr, and the Rohr Family
Foundation have demonstrated over
many years,” mrs. Rachel Katz said.
The admiration was mutual, as mr.
Rohr, visibly moved by the event, described Rachel Katz as “an irresistible
force” in leading Chabad community
projects.
Guests echoed these sentiments,
speaking emotionally of the progress
that Chabad of Wall street has achieved
in the ten years since september 11,
2001.
“Chabad is a global safe haven and
Chabad of Wall street is a safe haven for
the many troubles of Wall street,”
said elian Abramov, a member of
Chabad of Wall street.
continued on page 13
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OCCUPIES WALL STREET
UK Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks addressing the banquet session of the
28th International Conference of Chabad Emissaries.
Editorial page 2
FRENCH BANK BECOMES
FIRST CLASS CHABAD SCHOOL
European financial
woes have the international community calling
for reform, but one
French bank underwent
a most dramatic transformation: its building
was gutted and turned
into a six-story Chabad
school.
very morning, 250
children from the tender age of ten weeks
through fifth grade stream
through the mirrored doors of Chabad of montrouge’s Pardess Channa school in the
new Haya mouchka complex. The older children are driven in on two full buses from
distant arrondissements, so powerful is the allure of a school whose facilities outclass
nearby public schools.
montrouge is a middle-class community that is part Paris suburb, part 14th arrondissement. It’s about a 75-minute drive from the Jewish sections of Paris, meaning that prior
E
continued on page 14
CAmPus
Penn State Jewish
Students Find Healing
Through Shabbat
INTeRNATIoNAl
PRoFIle
YouNG PRoFessIoNAls
Third Chabad Center
Opens in Shanghai
Reaching Souls,
Empowering Women:
Rabbi Manis Friedman
MATCHMAKER, MATCHMAKER:
PG 8
PG 9
PG 4
PG 5
JMontreal Expands To
Three U.S. Cities
LUBAVITCHINTERNATIONAL
EDITORIAL
LUBAVITCHINTERNATIONAL
2
‫ב”ה‬
Chanukah recalls the collision of two worlds. The Jewish world of
faith, Torah and a particular way of life that imbues even the mundane with sanctity, as opposed to a polytheistic, materialistic world
view.
The Menorah, kindled with pure oil, was representative of Jewish
life. In defiling the oil, the Greeks sought to corrupt the Menorah’s
lights with a Hellenistic influence.
But by Divine Providence, a small flask of uncontaminated oil
was found, allowing the Menorah to be kindled with the light of
Jewish inspiration.
This is symbolic of the Jewish soul, which at its core, remains pure,
open to the light of Torah, and capable of illuminating with its own
spiritual integrity.
NEWS FROM THE
CHABAD–LUBAVITCH
GLOBAL NETWORK
WWW.LUBAVITCH.COM
December 2011/January
2012. Volume 2, Issue 5.
Lubavitch International
is published 5 times a
year, February, June,
April, September, and
December by
Machne Israel,
770 Eastern Parkway,
Brooklyn, NY 11213.
Postage paid at Brooklyn,
NY post offices.
– From the Lubavitcher Rebbe,
Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of blessed memory
WALKING THE WALK OF THE CHABAD EMISSARY
Chairman
Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky
Editor-in-Chief
Baila olidort
Executive Editor
Rabbi Yosef B. Friedman
Managing Editor
Zalman Feldman
Media Relations
Yaacov Behrman
Research
mordechai lightstone
Staff Writers
R. C. Berman
s. Fridman
mendy Rimler
Contributing Writers
Jeremy davis
Chaviva Galatz
Yedida Wolfe
Design
R. Pinson
Published by
mACHNe IsRAel
luBAVITCH NeWs seRVICe
The official news network of the
Chabad-lubavitch movement
since 1958
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Baila Olidort
I
t’s that distinct gait of Chabad shluchim
that makes it easy to pick them out in a
crowd, even in a crowd of black hats. A
chipper confidence and a can-do spirit
tempered by humble awe for the largerthan-life vision of the lubavitcher Rebbe,
and the role the shluchim play in its fulfillment.
Es geht ah Chossid . . . Hard to translate
from the Yiddish, but that, in fact, was the
theme of this year’s International Conference of Chabad shluchim.
making the guest list of the banquet
session were some well-known Jewish
leaders who joined Chabad representatives.
In his keynote, uK Chief Rabbi lord
Jonathan sacks talked about the lessons he
took from the lubavitcher Rebbe, “one of
the greatest Jewish leaders, not just of our
time, but of all time,” in cultivating his own
sense of Jewish responsibility and leadership.
In 1967, then a 22 year old Cambridge
sophomore, sacks had come for an appointment with the Rebbe, hoping to get
his responses to “intellectual and philosophical questions,” then on his mind.
The young scholar hadn’t bargained for
a challenge.
“The Rebbe gave me intellectual, philosophical responses to my questions. And
then he began asking me questions. ‘How
many Jewish students are there at Cambridge? What are you doing to reach out
to them?’”
Caught unawares, sacks tried squirming
his way out of the challenge as any good
englishman would. “The english can construct more complex excuses for doing
nothing than anyone else on earth,” he admitted, garnering laughter.
“In the situation in which I find myself
. . .” he began. But the Rebbe interrupted
him midsentence:
“No one finds themselves in a situation.
You put yourself in a situation, and if you
put yourself in that situation, you can put
yourself in another situation.”
The Rebbe’s challenge, not to accept the
situation, but to change it, “was a moment,”
the Chief Rabbi said, “that changed my
life.” It was his lesson number 1 in Jewish
leadership.
Rabbi sacks’s 30-minute keynote address, packed with pithy lines and weighty
ideas, was both an ode to the Rebbe and a
powerful primer on Jewish leadership. He
sought the Rebbe’s guidance at critical
junctures in his educational and professional career, and gave up various ambitions to follow the Rebbe’s advice, to
become a congregational rabbi and train
rabbis because Anglo Jewry, said the
Rebbe, was short of rabbis.
In the course of his career, the Chief
Rabbi, who now holds three professorships, found all of his other ambitions fulfilled.
lesson number 2: “You never lose anything by putting Yiddishkeit first.”
using his platform at the BBC, the
Chief Rabbi took up the Rebbe's campaign
and began reaching out to non-Jews,
teaching the seven Noahide laws. The experience, he said, taught him “not only the
wisdom, the vast foresight of the Rebbe in
understanding that the world was ready to
hear a Jewish message, but it taught me—
and I want you never to forget these words,
that:
lesson number 3: “Non-Jews respect
Jews who respect Judaism. Non-Jews are
embarrassed by Jews who are embarrassed
by Judaism.”
The banquet, at Pier 12 in the Brooklyn
Cruise Terminal, drew people of different
backgrounds, among them non-traditional,
non observant. But concerns about antisemitism is universal. Indeed, there are,
said Rabbi sacks, “hundreds of organizations fighting anti-semitism.” But they fall
short, he said.
“The Rebbe offered the most radical response to the Holocaust ever conceived
and I don’t know if the Jewish world still
understands it.
lesson number 4: “If you want to fight hatred of Jews, you must practice love of Jews.”
The banquet dinner for 4,600 came at
the end of a 5-day conference that brought
Chabad emissaries from the far-flung parts
of the globe together at lubavitch Headquarters. A rare opportunity for them to
draw more energy and inspiration for their
life’s work, they spend a good part of the
Conference sharing heart-to-heart conversations. For many, especially those in distant places where Jewish life is thin,
loneliness is a constant. Fundraising pressures are another constant. And the Jewish
education of their own children is still another hurdle.
That others take them for granted is a
sign of their great success. But shluchim,
ever mindful of the privilege they have to
be a part of this larger-than-life mission,
persevere, and despite the difficulties, move
ahead with a spring in their step.
Rabbi sacks spoke to the conference
theme: Es geht ah Chossid. difficult to
translate from the Yiddish, the idea is that
one can identify a Chabad emissary not
only by their remarkable achievements, but
by the ordinary activities as well—as mundane as their walk.
