Chabadnik News
Emphasizing the importance of character, conscience and collaboration amid the alarming news of the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus, the White House released a proclamation designating April 5, 2020, as “Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A,” in honor of the 118th anniversary of the birth of the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. The proclamation, signed […]
Surrounded by my children as we go through the Passover seder, I taste the sweet, delicious charoset. On this night of questions, I wonder about its sweetness. The charoset with its paste-like texture is a reminder of the clay and bricks that the Jewish slaves were forced to make in Egypt. Why is the charoset, […]
If there is one Jewish food that virtually every Jew knows about, it’s matzah, the flat bread eaten at the Passover Seders and for the duration of the eight-day holiday. But how well do you know this food, which has been with us since the dawn of our peoplehood? Here are some of our favorite […]
Preparing the next generation to lead lives of purpose and significance is one of our foremost responsibilities. Education is essential to cultivating a spirit of curiosity and learning, developing character and conscience, and strengthening the will to work collaboratively. On Education and Sharing Day, we pay tribute to the family members, educators, mentors, clergy members, […]
Three weeks ago, after speaking with a physician friend who works for a pharmaceutical company, Rabbi Shmuel Gancz made “a simple calculation” and closed his synagogue before any edict from elected officials. If the coronavirus led to even 1% of the county’s 325,000 residents needing hospitalization, and hospitals in adjoining counties refused Rockland’s cases, Gancz thought, the […]
Aspen-based visual artist Marc Bennett’s debut film will screen at 2020 Aspen Shortsfest. Bennett’s animated short adaptation of the children’s book “The Tattooed Torah” is in the family-friendly Program Nine of the Oscar-qualifying festival, which has gone virtual this year as the coronavirus pandemic has shuttered public spaces including the Wheeler Opera House, where Shortsfest […]
CHESTER – Due to the coronavirus, synagogues, like all places of gathering, have temporarily closed their doors. But Chabad of Orange County at 1170 Route 17M, Suite 1 in Chester, does not see it as closing doors, but rather as opening new ones. “Hundreds of new synagogues have opened in Orange County,” said Rabbi Pesach […]
The last time I sat shiva in the most unfortunate and tragic circumstances, we were 14 mourners. As my mother neared a full century of life, I knew that the next time I would sit shiva, I would be the sole mourner. I am an only child. What I could NOT have foreseen was that […]
It’s almost unthinkable that a priest or minister would be alone in a church on Palm Sunday and Easter morning. But that’s what scores of clergy members across the area and thousands more around the United States are facing the next two Sundays, and who knows how many more Sundays after that. The health catastrophe […]
Question There is an ancient custom for Jewish firstborns to fast on the day before Passover (read why here) until they participate in a siyum (the completion of a tractate of Talmud) or another mitzvah celebration. It is customary to arrange a siyum in the synagogue after morning prayers to allow the firstborns to eat […]