www.lubavitch.com vWc lubavitch international News from the - Lubavitch Global Network | Summer 2008

ChSmileabs aond seniors Inspiring friendships Inside n WEST ORANGE, NJ between young and old SUmmer respite for Children here’s something funny about Don need to visit all the ailing or lonely seniors of Sderot Rickles, 82, headlining at the first annual in their community exceeded the hours in SmileT on Seniors “Joy and Laughter” event, the day. Chabad Habla on June 29, at the New Jersey Performing Espanol Arts Center. “Everyone needs a buddy,” said Mrs. Kasowitz, “that’s understood. What surprised Israeli Expats Strengthen Ties The impact that the program is having on me was how many people were looking to seniors across North America is no laughing volunteer for this kind of activity. S.O.S. Chabad Rep Named matter. S.O.S. of West Orange, NJ, has 100 draws all kinds of people to participate. I Avi Chai Fellow volunteers visiting seniors residing in 40 never have to ‘push’ the program.” nursing homes. Food Banks Keep Zvi Rosengarten, who visits a senior Up With Demands Rabbi Mendy and Altie Kasowitz of residence near his home in West Orange on Lubavitch Outreach Center of Essex County Shabbat, jokes, “Smile on Seniors” should School Teachers’ initiated the program when the hours they’d be named ‘Smile on Zvi.’ It makes me feel enduring inspiration Continued on Page 3 Continued on page 3 Cover Story

THE LUBAVITCHER RABBI MENACHEM M. SCHNEERSON Loneliness can g"hz n"dcb v"vkkeumz have serious health consequences Judaism views children, not as burdens but rather as the greatest source of joy and pride. for the elderly.

That may be why nursing homes and assisted living “ facilities bring out the welcome mat for S.O.S. volunteers. The recreation director at a home visited A recent New York Times feature identified a disheartening A fraction of a child” doesn’t seem like much until it is regularly by S.O.S. buddies sees the program as trend in population decline. “Childless Europe” explored the viewed in future tense. such an asset that she asked the Kasowitzes to set phenomenon of cities and towns in Europe becoming deserted up a booth at the home’s open house for potential because there are no children being born. “The result is Jewish families with fewer children than the clients. minimum necessary to maintain group size,” said the JPPPI hile the world Jewish population climbed by in its annual report. One of S.O.S.’ most senior volunteers, Jacob 200,000, to 13.2 million over the past year, according Koltun, 83, a Holocaust survivor, attended Rabbi toW a Jerusalem-based think tank, projections for population In a recent report, Lubavitch.com looked at how Chabad Kasowitz’s Jewish Learning Institute course on the growth are much more sobering. representatives celebrate the joys of bringing Jewish children Holocaust, and grew to feel at home enough to step into the world, and how their community members have so good about myself and it makes the seniors so foot in the Lubavitch Center synagogue, something The Jewish People Policy Planning Institute has reported been inspired to follow their example, rethinking values and happy.” He joined up last year after filling in for a he had not done since leaving the camps. At the that Jewish women in their 30s in the U.S. had about 1.2 reordering priorities with larger families at the top of the volunteer who couldn’t make it one week. synagogue, he heard announcements about S.O.S. children, while the general U.S. population checked in with short list. and got so involved that Koltun is the S.O.S.’ 1.8 children. “I went once and I was hooked. When you are honorary president. Where secular sources add up the cost of having a child visiting senior citizens you are visiting your future- -about a quarter of a million dollars- until the child is and-it is something everyone can relate to,” S.O.S. board members and volunteer coordinators in college the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Rosengarten told Lubavitch.com. from the group are hard at work on projects that Issue #17 • Published by: Schneerson, of blessed memory, asked prospective parents will enhance the S.O.S. experience. to recall that G-d is a partner in the creation of every child: Lubavitch News Service When Amy Durschlang spends time with her “buddy” Molly, she knows she is going to hear One of their newest ideas is a traveling library that Machne Israel/Lubavitch Development Fund “Besides financial worries, a serious concern is the personal about Molly’s beloved late husband and the will allow S.O.S. buddies to share Jewish books Rabbi , Chairman toll that raising children exacts from parents. It has become home she used to live in. Her reminiscences are with their seniors, keeping the good feelings going almost axiomatic in today’s society that a goal in life is bittersweet. “When I am there, Molly doesn’t feel until the next visit. LUBAVITCH WORLD HEADQUARTERS personal pleasure and enjoyment, and the pursuit thereof. , Brooklyn, NY 11213 alone,” said Durschlang. As the new ideas take shape, S.O.S. of West Orange Phone: 718.774.4000 And who can deny that children constitute an immense Loneliness can have serious health consequences shares them with its eleven affiliates. That’s because Fax: 718.774.2718 personal burden in terms of energy, freedom of movement and time, not to mention the emotional toll they exact. for the elderly, and its effects are the subject of a the program Rabbi Kasowitz heads was started with Email: [email protected] growing number of research studies. Blood pressure seed money from the Rohr Family Foundation. As www.lubavitch.com But the real problem is not one of sufficient personal levels in lonely seniors were found to be as much as an idea incubator, the programs that work in New resources, but rather one of priorities. thirty points higher than non-lonely people in a Jersey are replicated, refined and expanded upon Editors: study conducted by the Center for Cognitive and from Oxnard, CA, to Yardley, PA to Montreal. Judaism views children, not as burdens or as impediments to Rabbi Yosef B. Friedman Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago. personal attainment, but rather as the greatest source of joy Baila M. Olidort Depression and isolation can change eating habits Hundreds or thousands of seniors will thus be and pride, and the more the better. Staff Writers: of the elderly, bringing on obesity or, conversely, reached, and that more Chabad centers will be geriatric anorexia, according to the American adopting this model to connect their communities Rikvah Chaya Berman, Devora Lakein The first Mitzvah in the Torah is be fruitful and multiply. Psychological Association. with seniors in need of a buddy. Managing Editor: Zalman Feldman To create a family and raise children with noble values and virtues that reflect G-dliness in humankind, ensures parents Design: MenachemKrinsky.com www.lubavitch.com | 2 Lubavitch International | Summer 2008 the rewards of enduring joy and fulfillment.” 3 Miami’s Jewish population identified themselves as Hispanic Jews.

A Pew Research Center report projects that by 2050, the number of Hispanics in the United States is expected to triple, enlarging their slice of the population to 30%. Chabad will be ready.

Gusto “Avigdor” Salazar arrived in Florida from Ecuador fifteen years ago. “Spanish people are very friendly. Everyone is close, and that is what makes our Spanish shul a special place,” said Salazar, affectionately known as “El Presidente” of the Chabad for Spanish Speakers.