It’s that carriage that exudes confidence
and purposefulness, and a perpetual awareness that there’s yet more, so much more
still to do. For those who remember, it’s a
walk not unlike the steady, quick clip of the
Rebbe’s gait.
“We will never manage to do it fully, but
we will do our best to walk as he walked,”
said Rabbi sacks in his closing comments,
exhorting his audience to embrace leadership as the Rebbe did, creating not followers but leaders, and recognizing that
despite Chabad’s great achievements in
transforming Jewish life, the work is far
from completed.
“In the silence of our souls we can hear
what the Rebbe would be saying to us now:
'You think you’ve done enough? There is
always more of the mountain to climb.'”
DECEMBER 2011 / JANUARY 2012 | WWW. LUBAVITCH . COM
COMMUNITY BUILDING
CHABAD OF
HOLLYWOOD LAKES, FL
PURCHaSES
FORMER CHURCH
CHABAD OF PALO ALTO
SHOWCASES $6 MILLION
EXPANSION
habad-lubavitch of the Greater
south Bay area kicked off a $6 million building project with a celebration
concert in November honoring the saal
Family for their contributions to the
broader Jewish community in Palo Alto.
The event, at the oshman Family Jewish
Community Center in Palo Alto, attracted
250 people who came to express their support for Chabad representatives Rabbi
Yosef and dena levin. Piano prodigy
ethan Bortnick headlined the concert.
“We chose to honor the saal Family because of their long-time support of Chabad
and their support of many organizations in
the community. Carol saal, the honorary
lifetime director at the oshman Family
JCC, recently led a successful $140 million
capital campaign to build the oshman
Family JCC.” Harry saal lauded Chabad
for their innovative work and cohesive intercommunity relations with other Jewish
organizations.
The levins, serving the Greater south
Bay Jewish community since 1980,
have developed a wide range of social, educational and religious activities, and have
recruited more Chabad representatives to
open additional centers in the area. With
seven Chabad families serving at five
Chabad centers in the area, among them
Chabad of stanford university, Chabad of
sunnyvale and Chabad of los Altos, the
levins show no signs of slowing down.
“The new building will allow for the expansion of our programs and further cement the vibrant Jewish community in
Palo Alto,” said levin. The 10,000 square
C
I
n an interesting reversal of a century-old
trend that saw synagogues converted to
churches, a former church building later
outfitted as a private residence will now become the “shul of the lakes” for the Hollywood lakes community.
The imposing mediterranean Revival
was built in the 1920s and served as a
methodist church. In 1926, the miami
Hurricane dealt the building a devastating
blow, but it retained much of its detail and
character, even on the exterior.
The $1.5 million project, which will
transform the building into a synagogue is
timely and appropriate, said Rabbi mendy
Tennenhaus, director of Chabad of N.e.
Hollywood & dania.
“In the last thirty-odd years, we have
seen a migration of Jewish people from
west Florida back to the eastern coast,”
Rabbi Tennenhaus said. Attracted by the
beachfront homes, ample shopping and
family-oriented living, young people have
come in droves to settle in this neighborhood.
Today 1,500 Jewish families live in N.e.
Hollywood, numbers that were significantly smaller in the 1920s, when churchgoers filled this heritage building.
To accommodate this community’s
needs, Rabbi Tennenhaus and his wife,
endi, have developed a broad range of relevant activities for young families, with an
emphasis on cultivating a base of youth by
teaching Jewish values in an exciting and
fun environment.
“Parents place their children first when
looking for programs and community. They
want their children to be happy at the
events they attend,” said Rabbi Tennenhaus.
“If kids feel comfortable at Chabad,
their parents will join them at our programs and enjoy bringing the entire family.”
Tammy Wagner, a self-employed
mother of three, agrees.
“ The building is
important for this
community because
it is historical,
and it is also located
smack in the center
of the community,
between the north
and south lake
areas.”
“I never wanted to go to shul [synagogue] when I was growing up. I dreaded
services at shul,” she says. “Now my children beg me to take them to shul every
saturday.”
Joseph Kaller, an architect who is working with Rabbi Tennenhaus on the remodeling plans for the interior, says that the
central location of the synagogue is significant.
“The building is important for this community because it is historical, and it is also
located smack in the center of the community, between the north and south lake
areas.”
The 25,000 square foot property will
allow for expansion of the building and
lush, green spaces for children to play.
When the necessary funds are raised—initial support has been provided by the
Tabacinic Family Foundation and the sam
Goldberg Trust—Tennenhaus hopes to restore the building to its former, pre-1926
appearance.
Wagner anticipates that this new home
“will take on a life of its own when the
people make it a place for Jewish services.”
Photos by Alex Axelrod Photography
foot building on a 27,000 square foot property will feature a beautifully designed outreach center and synagogue, a social hall,
offices, preschool, classrooms and a commercial kitchen. The existing mikvah will
be updated and incorporated into the new
structure.
The idea is to create a beautiful space
“where anyone will feel safe and comfortable to explore their Jewish heritage by taking advantage of the many possibilities for
studying and socializing in a warm, inviting
environment,” Rabbi
levin
told
lubavitch.com.
With $2 million already secured,
Chabad hopes to break ground on the new
building project in early 2013 and expects
it to be completed by 2014.
Techies, engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs joined artists, wage-earners and
stay-at-home-parents to celebrate the rich
Jewish life experience that Chabad has
brought to the area.
“People appreciate that Chabad is an inclusive organization that works to reach
out to every Jew, irrespective of affiliation
or background,” said levin at the conclusion of a successful, joyful concert.
The idea is to create a beautiful
space “where anyone will feel safe
and comfortable to explore their
Jewish heritage by taking advantage of the many possibilities for
studying and socializing in a
warm, inviting environment.”
3
LUBAVITCHINTERNATIONAL
4
PROFILES
REACHING SOULS, EMPOWERING WOMEN:
RABBI MANIS FRIEDMAN
The soft-spoken rabbi with the deadpan humor
is the quiet inspiration behind the revolution
that has empowered Jewish women to take
control of their lives.
“He understood me.”
“He listened to me.”
“Teach a woman,
“He opened the door to my soul
you teach a world.
and I made the decision to change
Women not only start and
my life.”
guide families, they shape
generations and have the
GAIN ANd AGAIN, these are
the
words women use to describe
power to compel men to be
the impact Rabbi manis Friedman has
their best selves.”
a
Rabbi Friedman leading a class for young women
had on their lives. since the 1970s,
women seeking spiritual meaning and
direction have been turning to Friedman whose gift for listening is matched
by his gift for teaching in clear, simple,
blessedly platitude-free terms.
When he co-founded Bais Chana
Institute in minnesota over 40 years
ago, Rabbi Friedman turned his attention to a neglected demographic:
women with little or no tethers to traditional Judaism who either had no
substantive Jewish education, or had
been turned off by what they did learn.
Four decades later, the number of Bais
Chana alumnae reaches into the thousands. The soft-spoken rabbi with the
deadpan humor is the quiet inspiration
behind the revolution that has empowered Jewish women to take control of
their lives.
Though there are life-transforming
gurus a gogo, Rabbi Friedman’s influence remains unimpeachable. Hinda
leah sharfstein, a one-time student
now executive director of Bais Chana,
said Rabbi Friedman’s strength is
knowing how to help a “generation fed
spiritual and cultural junk food,”
whether it was the post-hippie of the
early seventies, the disenchanted yuppie
of the Reagan era or the over-texted,
iPathetic teen of today.
