www.chabadcrimea.org | Блоги | Blog: CREME DE LA KRIM

TEFILLIN NEEDED

Tue, 10 May 2011 7:19:00 PM

A young Jewish boy without a Jewish home... He comes to us and becomes a part of our family. At his bar mitzvah we were only able to get him "loaner" tefillin. He sorely desires his own good Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam tefillin. Won't you reach out to him so that he can have his own tefilline, just like the other boys in his class in yeshiva?

Donations may be made HERE. You can contact me HERE.

Thank you so much!

Leah

BE GRATEFUL! (And not Grateful Dead)

Wed, 9 Feb 2011 10:38:00 AM

Do not read further if you are faint hearted!

There is absolutely no getting used to this place. When you think you are accustomed to everything, something else will happen to make you realize that.

A woman just called me from the states. She had come in the summer to bury her uncle, after receiving a phone call that he had been murdered and was in the morgue, awaiting burial. When she'd arrived, she was informed that, actually, he had died many months previous to that time, and had been buried in an unidentified mass grave. It took till now for them to be able to locate his body, and she can now come and rebury him -- for the nominal (actually astronomical here) fee of $1,000 USD. Then she was asked what she would like to do with his head and hands..........?!?!?! What? Well, they were in the prosecutor's office in jars, since they had needed them for the "investigation." Now they no longer were in need of them, so should they put them in storage, or dispose of them? She is having recurring dreams of her uncle coming to her. I am afraid that I might join her, as I envision the head of her uncle, in a glass jar, entreating me to bury his scattered body!

This woman told me that as soon as she got off the plane in America, she literally fell to her knees and kissed the ground, and thanked Hashem that she lives in the states, and not here! She had been born here, and lived here as a child. She cannot fathom how a country can have so much knowledge, and fall to such a level, like a third world country! Now we "just" need to find 10 Jewish men who will be willing to travel to Yalta so that kaddish can be said at the funeral.

BE GRATEFUL FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE! Do not take anything for granted! Think about how many of you, had your ancestors not left this place, would be living here still today!

I would like to suggest taking upon oneself to undertake (no pun intended -- ugh!) to do a mitzvah which you have not done till now, in gratitude to the One Above, that you live in truely free countries (yes, despite all their mishugasim!) and to elevate the soul of this poor man, who is still not buried.

Keeping Up

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 8:42:00 AM

I've been remiss about posting, as it has constantly been hectic, but now all's quiet on the western front, or whatever... Because of the Swine Flu scare here in Ukraine, all schools, universities, theaters, etc. are closed for three weeks! The two boys who had been living with us are in yeshiva now, so in that way it's much calmer, as well. I think my days of raising boys are over, pretty much! I think we finally have the heat ready to roll in the school, and the shul is moving a whole one block closer to us! (I walk a half an hour to shul twice every Shabbos, and a bit longer back, since it's uphill!) The new place is not only a lot less expensive, it's a better location (next to a park instead of a liquor store,) and is brighter and in better condition -- it's called "Evro-remont" here; i.e. like in Europe. It also has a gate and will have a security camera system, G-d willing.

Last Shabbos was a nice one. A group came on a Shabbaton from Kharkov. A girl who used to learn in Bais Menachem had just got- ten married as well, and she came with her husband and their parents. We made sheva brochos for them both on Shabbos and after Shab-bos. Saturday night they said they could only come for a short time, since they had to go out with her family. Imagine our surprise when they walked in all decked out from a reception that was basically a second wedding, here in Simferopol!

Next wedding is already on the horizon! We're getting ready!

Pictures show: Sheindel and Dovid Gershon; Don Yaakov with boys from other cities; and Menachem Mendel Gitman.

Kol tuv! Leah

Just a Little Thought - WAKE UP YIDDEN!

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 5:13:00 AM

Probably anybody who was ever a camper in any Gan Yisroel knows this song:

“Wake up, Yidden, from the dream of Golus, get ready to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu (our Righteous Moshiach.) Redemption is coming swiftly towards us; Behold he is standing right outside our door."

Here in Crimea, we are going through an extremely difficult time now. We never had it easy here, but somehow we always managed to squeak along. Always in debt, but managing. But for how long can we not pay salaries? Tomorrow morning we need to know -- only if we have managed to pay the staff, school will be able to open on September 1st. We have turned to everyone we can think of -- individuals, organizations, following up on every lead. And nearly every door was closed to us. THE CRISIS. Every day we hear about another supporter with financial woes. Even those who had promised us funds -- the funds have dried up. I just called still another organization, hoping that they had a supporter who might have saved the school -- but he hasn't even been able to give them the money he usually gives for their own salaries for the last few months.

