R. Doron Oren of the Moshiach and Geulah Center of Yerushalayim is planning a special program, in which successful businessmen will explain the secrets of their success. The background behind this program is a sicha of the Rebbe of Parshas Terumah, 5752, in which the Rebbe gave a Hora'ah to every Jew to seek to become rich, (also) in a physical sense. At the event, prominent businessmen will reveal the secret to riches, and of course spiritual wealth will also be discussed.
(Heraldtribune.com) NORTH PORT -- For some of the children, everything seems strange.
The prayer books are read from back to front and from right to left. The script-like letters of the Aleph Bet, the Hebrew alphabet, are perplexing. The kippah, the skull cap that many Jewish males wear, causes one boy to fidget uncomfortably. But there are incentives.
Rabbi Sholom Schmerling and his wife, Rivka, reward thoughtful answers with Torah dollars, play money that the children can save to buy toys, books and games. Learning will also be recognized by colored belts, as in karate -- from white for a beginner to black for a rabbi.
The after-school class held Monday in the Schmerling home in North Port is one way the Schmerlings are promoting Jewish culture and religion. They have established a center to provide education and social and religious services for Jewish people in southern Sarasota County.
The Schmerlings, who moved here from New York, chose to start the Chabad of North Port and Venice because they believe the area's growth has created a big enough Jewish community to support a center.
"When we moved here, we got the feeling there were a lot of families waiting for this to happen," Schmerling said. "We feel we got to the right place."
The center is affiliated with Chabad Lubavitch, an international group that encourages Jewish people to live their lives according to the teachings in the Torah. The organization, founded in Russia in 1772, has more than 2,700 centers around the world, including 80 in Florida, according t! o its Web site.
Despite its size, the group does not provide money for its centers. Typically, centers are funded through donations from the local community.
To start the local center, the Schmerlings collected donations from the Jewish community in New York. Until they can raise enough money for a permanent building, the center will be based in their home.
In four months, the center has attracted interest from about 120 families. It has also made an impact in the local community in other ways. In July, Schmerling conducted a bar mitzvah for a 73-year-old Ukrainian who, because of suppression of religion in the Soviet Union, was denied the coming-of-age ceremony Jewish boys normally have on their 13th birthday.
Other services include adult education classes to explain the significance of the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Schmerling's wife has started a group for Jewish women.
The Chabad Lubavitch group endorses Orthodox Ju! daism, a branch of the religion regarded as the most tradition! al.
< BR>At Orthodox services, women are separated from men in order to minimize lapses in concentration. Orthodox Jews also strictly observe the Sabbath. That means complete rest -- Schmerling will not drive his car on the Sabbath.
The Schmerlings emphasize, however, that the center is open to all Jewish people, not just those of Orthodox faith.
Rivka Schmerling said the teaching methods used by the center are a key to its success.
"When a person understands something, then they feel it becomes part of them," she said.
Shluchim from across Israel have come out full force in support of the expellees of Gush Katif, who had fought the evil disengagement decree until the last moment and are now suffering trauma as a result of the expulsion. Activities on their behalf are being organized by R. Shneur Kurtz, director of Beis Chabad of Meitar, who is working together with R. Yigal Kirshenzaft, director of Beis Chabad of Nevei Dekalim, who is now staying with his family in the Ceasar hotel in Jerusalem.
In recent weeks, the shluchim have organized an array of programs for the expelled families, including singers, craft workshops and activities for children. All performers have volunteered their time and expertise on behalf of the expelled families.
Yesterday, 9 Elul, marked 14 years since the riots that rocked Crown Heights, following an accident in which a black child was killed by a car driven by a member of Anash who was following the Rebbe's entourage. After the incident, an anti-semitic mob fell upon Hatamim Yankel Rosenbaum HY"D, fatally stabbing him. For four days, police stood on the sidelines and watched as the rabble laid siege to the Jews of Crown Heights, throwing rocks and bottles and breaking windows. As a result of the Crown Heights riots, Mayor David Dinkins lost his bid for re-election and was defeated by Mayor Rudy Guiliani.