Rabbi Friedman’s gifts for encapsulating Jewish thought and compelling
delivery were recognized early. He was
on his first lecture tour for the lubavitch Youth organization as a shy 16
year-old. With his knack for slicing and
dicing a Chasidic concept right down
to its core, Friedman’s choice to devote
his career to teaching women was
thought by some to be a soft option. He disagrees. “Teach a woman, you
teach a world.” Women not only start
and guide families, they shape generations and have the power to compel
men to be their best selves, he explains.
on the subject of relationships, he
looks to the simple and obvious, often
overlooked in favor of complicated,
fancy solutions: “If women expect respect and commitment, then men will
give it to them. most men will do anything to make women happy.” on family, Friedman, the father of
14, observes a complete breakdown in
the parent-child dynamic and insists on
the tried and true of basic parenting:
“Behave like a mother, assert your role
as a moral guide in the life of your
child, and your children will respect
you, and grow up to be morally responsible adults.”
When as a newlywed, Rabbi Friedman moved to minnesota to begin his
work with Chabad’s senior representative of the upper midwest,
Rabbi moshe Feller, the prospects for
success of a program like Bais Chana
were uncertain at best.
Four decades ago, America was a
country transitioning from imagining
all the people living in harmony to “I
am woman hear me roar.” donna
Reed’s cookies and milk as the feminine ideal were dumped in favor of
power suits. Girls who reached womanhood in the ‘70s were the first raised
with the Pill as a viable option, and in
the world before AIds, women were
the guinea pigs living in the fallout
from new sexual mores. Against a backdrop of casual relationships, Rabbi
Friedman promoted traditional Jewish
values and spoke up for preserving intimacy, creating boundaries. Critics sniffed the heady scent of the
times and sneered. “Americans will
never respond to traditional Judaism,”
Rabbi Friedman recalls being told. He persevered. A first season summer retreat to give college women the
opportunity to catch up on Jewish
learning before moving on to study
programs in Israel grew. Women
flocked to this rabbi whose wise, unassailably sensible answers to their
fraught questions were culled directly
from Chasidic teachings impeccably
translated into modern syntax. A typical night at Bais Chana had Rabbi
Friedman answering questions from
women until the sun glinted off of
minnesota’s ever-present snow. Recently ranked one of the top nonprofits empowering women by GreatNonprofits and Guidestar, Bais Chana
Institute now draws 800 women a year.
The Bais Chana experience has diversified, offering teen programs, retreats
for single moms, and now couple retreats.
In classic Friedman understatement,
he puts his devotion to his life’s work
this way. “How can you not want to
help people when you know there is no
need to suffer?”
CHANUKAH: A BRIEF HISTORY
Around 168 B.C. the Jewish people living in Israel came under the control of Antiochus IV, King of Syria, who outlawed the
practice of the Jewish faith, massacred thousands of Jews, and defiled the city’s Holy Temple by erecting an altar to Zeus
and sacrificing pigs within its sacred walls.
The Jewish priest Mattityahu and his five sons led a revolt against Antiochus. After Mattityahu’s death, his son, Judah Maccabee took over, and within two years succeeded in driving the Syrians out of Jerusalem. Judah called on his people to
restore the Temple, rebuild its altar and light its menorah—a gold candelabrum that was kept illuminated every night.
DECEMBER 2011 / JANUARY 2012 | WWW. LUBAVITCH . COM
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
MATCHMAKER, MATCHMAKER:
JMOnTREal EXPANDS TO THREE
U.S. CITIES
M
ontreal is no Anatevka, but a local
matchmaking site is bringing the
matchmaker back to town.
The city’s locally based Jewish matchmaking network, Jmontreal.com, has garnered over one thousand sign-ups. An
algorithm identifies similar personalities,
and matchmakers review the suggestions
from the system, and then extensively interview each individual before passing contact information on to the each party.
“It started with a growing local base of
young professionals,” Rabbi Yisroel
Bernath, director of Chabad of NdG and
loyola Campus, told lubavitch.com. After
he made twenty matches with people in his
network, he took it online with Jmontreal.com, which has facilitated over 250
introductions.
It didn’t take long for Bernath to identify a large group of natural partners in his
matchmaking efforts: In recent years,
Chabad representatives have cultivated
communities of young, Jewish professionals—the same audience and demographic
that Bernath is targeting with
Jmontreal.com
“It’s an extraordinarily efficient way for
Chabad representatives to tap into their
networks of young professionals and make
Jewish marriages happen,” said Bernath.
But it took two and a half years of work
on the back-end of the site before he was
ready for expansion. Working closely with
Woodmere Asset management, the parent
company of the popular Jewish matchmaking site sawYouAtsinai.com, Bernath developed a powerful database behind a
secure user interface that records the necessary information for each profile. users
cannot browse or access other profiles on
Jmontreal.com.
Then Bernath took everything he
learned at Jmontreal.com and partnered
with Chabad centers in the us who cater
to young professionals. With the help of a
grant by the machne Israel development
Fund, three sites launched in the last two
months, Jdallas.org, JBoston.org,
and Jmiami.org, in each respective city. Ten
more sites are set to launch over the next
year. Also part of the network is JJunction.org.au in sydney, Australia, run by
Rabbi mendel Kastel. All the administrative work on the back-end is streamlined
between all sites, and the new sites are
using the same database system.
Already, Jdallas.org has drawn over 70
sign-ups on the site, according to Aida
drizin, co-director of The Intown Chabad
in uptown dallas for young professionals.
“so far, people have been very receptive,”
she said. “They’re happy to know that
someone they can trust is looking out for
them. And for us, it’s important that we
help the young adults that we come in contact with to marry Jewish.”
like all the other sites, Jdallas.org is
limited to residents of dallas. While online
matchmaking sites generally create global
or national networks, the location-specific
element at Jdallas.org is a big draw for
young adults.
“many people aren’t ready to commit to
a long distance relationship,” drizin explained.
Yet for the segment of members who
would consider dating a Jewish person out
of state, Bernath is well prepared. over the
next ten years, he plans to roll out 50 sites
in locations around the world. eventually,
users will be able to choose to stay local or
be matched with a member in the country,
or abroad.
ultimately, one international website
will connect the dots for Jewish singles involved in networks of young professionals
at Chabad centers, globally.
“With the network we have in place in
the Chabad movement, we can launch this
locally and on a global scale,” explained
Bernath.
“We think this will change the way Jewish people think about dating.”
It will also change the intermarriage
rates. “Technology can definitely help con-
“It’s an extraordinarily
efficient way for Chabad
representatives to tap
into their networks of
young professionals
and make Jewish
marriages happen.”
nect Jewish singles,” said doron Kornbluth, author of Why Marry Jewish? and a
sought-after international speaker on intermarriage.
“As long as they have veto power over
who they meet, people are open to this, and
once they meet they take it from there,”
said Kornbluth. In addition, the matchmakers offer members guidance throughout the dating process when members
enlist their help.
more than 100 years since matchmakers
plied their service, “matchmaking is back,”
said Bernath, “but with a modern twist.”
HAMBURG INSTALLS NEW CHIEF RABBI
he city state of Hamburg installed its newly elected Chief
Rabbi, Chabad’s Rabbi shlomo
Bistritsky, on december 1.
“This is a historic moment for
Hamburg. For more than three
years we’ve been without a chief
rabbi,” said Roy Naor, a member of
the Board of directors of the city’s
Jewish community in a conversation with lubavitch.com shortly
after the election results were announced. “Today constitutes a new
beginning for the Jews of this city.”
T
In his role as Chabad representative, the 34 year-old Rabbi
Bistritsky, originally
from
Israel, has been serving Hamburg’s
Jewish population of about 8000
for the last eight years. But the new
position will help him enrich Jewish life there immeasurably, he
said. speaking by phone with lubavitch.com from his home as wellwishers poured in to congratulate
him, Rabbi Bistritsky, whose
grandfather
grew
up
in
Hamburg, said the election “confirms that the Jewish community
recognizes and appreciates the
work and dedication of Chabad.”
The position has been vacant for
the past three years.
Hamburg, the second largest
city in Germany with densely populated urban areas, is one of only
three city states in Germany. The
other two are Berlin and Bremen.