Espanol is the language of sermon and shmooze at a growing number of Chabad centers in the United States. In South Florida alone there are services for Spanish speakers in Sunny Isles, Silverlake, Bal Harbour, and Aventura. Along the Mexican-American border, Rabbi Mendel and Nechama Dina Polichenco serve gefilte fish a la veracruzana at their synagogues located in With the numbers of Jewish immigrants from Spanish Chula Vista, CA, and Tijuana, Mexico. In other speaking countries on the rise, Chabad representatives communities, Chabad rabbis are studying Spanish are opening centers that are making them feel comfortably so they can reach and teach their locals in their welcome and at home. own language. other for help,” said Salazar. Sometimes help t’s not bagels and lox at La Sinagoga de Jabad These centers offer more than translated prayer comes only after stereotypes are shattered. “It’s a de Coral Springs’ brunch. Here the fare is arepas books to their congregations. They bring the taste persistent myth that there are no poor Jews from andI cheese pies, a taste of the old country shared of home that the immigrants crave, and offer South America,” said Rabbi Shloime Halsband, by regulars and newcomers at this Spanish Chabad guidance over the shoals of culture shock. who directs the California Club Chabad in North “These centers offer more than center. Miami Beach. Rabbi Halsband toils to raise funds translated prayer books to their Rabbi Mordechai Lichy, an administrator and to feed 35 families, who fled Argentina’s economic An offshoot of Chabad of Coral Springs, Rabbi teacher at Hebrew Academy Lubavitch in collapse in 2003 and still haven’t gotten on their congregations. They bring the taste Mordechai and Shoshana Lichy lead the Spanish Margate, Florida, and who started La Sinagoga feet. of home that the immigrants congregation which attracts Jews from Colombia, a year ago, is as likely to get calls about finding Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, El crave, and offer guidance over a good immigration lawyer as he is to counsel With Argentina’s finances on the mend, the Salvador and other points across South and Central married couples and officiate at Bar Mitzvahs. streams of people flowing from there into South the shoals of culture shock.” America. La Sinagoga, which Rabbi Lichy and his wife, Florida have tapered off. The need for Spanish Shoshana run as a labor of love, serves as a synagogues, however, is only increasing. Drawn to El Norte for economic and political comfort zone for Spanish speakers, where prayer reasons, Jewish immigration to the United States and Torah classes beget socializing, networking, “People may speak English for business purposes from Spanish speaking countries is growing. A 2004 and job placement. and get by just fine, but to learn spiritual concepts, study by the Jewish Federation of Greater Miami to discuss matters of the heart, they are much more found that nearly ten thousand, or 10%, of Greater “We’re just like any family. We come to each comfortable in Spanish,” said Rabbi Lichy.

www.lubavitch.com | 4 Lubavitch International | Summer 2008 5 n sderot

In collaboration with the mayor and the public “major donors have responded really well,” giving A Summer of school system in Sderot, he helped choose the lucky over $16,000 to date. Donnenfeld herself looks campers based on health and need. Unfortunately, forward to the girls’ arrival. She and her husband their Dreams in this western Negev town, there are far too many plan to take them on a Sunday outing to Rockport in need. for a day of hiking, swimming, and touring.

f the terrorists will see us run, there won’t be an Sderot residents have been assaulted by 4,000 Community involvement is one of the many Chabad To Open Israel left, G-d forbid.” These weighty words Qassam rockets from Gaza since the disengagement facets of this venture. Shabbat dinners, barbecues, are“I not those of an experienced politician. These in 2005. Eleven civilians have died from these concerts, and social events are planned in each Kosher Restaurant are the words of 13-year old Chanan Yaakobov of attacks. of the host cities. Weekend trips for the children Sderot, Israel, whose father was killed by a Qassam stationed on the East Coast will include a visit to in Christchurch, rocket last year. They don’t play outside. Many Washington D.C. The Israeli youth will meet with New Zealand elected officials and the media “providing a firsthand Rabbi Dan Rodkin, headmaster of Shaloh House are too afraid to shower, lest awareness of the situation,” says Lipsker. n Jewish Day School in Boston, heard this and they fail to hear the “tzeva WELLINGTON, NZ thought, “I must do something for that child.” Shepard Remis, a Boston lawyer, spearheaded the adom” (red alert) heralding an Federation’s quest for donations. He hopes that the A Kosher restaurant imminent attack. Sderot children will “inspire a whole generation of people.” in Christchurch, NZ?

“I was in Sderot a few weeks ago,” recounts Rabbi In Virginia, Deitsch is counting on budding You bet, says Chabad’s Rabbi Mendy Goldstein of Sholom Deitsch. “I met the parents [of the children friendships despite the language barrier. “There is a New Zealand. For Israeli backpackers who tromp coming] and the mayor. I saw the anxiety written language between children that adults can interfere the country’s pristine South Island each year, the clearly on their faces. I want to show them that the with. Hopefully they will connect and their new restaurant will be a boon. whole world is not their enemy. There are people friendships will last far beyond the month of July.”

who care for them.” Rodkin, who is preparing for his second year as “It pains us to see people eating non-kosher a host, knows that these expectations, and more, because they have no other choice,” said Sara Deitsch is awaiting the arrival of 10 “heroes from are realistic. By the end of the summer, Rodkin Goldstein, co-director of the Kiwi Chabad. the front lines” to join Camp Gan Israel in Northern remembers, “they were totally different children. Virginia. One boy was so excited because he had played soccer Twenty-thousand visitors tour the regional capital for the first time in two years.” Boston campers still of Canterbury annually, and New Zealand is In anticipation, he and the other camp directors keep in touch with their Israeli friends from last home to some 10,000 Jews, so Chabad’s decision across the nation have fundraised (it costs upwards summer. In fact, they were the ones who begged for to open the first kosher restaurant there by the of $3,000 per child for the month), arranged visas their return this year—they even promised to raise end of 2008, is important. Still in the architectural and purchased tickets, hired Hebrew-speaking In collaboration with the local community, the necessary funds to make it happen. drawing stages, the eatery on the first floor of Rodkin arranged for 10 Sderot children (including staff to complement the American counselors, and the Chabad center’s rented building in the city’s Yaakobov) to join the 200 children of Camp Gan lined up teams of professionals to help the children Still, Rodkin has mixed feelings about the whole center will be the first kosher food available to Israel of Shaloh House last summer. adjust. project. “I wish we didn’t have to take these children locals. Currently, the only nod to kosher food in from their homes in Israel: I wish they would be the area exists within the pages of the “Kosher A year later, shluchim around the world call him “the It is not only the camp directors who are busy with safe there.” father of the program,” and are eagerly anticipating preparations. “Everyone has been knocking on our Kiwi Directory,” a list of kosher grocery items. the arrival of their own quorums of children. On door,” recounts Rabbi Yossi Lipsker of Swampscott, “Next year my goal is to bring 110 American kids to July 2nd, 110 children from Sderot arrived in North MA, whose camp, Gan Israel of the North Shore, Sderot for a summer of fun.” Rabbi Goldstein, views the restaurant as a first America for a month of fun, relaxation, and security. will welcome ten girls. “Everyone wants to be part of step in building a future for New Zealand where The Israelis will summer in 11 camps across Canada this wonderful thing. It has brought the community “Jewish living is convenient and enjoyable” for and throughout the United States. closer together.” travelers and especially for its general Jewish population. Rabbi Zev Pizem, executive director of Chabad Liz Donnenfeld, Executive Director of the Jewish of Sderot, was the Israeli liaison for this effort. Federation of the North Shore, proudly states that,

