A call for help in Shenzhen from an elderly sister in Ohio leads to international effort In a lonely hospital bed in bustling Shenzhen, China, lay Sam Briskin, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor who had no family or friends to care for him. His elder sister, Madeleine Briskin, 89, was desperate for someone on the ground […]

The red and white brick walls that once housed Samara’s Choral Synagogue stand proudly against the vast blue skies of southwestern Russia. Built in 1908 on the banks of the Volga River, its distinctive architecture earned it renown as one of the most beautiful synagogues in the world. Confiscated by Soviet authorities in 1923, the […]

The Making of the Holy Alshich Teacher, preacher, proto-Chasidic outreacher? How Rabbi Moshe Alshich’s new approach to Torah teaching in sixteenth-century Safed prefigured the Chasidic movement two centuries later and half a world away.  A Synagogue, a City, and a Story Not far from the art galleries that fill the Old City of Tzfat, or […]

Scottsdale’s Jewish Community Turns Thirty Ian Sachs remembers the time he and some of the other seven-year-old kids at the Chabad shul in Scottsdale, Arizona, sneaked out of services and called 911 from the old phone booth outside. Fire trucks arrived, sirens blaring, and the kids ran off squealing as the rabbi came out to […]

New Shluchim to the Rolling Hills of California’s Countryside The two towns of Portola Valley and Woodside, California are peaceful, rural neighborhoods, located hip to hip, known for their rugged beauty and scenic country living.  Although the area is resplendent in physical beauty, until this year, its spiritual vibrance lagged, lacking any Jewish infrastructure whatsoever.  […]

It’s an extra-special time for communities that recently acquired new Torah Scrolls As the conclusion of the High Holiday season in the month of Tishrei approaches this week, Jewish communities around the world are eagerly looking forward to its joyous climax —the holiday of Simchat Torah. It is the day that marks the completion of […]

NYC Mayor Candidate Curtis Sliwa Dances at Simchas Beis Hashueiva in Crown Heights, Brooklyn during Sukkos 5782

It’s a lemon. It’s an orange. It’s an esrog! It may bear resemblance to its cousins, but the esrog is no simple citrus. Unlike its relatives, the esrog is not peeled and eaten neat. Instead, its thick white rind is cooked down in sugary bliss and enjoyed as a confection. Citrons are also used in […]

Those peculiar huts are popping up again on driveways and porches in Jewish neighborhoods around the world. The Feast of the Tabernacles, or Sukkot, is a joyous eight-day festival when Jews eat their meals in temporary, makeshift booths. Constructed of cloth, wood, or any number of materials and topped with leafy tree branches or bamboo, […]

As a shepherd’s searching gaze meets his flock, as he passes every sheep beneath his rod, so do You count and number and regard the soul of every living thing . . . (High Holiday Liturgy, Untaneh Tokef) Every year, on the holiday of Sukkot, after the Rebbe entered the sukkah at Lubavitch World Headquarters […]