From the 17th century until the
Holocaust, Hamburg together
with Altona and Wandsbek,
formed an important Jewish
religious and cultural center. Among the great rabbis who
served there were the famed 18th
century talmudist, Rabbi Yacov
emden, and his rival Rabbi
Yonasan eybschutz. In 1933, Hamburg had a Jewish
population of about 20,000. About
half perished during the Holocaust.
The rest were dispersed, and by
1947 the city counted only 1,268
Jews.
Rabbi Shlomo Bistritsky
5
LUBAVITCHINTERNATIONAL
6
GENERATION TO GENERATION
FORGING FRIENDSHIPS, PRESERVING MEMORY
THE SUNSHINE CIRCLE BRINGS TEENAGERS
AND HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS TOGETHER
H
olocaust survivors are a fast dwindling population. But buried with
many a survivor who dies is a story of untold suffering and loss, and also, lessons of
an extraordinary will for life.
survivors have good reason to be concerned about what will happen with their
stories after none are left to give first-hand
testimony. even with them still here to
speak out, obnoxious voices deny the
Holocaust, and a young generation grows
further removed and ignorant of the darkest chapter of Jewish history.
shaindy Friedman, a young Chabad
representative with a robust enthusiasm for
history, has decided to bridge the generational and cultural divide that separates
teenagers and Holocaust survivors, and do
many great mitzvahs along the way for
both.
Born and raised in Palm springs, Friedman grew up surrounded by a significant
number of Holocaust survivors—some
local, some visiting, and all praying at her
father’s synagogue.
“Year after year we’d hear about which
survivors would not be returning for their
annual winter visits,” she said, “the survivors we’d lost.”
When she returned as a newlywed to
California with her husband, Rabbi mendy
Friedman, they founded The sunshine Circle, pairing Jewish teenagers with local
Holocaust survivors.
“many survivors have expressed concern
that as time passes, interest wanes,” she
said.
“It bolsters them to become an active
part in transferring vital knowledge and experience to students.”
operating for a little more than a year
in Palm desert, The sunshine Circle
Shaindy Friedman, pictured here with Holocaust survivor Nathan Hoffman
“[The] Sunshine Circle is a fresh, sensible, admirable
project. Bringing teenagers together with survivors
passes on the torch of Jewish historical memory hand to
hand, from those who know most to those who need it.”
— Herman Wouk
counts 52 teen participants, a majority of
whom joined without prompting.
The sunshine Circle gave teenager
Howie Berkowitz “the chance to be engaged in living history, to have the opportunity to connect personally with the
remaining survivors of a waning generation.”
Teen participants visit with survivors in
their homes, attend weekly or bimonthly
meetings and general group sessions where
they are addressed by a survivor or speaker,
and will be involved in community-wide
projects that advance the message of The
sunshine Circle, including an upcoming
art exhibit featuring photographs of local
THE MENORAH
The Temple menorah was a seven branch menorah. The
Chanukah Menorah, also called the Chanukiah is different.
It has eight branches (the ninth is set apart and used only
to light the others) corresponding to the eight nights of
Chanukah that commemorate the miracle of the oil. Each
night of Chanukah, one additional light is kindled, so that
by the end of the Chanukah, all eight lights are illuminated.
survivors.
The program imbues teens with a strong
sense of their history and identity, and
helps build leadership skills as they bring
joy and solace to the lives of local Holocaust survivors.
one of those survivors, Frances Nassau,
was imprisoned in the Terezin camp before
being sent with her family to Auschwitz
and later to Bergen-Belsen, where she was
liberated. she lost her entire family in the
Holocaust.
“Frances’s story must live on after her,
and I am proud to be the one to carry it to
the next generation,” teen participant Ally
levine said.
Ally plans to meet with Frances regularly and is working to develop “a personal
relationship with her that goes above and
beyond the past. The Holocaust is more
than just the facts taught in history books;
it is the stories and feelings of survivors.
each year there are fewer survivors. I can
now share the truths of the Holocaust with
the world even after the last survivor is
gone.”
encountering teenagers who take a real
interest in their story allows survivors to
share painful memories buried deep within
their souls, sometimes for the first time
since emerging from those nightmare
years.
“These are memories I have never shared
before,” mauthausen survivor Nathan Hoffman said. “No one has ever asked me about
them.”
The organization has earned the admiration of many in the Jewish community,
most notably Herman Wouk, a longtime
congregant of Chabad of Palm springs,
and a friend and mentor of Friedman.
“[The] sunshine Circle is a fresh, sensible, admirable project,” said the Pulitzer
Prize author. “Bringing teenagers together
with survivors passes on the torch of Jewish
historical memory hand to hand, from those
who know most to those who need it.”
For teen ethan mezrahi, the “sunshine
Circle transforms our history into a personal reality by being able to connect with
this last generation of survivors.”
matthew levine, another teenager,
agrees. “It isn’t a club, it’s an experience,
learning from a lost generation to find out
more about ourselves.”
In 1975, Chabad began a tradition promoting the holiday of
Chanukah and its lessons of Jewish faith and Jewish pride
by erecting large outdoor menorahs in public spaces.
The first one went up that year in San Francisco’s Union
Square. Erected by the late Rolling Stones promoter and
Holocaust survivor Bill Graham, it was known as the
“mama” menorah because of the thousands of others it
inspired globally. 25 feet tall by 15 feet wide—the Menorah
was surrounded by evergreens, and drew 1,000 people on
the first night of Chanukah.
DECEMBER 2011 / JANUARY 2012 | WWW. LUBAVITCH . COM
7
LUBAVITCHINTERNATIONAL
8
CAMPUS
PENN STATE JEWISH STUDENTS
FIND HEALING THROUGH SHABBAT
enn state Chabad Rabbi Nosson
meretsky sent an email out to Jewish
students one Friday in November.
“This has been a very crazy week here
at Penn state, there are lots of emotions,
there are lots of tears, questions, shock.
People are wondering, what now? Where
do we go from here? Happy Valley has
been turned upside down.”
With Penn state in the throes of a
scandal that erupted in November over allegations of child molestation by the
school’s former assistant coach, and the
failure of two Penn state officials to act on
the allegations, students “need time to
process,” and shabbat, meretsky wrote in
his email, is as good a time as any to
begin.
A much needed reprieve came again
sunday, November 13th, as the school’s
Jewish student body celebrated the 10year anniversary of Chabad of Penn state.
Alumni, students, parents and friends
turned out to celebrate with Rabbi Nosson and sarah at Chabad of the Plaza
district in New York City, where most of
the guests live.
P
Photography by Bentzion Elisha
Rabbi and Mrs. Meretsky with honorees
Penn State students celebrate with Chabad
marvin and sandra Kohll of omaha,
Nebraska, were honored with the Heart
of excellence award for their support of
the meretskys’ efforts.
Thomas and Heather Baumgarten of
state College, PA were honored with the
Community Pillar award. Part of the local
community, they’ve been partnering with
the meretskys to increase and enhance
Jewish life at Penn state and the state
College community since their humble
beginnings. Nicole (Nikki) Hetchcop who began
the Jewish Heritage group on campus
with the meretskys—creating huge Jewish-themed parties at fraternities—was
awarded with the young leadership
award. seven student leaders were honored at
the dinner: Chabad Jewish student organization presidents, maura Klonder and
Bree Feibishkoff, past president, Jackie
Kelly, board members Jason Cohen
and Josh Frisch, as well as the new Jewish
Heritage group chairs, danielle Assour
and melisa Reizner.
In her remarks, Heather Baumgarten
reflected sadly at the recent fall of some of
Penn state’s pillars, but took comfort in
the strength of the meretskys as pillars
who continue to enrich the experience of
Jewish students with Torah study and
Jewish values. Rabbi meretsky told lubavitch.com: “I
have lived here now for 10 years. spanier
and Jopa have been a part of my life since
I came here. In my experience with them,
they always seemed deeply concerned for
the well-being of this great university and
of every student here.”
mertesky said that he is struggling, together with the students “to come to
terms with the the scandal, and how it
ripped through our university and our
town so quickly and so fiercely.”