www.lubavitch.com | 6 Lubavitch International | Summer 2008 7 Rabbi Sholom B. Lifshitz, Director of Yad L’Achim, would only disclose scant details to protect the identity of the children and their mother. Women, As Food Prices Soar, Children But he tells Lubavitch.com that not long after their Chabad Food Banks grandmother’s death, one of the grandchildren, a patient Work To Meet of Arab/Jewish at Schneider’s Children Hospital in Petakh Tikvah, made conversation with a yeshiva boy in the next bed and his dad, Growing Demands a rabbinic figure. Intermarriages n PHILADELPHIA, PA

In the course of conversation, the Arab looking boy told the Seek Help oaring food and gas prices that are forcing Rabbi: “Ana Yehud,” Arabic for “I am a Jew.” working people to seek help to feed their From Chabad familiesS are also putting the squeeze on food banks. The Rabbi contacted Yad L’Achim, a social service In these tough times, Chabad-run food banks n NAZARETH, ISRAEL organization with its main offices in Bnei Brak, Israel. are employing creative strategies to feed those in need. “The children were clear about wanting to live as Jews,” p Bring together 600 volunteers to pack 2,450 boxes food prices since 1990. says Rabbi Lifshitz, so Yad L’Achim threw its resources in Volunteers hile the topic of how to reach out to children full of canned goods in 50 minutes and you get a help pack of intermarried couples animates discussion in to helping them and their mother, and recently, the boys well oiled, decibel-shattering experience. Outside In Montreal, where the Chai Center food bank food boxes at the JRA. communities,W synagogues and schools, it’s a whole different celebrated their brit milah: Tmam, Khalil, Yusuf, Mishil and the Jewish Relief Agency’s warehouse on June 8, distributes over 100 tons of food each year, muscle bound brothers from a local fraternity are higher food costs has had serious ramifications. A brew—with danger and hostility thrown into the mix— Daowd took the names Moshe, Daniel, Yosef, Ma’or and hustling boxes onto trucks while tots and teens and David, and are now studying at Jewish schools in Israel. good portion of Chai Center’s food comes from when the children are the product of a Jew and an Arab. their parents, seniors and crutch-bound school kids manufacturers willing to donate food as a charitable

load still more cardboard boxes with fifteen pounds way to unload misprinted boxes. Cost of business Complicating an already thorny situation, children of “We have so many cases of Jewish girls who, either because of canned tuna, potatoes, beans and pasta sauce. increases mean that food producers are being extra intermarriages between a Jewish woman and an Arab man, of family problems or other problems, have not found careful to avoid printing mistakes, limiting the their place within the Jewish community, and become easy Established in 2000 by Lubavitch House of amount of food available to the food bank. who want to live as Jews need a lot of help and careful Philadelphia under the leadership of Rabbi prey for missionaries, or fall in with non Jewish men,” says maneuvering from dedicated individuals willing to become Menachem Schmidt, JRA began with three Lifshitz. Last year at this time, the food bank stocked staples involved in the quagmire. volunteers and a list of nineteen families in need. like flour, juice, cereal, canned vegetables, crackers The list soon grew and grew. With the current and cookies. Today, the canned food is limited to Such was the case recently with five boys, sons of an Arab In this case, he explains, the boys’ grandmother was a economic and commodity price crunch, executive real basics like tuna and condiments. director Amy Krulik has seen the number of calls father, who learned that they are Jewish when, shortly before Holocaust survivor who arrived alone in Israel, broken and for food help rise from 15 a week to 70. her death, their maternal grandmother asked to be buried in lost. She lived in a mixed neighborhood, and ended up with “We’re working hard to keep the shelves stocked,” says Rabbi Yossi Kessler, director of the Chai a Jewish cemetery. an Arab husband. “We see a lot of people who were sitting close to the edge, able to cover their bills but barely. With Center, who, like the other food banks, is working out deals with flour mills and kosher food companies Yad L’achim, founded by Chabad to help Jewish gas prices over four dollars a gallon, they can’t make ends meet,” said Krulik. to buy their products at or below cost and sell them immigrants at the time of Israel’s establishment, is a at a fraction of retail in a subsidized store. A store well known address with a staff of some 100 volunteers, JRA is not alone. America’s Second Harvest would help families too mortified to take a handout, social workers and counselors. -the Nation’s Food Bank Network- released the get the food they need in a dignified manner. results of a recent survey that said out of 180 food The organization is involved in a wide range of banks, 99% have seen an increase in the number Inflation has meant that the state food grants do not have as much value as before. JRA has developed activities, among them the rescue of Jewish women of clients. relationships with manufacturers to buy the food and children, and help mainstreaming them once they The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that circling close to the expiration dates at the same are out of danger. the cost of food -grocery store bought- will have or better prices offered to middlemen who supply increased by six percent. It’s the biggest jump in bargain “dollar stores.”

