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(IsraelNN.com) A brief Chabad-sponsored course on the Temple, to be held in Israel this week and the next, has angered Islamic organizations, who call it a threat to the Al-Aksa Mosque compound. "We view this as a serious and drastic move toward the fruition of extremist organizations to establish a temple in place of al-Aksa Mosque," said Zahi Nujidat of the Islamic Movement. "This represents a real danger to al-Aksa." The Aksa Foundation issued a similar statement. The course, offered at roughly 200 locations throughout Israel, comes during the two weeks leading up to Tisha B'Av, the fast day that...

sioned humanity. His message became a mantra: give charity, pray daily, offer hospitality, and love every stranger as oneself. He practiced what he preached. A Catholic gay man I know wrote the Rebbe a letter disagreeing with the Bible's views on homosexuality. Never expecting his letter to even reach the Rebbe, he was blown away when he received a five-page response in which he was treated as being infinitely beloved of God. Where some religions condemn abortions, the Rebbe sought to cultivate a love of children. THOSE OF us who can still close our eyes and remember the enormous public...

The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory and President Ronald Reagan enjoyed a deep relationship for many years. National Day of Reflection By the President of the United States of America Amid the distractions and concerns of our daily existence, it is appropriate that Americans pause to reflect upon the ancient ethical principles and moral values which are the foundation of our character as a nation. We seek, and steadfastly pursue, the benefits of education. But education must be more than factual enlightenment-it must enrich the character as well as the mind. One shining example for people of...

Chabad Flood Relief 1,000 pounds of meat donated by Agriprocessors distributed by Chabad through the Red Cross more photos hereIts been called the greatest flood in Iowa history, a "500 year flood". Cities have been submerged, lives lost, homes washed away in torrents of rain, thunder and tornadoes. It seems like daily a new story of a levy on the verge of collapse or giving way to the rush of out of control rivers, stills the hearts of Americans. People await the answers to their prayerful calls for help. In response, Americans have donated money and volunteered for relief operations....

A recent fire has led to an outpouring of generosity for a struggling synagogue that lost its Torah in the blaze. A Broward County woman who wants to honor her dead parents, and a couple who commute between Miami and New York, are donating new Torahs to a beleaguered Jewish congregation in Miami Beach whose synagogue was ravaged in a recent fire. ''These show people that we're going to come back stronger after a tragedy,'' said an appreciative Rabbi Zev Katz, the head of Miami Beach's Chabad Shul, part of Judaism's Orthodox Hasidic movement. Miami Beach police and fire officials...

Concluding the Passover Seder half an hour after it began was almost a family tradition for the Sifens. Larry and Pam Sifen, together with their children and parents, would sit around the table in their Norfolk, Va., home as the aroma of holiday foods warming in the neighboring kitchen competed with the text of the Haggadah for attention. In recent years, however, the Sifens have taken a new approach to the annual Passover ceremony and feast, ditching the house altogether to embark on an inspirational holiday learning experience away from home. The experiences of other families suggest the Sifens are...

Asaf Wohl calls on rabbis to replace horrifying gay-bashing with social acceptance of homosexuals Asaf Wohl Published: 02.21.08, 15:30 / Israel Opinion The issue of religious homosexuals is a serious test case for leaders of the so-called God-fearing public. With the exception of very few people, the leaders of this community fail time and again in handling this question. The miserable anti-gay expressions uttered by Orthodox Knesset members are especially concerning, and in fact horrifying. Had I been God, I would immediately sue those Knesset members for making pretenses to represent me in such a deficient manner. The argument that...

A chief rabbi of Russia concemned Kosovo's independence. Berel Lazar, of the Chabad-led Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, said at a news conference Tuesday that Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia could further contribute to world instability, according to a report by Interfax. He said a "totally wrong approach," had been taken in deciding Kosovo's future. "Today it is Kosovo, tomorrow it will be someone else or Kosovo itself will be divided in two, and there will be no end to this process," he said. Kosovo, a province of Serbia that has been administered by the United Nations since...

At Camp Gan Israel, crews fighting devastating blazes in mountains east of Los Angeles find more than a source of water Associated Press Published: 10.28.07, 09:36 / Israel Jewish Scene Dark beards blowing, black felt fedoras flying off their heads, the four hassidic rabbis clapped their chests with open palms and cheered as the firefighting helicopter dipped its bucket into their camp swimming pool. At the Camp Gan Israel, crews fighting devastating blazes in the mountains east of Los Angeles have found more than a source of water. The rabbis have been serving kosher meals, spiced with a dollop of...

Mrs. Risya Posner, who with her husband Rabbi Zalman Posner established the first Chabad-Lubavitch presence in Nashville, Tenn., died Tuesday at the age 80. An inimitable force behind Lubavitch outreach operations and techniques across the world, she was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Lubavitch parents who had immigrated from Russia. She and her husband pioneered the field of campus-based outreach, almost immediately inviting Vanderbilt University students to their home after their arrival in Nashville. From when she was a baby until her last day in the hospital, she elicited love from those who were mere acquaintances as easily as from...