If there is a silver lining here, say the
meretskys, it has made students appreciate the opportunities for unity and for the
healing, spiritual space of shabbat, when
they disconnect from the endless barrage
of media reports, and are free to focus on
the joy of sharing friendship and Torah at
Penn state’s Chabad shabbat table. THE STICKER
COLLECTION
In 1980, when Alpern was a an elementary school student, his dad,
Rabbi shabsi Alpern, tapped into
the sticker craze so popular with
young kids at the time. Alpern’s
fond memory of this activity, shared
by many of his former classmates
thirty years later, now inspired him
to create a new sticker album for Jewish school students.
BRAZIL CHABAD INTRODUCES
HIGH TECH SCHOOL
Instead of trading in stickers produced
by disney or other entertainment
companies, students will trade stickers
with Jewish content and compete to
complete their albums.
W
With a supply of 312,000 stickers created by a team of designers led by
Vitor elman, a local Brazilian designer, each page of the 28-page album
will have 10 stickers with messages
about Jewish values or topics such
as “Torah,” “moses,” “love Your Fellow,” and “make the World A Better
Place.”
ith more than 1000 new cars on
the road every day, s. Paulo
ranks among the worst traffic cities in the
world. It’s so bad, many will do whatever
they can to avoid spinning their wheels on
its congested roads. According to Rabbi Yossi Alpern, director of Beit Chabad do Brasil, that’s
partly to blame for why many Jewish families in some of sao Paulo’s rural areas won’t
send their children to Jewish schools. “The
traffic here is unbearable,” said
Alpern. “People are looking for alternatives to get what they need without driving.”
Alpern is planning to unveil an alternative day school that he believes will radically alter the Jewish education experience
for Brazilian Jews. Now in the process of
developing an online Hebrew school that
will bring Jewish studies into their homes,
he expects to reach Jewish students who
live outside of the Brazil’s major Jewish
population centers in sao Paulo or Rio de
Janeiro. The Jewish online school of Beit
Chabad will reach out to Jewish families in
223 cities and towns in Brazil that have no
Jewish schools. Alpern hopes to sign up at
least 50 Portuguese-speaking students between ages 10 to 12 for the initial digital
course, scheduled to launch in march
2012. The multimedia experience will, he
expects, ultimately attract a large portion of
Brazil’s 120,000 Jews. The initial course, an intensive 12-week
digital and multimedia experience, will
teach students about the Jewish calendar
and holidays using an imaginative mix of
videos, multimedia games, and interactive
activities, as well as online reading materials. students will explore a new topic every
week with video, audio, and reading components produced specifically for this
course.
The Jewish online school will also
allow students the opportunity to earn
awards for completing each activity,
through a method similar to the “badges”
earned on the popular location-based social
networking website Foursquare.
The curriculum for this program was developed by Carlos seabra and michel metzger, two Brazilian innovators of
educational software. seabra is editorial
coordinator at TV Cultura and metzger is
president of the council of Cidade escola
Aprendiz and coordinator of pedagogic
computer science at Iavne school.
They worked together previously while
developing the multimedia educational
program at sao Paulo university’s escola
do Futuro, the “school of the Future.”
The stickers will be distributed to Jewish schools and community organizations that will then use them as prizes
or incentives. It’s another way, said Alpern, who enjoys using his creative flair to promote
Jewish education, of reaching kids
through their own games and activities
with meaningful content and good
Jewish information. DECEMBER 2011 / JANUARY 2012 | WWW. LUBAVITCH . COM
NEW CHABAD CENTER
THIRD CHABAD CENTER OPENS IN SHANGHAI
Interior of the new Chabad Center
hanghai’s Jewish community recently
celebrated the formal opening of a
new Chabad center in the heart of the
city’s downtown area.
It is the third Jewish center to open in
shanghai under the direction of Chabad’s
chief representatives, Rabbi shalom and
dinie Greenberg.
“The necessity for a third location is a
wonderful reflection of Jewish pride here
in shanghai, and evidence of the lively
growth of the Jewish community,” Rabbi
Greenberg said.
Rabbi shlomo and Anael Aouizerat,
Chabad representatives to the new center,
have been serving the French Jews of
“Asia’s Paris,” as the area is known, since arriving to shanghai four years ago.
S
The new Chabad Center and Kosher Market
At first, the Aouizerats shared space
with the Greenberg’s shanghai Jewish
Center, hosting activities for French speaking members, with Rabbi shlomo officiating as the Center’s sephardic Rabbi. during the shanghai expo 2010, Rabbi
shlomo officiated at the historic ohel
Rachel synagogue which Chinese authorities allowed the community to use for
shabbat services and dinner. ohel Rachel
is located in the center of downtown
shanghai.
The area’s numbers of young Jewish professionals swelled over that period, and
when the synagogue was closed again at
the end of the expo, Chabad continued to
host activities and services in a nearby location, eventually drawing nearly 100 peo-
Shangai Jews celebrate opening of new Center
ple to Friday evening shabbat services.
“As the community simply kept growing, it became obvious that a new Jewish
Center was in the making,” said Rabbi
Greenberg.
A rented facility renovated to comfortably accommodate all of Chabad’s local
programs and services, the new center includes a synagogue, Beit midrash study
hall and Koshermart, where Jewish residents and visitors can purchase kosher
products. The synagogue was sponsored by
the Benchetrit and Taieb families. The
Teboul family underwrote the Beit
midrash.
located near the ohel Rachel synagogue, the new center “offers us the opportunity to be more integrated with the
“The necessity for a third
location is a wonderful
reflection of Jewish pride
here in Shanghai, and
evidence of the lively
growth of the Jewish
community.”
historic landmark that we have worked so
hard, over so many years, to keep functional,” said Rabbi Greenberg. “We still
wait for the day, hopefully soon, that ohel
Rachel will once again be used regularly by
our community.”
9
LUBAVITCHINTERNATIONAL
10
ASIA
AT CHINA’S LARGEST EXPORT FAIR,
CHABAD PROVIDES OASIS
omen count on la-Tweez products to pluck arches to perfection, but at Guangzhou’s mega-China
Import and export Canton Fair, it was
la Tweez’s Ceo eran Israel who
raised his eyebrows as he saw hundreds
drawn to Chabad’s services there.
If you’re holding a made in China
item (and these days who’s not?)
chances are the deal that brought it
from Asia to your local big box store or
boutique was negotiated at the Canton
Fair. Held twice a year since the 1950s,
the China Import and export Fair
spans 37 exhibition halls filled with
over 55,000 booths and attracts
200,000 buyers from more than 200
countries.
Among the madness an oasis beckons. Chabad of Guangzhou hosts daily
services every weekday of the Fair.
Hundreds of Jews show up, dignifying
a pass-through between halls four and
five in exhibition Building A with
prayer.
Before and after services, a babel of
languages—Portuguese, Russian, Panamanian-accented spanish, Yiddish—
compete with Hebrew and english.
many minyan-goers fish their kippahs
from their pockets or take one prof-
W
fered them by Chabad of Guangzhou’s
representative.
Attending a minyan in the middle of
the workday back home, say a good
number of the businessmen, is not a
priority; at Canton, the 1 p.m. break for
prayer is programmed into their Blackberries. Before the frenzy begins each
morning of the fair, Chabad of
Guangzhou opens the day at its fourstory headquarters, located 20 minutes
away from the halls, with three morning prayer services and, later, closes
with four back-to-back evening prayer
sessions.
“You see every kind of Jew here. All
kinds of Chasidim—Bobov, satmar—
all the litvaks, Israelis, religious, not religious, everyone comes together,”
mr. Israel said. “outside of Israel,
everyone seeks a place to find their Jewish family, they look for their brothers
and sisters.”
Chabad provides a sense of family
year round. There’s a restaurant on the
bottom floor of Chabad’s center that
serves business people each week, offering breakfast, dinner and boxed lunches
for the deal maker on the go. on shabbat the crowd swells to 200, and during
the fair the overflow crowd reaches up
to the 400 mark. deals sealed at the fair
are shipped out from nearby ports,
which mr. Israel speculates drives the
numbers at the prayer services.
