Itzhak Schier, the Chabad Lubavitch "serial cyberentrepreneur" has taken his enterprises in a different direction, presenting a Jewish historical e-novel that is geared to the Torah observant reader. With increasing use of the Internet by all segments of the Orthodox Jewish community amidst concerns that community members are exposed to content which is considered unsuitable, Itzhak Schier, the American cyberentrepreneur who resides and works in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine and is himself a member and activist in the Chabad-Lubavitch movement of Orthodox Judaism, has combined the increasing adoption of new media technology in his community with the desire for quality and wholesome content that community leaders have expressed to him, and now presents The Faithful of the One, the first E-book which is aimed at the Orthodox Jewish reader.

With great pain, we in from you of the passing of Chaya Mushka Ashkenazi A"H, 7, the daughter of The Rebbe's Shluchim to Bangkok, Thailand. She tragically passed away Wednesday, after suffered from a severe illness which required her to be hospitalized in Israel for the past year. The entire chabad community had been praying for her recovery.

In response to a request by the Yad L’Achim organization, the Vatican says it will consider asking its church members to “reveal to Holocaust orphans their Jewish past and provide them with accurate information concerning their families.” This is the first time that Vatican officials have related to this matter publicly • Full Story

This 6:00 minute moving documentary about Chabad of NDG and Loyola Campus in Montreal, a Student and Young Adult Centre in the heart of the Monkland Village. The Video was shown at the Jewish Comedy Festival, June 14 • Video

An attorney for the embattled Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville wants a judge to exclude from his client’s trial all evidence and testimony collected from a massive May 2008 immigration raid. Jim Clarity argues that the raid violated the constitutional rights of every worker arrested during the operation, because agents used an administrative warrant to enter the slaughterhouse “for the purpose of prosecuting them criminally.”

Rabbi Shimon and Yehudis Rosenberg are seeking parents of babies named after their children-Shluchim Gabi and Rivki Holtzberg HY"D. They would would like to send you a special gift as a token of appreciation. Please send details: name. address, telephone number, e-mail address and the baby's birth date to the following e-mail address: 6591487@gmail.com.

The Chabad Yeshiva in Manchester is continuing its learning sdorim during through the summer, which begins right after Gimmel Tammuz. The Yeshiva will move to a venue in Northern England for the duration, to give the Tmimim a relaxed learning atmoshere. The learning program will include intensive study of halocho with special courses and lectures pertaining to shlichus on Shabbos and Yom Tov, and more.

Mazel Tov to Gur & Yehudis (nee Munitz) Lorber - Crown Heights - on the birth of their firstborn daughter!

Click Here to post a personalized Mazal Tov wish.

Email your Simcha or Mazal Tov to mazaltov@chabad.info

Sales of kosher foods are basically sound despite the recession but some stores say sales may be off by as much as 10%. In an interesting development, kosher seems to be faring better than natural and organic which in some areas is said to be off by 15% - 20%. Most of the retailers reached by KosherToday said that they have observed some fundamental changes in consumer habits. “While many customers are buying as usual, others are cutting back just enough to realize some savings,” said a Bergen County retailer.

It is now widely acknowledged, after years of denial, that alcoholism is increasingly prevalent in the Jewish community. In suburban Baltimore, two centers are already dedicated to the treatment of recovering Jewish drug addicts and alcoholics. It is estimated that approximately 10 percent of Jewish men have problems with excessive alcohol intake and dependence. Although this figure is less than other religious groups where the incidence may reach 30 percent, the number is still unacceptably high.

The Jewish community of Moscow celebrated doubly this past week. At a gathering in the main chapel of the Moscow Jewish Community Center, the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Tomchei Tmimim Yeshiva in Moscow was marked, as well as a ceremony where five of the Yeshiva graduates received Rabbinic ordination. The ceremony conferring “Semicha” on the five yeshiva students was a unique phenomenon in post-Communist Russia.

Mazal Tov to Yoel Naparstek (Crown Heights) and Chevi Gurary (Crown Heights) on their engagement!

Click Here to post a personalized Mazal Tov wish.

Email your Simcha or Mazal Tov to mazaltov@chabad.info

Please say Tehillim and give Tzedakah Lizchus Menachem Mendel Hakohen Ben Chaya. An infant undergoing open heart surgery now.

A new brochure has been published, tittled "I have a letter in the children's Sefer Torah", with explanations on the importance of buying a letter in a Torah, instructions for buying a letter, and a form to purchase your very own letter.

Rabbi David Lipschitz hunched over the table and methodically poised the feathery quill above the curling parchment. With the precision of an artisan, he carefully lowered the simple writing instrument and delicately outlined the shape of a stylized letter onto the pearly colored document. The creation of the new Torah was a milestone for the Yeshiva synagogue. “This is a very historic moment,” said Rabbi Hershel Fogelman, the longtime leader of the tiny congregation.

