Why a Muslim Diplomat from Azerbaijan Is Helping Rebuild a California Synagogue

Tale of a shared childhood courtyard In the wee hours of the morning of Dec. 22, 2021, an intentionally lit fire tore through the building of Chabad-Lubavitch of Almaden Valley, Calif. In the hours that followed, a GoFundMe page created by community member Maryann Barsky garnered support from the wider San Jose community, with tens […]

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Ep. 19: Bringing Together the “Patchwork” Community of Solano County

In Episode 19 of Lamplighters: Stories From Chabad Emissaries On The Jewish Frontier, reporter/producer Gary Waleik presents the story of Rabbi Chaim and Rebbetzin Aidel Zaklos, who have built a strong Jewish community in Solano County, a 900 square mile rural area situated between Sacramento and the Bay Area. When the shluchim arrived there, numbers […]

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Sentimental About Plastic Bins

When we launched our Chabad preschool in 2008, I was introduced by a staff member to The Container Store’s clear plastic shoe boxes. They fit just perfectly into the cubbies for a change of clothing and diapers. We ordered a few cases. Soon, each child had two shoe boxes, boldly labeled with his or her […]

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Trove of Newly Digitized Jewish Texts Reveal Untold Historical Treasures

Thousands of manuscripts at Chabad-Lubavitch Library now readily available to the public In a move that is making waves in academic and lay circles, the Chabad-Lubavitch Library has created a new site with high-quality, full-color scans of a vast collection of thousands of precious manuscripts that have never been seen by the public—until now. Overnight, […]

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Russian generals pray for peace at burial sites of Chabad rebbes

15 Russian military men arrived to pray after hearing that all prayers are answered at a Jewish cemetery in the small town of Lyubavichi. Fifteen Russian generals prayed for peace last week at the Jewish cemetery in Lyubavichi, a Russian town credited as being the birthplace of the Chabad movement. The military men, who visited the […]

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Two Counts, One Number

When every Jew donated a half-shekel, the halves were counted and a census was taken. The mitzvah to donate a half-shekel applied to every Jew over twenty years of age, healthy or not. In the book of Bamidbar, G-d counts the Jewish people once again. But the second time around, there was a catch — […]

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A Camera’s Perspective

Florham Park, New Jersey Stu and Beth Katz Founder, Elm City Communications If seeing is believing, Stu Katz, the “unofficial official videographer” for Chabad of SE Morris, is a believer. The view he got of the day-to-day life of shluchim — through the lens of his camera and from the passenger seat of the rabbi’s […]

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