www.lubavitch.com | 8 Lubavitch International | Summer 2008 9 At UIC, Chabad Restores Jewish Pride At USC, Jewish Fraternities to Chicago’s Maxwell St. Campus ChabadCAMPUS And Chabad, INDEX are “Natural Partners” and the mikvah on Devon Avenue. Today, Stars of David and menorahs offer glimpses n Wittenstein told Lubavitch.com about of the past, hidden among the hurly-burly of Market of Campuses LOS ANGELES, CA # a SAM brother who suddenly took ill Street, now undergoing gentrification. On campus, with Chabad Student ll twenty pledges at USC’s newest in the middle of a semester. At the the Shemtovs’ aim is to bring Jewish students out of Centers in North America: fraternity turned their first Friday hospital, “Who came to help him? His the woodwork. It topped the job description offered nightA as brothers into Shabbat at chapter brothers and Chabad. Sammy to them by Rabbi Daniel Moscowitz, Chabad’s senior 115 Chabad. and Chabad both take care of you like representative in Illinois. Seed money for their efforts family. They are both home and you came from the Rohr Family Foundation. Arriving on The Rohr Chabad Jewish Student can turn to both for help.” he last time Chicago’s Maxwell Street neighbor- campus months after fall semester began, the Shemtovs # of new centers Center, located right on Fraternity hood saw this much Jewish activity, pushcarts and got straight to work. that opened during the Row, always gets a lively crowd on Chabad welcomed SAM guys to ModelT T’s were clogging the streets. past academic year: Friday nights, with plenty of fraternity host their Monday night dinners and Rabbi Shemtov’s Pizza and Parsha now attracts a solid brothers and sorority sisters digging meetings at their spacious Chabad When Chabad representatives Rabbi Bentzion and dozen students each Tuesday. 11 into director Runya Wagner’s fresh House, right off of USC’s storied Chani Shemtov moved into the neighborhood, late last salads and roasted chicken. fraternity row. “We are always open to year, they came to serve the 2,000 Jewish students at Ilan Kreimont, an economics major from Buffalo Jewish students hanging out together, University of Illinois at Chicago. They had no idea that Grove, shows up for a slice and a little one-on-one # of Shabbos/festival dinners By hosting bigwigs from Sigma Alpha strengthening their Jewish identity,” their apartment on Halsted Street, right off of Max- learning on the side. “Chabad is educating the Jewish served over the year: Mu’s executive board and parents said Mrs. Wagner. well was in the beating heart of the former “Jewtown,” community on campus, religiously, not only culturally,” proud to see their boys become official a nickname for the Windy City’s answer to the Lower Kreimont said. Sammys, it demonstrated just how That SAM, founded by Jewish students East Side. 211,240 comfortable fraternity brothers are at the College of the City of New York Mixing the spiritual and the spirited drives the campus with Chabad. back in 1909, is seeking stronger Jewish “I feel the spirit of the past. You can’t have a mikvah and Chabad’s programs. Psych major Rebecca Penwick said # of one-on-one involvement is indicative of a wider a matzah bakery without it having an effect. It’s our job that before the Shemtovs arrived “there wasn’t a lot student sessions with “Chabad has been very gracious to trend, according to Rabbi Wagner. to revive the feeling for Judaism in this area,” said Mrs. of obvious Jewish pride here. There are all these other clubs pushing “Muslim Pride or African American Chabad reps: us, and we like hanging out with Shemtov. them,” said Nathan Pikover, SAM’s “Increasingly, Jewish fraternities, Pride, but I didn’t find a place saying Hey, be proud, we president. both the national organization and Bernice Harris and her son drove the Shemtovs around are Jews.’” 20,910 individual houses, have recognized the old neighborhood, pointing out Jewish landmarks. Fraternity guys and rabbis, Torah and that their Jewish identity is what Mrs. Harris is about to celebrate her ninetieth birthday, By plunking a table in the campus’ center, feeding stu- togas, are not obvious combinations. makes them unique. Many of them but her memories of Maxwell Street’s vibrant Jewish dents holiday foods, opening their home to students for # of students Rabbi Dov Wagner, director of are getting very actively engaged with life remain clear and poignant. “People were poor. Life Shabbat dinners, the Shemtovs are building up Jewish attending Shabbat Chabad at USC, attended yeshivas and Chabad and Hillel.” USC’s Jewish was hard, but we were happy,” she said. pride and feeding hungry minds. “It’s a process to give dinners with Chabad rabbinical schools his entire life, where fraternities have co-sponsored Shabbat students a reason to feel proud they are Jewish, so when on an average week: there’s a lot of brotherhood but nary a meals and members help set up for a As a seven year old, Mrs. Harris, then known by her something Jewish is happening they want to be part of Greek-lettered sweatshirt in sight. And massive Purim bash. Yiddish name Brina, was her mother’s interpreter and it,” said Mrs. Shemtov. 5,480 much of what goes on in a fraternity general guide to American life. “My mother wanted house is not what the average brother For Pikover, reinstalling SAM at me to go to Wittenburg’s matzah factory on O’Brien Backiev a biology major graduating this semes- would like to share with a rabbi. USC gave him and his friends an Street. I had her bribe me. Only if I could get a piece ter, has already noticed a stronger Jewish spirit on cam- # of students who applied opportunity to “build the fraternity in of chocolate covered sponge cake from Mrs. Decker’s pus. through , Chabad’s But Matt Wittenstein, assistant our own images, to be Jewish in more bakery.” birthright israel provider, for executive director of the SAM national than name, to keep the Jewish spirit a “I’ve only known Bentzy and Chani for a couple of an Israel experience: office, sees Chabad and SAM as natural little bit more, beyond the stereotypical Mrs. Harris wound through the crowd, past the 40 syn- months, but I feel like I’ve known them for my whole partners. fraternity craziness.” agogues and prayer nooks, “shteebles,” past the original life,” said Backiev. “I don’t know what I’d do without 4,400 Sinai kosher sausage store, Yiddish newspaper office, them. They are my home away from home.”

www.lubavitch.com | 11 DIFFERENCES WASH ASIDE IN CHABAD’S IOWA FLOOD RELIEF

n Des moines, iowa

ews crew trucks have reeled in their satellite need to be fiscally able to continue,” Cohen said. com, a crowd of Baptist church members in taught me that Jews are only looking for money.” feeds and driven off to the next big story, but Maccabee’s Deli filled bags with sandwiches, IowansN spent the days after the flood dragging the Michael Farah, CEO of Berry Chill, a probiotic applesauce containers, water and granola bars for “Well, we are,” Cohen replied. “We’re collecting remains of their waterlogged homes to the curb, frozen yogurt franchise in Chicago, has marshaled the day’s shipment. Concerned citizens of Australia, money so we can feed you and your neighbors.” coping with the aftermath of the 2008 floods. a truckload of clothing, cleaning supplies and water. Israel and the United States donated at the www. Farah is a University of Iowa alumni, and he was ChabadFloodRelief.com. Driving off on a road so coated with sand from We caught up with Valerie Cohen one night after moved to make a difference when his motherJudith busted sandbags no asphalt showed through, Cohen the floods, as she walked the aisles of Sam’s Club, Franks-Farah, R.N., told him of Chabad’s relief Rotella Italian Bakery, Sam’s Club, Loffredo Fresh considered the exchange. “I knew at that moment searching for kosher applesauce. As the coordinator effort. Product and other local retailers have kept the food that he was someone we needed to meet.” of Chabad’s Flood Relief program, Cohen had to packages going. purchase supplies for the 230 packages needed for “We want to reach out and help,” said Franks-Farah As the meal distribution continues, it’s become the next morning’s deliveries. who heard the call for aid at Lubavitch Chabad of Most of Chabad’s deliveries have been focused on obvious to Lubavitch of Iowa that changes of heart Illinois during Sabbath services. the Birdland neighborhood. Two hundred homes are part of the relief effort. The day after the Des Chabad distributed over 5000 meals to flood and thirty-five businesses were swamped with water Moines Register published an account of Chabad’s victims the week of the flood. Now, the supplies Rabbi Yossi Jacobson, director of Chabad-Lubavitch when the levee breached on June 14. There is no work in Maccabee’s Deli, a new customer appeared at donated in the initial outpouring of help are of Iowa said the floodwaters forged unlikely partners. significant Jewish population in Birdland. the door before the start of business. Cohen let him dwindling, and the needs of the flood victims are “It really brought together the community. People are in and took his order for a corned beef sandwich. mounting. Food remains high on the priority list, proud that a Jewish organization is taking a hands- On Thursday, one Birdland resident, his arms covered but cleaning supplies, clothing and household goods on role in the relief efforts. It’s been a true triumph tattoos from shoulder to wrist, glanced at the food He took the sandwich in hand and plunked $30 on are needed as residents start their lives over. of love and unity.” package’s label and asked what “Chabad” was. Taking the counter, telling Cohen to put the change toward in the answer, a look of surprise crossed his face. flood relief. “I never knew about this deli before, but “We are going to get through the weekend, but we Shortly after Rabbi Jacobson spoke to Lubavitch. “You’re giving these meals out for free? My father I am glad you’re here.”