Rabbi Rachamim Nissimi was freed from prison yesterday, serving three months for having given out orange ribbons at a road-blocking demonstration. He will appeal his sentence retroactively.
Rabbi Nissimi said he plans to file an appeal for wrongful imprisonment, based on a video clip showing he did nothing to warrant his arrest.
Founder of the Shaalei Torah network of Torah core groups dotting the country, the rabbi was greeted by hundreds of well-wishers, including students and colleagues, as he exited the prison. He told them that he felt he was the emissary in prison of the "great concepts of Judaism" - forming a type of Shaalei Torah chapter in jail for the prisoners and jailers.
Speaking with Arutz-7 Hebrew Internet Radio, Rabbi Nissimi retraced the events leading to his arrest: "I was in my car when I heard that there was an anti-disengagement demonstration at one of the intersections [the turnoff to Kiryat Sefer near Modiin]. I passed by there in order to give them a package of orange ribbons [symbols of the anti-disengagement protest] and to be with them for a few minutes. After about five minutes, a police car stopped near me; apparently I looked like what they were looking for, the person responsible for the demonstration. One of the policemen asked me, 'What are you doing?' When I said that I was giving out orange ribbons, he pushed me far over behind the guardrail. I protested and said, 'What are you doing?' - and then immediately six policemen came and put me into the paddy wagon. This began a long trek of three months, with an indictment saying that I attacked a policeman, and bit a policeman, and interfered with a policeman, and everything possible that could be done to a policeman. It was a blood libel, pure and simple. Unbelievable."
Rabbi Nissimi said that Divine intervention was also noted: "There was a boy there, who I didn't know, but when I saw what was going on, I asked him to take pictures. In one of the pictures, which we found on the internet, we saw that there was a Channel Ten photographer videoing what was going on. This was exactly what we needed, because the judge didn't want to accept the stills because he said he couldn't know what happened in between each picture. But a video is different. So we turned to Channel Ten with a court order - they didn't want to give it otherwise - and we received the film, and we will show it on Arutz-7, and the whole incident can be seen clearly, showing that I didn't attack anyone."
He explained that the judge believed the policemen's version, despite the lack of evidence, and ordered him held until the end of the proceedings. "This meant that I had no chance to appeal anything, and so I had to agree to a form of plea bargain, and remain in prison for three months." It was reported at the time that had he not signed the agreement, it is probable that he would have remained in prison for nearly that long - and then still have to face charges.
"Now that we know of the existence of the film, we have filed an appeal for wrongful imprisonment," the rabbi said.
Arutz-7's Amatzia HaEitan asked, "It must be tremendously frustrating for a man of your stature, age and position to know you are totally innocent and yet have to sit in jail, leaving your entire family and important work behind."
Rabbi Nissimi responded, "There are two aspects. First of all, the way the Prosecution and police conspired together - not just to me, but to many people who have similar stories. They had a system: they quickly write out charges and indictments with the Prosecution, obtain a court order for incarceration until the end of the proceedings, etc. From this standpoint, it was very frustrating.
"But there was also another aspect: 'Man has many thoughts, but G-d's will is that which stands.' I felt every second that I was the emissary of the great concepts of Torah, and of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel. I wouldn't have chosen this path, but that's what G-d chose for me. We have to know that there are hundreds and thousands of people in jail, including the jailers, who can be taught these ideas... In general, they only hear one side, from the television and the papers - but I, with a daughter in Sa-Nur and a son in Kfar Darom and in Netzarim and the like, was able to tell them live stories of what was really going on, and they were able to understand that this wasn't something far away, but something real, with real people. They underwent a total transformation, from apathy and playing backgammon all day, to genuine tears and pain and solidarity with what was going on. It was even hard for me to part from them."
Asked what he plans to do first, Rabbi Nissimi said he would like to meet and support the people who were expelled from Gush Katif and northern Shomron. "We all underwent a national trauma, but for them it was on their own flesh - and I plan tonight to go and meet many of them in their different places, and embrace them."