Chabadnik News
COVID-19 has stopped people from going out, but it couldn’t stop Shmueli Goldman from having his bar mitzvah. The 13-year-old Gainesville resident celebrated his coming-of-age Thursday from the safety of his own home at the UF Lubavitch-Chabad Jewish Student & Community Center of Gainesville. His ceremony was streamed live on Zoom Video Communications to a […]
n this multimedia mini-series, we look at Chabad’s response to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on Jewish life events. In this, part two, we look at how wedding celebrations continue while adhering to social distancing policies. Shevi Katzman and Yaacov Behrman were ready to take the plunge. Yet even as they announced their engagement to […]
Rabbi Mordechai Gurary, a prominent Torah scholar who served as the rabbi of the Chevra Shas synagogue in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., for many decades, passed away on March 28 after being infected with the coronavirus. He was 84 years old. Gurary was born in Russia. His father, Mordechai, passed away before […]
A Florida campaign office for Bernie Sanders was vandalized with swastikas. A tweet Saturday from the Florida for Bernie account showed two large swastikas painted in black and the words “voting didn’t stop us last time.” It did not say where in Florida the office is located. “Didn’t know if we should share, but one […]
A New Jersey man sent Facebook messages to Gov. Phil Murphy and others threatening harm Orthodox Jews for violating state coronavirus restrictions. Anthony Lodespoto, 43, of Howell, was charged Friday with making terroristic threats during a state of emergency, law enforcement officials said in a statement. Lodespoto allegedly used Facebook’s direct messaging feature to threaten […]
Last Passover, Chabad-Lubavitch of Thailand oversaw Passover Seders for more than 5,000 across the tropical Southeast Asian nation—22 Seders held in five cities, from Bangkok’s five Seders to a mega-Seder in Koh Samui—popular with young Israeli backpackers flexing their newfound independence after their army service and holiday-makers from the world over. A herculean effort and […]
As the corona pandemic forces people homebound, those without support systems are worried. How they will procure basic daily necessities–as well as provisions for the upcoming Passover holiday–under the restraints of quarantine? In response, Chabad shluchim are mobilizing wherever possible. In Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, Rabbi David Okunov has distributed 2,000 pounds of potatoes in a […]
Due to the coronavirus, virtually all congregations and organizations in the Tampa Bay area have canceled in-person events for the near future and are monitoring the situation regarding events beyond that. Many synagogues are livestreaming their services. Most Chabad centers and Reform and Conservative synagogues are also offering – or making plans to offer – […]
Without a congregation to lead following the coronavirus outbreak, Dollard-des-Ormeaux Rabbi Leibel Fine wasn’t about to deny his eldest son, Menachem Mendel, his bar mitzvah celebration. With social gatherings prohibited in an effort to stop COVID-19 from spreading, Fine, the rabbi at Chabad of Dollard, postponed his son’s celebration slightly more than a week ago. […]