www.lubavitch.com | 12 Lubavitch International | Summer 2008 13 Although he enjoyed the evening, Yair admits he would not have gone to the same performance in Israeli Expats Israel. “I came here just to feel the connection.” NEW YORK

Strengthen Jewish Identity Rabbi Uriel Vigler tries to give the thousands of Israelis who live on New York’s Upper East Side that connection to their homeland. Among his in Diaspora crowd, he says, “every single one has the dream to return. Some make it some don’t.”

Tali Levy came to America a year ago and has been attending the rabbi’s Torah classes for seven months. As the Israeli government launches a dynamic campaign to lure She says that the strengthens her expatriates back, many are conflicted as to which country they wish Israeli identity. “My connection to

to call home. “Rabbi Uriel is very involved with Israel; Chabad is Judaism is greater a place where I can discuss my feelings and opinions ith a goal of 10,000 returnees by Israel's it’s synagogue, community, or JCC.” about Israel with people like me.” Despite the fact here with Chabad, 60th anniversary last May, and double that that she doesn’t know if she will return to Israel, (“I absolutely, than eachW year hence, Israel is tempting its wayward ATLANTA like it so much here”), she says that “being Israeli is citizens with tax breaks, loans, and job offers. everything. You can’t ever detach—everything that it was in Israel,” Both Yair and Vainer are regulars at the newly- happens there affects me.” “I would never say no,” concedes Naftali Yair, minted Chabad Israeli Center of Atlanta. Rabbi “but I really don’t know.” Yair is originally from Menachem Gurary, an Israeli himself, says the CHICAGO Chances are, his child may well have chosen to Jerusalem, but has had an Atlanta address for center has connected with 800 Israelis since return to Israel. A recent study showed that children 21 years. His decision to return would be based it opened eight months ago. There are 7,000 Even the secular Israelis, says Rabbi Menachem of Israeli expats are returning in growing numbers, heavily on economic considerations. And his Israelis in Atlanta. Slavaticki who runs the Chabad Israeli Center of to Israel, to serve in the IDF, with 70 percent wife’s willingness: she is American. Greater Chicago, don’t need to be taught the basics choosing to remain in Israel after their discharge, Chabad Houses catering solely to Israelis of Jewish holidays or how to hold a siddur and read and 30 percent of their parents following their But even though their geographic allegiance may have surfaced in all major metropolises. While Hebrew. What they do appreciate “is gaining a children back to Israel. be conflicted, many of the 450,000 currently in some Israelis arrive with preconceived notions deeper understanding.” He tries to make his home, the States have found a different kind of home. regarding religious Jews at Chabad, though, they “warm: Israeli style.” There are 15,000 Israelis When Halpert left the land 20 years ago he was not Secular Israelis often discover religion, oddly find acceptance. “My connection to Judaism is living in the greater Chicago area. Most, explains religious. Involvement with Chabad in Chicago has enough, only after leaving the country. greater here with Chabad, absolutely, than it was the Rabbi, did not plan on staying as long as they helped cement his spirituality: a spirituality he plans in Israel,” says Yair. have. “Many come for a few years to make some on taking back to the Holy Land. His children will “In Israel,” says Dr. Sorin Vainer, “religion and money, and end up staying forever.” go to religious schools come September. politics are intertwined.” Vainer, who has been Depending on location and clientele, Chabad Until recently, that was the case for Danny Halpert. practicing medicine in Atlanta for almost two Rabbis know how to tweak their approach He “did not plan to stay long when he accepted a job From his Atlanta home, Yair says he “came to decades, opened up to religious life only on these while maintaining high fealty to Jewish law and offer in Chicago 17 years ago. This summer, Halpert America by accident.” His army base was on Mount shores. “Here the rabbis are more approachable,” tradition. Although they speak Hebrew at home, will be bringing his family “home,” “It’s where we Scopus in Jerusalem. There he met many Americans, he says. “Chabad makes you feel welcome.” Israeli parents ask Rabbi Gurary to teach their belong” he says. Halpert describes life in America whom he followed back for a visit. He is comfortable children the nuances of the language. Events as more comfortable than Israel. But, “long-term I with his Judaism now, more comfortable than he Yair considers another factor for Jewish expats: need to be Israeli style and serve Israeli food. At want my kids to stay in Israel.” As his oldest nears ever was. And he still maintains pride in his land of “In Israel, we all felt Jewish doing nothing. Here a Chanukah concert featuring Israeli superstar the age of 12, he realized “I had to make the decision origin. “It’s very tough to lose your connection with you need to do something to feel Jewish, whether Yehoram Gaon, 500 Israelis packed into the hall. before he made it for me.” Israel,” he says.

www.lubavitch.com | 14 Lubavitch International | Summer 2008 15 The New York Times recently featuredShimon Waronker, principal of a South Bronx High School, on its front page. Waronker, an alumnus of Chabad-Lubavitch schooling, was profiled for his success in rehabilitating a notoriously dangerous, failing school. Waronker credited the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s inspiration in his educational values. In the following article, Lubavitch.com asked our reporter to seek out notable alumni of Chabad-Lubavitch day schools, and consider how their schooling, and particularly their teachers, have influenced their life choices. them,” said Dr. Mukamal. “Rabbi Kurtzman was very dear to my family and to me.” “I was intrigued,” said Dr. Joel Wein. As a memorial to Rabbi Kurtzman, Dr. Mukumal Jewish Day School Teachers Impact “They took me in, chose to name one of his sons after his teacher. and I found my To attain that level of connection with a student, the place as a Jew.” most powerful tool is the teacher’s own spiritual refine- Students’ Life Choices ment, according to Epstein.