At a beautiful event held in a gymnasium in Buenos Aires, boys from the local chabad school were honored for their achievements in a Sefer Hamitzvos contest, which included thousands of Lubavitcher children in Argentina and Brazil. Attendees enjoyed a beautiful musical performance from the Tzivos Hashem boys choir • Photos

On Wednesday evening, June 10th, Chabad of the Conejo marked its 30th anniversary with a gala banquet at the Warner Center Marriott Hotel – a celebration described by many participants as one of the most moving, entertaining and inspirational they’d ever attended. Tittled “Celebration 30: Gateway to the Future”, the evening was highlighted by poignant tributes, side-splitting comedy, stirring music, an historic dedication and a momentous announcement.   • Report & Video

The Performing Arts Conservatory makes its second annual summer program, starting June 29 until August 14. A group of professional teachers from all over New York come to provide the girls with  professional classes in music, arts, drama, dance and much more. "The program provides the girls with the opportunity to reveal their talents in a chassidishe environment, with the suitable training. There is a focus. The girls become comfortable to express themselves after they get training. Often they find that they could be expressive in other fields also" says Debora Melamed, the SPAC director.

Chabad House-Lubavitch, serving Rutgers University and communities throughout central and southern New Jersey, has announced the opening of a new center to service the communities of Holmdel, Colts Neck and Northern Monmouth County. The new Chabad House will be directed by Rabbi Ephi Carlebach.

Mazal Tov to Moshe Dovid Winner (Brighton Beach, Brooklyn) and Leah Deitsch (Crown Heights) on their engagement!

The L'Chaim will IYH be Tuesday night at Chovevei Torah 885 Eastern Parkway [between Albany and Troy Ave].

Click Here to post a personalized Mazal Tov wish.

Email your Simcha or Mazal Tov to mazaltov@chabad.info

It looked a little like a Jewish wedding. More than 100 people gathered at the Eastridge Business Park on Sunday afternoon to celebrate the completion of a new Torah scroll for the Chabad Jewish Center, the first such scroll undertaken for a Clark County Jewish community. After a scribe penned the last word — "Israel" — the scroll was paraded under a chuppah. And there was dancing to klezmer music, followed by feasting.

The Santa Cruz Jewish community was given a message of peace and hope Sunday, just four days after a shooting at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington reminded people worldwide that hatred still boils within many. Santa Cruz was one of 366 cities worldwide where people gathered at 5 p.m. to hear a live broadcast by Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, titled "Unity Lecture." "People can be easily discouraged," said Rabbi Yochanan Friedman, director of the Chabad By the Sea in Santa Cruz and organizer of the downtown broadcast at the Museum of Art and History. "Events like this help the spirit stay positive."

Tonight, Monday, June 15, 2009, at 8:30pm, Rabbi YY Jacobson will deliver a 55-minute global webcast -- The Sin of Comparing Trees, Exploring the Inner World of the Enigmatic  Wood-Gatherer.

To watch, please visit www.TheYeshiva.net  To download the curriculum, source-sheet, questions & exercises before the class, please click here. To listen via telephone, please call: 1-616-347-8000. Access code:1007852#

Mazel tov to Moshe and Jana (Grunblatt) Cohen, (Crown Heights), on the birth of their firstborn son!

Click Here to post a personalized Mazal Tov wish.

Email your Simcha or Mazal Tov to mazaltov@chabad.info

A £250,000 Chabad centre has opened in Manchester’s Whitefield area. A one-year refurbishment has transformed the former off-licence into a facility housing a Jewish resource library, Judaica store, lounge and a multimedia lecture hall. However, director Rabbi Shmuli Jaffe says the centre’s greatest asset is its location. “It is opposite the Parkfield Inn pub, which is full of Jews on Thursday evenings, and its street corner is where the kids are on motzei Shabbos, being the only stretch of Jewish shops in the neighbourhood.”

Earlier today, TheCoolJew blogger held an interview with Eli Gerstner. In the interview, a joint project of Chabad.info and TheCoolJew, Gerstner talks about all his newest projects, why YBC is not coming out until after the summer, why albums get delayed, review of concerts over the past few months, and many other interesting topics • Audio 

On Sunday afternoon, Reb Michoel's Minyan hosted a Siyum Sefer Torah honoring the life and legacy of R' Michoel Tietelbaum a'h in Crown Heights. The writing of the last letters began at Oholei Torah Mesivta, followed by the traditional procession which proceed up Troy Ave onto Crown St where the talmidim of Lubavitcher Yeshiva joined the tahalucha. The parade then proceeded to Kingston Ave. to the front of 770 for Hakofos • Photo Gallery


 • Final letters are entered into the Torah
 • Dancing in the streets
 • Hakafos Outside 770  

Religiously devout Jews barred by rabbis from surfing the Internet may now "Koogle" it on a new "kosher" search engine, the site manager said today. Yossi Altman said Koogle, a play on the names of a Jewish noodle pudding and the ubiquitous Google, appears to meet the standards of Orthodox rabbis, who restrict use of the Web to ensure followers avoid viewing explicit material.

The many Temimim and Anash attending the weekly Siyum Harambam in 770, were pleasantly surprised by the "guest appearance" of the one time Israeli celebrity singer, Ariel Zilber. Zilber, who has recently become a full fledged chossid, following the disengagement of Gush Katif, has been performing at chabad houses in the U.S. for the past several weeks, but with a different tune than the one known by many of his former fans. Zilber told stories, and sang niggunim for a long while, to the delight of all attending the Siyum.