Tzfat, Israel — Friends and family gathered today to mark the 7th Yahrtzeit of Hatomim shlomo Sholom Brashevitzky who passed away after sustaining serious injuries as result of a car accident. Sholom OBM wa remembered as a Chassidishe Bochur who dedicated himself to helping and caring for others. He was a well loved person who always put others before himself.

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Moscow, Russia — For only the second year, matzo is being produced at the new matzo factory in Moscow, letting Russian Jews celebrate Passover, the holiday of freedom, in accordance with national traditions. Already this year, the factory has produced more than 175 tons of matzo, which will appear at Pesach seders throughout Russian regions and sold at prices affordable to most. Members of the Kashrut Department of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia insure proper production.

During Soviet times, Moscow's Jews hand made matzo in underground conditions and, since the 90s, the Israeli-imported matzo was subject to high tariffs and transportation costs. Nowadays, the new plant houses some of the most modern technology for making kosher matzo, largely from continuing efforts of Russia's chief rabbi Berel Lazar, the Ohr Avner Chabad and funding from FJC president Lev Leviev.

As in the past, this year, a new nigun was composed in honor of the Rebbe's birthday that falls on the 11th of Nissan by temimim of Detroit. The nigun integrates the words of the Rebbe's oncoming 'kapitel' of Tehillim chapter 106, beginning with 'Mi Yemalel Gevuros Hashem Yashmia Kol Tehiloso...'

Click here to listen to the song (composed by Shmuel Chaim Scharf)

The full Kapitel can be viewed in the Extended Article.

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Berlin, Germany — Vandals sprayed neo-Nazi graffiti on a Jewish kindergarten in Berlin and attempted to set fire to the building.

The incident marks a new level in attacks on Jews in Germany, according to Stephan Kramer, general secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

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Toronto, Canada — They are teachers, principals, administrators and community leaders. They are also mothers, often with large families. Sometimes, they are mothers of special needs children. How does a Chabad Shlucha [f. representative] reconcile the altogether consuming demands that come with being a mother of a special needs child, and those of being a community leader?

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It has become a tradition in Lubavitcher Yeshivos world-wide, that on special days, the Yeshivah gathers to watch a ‘Farbrengen’. This means an hour-and-a-half length video, a portion of one of the Rebbe’s Farbrengens on that day. The Sichos are studied, discussed and Farbrenged about, thereby giving bochurim the opportunity to learn from the Rebbe himself.

In connection with the upcoming Yom-Tov of Purim, ‘Vaad Talmidei Hatmimim’ has released a special DVD.

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This past Sunday evening, the Seymour J Abrams Cheder Lubavitch Hebrew Day School of Chicago honored Rabbi and Mrs. Yitzchok Wolf, for their 25 years of dedicated service to the Chicago Jewish Community and Cheder Lubavitch.

More picture in the Extended Article.

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Moscow, Russia — A new auditorium of the Yeshiva Gedolah in Moscow was dedicated last week in the presence of the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar, members of the Beth Din in Russia, Roshei Yeshivah, Rabbis and dozens of students.

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Kiev, Ukraine — As their Torah scrolls were packed into black plastic garbage bags and carried out of the Jewish school, the students and adults continued to pray, many with tears in their eyes.

Pictures and Video in the Extended Article

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Brooklyn, NY — The sea of 1,000 women in tailored dresses, elegant jewelry and neatly applied make-up didn't look like a crowd of hardcore survivalists.

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Outside, on the streets of Squirrel Hill, giggling, scarf-swathed children were slogging by, dragging wooden sleds, plastic saucers or inflatable tubes on their way to slide down the hills of Schenley Park.

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On Sunday night over 90 ladies gathered in Beis Menachem to commemorate the 19th yahrzeit of Rebbetzen Chaya Mushka, organised by N'shei Chabad.

On entering, we were greeted with a beautifully laid out hall in black and burgundy. Once we were all seated , the evening began with a welcome by Mrs Susan Jaffe, followed by the first ever performance by the Nshei Chabad ladies choir. Their rendition of chassidshe nigunim was so good they had to do an encore at the end of the evening.

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Over 8,000 students registered for JLI's new course entitled “the Kabbalah of Character” which began during the week of January 22nd and runs through mid March.

More pictures in the Extended Article

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Brooklyn, NY — When Dina Freundlich came to Beijing with her husband and two young daughters six years ago, there was no significant Jewish infrastructure. The community had never had a rabbi, there was no Jewish school, no kosher meat and only a very limited number of kosher food items were available.

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Brooklyn, NY — Some 2,000 women married to Chabad emissaries to 72 countries arrived in Brooklyn on Thursday to take part in a conference on their role in their husbands' outreach activities.

The Chabad movement, one of the largest branches of Hasidic Judaism, sends hundreds of its followers abroad on “shlichus,” or missions reaching out to local Jewry, taking their often large families with them.

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San Diego, CA — Nearly a year after tragically losing his wife of 47 years, Dan Ashel has found a unique way to honor the woman whom he told he loved “20 times a day.”

Ashel dedicated a specially designed holy ark and a miniature Torah on Sunday at the Chabad Hebrew Academy in Scripps Ranch. He said the Torah was written by a scribe from Israel in honor of his wife, Sophia. Ý

“After she died, I thought I need to do something gorgeous for the gorgeous person she was,” he said.

The couple were on vacation in Cancun, Mexico, last year when Ashel's life changed forever. The couple and friends were in a van that skidded out of control after being hit from behind by a large truck. Ashel was the only member of the group who survived.

