From Rwanda to Woodstock: A Look at Chabad Houses That Opened This Year

A glimpse of the emissaries and various communities they serve Thousands of Chabad emissaries are gathering this weekend in Brooklyn, N.Y., for the annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries (Kinus Hashluchim), which began on Nov. 20 and runs through Nov. 25. One highlight of the yearly celebration, which brings together 5,800 Chabad rabbis and communal […]

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Shabbat Meals for 6,000 in Ancient City of Hebron

Giant tents unite thousands at annual gathering at the Cave of the Patriarchs On the very site where the Jewish patriarch Abraham offered food and drink to wayfarers from an open tent in the hot desert sun—standing through the ages as the picture of unstinting hospitality—Chabad of Hebron will do its best to live up […]

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Chabad Counts Over 130 New Emissary Couples Since Last Year’s Conference

The thirty-first annual International Conference of Shluchim (or simply, the Kinus) is taking place this weekend in Brooklyn, New York. Among the 5,800 directors and lay leaders of Chabad centers in 100 countries who are expected to attend, over 130 of them will be attending the conference for the first time as new emissaries.  New […]

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Social Notes: Chabad offers a lifeline to those fighting addiction

Lamar Odom was the main speaker at a benefit held by the non-denominational organization and the Au Contraire Film Festival. And the Cocktail des présidentes et des femmes leaders offered a relaxed networking opportunity. LOVE AND ACTION MAKE THE DIFFERENCE: A while back, I received an email from Rabbis Ronnie Fine and Benyamin Bresinger, executive director […]

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Illinois Welcomes 50th Chabad Center

Three recent openings highlight 40 years of steady growth The classic Chicago greystones and quirky bars lining stately Logan Boulevard in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood are home these days to young, upwardly mobile professionals. So Mitch Trachtenberg did a double-take when he spotted black-hatted and bearded Rabbi Avremi Raichik strolling the boulevard this summer. Along […]

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Hungarian Government Recognizes Chabad of Hungary

Today, the government of Hungary officially recognized EMIH, the Orthodox Jewish Communities Association, the umbrella organization of Chabad of Hungary, and granted them “special status.” The title, which has been held by churches and other Jewish organizations, and until now has not been granted to any Orthodox Jewish organization, will allow EMIH to accept specific government funding […]

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‘101 Meditations’ on the Rebbe’s Wisdom Debuts at International Convention

A compact edition of Tzvi Freeman’s best-selling ‘Wisdom to Heal the Earth’ Nearly 6,000 rabbis and guests from around the world will converge this week in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., for the annual International Convention of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries (Kinus Hashluchim). Coming together from 100 countries and all 50 states, the shluchim will […]

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New Course to Take an In-Depth Look at the Rabbinic Tradition

A four-week tour of the Oral Law begins on Nov. 26 One of the most misunderstood elements of Judaism is the Oral Torah, the companion to Scripture in which the terse laws of the Torah are elucidated, expounded and expanded. Talmud, Midrash and many other bodies of work all fall under this general rubric, but […]

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Chabad of Hungary gets status upgrade from government

EMIH group given special designation enabling funding, including grants for educational work that would otherwise be unavailable Amid a deterioration in relations between some Jewish groups in Hungary, the country’s government elevated the status of an organization affiliated with the Lubavitch-Chabad movement. On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén signed a document that gives the […]

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Art Spreads Light to the Streets of Jerusalem

Works by Chassidic pop artist Yitzchok Moully featured in biennial festival Amid the bustle of Jerusalem’s iconic First Station, new flashes of color adorn the walls of the historic railroad station, now an outdoor mall. Three Shabbat candles shine brightly from a pop-art mural, spreading their glow on a colorful backdrop. Street art is a […]

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