“It is what’s going on internally that’s crucial. You have “Love for Judaism to be plugged into life,” said Epstein after a full day of r. Joel Wein is looking for the Lubavitch teacher climb still higher), it’s the teachers who nurture, an- was at the center teaching first through fifth grade. who changed his life. As a youngster eager to swer questions and provide living examples of what it of the school.” earnD a Cub Scout religion badge, he asked his Hebrew means to live with Jewish teachings as a guide. “Living life on a deeper level and not just coasting Says Philip Swagel School teacher, a young Chabad-Lubavitch woman in through makes for an exciting lively teacher.” her early twenties, for a synagogue where he could at- To that list, Phillip Swagel, assistant secretary of the tend services. She walked him to the only Orthodox Treasury for economic policy, would add love and A teacher’s effect lingers. Over a half-century has passed synagogue in the neighborhood. He stayed to pray, and warmth. As a youngster he attended Chabad’s Hebrew since Prof. Thomas (Shmuel) Kessner sat in Rabbi he returned the next week, and the next. Academy, then in Long Beach, now in Huntington As a memorial to Avrohom Barnetsky’s class at the United Lubavitcher Beach, California. Rabbi Kurtzman, Yeshivoth, in Brooklyn, N.Y. Stories Rabbi Barnetsky “I was intrigued,” said Dr. Wein. “They took me in, and Dr. Ken Mukumal told of his life during the Holocaust stayed with the I found my place as a Jew.” “Love for Judaism was at the center of the school,” young Kessner who grew up to be a professor of his- chose to name Swagel told Lubavitch.com in a phone interview from tory at City University of New York’s Graduate Center. Now an observant Jew, Dr. Wein graduated from Har- his office in the Treasury Department in Washington, one of his sons “He spoke about his memories, but you did not see bit- vard and MIT, married and is raising a house full of D.C. He remembers Rabbi Yitzchak Newman, Rabbis after his teacher. terness and anger you’d expect from someone who had children with his wife Marjorie. All the Wein kids at- Engel, Piekarski and Schusterman for their “sense of been through a tough ordeal. tend yeshiva and day school. With a single act, a young warmth and caring for us. They pushed us to be con- Lubavitch teacher strengthened the Jewish future for scientious, to give our full effort, to not just sit there, Dr. Kessner, who holds a Ph.D. from Columbia Uni- an entire family, and Dr. Wein would like the opportu- but to be engaged.” with students, to have a relationship with them, and be versity, said Rabbi Barnetsky’s gift for pedagogy influ- nity to say “thank you.” interested in different parts of their lives-not just how enced his relationships with his students. “Trying to When he tucks his three children into bed every night, they are in the classroom.” give students credit, even when they did not deserve If Jewish education forges strong links to Jewish con- and helps them recite the Shema prayer, he recalls it seems so modern. He built on a student’s strengths tinuity, educators are the blacksmiths. Famously un- where he first memorized the prayer: on the bus at the Sometimes that relationship involves the entire fam- well before ‘positive reinforcement’ entered the educa- sung, extraordinarily underpaid, Jewish teachers take school’s Gan Israel day camp. ily. As a third grader, Dr. Ken Mukamal, now engaged tors’ lexicon. the goal of a strong Jewish future and make it happen in medical research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical day after day. It’s no accident, leading Chabad educators say, that Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, “Rabbi Barnetsky taught students not only through his Swagel spoke of emotions rather than lessons or field had Rabbi Victor Kurtzman as his teacher at Hebrew lessons, but in the way he carried himself in his every- “Devotion to fulfilling the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s vision trips or teaching methodology as having left the great- Academy of Huntington Beach. A burly Scotsman day life.” that every Jewish child deserves a quality Jewish edu- est impression on him. with “a larger than life” personality, Rabbi Kurtzman cation is the secret of the success of Lubavitch teach- invited the Mukamal family for Shabbat dinners. Teachers at Chabad-Lubavitch schools know that long ers,” said Rabbi Nochem Kaplan, director of Chabad’s Chavi Epstein, a Jewish studies teacher at the Chabad- after the tests are marked and the report cards and re- central education office. affiliated Columbia Jewish Day School in South Caro- “He helped bring my parents into the community and cords are filed away, what remains with the students lina, said effective education is in the relationship. “An made them feel there was a range of people who were can often determine nothing less then the direction In Chabad-Lubavitch’s network of 150 elementary essential component is to really care and really connect welcome, who brought different life experiences with their lives may take. and high schools (outside of Israel where the numbers

www.lubavitch.com | 16 Lubavitch International | Summer 2008 17 N ew on the B lo c k on the B lo c k on N ew Aleph’s New Home Southside Jewish Community After 45 Years, A Jewish Chabad Inaugurates To Help Jewish Inmates Breaks Ground for Area’s Community Breaks Ground New JCC in Daytona Beach

