The Jewish people are going through an extremely difficult time now. But there are some special moments that bring some necessary light to our lives and the last night of Chanukah we had a huge simcha (joy) when our dear Moshe Samuel got married to...
One of the fun things about working with Jewish communities around the world is the holidays. Getting a peek into the traditions, culture, variety and style in each unique community reminds us how there really is “70 faces to the Torah…” – and to all...
Colombian-born Rabbi Asher Abarbanel, our much-loved representative in Cali, Colombia, and his wife Margalit, had something special to celebrate with the community he serves: the brit milah of his first-born son. Rabbi Asher was thrilled to announce the good news, and the brit was celebrated...
Rav Shimon Yehoshua serves the Bnei Anousim (descendants of the forced Jewish converts of the Spanish Inquisition) communities and conversion candidates in Colombia. Rabbi Shimon was born in Argentina and received his rabbinic ordination in Jerusalem at the Beit Hamidrash Hasefaradí. He is a graduate...
The story of the Katz family characterizes the history of Vissoky Jews and the way in which their community was involved in the lives of the other neighboring Jews in the area. [caption id="attachment_171995" align="alignleft" width="285"] Yevgeny & Svetlana at a Voronezh synagogue [/caption] In the Great Synagogue...
The Bnei Sefarad community in Cuba is an emerging Jewish community that consists of descendants of Sephardic and Portuguese 'Anousim' (those who were forcibly converted in the time of the Inquisition) and have gone through a deep process of reconnecting with the Jewish roots of...
Yom Ha'atzmaut is Israel's national Independence Day commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonies and observances throughout Israel and the Jewish world. Yom Hazikaron, the Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day is always...
Like in previous years, this Passover our communities all over the world enjoyed the holiday. Eating matza and other special foods, gathering for the seder, taking day trips and having family time. Now Pesach is over – the matzah is finished, the special Passover dishes put...
Samuel Devasahayam was the founder of the Zion Torah Center in Erode, India. He was a courageous, G-d-fearing man, who left a huge hole in a community when he tragically passed away in 2018. His family has continued with the legacy he left, on their...
It was a very special Chanukah in the emerging Jewish community of Shmaya v'Avtalyon in Armenia, El Salvador, a city not far from the capital, San Salvador. Beginning with the bar mitzvah of Ariel Guevara, on the first night of Chanukah, where literally lighting the Chanukah...
