Oldest Full-Time Pulpit Rabbi Passes Away
The Jewish community united in mourning Tuesday, upon the passing of Rabbi David B. Hollander. Rabbi Hollander, who at his death was the leader of the Hebrew Alliance in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, also served as rabbi at the Mount Eden Synagogue in the Bronx and was the former president of the Rabbinical Council of America
Dancing in the Rain At the Staten Island Russian Fest
A torrent of rain sent the thousands attending Staten Island fest for Russian speakers scurrying for cover, but not Chabad rabbinical student Aharon Teleshevsky and Mark Tokar, 16. Teleshevsky had helped Tokar wrap tefillin just moments before, a first for Tokar since his bar mitzvah. I don’t do prayers, normally, he said
Russian Jews in Germany to Benefit From FREE’s Translated Jewish Living Guides
FREE Publishing House, the world’s first publisher of authentic Judaic literature in modern Russian, has collaborated with Chabad-Lubavitch Shluchim in Germany to re-publish its famous Mezuzah Guide in Russian, with a press run of over 100,000 copies.
Lighting A Fire In The Snow
Seventy years of oppression and indoctrination can wipe out a lot of memories. For some kids of parents who left the former Soviet Union for America, even words like “Jewish” and “Torah” and Shabbos may be shrouded in mystery.
A 28th Commemoration:The Murder of Rabbi Dovid Okunov Leads to theEstablishment of FREE’s Yeshivat Ohel Dovid
Brooklyn, NY—October 16th marked the 28th yahrzeit of Rabbi Dovid Okunov, who was brutally gunned down at the age of 68 on his way to the morning shacharit service on Montgomery Street. On Thursday, October 25, l979 (Daled Cheshvan) at 7 a.m., Reb Dovid, as he was affectionately known, was shot in the head with one bullet. The Jews were of shock when the murder story appeared in the New York Times.
New Selichot To Reach Russian Jews Worldwide
This week, the F.R.E.E. Publishing House, the publishing arm of Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe, in a cooperative effort between the Lechaim Publishing House (Moscow) and the SHAMIR Publishing House (Jerusalem) have issued for the first time the ” Selichot” (Prayers of Repentance) with a modern Russian translation, all in a clear new Russian and Hebrew typesetting.
A Bar Mitzvah Celebration
Monday morning, at a shul in Mill Basin, Brooklyn, a Russian Jewish boy was called to the Torah in honor of becoming a Bar-Mitzvah.
Alex Tkach, still raw from his father’s passing three weeks ago, donned tefillin like his dad did shortly before his death, with the help of F.R.E.E.’s Rabbi David Okunov.
F.R.E.E. Facilitates Senior Bris Milah Ceremonies
For the second time in a decade, 72-year-old Misha Gontcharov started a new life. At age 70, he won an immigration lottery, said goodbye to his home in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and began life as a New Yorker.
“Bubbe” Maryasha, 106, a Woman of Piety and Defiance, Arrives in Gan Eden
Lubavitcher chassidim and many other good people are mourning the passing last week of “Bubbe” Maryasha Garelik who died at the age of 106, Baruch Dayan HaEmet. Her remarkable long life of piety and giving was marked by defiance against cruel governments and anti-Semites.
New Russian Translation of Pirkei Avot Opens Doors for Spiritual Growth
Downtrodden by betrayal and reversals of fortune, Alex Winner never imagined a 2000-year-old Jewish book would bolster his spirits. Two years ago, a concerned friend lugged Winner to Lubavitch World Headquarters, during the High Holidays.