WHY? Why is everyone being hit so hard? What does G-d want from us? The Lubavitcher Rebbe said that we have already done most of what needs to be done for Moshiach to be revealed, and it is supposed to happen very, very soon already! Maybe we were just too comfortable in golus (exile,) and when nothing else worked, G-d felt He had to take us out of our comfort zone and shake us up a little, so that we would ALL finally start to pray. And not just to pray for our own meager and not-so-meager needs, but for the needs of Klal Yisroel, of the entire Jewish people. It is time for everyone to turn to our loving Father in heaven and ask Him to please have mercy on us already, so that we may see the revelation of Moshiach NOW!

“Wake up, Yidden, from the dream of Golus, get ready to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu (our Righteous Moshiach.) Redemption is coming swiftly towards us; Behold he is standing right outside our door."

PS: If you are able to donate something -- anything -- please do it right now. You can click "Donate" in the top left corner of this page to pay by credit card. If you live in or near Crown Heights, please call 1-917-501-5906 or 1-718-774-5620, and someone can pick up your donation. At the same number (or by clicking "Donate" and arriving at another page of this site,) you can also get wiring information. Please look deep and see how much you can help with, so we can stay open for these children who have until now been totally alienated from Judaism. And every mitzvah will bring Moshiach one step closer! Thank you!

Leah

HELP CHABAD OF CRIMEA WIN $25,000 PLEASE

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 9:38:00 AM

We are starting a few days late, but we have now been nominated to run in the United Jewish Communities contest which will honor 5 "Community Heroes who make a difference."

WE NEED YOUR HELP.

PLEASE ...

SIMPLY CLICK HERE TO VOTE. Voting takes just a second or two, and you are allowed to vote every 12 hours. A simple reminder in your cell phone... to remember to vote, say 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. will help us get those votes! Save the website in your computer or cellphone to make it easy.

PLEASE spread the word to everyone you know, via Facebook, email, Twitter, Digg, forums, your community, the press, anything.

Vote twice daily please, till October 8th, except on the High Holidays.

The item looks like this: (Simply click on the word VOTE.)

Yitzchok LipszycYitzchokLipszyc

City: Brooklyn, New York

ShareThis Nominee

Vote For This Hero!

Votes for Yitzchok Lipszyc: 52

Tell us about your nominee. Why should he or she be recognized as a Jewish Community Hero?

Brooklyn residents R' Yitzchok and Leah Lipszyc are my heroes. Seeing how neccessary it is to personally help Jews in the Former Soviet Union, in 1991 Rabbi Yitzchok Lipszyc founded a non-profit organization, the Jewish Lamplighter Foundation, to assist Jews in the CIS. While living in a tiny crowded basement apartment, he and his wife Leah would regularly invite 20 or more guests every Shabbos, including new immigrants from the FSU as well as students in the local schools for baalei teshuvos, and neighbors who might need a warm meal and a listening ear. Motivated by the stories they heard from their many guests from the FSU, they now run the American Friends of Chabad of Crimea, from Brooklyn. Crimea is an often overlooked peninsula, attached to Ukraine, and they do not receive any funding from major organizations. While Leah spends most of her time in Simferopol, the capitol of Crimea, helping the Jewish School Bais Menachem, synagogue, camp and holiday programs, teaching, counseling.... Rabbi Lipszyc remains in the states, raising the desperately needed funds to operate the various programs, since they do not have a sponsor. Leah cooks up a storm every week, providing 50 to 80 meals or more every Shabbos, providing people not with a piece of canned fish and some seltzer, but with the same kind of delicious meals they would have eaten in her home in America. At any given moment, she may have from 2 to 30 house guests camping out in their small, run-down home. These have included orphans and children from broken homes, for whom the Lipszyc's later arranged the possibility of learning abroad after high school, and helped them until they were ready to set up their own Jewish homes. Backpacking Israelis, tourists, people who are down and out, everyone finds a warm meal and an open heart in this home, on both sides of the world. Recent visitors from a left-wing kibbutz said "Thank you so much for this experience. In Israel, we never would have set foot in a chareidi home. Thank you for opening our eyes." Thousands have passed through the Lipszyc's doors. I seriously doubt anyone has left untouched.

What problem did your nominee identify in the community that needed to be solved? How has your nominee's efforts made a difference for others?