Build New Lives First Jewish Facility For New Mikvah n Daytona, fl n n n PITTSBURGH, PA JACKSONVILLE, FL GREENVILLE, S.C. he 1,800 Jewish families of the Greater Daytona area will now enjoy the newly wo feisty Jewish women, their lives separated ennsylvania, home of the U.S.’s second highest outhside Forida recently celebrated the inauguratedT 25,000 square foot Esformes Jewish by 100 tumultuous years, have inspired the number of federal prisons, right after Texas, groundbreaking of the area’s first Jewish Community Center and Day School. The $5.5 institution,S a new Chabad-Lubavitch center. buildingT of a new mikvah in Greenville, SC. seesP more than seven out of ten inmates return to million complex includes a Mediterranean-style prison after release. High rates of recidivism and In 1911, Chava Raizel Zaglin put her foot down. synagogue, 10 high-tech classrooms, a ballroom re-incarceration are overcrowding prisons, tying up It’s a significant development for Southside, which There was no way she was budging from New York and adjoining kitchens, as well as separate mikvahs the courts and pushing government officials to find has a local Jewish population of about 5,000, says and moving to the South. Her husband, Rabbi for women and men. On its completion, Chabad a way to break the street-crime-jail cycle. Chabad director, Rabbi Shmuel Novack. Tzemach Zaglin may have found a job as a pulpit representative Rabbi Pinchas Ezagui anticipates rabbi in Greenville, SC, but the closest ritual bath, that the “Volusia County Jewish community will Proposed solutions include job training, alcohol The new 5,000 square foot center will feature a state- mikvah, was in Charlotte. take on a new face completely.” and drug addiction counseling, and faith based of-the-art preschool with six classrooms. Adjoining intervention. On May 22, The Aleph Institute it will be a 3,000 square foot creative playground as Rabbi Zaglin built a mikvah in the basement of his The new face is thanks in large part, to a generous -North East Region, Hyman & Martha Rogal well as a large lake. Until now, the well-regarded cottage home. When his congregation moved into donor who happened upon the growing community school attended by children throughout Jacksonville, Center, celebrated the grand opening of its new a new building, the community built a mikvah into five years ago. RabbiMoses Esformes had business operated from the Novack’s home. Rabbi Novack home in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, the synagogue. dealings nearby and was pleasantly surprised to where all these services are now offered, under one anticipates that the larger space will help double find an active Jewish population in his midst. A freshly renovated roof. attendance within the next six months. Later, Greenville’s Jewish community shrunk to its Chicagoan, Rabbi Esformes has devoted himself current state of an estimated 3,500 souls. For 45 to raising Jewish consciousness in his hometown as Three hundred people a week have begun filling the It’s not only the preschoolers who will benefit. years, there has been no mikvah for women to use well as across America and Israel. 4,000 square foot space, taking advantage of the Southside Jacksonville, encompasses a particularly in Greenville. counseling and substance-abuse recovery services broad population. Within its borders study 100,000 With the belief that “every child should have available in the center. Since the building became college students. Young families share sidewalks and Chabad of the Upstate, under the leadership of Rabbi Adam and Chani Goodfriend, has launched the opportunity to receive some form of Jewish Aleph’s home, even before the official opening, the coffee shops with older retirees. Of the 5,000 Jews education,” Esformes contributed four million in the area, several hundred attend various Chabad a campaign to bring a mikvah back to the Greenville numbers showing up for post-incarceration services dollars to the Center’s construction. have been climbing. programs. Shabbat services and an accompanying area. In March, the Jewish community of the Upstate turned shovelfuls of soil in a pretty section six-course dinner draws students, seniors, and Rabbi Pinchas and Chani Ezagui started small on Chabad’s green half-acre plus property to break “When you put the center in the public’s eye, young families, who mingle weekly. “The diversity when they arrived in Daytona 15 years ago. Services ground for the mikvah. when you make it a respectable, comfortable place of the crowd creates a great ambience,” says Rabbi and Hebrew school classes were held in their living Novack. to go to, people come,” said Chabad-Lubavitch Planned by architect Mark Garber, the whitewashed room. With their doors open to Jews “from all representative, Rabbi Moshe Mayir Vogel, executive brick building will house a mikvah with soothing walks of life,” their fledgling congregation quickly Jacksonville Councilmen Don Redman and Clay director of Aleph Institute - North East Region. spa amenities. A copper waterfall will trickle outgrew the space. The Ezaguis soon purchased a Yarborough participated at the inauguration. alongside the ritual pool, a Jacuzzi-style tub and plot of land and constructed a modest synagogue. The program is affiliated with Aleph Institute based plush accessories complete the 780 sq. foot mikvah That too grew tight, but it was not until the arrival “I am grateful for the continual survival of the in Florida, but is independently funded. Local building. of Rabbi Esformes that plans for a larger building Jewish people,” said Redman, “and I pledge my donors raised the $1 million it took to purchase and became viable. The new complex, built on the renovate the new center. utmost to help Chabad in any way possible.” The mikvah will be named Mei Leah, for Leanne original plot of land, is impressive for its size as well Goodfriend, Rabbi Goodfriend’s mother. as its splendor.

www.lubavitch.com | 18 Lubavitch International | Summer 2008 19 t Installing the new Solar paneling at the n Making Their Mark Hebrew Academy.

n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n Hebrew Academy expects to save $1,000 each month off its electric bill, dimming its annual $70,000 bill by nearly 15 percent. Chabad Rabbi Driven to Stop One of the first Jewish day schools in the area to be Delinquency, Awarded making such a significant commitment to solar energy, n Hebrew Academy, founded in 1967, is known for other Edgeware, England firsts. It twice received U.S. Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon Excellence Award, and is one of the few habad’s Rabbi Leivi Sudak received a public award in February, schools in Chabad-Lubavitch’s network with a junior in recognition of his “outstanding citizenship.” Barnett borough Olympic sized swimming pool. councilorC Brian Gordon, a lawyer and personal friend of the Rabbi, nominated him for the honor. The solar panels are not the school’s first foray into “I have known Rabbi Sudak since he came here in 1986,” councilor environmental action. Dozens of blue boxes placed in Gordon told Lubavitch.com, “and he has made a wonderful impression on the community and has helped a lot of strategic spots throughout the school’s 11-acre campus people.” are filling up with recyclables. Director of Admissions Alex Greenberg was motivated to start the recycling Mayor Maureen Brown presided over the ceremony in the council chambers. Hundreds were nominated for the program because of her sons, Zachary, a fifth grader, distinction and 45 runners-up were chosen. Of those, Rabbi Sudak was one of seven to receive this prize. The vellum and Noah, a kindergartner at the school. certificate recognizes the Rabbi for his “pastoral and community work, particularly with disaffected youth and pioneering work on the streets of London.” “I am really worried about our next generation. We are already feeling the ramifications of pollution, smog The Mayor expressed her pleasure in presenting the award to Rabbi Sudak. “He received the award…for his general and lack of fuel. We have to start somewhere,” she said. contribution over and above the call of duty, not just to the Jewish community but to the community at large, especially Bringing paper to the recycler has more than moral his work with young people . . .” Chabad Hebrew Day rewards. It nets the school $18 per ton. Noah’s teacher, Robin Leclercq, also the school’s School Goes Green assistant preschool director, has used the solar panels as a starting point for green talk with her young students. n HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA “We have given them some of the basics such as, the Latin American U.N. Representative oaking up the brilliant California sunshine, 189 new solar sun can provide energy to help run our school so we Speaks About Ieladeinu at panels atop the roofs of Chabad’s Hebrew Academy in don’t have to rely on energy created by man,” she told UNICEF Funded Book Party. HuntingtonS Beach are teaching students a living lesson in Lubavitch.com. going green and cutting the school’s energy bills. n BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA Science department chair Amanda Smith feels the “It’s a move to show student the importance of conserving solar panels fit well into the earth science curriculum NICEF leaders, human rights experts and community representatives energy, respect for the environment,” said Rabbi Yitzchak and bring to life the students’ studies of renewable and joined Chabad-Lubavitch of Buenos Aires in early June at the Centro Newman, dean of the school which educates 350 students nonrenewable resources. UCultural Borges arts center to formally announce publication of a UNICEF from preschool through twelfth grade. It’s a mitzvah to funded book about the chabad program for children in Argentina. conserve resources, he said, and it helps illustrate the power Going green is a process, school officials said, and there’s of the sun’s rays, a common metaphor found throughout much more to do until sneakers are the sole source of Chasidic philosophy. the school’s environmental footprint. With panels and a Mistreatment of Children: The Innovative Approach of Ieladeinu, The Comprehensive Response of a Community Committed to recycling program, Hebrew Academy is getting greener Children, published by Editorial Lumen, is based on UNICEF’s two year observations of Ieladeinu, and captures some Eight thousand square feet of solar panels came with a by the day. Melanie Alkov, an administrative assistant of the remarkable results seen throughout the chabad program’s six years of work with over 300 abused or neglected price tag of over $200,000. Solar panel manufacturer Sharp in the school for 23 years, thinks it’s a step it the right children. USA and integrator HelioPower, the firm that installed direction. the panels, both supported the school’s green initiative. “UNICEF has found Ieladeinu’s work not only valuable for the Jewish community’s children it cares for, but also as a A portion of the cost was covered with a federal rebate “We are always taught to repair the world, to do tikkun model to be followed universally in dealing with this type of problem,” said Dr. Rivera Pizarro, UNICEF’s representative. program. The Karp Federation Challenge grant and another olam. What better way is there to do it than in school,” Ieladeinu (Hebrew for “our children”) is a project of Chabad-Lubavitch of Argentina, under the leadership of Rabbi donor funded the rest. where tomorrow blooms. Tzvi Grunblatt.

