For anyone who knows their Chabad personalities: Dr. Yaakov Brawer (a longtime McGill University cell biology professor in Montreal) and Rabbi Gershon Mendel Garelik (the Rebbe’s longtime emissary to Milano Italy for over 60 years) are very different personalities, extremely … Read the rest
Each year, on the first day of school, the local Maimonides School does something special and memorable for an Opening Day Welcome. This year the plan was for Dippin’ Dots which unfortunately did not work out as planned but as … Read the rest
There are two types of fruits eaten on Rosh Hashanah.
1) On the first night we eat foods and fruits that have special symbolism or association: Apple dipped in honey for a sweet new year, pomegranates so that our good … Read the rest
No doubt that one of the most talked about things going into Rosh Hashanah 5787/2026 is all the buzz around AI, on a national scale and for personal use, in academic and in work settings, for and against, its opportunities … Read the rest
It so happens that Rosh Hashanah 5787/2026 falls on September 11th, the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks on 9/11. Given that it’s now the quarter century anniversary/commemoration there’s more emphasis on 9/11 this year. What messages can we learn … Read the rest
This must have been back in 1998 or 1999. I got a call from R’ Yisrael “Jay” Bindell (a close communal friend and local businessman, who was instrumental in the early 1970s in bringing Chabad to Albany – more about … Read the rest
At Havdalah and Pizza Ari K. mentioned that he had read Hemingway’s “Old Man and the Sea” over Shabbos. It’s 120+ pages of Hemingway telling the story of an old fisherman who hasn’t caught fish in some 80 days. A … Read the rest
A little background first but this is about a verse in Ki-Tavo, that Alter Rebbe focuses on its inverse message in Tanya Chapter 26, and Rebbe used to quote and emphasize this a great deal.
Each year, on the first day of school, the local Maimonides School does something special and memorable for an Opening Day Welcome. This year the plan was for Dippin’ Dots which unfortunately did not work out as planned but as … Read the rest