After spending the last days of Sukkot in a neighboring town, Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries Rabbi Menachem and Moussia Teichman returned to their Uzhgorod, Ukraine, home only to find it gutted by fire. Following the recovery of key pieces of evidence, authorities in Ukraine's furthest western region are investigating the destruction as an apparent act of arson. Anti-Semitism has not been ruled out. The Taichmans, co-directors of the Jewish Community of Uzhgorod, spent the holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah and the following Shabbat in the town of Mukachevo, birthplace of the Munkatch branch of Chasidism. They returned Saturday night to...

(IsraelNN.com) Jews around the world are commemorating the 13th anniversary of the death of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Rabbi Schneerson, generally known simply as the Rebbe, is widely considered to have been one of the most outstanding Jewish personalities of modern times. The seventh leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty, he is described on one Chabad website - with little argument from non-Chabad Jews - as "the one individual more than any other singularly responsible for stirring the conscience and spiritual awakening of world Jewry." The Rebbe was born on Nissan 11, 5662 (April 18, 1902), in Nikolaev,...

Few men are able to shape the world in death as they did in life. To do so is to so subsume your existence to a lofty ideal, with such complete thoroughness, that your life comes to symbolize the values for which you toiled. In the latter half of the 20th century perhaps only two men can be said to have so completely revitalized their communities that they achieved immortality by becoming the symbol of their nations. They are Martin Luther King, Jr., who offered dignity and self-worth to a persecuted people, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, who...

Havah Nagilah Hebrew Havah nagilah, Havah nagilah Havah nagilah v'nismchah Havah nagilah, Havah nagilah Havah nagilah v'nismchah Havah n'ran' nah Havah n'ran' nah Havah n'ran' nah v'nismcha Havah n ran' nah English translation: Come let’s dance, come let’s dance, Come let’s dance, and be merry! Come let’s dance, come let’s dance, Come let’s dance, and be merry! Come let’s whirl, come let’s whirl, Come let’s whirl, and be merry! Come let’s whirl, come let’s whirl, Come let’s whirl, and be merry! Rise, rise, brothers! Rise, brothers, with a glad heart. Rise, brothers, with a glad heart. Rise, brothers, with...

One of the early expressions of the dignity of the individual is in this week's Torah reading. The greatness of giants is a commonplace -- Adam, Noah, the Patriarchs, Moses - these are all noteworthy names. But the anonymous, the scores of thousands who were not leaders and chiefs, the masses -- they too are endowed with worth by the simple theme of this week's Torah reading, the census. Counting implies value, for worthless things are not counted, certainly not as individual units but in the mass at best. The Torah counts Israel to the last man, because each one,...

"G-d spoke to Moses on Mt. Sinai and said ... Six years you may plant your fields... and the seventh year shall be Shabbat, you shall not plant.” Why was this Divine commandment of shmita (Sabbatical year when fields are left fallow) particularly related to Mt. Sinai? After all, the entire Torah was taught to Moses on Sinai. Shmita, perhaps to a greater degree than other commandments, tests the Jew's faith in G-d, because it explicitly calls upon him to demonstrate his confidence in G-d's bounty, his belief in G-d's power and providence. "And if you ask what will we...

The weekly Torah portion describes the characteristics of kosher and forbidden animals, fish, and fowl. Nachmanides in his commentary observes that the forbidden fowl are predatory. Among these prohibited birds enumerated we find the chasida, translated as "stork." The literal meaning of chasida is "kindly," an appropriate name, says Rashi, because this bird is helpful to its friends, and shares its food with them. In this case, asks the Gerrer Rebbe, since the bird is kindly and sympathetic, then according to Nachmanides it belongs among the kosher instead of the forbidden fowl. The Gerrer drew an interesting moral from this....

After the enthusiastic reception of the Ten Commandments, the people, impatient for Moses' descent from the mountain, made themselves a new god -- a Golden Calf. Examine the text carefully1 and perhaps a few observations might be made. Can't we find some exoneration for their idolatry? Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, so the people demanded of Aaron a "god that will go before us," for the Moses who led the people from Egypt is gone. Was this not a sincere religious quest for the divine? Was not their rejection of Moses (and all he taught) justified,...

What is the significance of the name "Jew"? Where does the word come from and what does it mean? The word Jew (Yehudi in the Hebrew) is a derivative of the name Judah (Yehudah), Jacob's fourth son; hence calling someone by this name would seemingly imply that the person is a descendant of that particular tribe. However, as is well known, Jacob had twelve sons, progenitors of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, all of whom comprise our great nation. Why, then, is the entire Israelite nation known as "Jews"? (The conventional answer to this question is that the majority of...

Chabad rabbi argues that visit intended to garner political gains Chaim Levinson Published: 02.25.07, 21:58 / Israel Culture A recent request by socialist Venezuelean President Hugo Chávez to pay an official visit to a Chabad synagogue in Caracas was rejected. The Chabad official news site posted an article saying that Rabbi Moshe Ferman, the chief Chabad envoy to Venezuela, had rejected the president's request arguing that it was aimed at garnering political gains in light of the West's revulsion of him. Chavez who has been in office since 1999, allied with Saddam Hussein at the time, befriended Iranian President Mahmoud...