www.lubavitch.com | 20 Lubavitch International | Summer 2008 21 meetings with Avi Chai officials, he introduced Jewish Federation them to the mentoring program for college stu- of Greater Ohio Awards dents which he launched and developed under the Steinhardt Neubauer Jewish Heritage Pro- Chabad Representative grams (JHP), a project of the Cayne Heritage For Creativity Foundation. JHP was a pioneer in peer to peer n campus outreach and mentoring of college stu- DAYTON, OH dents by community professionals. That program At a May 2008 ceremony hosted by the Jewish Federation of Greater has now expanded to ten campuses. Ohio, Devorah Leah Mangel, co-director of Chabad of Dayton was feted with the coveted Jack Moss Creativity Award. Schmidt helped create the national network of Chabad Houses on campus. This eventually “Devorah has tirelessly worked towards instilling a love for Judaism to all those whom she encounters. But with De- became the Chabad on Campus International vorah, the learning occurs not necessarily in a classroom but often in a much more non-traditional manner,” said Marci Foundation, which has been in the forefront of Vandersluis at the ceremony. The Mangels founded Chabad of Greater Dayton fifteen years ago. North Dayton was in Avi Chai Selects building over 100 Chabad Houses on campuses better shape with active synagogues, a Jewish Community Center and a day school, so the Mangels looked south. nationally and internationally. Rabbi Schmidt “We felt if we wanted to make a difference and be where Jewish families needed us most we had to move south. People Chabad-Lubavitch presently serves as its president. told us we were crazy,” said Mrs. Mangel. Representative for Rabbi Schmidt was instrumental in founding Today, the Mangels’ creative energy is generating noticeable change. There’s fresh kosher chicken and meat available many of the Chabad Lubavitch centers in the in the supermarket. Chabad’s sparked a trend among area synagogues, and Chabad’s Purim mishloach Fellowship Award and other institutions in the manot basket delivery service has grown to 200 families in three years. Philadelphia area including co-founding the There’s greater Jewish pride in the streets, too. More families “are walking to shul on Shabbat, something you didn’t see habad-Lubavitch representative, Rabbi Jewish Relief Agency. in Dayton,” said Bloom. “Chabad has definitely made it more accessible.” Menachem Schmidt, of Philadelphia, is oneC of six winners of the Avi Chai Fellowship In an interview with Lubavitch.com follow- Award. Chosen on the basis of their promising ing the award announcements, Rabbi Schmidt n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n creative and entrepreneurial Jewish leadership in said he hopes “we’ll be able to utilize the award the North American Jewish community, the re- to make a real difference.” cipients—four individuals and a team of two, will In Brazil, McDonalds receive $75,000 each—the largest cash award, ac- Rabbi Schmidt was one of more than 40 who Goes Kosher For-A-Day cording to the Foundation—in the first of three were nominated for the Fellowship. A seven award cycles that will allocate $1.5 million over member committee narrowed the names down n S. PAULO, BRAZIL the next three years. to the final five units. They flipped 10,000 burgers at the local McDonald’s, and Ronald McDonald was doing his usual thing. But this time, he was greeting Highly respected in the Philadelphia Jewish com- Until now, Avi Chai in North America has most- kids in yarmulkas, and the beef was glatt kosher. No cheese. In fact, munity, Rabbi Schmidt is involved in numerous ly earmarked its funding to Jewish day schools the entire restaurant in S. Paulo’s Barra Funda neighborhood was innovative programs and projects that contribute and overnight summer camps. But directors of strictly kosher for the day. Five thousand patrons curious to experience to an enriched Jewish life experience for a broad the Avi Chai Foundation expect that funding McDonald’s at its kosher best lined up for their own kosher big mac. and varied mix of Jewish people. Executive Di- creative Jewish leaders will prove an effective way rector of Chabad at the University of Pennsylva- to address challenges facing the Jewish commu- Following last year’s successful debut, organizers were inspired to repeat and enlarge on the local fast food franchise going nia, Rabbi Schmidt cofounded the Jewish Relief nity. kosher-for-a-day. The idea, hatched by a local Chabad-Lubavitch teacher determined to advance kosher awareness, would Agency which regularly delivers food packages expose a good percent of Brazil’s 60,000 Jews to kosher, especially with the massive advertising campaign sponsored by to 2500 needy families in Philadelphia through The Avi Chai foundation, endowed by the late Jewish businesses in Brazil. the efforts of 700 local volunteers, spanning the Zalman Bernstein, is scheduled to cease making It took a team of rabbis and weeks of arranging for the 14-hour switch to kosher, with every ingredient from bread to entire spectrum of ethnic, religious and social grants in 2020. Though the Foundation’s work spices, sauces and fries carefully selected from kosher sources. Saturday night, rabbinical supervisors koshered the entire backgrounds. “will be far from completed” at that time, says kitchen. Lines formed at McDonald’s even before opening time at 9 a.m. Among the thousands waiting patiently for Avi Chai’s Chairman, Arthur Fried, the Fellow- their kosher quarter pounder were many who’d never considered kosher before. Initially, says Rabbi Schmidt, he was tapped for ship has been developed with an eye to the fu- the award for the First Friday Shabbos program ture, and the hopes that these emerging leaders “There’s no doubt that this initiative is highly effective in raising awareness of kosher observance in this country,” said that he introduced to Center City. But in his “will carry the mission forward.” Chabad’s Rabbi Shammai Ende, though he cautions that the local franchise was kosher just for that one day only.

www.lubavitch.com | 22 Lubavitch International | Summer 2008 23 Parting shot

Communal Bat Mitzvah ceremony in S. Petersburg, Russia.

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