“When your livelihood is loaded in
a container on a ship sailing from
China, it makes you want to pray.”
For buyers, a quick three-week trip
to China twice a year is sufficient.
manufacturers required on-site at their
Guangzhou factories set up homes,
bring their families, and drive the
growth of Guangzhou’s year-round
Jewish community.
A twelve-hour flight from Israel, and
a longer one from the u.s.,
Guangzhou’s remote location virtually
assures that Chabad’s focus will remain
on helping the business traveler stay
Jewishly rooted while pursuing a living.
They’ve been called into help wheeler
dealers who injure themselves in
Guangzhou make their way through a
hospitalization in China or recuperate
from the aftereffects of drinking tap
water.
daniela Herz, who traveled from Israel to her first Canton Fair this year, is
grateful. “You have no idea—there is
nothing like Chabad when you are far
away from home.”
“When your livelihood is
loaded in a container on a
ship sailing from China, it
makes you want to pray.”
DECEMBER 2011 / JANUARY 2012 | WWW. LUBAVITCH . COM
INTERNATIONAL
CHABAD OF CANNES AT G20 SUMMIT
ill Greece abandon the
euro? Will it leave the
eu? Will China invest
more in the eurozone bailout? did
sarkozy appreciate obama’s joke?
Was history in fact, being written in
Cannes this year as posters plastered
over the city emblazoned with the
words, l’Histoire s’écrit à Cannes,
claim?
These were some of the questions
on the minds of participants at the
G20 summit in early November, on
the French Riviera. As heads of state
and finance ministers from the world’s
largest nations converged on Cannes,
the city became a tight security zone,
with more than 12,000 police and security personnel securing the area, including the Cannes Chabad Center,
W
centrally located and visible to all
summit-goers. “We’re in the heart of the area, and
with the summit going on, greater
numbers of visitors came to our center,
“The summit
offered us good
opportunities to meet
Jews and let them
know that Chabad is
here for them.”
so we were under very tight security,”
Rabbi mendel matusof said.
Rabbi matusof and his colleague,
Rabbi Youdi lewin, accessed summit
events to reach out to Jewish participants and welcome them to Cannes.
some 3500 journalists and 5000
guests from around the world attended. Chabad’s kosher restaurant
delivered meals to kosher-observant
guests staying in the area’s hotels. Rabbi matusof was among a group
of guests invited to a meeting with
French President sarkozy. later, the
Chabad rabbis met with distinguished
Jewish businessmen.
“The summit offered us good opportunities to meet Jews and let them
know that Chabad is here for them,”
said matusof, the son of Chabad senior representatives to Cannes, Rabbi
Yehuda leib and Tsherna matusof.
11
LUBAVITCHINTERNATIONAL
BOOKS
CHANUKAH COMES TO LIFE
WITH “TOUCH AND FEEL”
BOOK
BOOkS in REviEW
STUDIES
IN RASHI
NEW VOLUME BRINGS
LUBAVITCHER REBBE’S
RASHI SERIES TO THE
PUBLIC
tudies in Rashi, the first volume in a
new series focusing on the lubavitcher
Rebbe’s ground-breaking exposition of
Rashi’s commentary on the Torah, was recently published by Kehot Publication society. The new volume contains 12 essays
on the book of Bereishit, Genesis, many of
them translated into english for the first
time.
The bilingual text is presented with each
page of english translation set across from
the Hebrew original. An introduction offers a summary of 17 principles identified
by the Rebbe that Rashi employs in his
commentary, and a bibliography rounds
out the volume. Though designed with ease
of use in mind, the clean layout and handsome binding make the volume an attractive addition to any bookshelf.
At the heart of the volume is its revolutionary presentation and elucidation of the
Rebbe’s unique approach to the study of
Rashi, the “father” of Biblical commentaries. Culled from what are collectively
known as Rashi sichos, or talks on Rashi,
the Rebbe’s methodology is considered one
of his most novel contributions to the field
of Jewish scholarship.
Beginning with the passing of his
mother, Rebbetzin Chana, in 1964, the
Rebbe would dedicate a segment of his
weekly shabbat public gatherings to
Rashi’s commentary on the weekly Torah
portion. For the next 25 years, the Rebbe
would expound upon Rashi’s nuanced
writings, analyzing its implications in the
kaleidoscope of classical biblical commentary, Halachic discourse and Kabbalistic
thought.
“The twelve essays in the book were selected because they represent a sample variety of the Rebbe’s work on Rashi and his
treatment of Rashi’s commentary. students
will get a good sense of the technique the
Rebbe applied to his analysis of Rashi,” explained Rabbi david olidort, a noted
Chabad scholar and senior member of
Kehot’s editorial board.
According to Rabbi Y. eliezer
danzinger, the principle translator, it was
the allure of the broad scope of the Rebbe’s
talks on Rashi that initially attracted him
to the project.
“I was always enamored with the contributions the Rebbe made to the study of
Rashi,” danzinger says. “The methodology
he employed always fascinated me. It’s so
elegant.”
...the Rebbe’s
methodology is
considered one of
his most novel
contributions to
the field of Jewish
scholarship.
danzinger views the work in the new
volume as one of important pedagogical
value. While much has been written in Hebrew about the Rebbe’s Rashi talks, they
have remained heretofore largely untranslated into english. By overcoming the
“tension between retaining fidelity to the
original text” and “interpretive language
that [better] facilitates understanding,”
danzinger hopes that the resulting translation will be a valuable tool, both “in the
classroom setting as well as for personal
study.”
Studies in Rashi can be purchased from
Kehot.com.
C
hanukah enlivens all of the senses
with its oil, light, and sweet treats.
Now, award-winning author sylvia Rouss
brings the holiday experience alive for children in her new book, A Touch of Chanukah.
Rouss, an early childhood educator
known for creating the popular Sammy the
Spider and The Littlest Books, helps children
explore the eight-day festival of lights with
a rhyming rendition of the Jews’ triumph
over darkness. The book has “touch and
feel” elements, including the waxy feel of
the Chanukiah’s candles and sticky sensation of the jelly of sufganiot (jelly donuts),
which Rouss said her grandchildren especially love.
“I have always used rhymes in my work
as a teacher, so adding the tactile component made it an even more rewarding concept,” Rouss said. “The story is inspired by
the symbols that a young child identifies
with the holiday of Chanukah.”
Rouss has taught Jewish preschool for
more than 30 years and has had 33 books
in print or slated for publication since
1992. she has lectured throughout the
united states, europe, and Israel, and even
THE DREIDEL
s
“
Years of teaching has shown rouss
that some parents struggle with
cultivating their child’s Jewish
identity, and her books are her way
of meeting that challenge.
“
12
with her success as an author, she has not
given up what she loves most: teaching.
The greatest inspiration for her books,
Rouss said, is her students.
“my classroom of 4-year-old children
keeps me on my toes and is a constant
source of entertainment and inspiration,”
she said.
Years of teaching has shown Rouss that
some parents struggle with cultivating
their child’s Jewish identity, and her books
are her way of meeting that challenge.
“I think my books can be helpful to a
parent if they match an action with reading
the story,” she said. “For instance, if you’re
going to read about Chanukah, you want
to be lighting candles in your own home.
my books are important tools that families
can use to strengthen their Jewish identity,
but they are complements to Jewish celebrations, not the end-all to celebrations.”
Rouss said she hopes to do more touch
and feel books, but most of all, she hopes
that children’s Chanukah memories are reinforced by reading the story.
“I was pleased with the project,” she
said. “It’s so much fun for children.”
The dreidel is a four sided spinning top traditionally played on
Chanukah. According to some sources, dreidel games
were a convenient disguise used by Jewish children during the persecution by the Assyrians. Forbidden to
study Torah, they did so anyhow, pulling out their dreidels and playing whenever the authorities came near.
