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chabad

Chabad seeks ‘members of the tribe’ in Australian outback

The idea of hunting for Jews in the Australian outback may sound as ridiculous as combing the streets of Jerusalem for Aborigines. But when two Chabad emissaries set out this summer to find landsmen in the desolate outback, they were not disappointed.

Chasids in the Hood (or Not)

This, for me, is the Chabad genius: a knack on the deed, not the talk. They don\’t get turned on by grand debates that lead to more grand debates. While the Jewish world agonizes over \”profoundly important\” issues, Chabad agonizes over getting to Kinko\’s on time to get their flyers out for their Chanukah event.

Campus Outreach Connects Orthodox

\”The primary purpose is to serve the needs of the Orthodox population,\” says Rabbi Ilan Haber, the program\’s national director, who works out of Hillel headquarters in Washington. \”It\’s not an outreach program, it\’s an in-reach to Orthodox students.\”

Chabad Menorahs Gain Acceptance

Ten years ago, the American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) sued the city of Beverly Hills to block the local Chabad house from erecting a 27-foot menorah in a public park near City Hall.

Life of a Footsoldier

Shmuel Marcus is a bit like the lucky son of an ambitious frontier storekeeper, who relies on family to staff a second storefront.

Since January, Marcus, 27, has operated Orange County\’s newest Chabad from a living room alcove of the second-floor Cypress apartment he shares with his 25-year-old wife, Bluma, and two young children.

Scion of an unusual family, Marcus has joined the equally unusual society of shluchim (emissaries). They are foot soldiers for a powerful ideology of outreach by the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of Orthodox Judaism. Trailblazers like Marcus must solicit their own financial support and, with their wives, make a lifetime commitment to remain in often-remote areas, ranging from Armenia to Zaire. In not-so-remote California, 20 new sites are planned this year alone in places such as Calabasas and Monterey. The Golden State already has the largest concentration of Chabad centers outside of Israel.

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Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.