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The year was 1994. I had recently moved to Crown Heights, Brooklyn after graduating from college in San Diego, California. It was quite a change for me, the geographical shift from the beaches of La Jolla to the noise and cold of New York being the least of it. More so, I had left my politically correct, and extremely liberal college environment to immerse myself in intensive Judaic studies and try to get a glimpse of understanding into the life long question, “Who am I?”

Although spiritual knowledge was something I was seeking, eating was also one of my needs, so I immediately started to look for a job. I soon heard that a woman was in need of a gymnastic teacher. Having done gymnastics for years and coached during college, I was thrilled to discover that there was a small gym program being held in this woman's basement for little five year old Chassidic girls. I was ecstatic. Granted, it was not a gym like I was used to, but I knew I could improvise, and just wanted an opportunity to work with children and teach them the very things I loved so much.

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Morristown, NJ — The road 20-year-old Yehoshua Florczak traveled to study at the Rabbinical College of America in Morris Township is odd and, he believes, destined.

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Oak Park, CA — The thin monofilament line that marked a Jewish religious boundary in Oak Park, Agoura Hills and Westlake Village is being removed entirely, officials said last week.

Oak Park residents were the first to complain about the high wires crisscrossing the streets, saying they said didn't know about the project until it was completed. There were concerns that the thin lines were unsightly and a danger to birds.

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Vienna, Austria — An Austrian court Wednesday sentenced a 24-year old Croatian man to 15 months in prison for vandalizing a Jewish school in Vienna.

The court said that the defendant's racist motives - he told investigators he was a declared anti-Semite - contributed to the sentence.

The man was in Vienna as a tourist last November and said that when he saw the Jewish pupils at Vienna's Lauder Chabad School he decided that there were 'too many Jews in this country.'

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JLI has recently chosen the luxurious Cheyenne Mountain Resort as the location for their second annual learning retreat. The luxury resort, located in Colorado Springs, CO features a championship golf course, four swimming pools, sports facilities and a 35-acre lake for sailing and fishing. The spectacular scenery of the rugged Colorado Rockies will provide a stunning backdrop for the 5-day retreat to take place August 1-5, 2007.

More in the Extended Article!

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London, England — Al Jazeera bought the building for its London operations base. In a providential turn of events, the space was then acquired for Lubavitch of UK, to be used for educational and social activities of this city's Jewish population. Earlier today, the new center was formally opened by Great Britain's Chief Rabbi.

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The Jewish Learning Institute releases its newest course “The Kabbalah of Character”

The Kabbalah of Character is a new and expanded revision of JLI's popular course “Soul Powers,” it is designed to help people understand the unique mix of qualities that define ones individuality. Drawing on the organizational structure of the Kabbalah, this course examines the nature of the human soul created in the image of G-d.

The Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) is the adult education arm of Chabad-Lubavitch. JLI classes and programs are now offered in over 250 locations in 200 cities nationwide, as well as in international locations.

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Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington attended a Jewish community reception for the U.S. special envoy on anti-Semitism.

Turki al-Faisal, who is completing his term in Washington, appeared Wednesday at the event in the Capitol building honoring Gregg Rickman, the State Department’s top official combating anti-Semitism. It was the Saudi’s first such appearance at a public event sponsored by Jewish groups, in this case the United Jewish Communities, World Jewish Congress’ American Section, B’nai B’rith International, American Friends of Lubavitch and NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia. Al-Faisal also met privately in recent weeks with two dovish, pro-Israel groups.

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Last night, Sunday, there was a gathering to mark the first Yahrzteit of Harav HaChossid Harav Hatomim Rabbi Yehuda Chitrik OBM at FREE on President St.

The processions started at approximately 8:00 PM, with a nice speech by one of R. Chitrik's great great grandchildren. There was also a nice seuda prepared, which included a Siyum and some more speeches by various Rabonim and dignitaries.

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This week Merkos Leinyonai Chinuch will be opening the Kinus Hashluchos Haolami. The Kinus is set to be one of the larges ever, with over 1600 Shluchos registered from around the world!

This year the Vaad HaKinus has been working on many new and exiting programs that will take place throughout the weekend of Chof Bais Shvat, the Rebbetzins Yohtziet. The Kinus opens up on Wednesday the 19th of Shvat and goes on through the 24th of Shvat which will culminate with the grand Banquet that will take place in the Brooklyn Marriot. The keynote address will be given by the Head Shlucha to Argentina, Mrs. Shterna Grunblatt.

Columbus, OH — Friday afternoon, the Bochurim swarmed downtown Columbus, where they successfully met up with many Jews. At first, the people thought the Bochurim were Amish.

Following that, the Bochurim went to the community mikveh, where they had to make an appointment before, since they never had so many people using the mikveh before.

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This past Sunday, January 28th well over 100 guests joined by Rabbinic and Communal leaders as well as City Councilor Ian Neilson gathered for the opening of this exciting new venture on the West Coast. The Shul of Table View - West Coast is under the directorship of R. Asher and his wife Zeesa Deren.

More pictures in the Extended Article!

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The Chabad House of Ft. Lauderdale, headed by the shliach, Rabbi Aharon Yitzchak Halevi Lieberman, held a Sefer Torah dedication this week that was attended by a crowd of 200 including students of the local Semicha Institute. Among the prominent guests at the event were Rabbi Alter Yissachar Halevi Lieberman, secretary of the Chabad Rabbinical Court in Israel, Rabbi Yitzchak Yehudah Yeruslavski, the scribe, Rabbi Shimon Sonnenfeld of Nachalas Har Chabad, the Rosh Yeshiva of Tomchei Temimim of Miami, Rabbi Yehudah Leib Shapira and others.

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