The dreidel bears one of four Hebrew letters one each
of its sides—nun, gimmel, hey and shin, which together
are an acronym for the Hebrew statement: Nes
Gadol Haya Sham—a great miracle happened there. In Israel, dreidels bear the letter pey instead of shin—an acronym for a
great miracle happened here.
DECEMBER 2011 / JANUARY 2012 | WWW. LUBAVITCH . COM
13
NEW TORAH OCCUPIES WALL STREET
Continued from cover story
FIRST EVER
ANIMATED SIDDUR
Rabbi Shmaya and Rachel Katz with their children and the new Torah scroll
ome say that the hardest thing about chanted.”
being Jewish is getting a good handle
For now, the animated digital edition
on Hebrew, which, in its liturgical form, is includes only the Shema, Modeh Ani
necessary for prayer, and in its modern (prayer upon waking), and the Torah
form is a gateway to global dialogue.
blessings, but Rabbi Alevsky is raising
Thanks to one rabbi, the former has be- funds to make the entire project come
come more accessialive online. A mobile
ble, not to mention
app also is in the works.
animated.
“We’re estimating a
The first digital,
few new prayers on the
animated Chabad
site every week,” he said.
siddur comes on the
“More will be posted as
heels of an expanthey’re animated, hot
sion of the original
off the press.”
“My Siddur,” the
Emily Levy, an adult
only transliterated
Hebrew learner, was
Chabad siddur that “ This is the ultimate E-siddur.
happy to see the aniIt’s multimedia in its truest
will include Shabmated version of the
sense: paper, audio, digital
bat and festival
prayers on the Tools for
image and animation.”
services.
Torah website.
“We are expand“This is super helpful
ing the printed version and leaping ahead. to me,” she said. “I appreciate the pace. It’s
We’re going digital,” Rabbi Chayim not unrealistically slow, but it’s not imposBoruch Alevsky, creator of Tools for Torah sible to follow.”
and the youth director of Chabad of the
The siddur project began in 2008 and
West Side with his wife Sarah, said.
is the brainchild of Rabbi Alevsky. A
“This is the ultimate E-siddur. It’s mul- Sephardic edition also is available, and
timedia in its truest sense: paper, audio, Rabbi Alevsky will be recording updated
digital image and animation.”
prayers that will be on the website soon.
The siddur, he says, “is a real tool to
For more information on the siddur
learn how to daven [pray]. You can see project, the CDs, and the animated, digital
each syllable come to life as you hear it prayers, visit www.ToolsForTorah.com.
S
Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky and Mr. George Rohr at the Torah celebration
“We wanted to reciprocate and
show our gratitude to Mr. George
Rohr for the support and dedication to Jewish causes that he, his
father Mr. Sami Rohr, and the
Rohr Family Foundation have
demonstrated over many years.”
During the Occupy Wall Street protests,
Chabad welcomed an influx of visitors, including Zuccotti Park protestors, police officers and Wall Street professionals. Rabbi
Katz visited Zuccotti Park during the hiholidays, blew shofar for protestors, shared
the lulav and etrog, and spoke to many of
the protestors who quickly gravitated to
him.
Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, Chairman of the
worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch educational
and social services divisions, joined in the
celebration and lauded the contribution of
Chabad of Wall Street and Rabbi and Mrs.
Katz, to the area’s Jewish life.
Rabbi Krinsky shared his memories of a
meeting some 40 years ago, between the
Lubavitcher Rebbe and a small group of
major philanthropists. Among them, he recalled, were Jack and Helen Nash, parents
of Mrs. Pamela Rohr, who joined her husband at the Torah celebration. At that
memorable meeting so many years ago,
Rabbi Krinsky said, the Rebbe spoke emphatically about the great role Jewish philanthropy must play in advancing Jewish
education, the key to Jewish continuity.
Rabbi Krinsky pointed to Mr. Rohr as
an outstanding role model to young entrepreneurs.
“Mr. Rohr is in great measure responsible for the worldwide educational and outreach activities of Chabad-Lubavitch,
which he so generously supports,” he said.
The Rohr family has supported several
major philanthropic projects, including an
initiative to place Chabad Houses on college campuses nationwide. In the early
1990s the family launched plans to support
Chabad institutions in the Russian Federation and Eastern Europe. The Rohr Family Foundation provides critical funding to
open and expand Chabad centers worldwide, and has sponsored the Rohr Jewish
Learning Institute, an adult-educational
program which has grown to 325 chapters
worldwide. At a time when Wall Street was drawing
unhappy media attention, Mrs. Baila Olidort, editor of Lubavitch News Service, offered an alternative, positive perspective.
The new addition to Chabad of Wall Street
bearing the name of a noble Jewish matriarch, she said, celebrates the fact that “3300
years after Mt. Sinai,” even on Wall Street,
where material gain is the driving force—
so far removed from the spiritual life of
biblical times—“the Jewish people yet continue to live by the Torah and its values.”
WHY EIGHT DAYS?
The Temple menorah lights were fueled by pure olive oil, of
which only a small flask—one day’s supply—with its tamperproof seal still intact, was found. Miraculously, the oil kept the
menorah’s lights burning for eight days, giving the Jews time to
secure a fresh supply. This is one of the great miracles that the
Chanukah festival commemorates.
LUBAVITCHINTERNATIONAL
EDUCATION
FREnCH Bank BECOMES SCHOOl
Continued from cover story
to the opening of the school, most Jewish parents in montrouge elected to send their
children to public school rather than a Jewish one, if only because of the commute hassle.
deborah Attia is pleased that her eight-year-old daughter can go to a local school,
but the atmosphere of the school and its emphasis on academics matters to her even
more.
“The school is like a family,” she said. “The teachers know what the children need. I
am very proud of the scholastic level of the school.”
A short saunter down the hallways reveals just what an $8 million investment in renovations can buy: a sports facility, teaching kitchen, theater
and proscenium stage. some classes are still waiting for finishing touches, but the potential is evident. mrs. Attia’s
daughter especially likes her very pink, girls-only class- “ THE SCHOOl iS likE
a FaMily, THE
room, which is near the royal-blue boys class.
TEaCHERS knOW
“The opening of the building created quite a storm. No
WHaT THE CHildREn
one thought a Jewish school would have such beautiful
nEEd. i aM vERy
amenities,” said Rabbi david mimoun, director of Chabad
PROUd OF THE
of montrouge.
SCHOlaSTiC lEvEl
Building school enrollment and convincing parents that
OF THE SCHOOl.”
a Jewish education is worth paying tuition to obtain, took
a persistent effort. Rabbinical students at Chabad of montrouge’s yeshiva added a Jewish education pitch to their usual Friday afternoon tefillin
rounds among local business owners. Chabad sent out mailings to 2000 Jewish families
in the area. Private meetings between parents and the administration were often the
linchpin to turn a maybe to a yes.
“Behind every child in the school there is a special story,” said Rabbi levi mimoun,
program director. Knocking on doors, cajoling, giving innumerable tours of the building,
and any effort was well worth it. otherwise “most children in the school would not be
receiving a Jewish education.”
The sellem children, Arnaude, age 6, and lenore, age 4, started Pardess Channa this
year. “The children love their teacher, and if they have affection for the school, then they
will love to learn,” said their mother.
several parents remain on
the fence. The mimouns have
not given up on these Jewish
children. They run a special
kosher lunch program for 20
of these students, bringing
them each day from public
school during their lunch
break for a kosher meal and
Jewish activity.
The school’s professionally
equipped kitchen has turned
Haya mouchka into a nutrition resource for montrouge’s
disadvantaged. several families
in the community who have
fallen on hard times now receive hot meals from the
school kitchen on a regular
basis. on Friday afternoons,
students from Chabad’s
yeshiva bring shabbat packages with fresh challahs to a
number of elderly Jews living
in nursing homes in the area.
