This Thursday, 3 Tammuz, marks the twenty-sixth anniversary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s passing. Since his passing, the Rebbe’s influence on world Jewry has grown exponentially and is felt today more than ever.
With a decimated local economy and a tragic national death toll of 34,000, these moments of joy are particularly poignant for the Jewish community of Rome.
The sound of blaring sirens heralded a flashing motorcade of fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars driving down her block. Friendship Circle staff members and volunteers followed in cars festooned with colorful balloons.
At the time, the twenty-five children enrolled in New York Hebrew met once a week at the Center for Jewish Discovery for two hours of Jewish studies. Eight years later, the Shanowitzes run classes in Gramercy, Flatiron, and Chelsea, with an enrollment of 130 children, ages three to thirteen.
For Jewish parents of Harvard-bound students, the feeling is all too familiar. Proud that they've been accepted to one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the world,