The opening of the Haya mouchka is the culmination of a long campaign. The mimouns opened their Chabad center in montrouge in 1993. Their first foray into education
began with the opening of a creche, a day care for babies and toddlers. Their synagogue
attracts a crowd of 150 each shabbat. A new mikvah, women’s circle, and men’s classes
make this a full service Jewish community.
Now the mimouns are setting their sights on the next stage—opening a high school
for Pardess Channa graduates.
Photo Credit: Mendel BENHAMOU
14
A NEW MIKVAH IN
GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN
I
n 1940, the sixth lubavitcher Rebbe,
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak schneersohn arrived in Gothenburg, sweden for what
would be the last stop on his harrowing
rescue from war-torn europe.
several years later, in 1948, he recalled
the small Jewish community in Gothenburg in a letter addressed to a rabbi living
in sweden.
“You must build a mikvah in this city,”
he wrote from his office in his new headquarters in New York. With europe still
reeling from the Holocaust, that would be
easier said than done.
Fast forward to 1987, when his successor, Rabbi menachem mendel schneerson
requested of Rabbi Avraham Glick, a businessman living in london to travel to
Gothenburg and see to it that a mikvah is
built.
But three years ago the mikvah, which
was maintained since 1991 by Chabad representatives to sweden, Rabbi Alexandar
and leah Namdar, faced imminent closure
when the owners of the building decided
to sell.
With the directives of the Rebbes ringing in their ears, the Namdars launched a
$270,000 building campaign for a new
mikvah located in the Gothenburg Chabad
center. They are now putting the finishing
touches on a beautifully designed state-ofthe-art mikvah.
“We wanted to build a spa for the body
and soul, a timeless space that links past,
present and future,” explains leah Namdar,
who will run the mikvah. Inside, the walls
are tiled with golden-hued Jerusalem
stone; the constantly changing colors of
led lights that line the waterline of the
pool add a modern twist.
suspended from the ceiling are two
“peace doves” fashioned from a type of
porcelain that lets through a soft, warm
light when the bulb inside is illuminated.
olga Popyrina, a designer who has created
products for IKeA, designed the doves.
“The doves symbolize purity, which is
what the mikvah is all about,” she says. For
her, light is more than a tool; it needs “to
have meaning. These doves also symbolize
love and peace.”
The water cascades down a waterfall
into the spacious pool. A luxurious Jacuzzi
sits adjacent to the pool, and a separate
room features showers and other amenities.
As the only mikvah in Gothenburg, a
city with a Jewish population of 3500, mrs.
“We wanted to build
a spa for the body
and soul ... a timeless
space that links past,
present and future.”
Namdar expects that it will draw new visitors from the community.
In addition, while the old mikvah was
below ground in a basement, this mikvah
is on the ground floor of the Chabad house.
Its wide windows create a breezy, daylightfilled interior.
“People who will visit the mikvah won’t
be coming because they have to, but because it is a very enjoyable experience,
physically and spiritually,” explains sara
lejderman, a freelance writer and longtime
participant at Chabad in Gothenburg.
DECEMBER 2011 / JANUARY 2012 | WWW. LUBAVITCH . COM
15
KINUS HASHLUCHIM 5772-2011
Photos by Boruch Ezagui
THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF CHABAD EMISSARIES
ONCE A YEAR,
Chabad representatives arrive at
Lubavitch World Headquarters
for the Annual Conference of
Chabad Shluchim. Here are some
facts about the Conference and
Chabad Shluchim.
THE FIRST CONFERENCE
WAS HELD IN 1984.
ABOUT 65 CHABAD
EMISSARIES ATTENDED.
AT THE BANQUET DINNER
OF THE 2011 CONFERENCE,
A THREE-COURSE
DINNER FOR 4600
WAS SERVED. IT IS THE
LARGEST SIT-DOWN
DINNER IN NEW YORK CITY.
Guests dancing at the banquet session of the Conference
THERE ARE MORE THAN
3900 COUPLES
Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky of Lubavitch World
Headquarters greeting the guests
SERVING AS EMISSARIES
AROUND THE WORLD.
THE SMALLEST COUNTRY
WITH CHABAD EMISSARIES
IS THE KINGDOM OF
LUXEMBOURG.
THE ONLY CONTINENT
WITHOUT A CHABAD
PRESENCE IS ANTARCTICA.
CHABAD EMISSARY
SARAH GOLDSTEIN IN
NEW ZEALAND IS THE
FIRST EMISSARY IN THE
WORLD TO LIGHT
SHABBAT CANDLES
Partial view of the banquet hall as Rabbi Sacks delivers the keynote
EACH WEEK; PEARL
KRASNJANSKY IN HAWAII
IS THE LAST.
“WHEREVER THERE’S
COCA COLA,
THERE’S CHABAD,”
GOES THE SAYING. IN FACT
THERE ARE COUNTRIES
THAT HAVE CHABAD BUT
DON’T HAVE COCA COLA.
RIGHT VS. MIGHT
Chanukah also celebrates the miraculous victory of a small
number of untrained Jews—the Maccabbees over the vast,
highly trained and well equipped army of the Syrian-Greeks
empire. The holiday underscores the virtue of the Jews,
who though small in number, vanquished on the merit of
their piety and high morality.
Did You Know?
Chabad representatives and lay leaders at the banquet
The war of the Maccabees was the first openly declared ideological
war. Many think the Maccabees were warriors by training. They were
not. They were scholars and men of piety, stirred to action by
their beliefs.
This was the first war fought on the roads and not on organized battlefields. The Maccabees introduced the innovation of stealth warfare, attacking the enemy legions from
caves and hilltops on the side of the road.
LUBAVITCHINTERNATIONAL
RELIEF
rabbi nechemia Wilhelm, Chabad-Lubavitch
representative to Bangkok, distributes food,
water and basic necessities to thai flood victims.
CHABAD DRAWS
BI-PARTISAN
SUPPORT IN DC
P
artisan fighting, political gridlock, and a congressional
popularity rating of only 9% have become the norm in
Washington. But in a rare show of bi-partisanship, Republican speaker of the House John Boehner and
democratic Whip steny Hoyer took the stage together at a recent benefit event honoring American Friends of lubavitch.
A virtual “who’s who” of the dC Jewish scene, the annual banquet drew the wider interest of politicians, lobbyists and philanthropists alike. even beverage conglomerate Coca-Cola took part
by sponsoring the evening.
Among those honored were ProFunds mutual funds president, louis and wife manette mayberg. The couple was honored
for their philanthropic work in dC and the greater Jewish communities. The leadership Award, introduced by Whip Hoyer and
bestowed on speaker Boehner was perhaps the highlight of the
evening.
The rapport between the two congressmen and their willingness to come together for a common cause was not lost on
guests. Noah Pollak, executive director for the emergency
Committee for Israel, posted on Twitter, that there was “a real
love-in going on between steny Hoyer and John Boehner” at the
dinner, noting that it was a “nice moment.”
Addressing the crowd, speaker Boehner affirmed his continued support of Israel.
“We do not support Israel for the Jewish people,” speaker
Boehner noted. “Rather [we support it] for all people in the world
who seek peace and freedom.”
Also honored at the event was Ambassador stuart e. eizenstat, former us Ambassador to the european union and member
Please credit: Ron Sachs/CNP
16
Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Executive Vice President of American Friends of Lubavitch, Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner
and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer
of the Board of Advisers of the Global Panel Foundation. eizenstat recalled that while serving as White
House domestic Policy Advisor to President Carter,
he helped Rabbi Abraham shemtov, Chairman of
Agudas Chassidei Chabad, put up a large menorah
across from the White House back in 1979. President
Carter, then occupied with the ongoing Iran Hostage
Crisis, made his first public appearance since the start
of crisis at the public lighting of the menorah.
According to Rabbi levi shemtov, executive Vice
President of American Friends of lubavitch in Washington, dC and chair of the benefit, beyond the bipartisan participation on the banquet dais, the “diverse
range of backgrounds and beliefs” of banquet attendees
was “a testament to Chabad’s work in America.”