Former CIS immigrants would come to the United States with little Jewish knowlege. Now when they come from Crimea, they can come armed with that knowlege, and ready to actively join the Jewish community here. They immediately start giving back maaser from whatever they earn, take an active role in their communities, and even go on to teach and lead themselves. Most humanitarian aid in the FSU does NOT go to the people it is intended for, instead, directly or indirectly, it goes into the pockets of people along the way. As soon as the Lipszyc's were told they would be receiving humanitarian aid to distribute to all peoples in Crimea, they were approached by a respected person in the community, who said "I will take care of it for you. Half will go in your pocket, and half will go in my pocket." Rabbi Lipszyc refused, saying that as an American and as a Jew, he will not do that, and the food went to the peoples it was intended for. In spite of the animosity and hardships this has earned them, they continue this policy. While this caused them enormous problems locally, it earned them the respect of others, including non-Jews, thus causing a kiddush Hashem. The Lipszyc's are working on less than a shoestring budget. Every penny and kopek goes straight into that budget, and they can use all the help they can get.

THANK YOU!

Senseless Hatred or Senseless Love?

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 9:11:00 AM

The saddest day on the Jewish calendar is the Ninth of Av, "Tisha b'Av." It is the date when both our Holy Temples were destroyed, and exile, persecution and spiritual blackness began for the Jewish nation.

The fast of Tisha b'Av starts at sundown of the eighth of Av (tonight) and lasts till nightfall tomorrow night.

We are taught that the Bais HaMikdosh, the Holy Temple, in Jerusalem, was destroyed because of senseless hatred which we had, one for another. And we also learn that when we will have "senseless love" for each other, G-d will rebuild the Temple for us again.

One way in which we can show our love for each other, even for Jews half-way around the world, is by giving tzedaka ("charity," is the usual translation, however, according to the Jewish point of view, it is not really "our" money, rather we are simply serving as G-d's bankers, and returning the money where it is most needed.)

We, the Jews of Crimea, are going through an incredibly difficult time. It is imperative for us to pay the teachers' back pay and do urgent repairs on our school building, in order to open the school (Bais Menachem Jewish School of Simferopol) September 1st. We appeal to you to help us, both by donating whatever amount you can yourself, as well as by passing this on the others. Your donation is completely tax-deductible, and every cent (or kopek) goes directly to the school.

There are two more points which I would like to pass on. For one, the Lubavitcher Rebbe said that aside from one's own town, it is crucial to help Jews both in Eretz Yisroel and in the FORMER SOVIET UNION. (Crimea is in an all but forgotten corner of the FSU, and does not receive funds from sources which sponsor more well known cities.)

The other amazing thing is this. We learn the mitzvah of tzedaka from our forefather Yitzchok, and learn that G-d repays us ten-fold for the charity we give. It is written however, that there was a year of famine (economic crisis,) and during that year Yitzchok pushed himself to give anyways, and G-d repaid him ONE HUNDRED TIMES MORE. We asked rabbis, and they said that the same would apply today. In our economic situation, when one pushed himself to give more, even though it is difficult, G-d will repay us ONE HUNDRED TIMES MORE. We even saw this work in actuality recently -- someone really pushed himself to give $800, and a mere two weeks later, out of the blue, got $80,000!

So please, keep all of this in mind -- that your donation as "senseless love" for those Jews you don't even know, in the Former Soviet Union, and in these very difficult times, will help the Jews here in Crimea, yourself, and world Jewry!

Thank you for your going the extra mile to keep open the doors of the only full Jewish day school in Crimea!

Tax deductible donations can be made online here

Or send checks to:
American Friends of Chabad of Crimea
1601 Union Street
Brooklyn, NY 11213

Sincerely,

Leah-Mindle Lipszyc and R' Yitzchok Meyer Lipszyc, administrators

Elka Vasilievna Yarmolenko, director

Bais Menachem Jewish School of Simferopol

SOS - Save Our Shul!

Sat, 6 Jun 2009 9:38:00 PM

OUR SYNAGOGUE URGENTLY NEEDS YOUR HELP!

Please view this short video and help us?

Kindness

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 1:26:00 AM

I've been kind of remiss about posting here. Our internet provider, which was never great, called us a few months ago, and told us that they will be giving us faster service at no extra charge. Since then, it has not only gotten slower, but it is frequently not working altogether.

This morning I got a post from my friend, Shmuel Greenbaum. Shmuel's wife Shoshana a"h was murdered in the terrorist attack at Sbarro's in Yerushalayim. In her memory, he started "A Tradition Of Kindness" and "Partners In Kindness," which encourage people around the world to do an act of kindness each day. Today's post was entitled "An End to Kindness?" Apparently, there is a dearth of stories, and he was asking for more. While writing a number of stories for him to use, I realized that actually, I should post one of them right here.

My laptop is very sensitive, its battery seems to have died, and it frequently says is about to close down (like now.) So let's hope my laptop and internet stay on, and the website also cooperates while I write and post this...

We have a 12 year old boy, kind of an orphan, living with us. He was brought up, if one can call it that, under difficult circumstances. He never met his father, and his mother is always away. First he lived in a small, poor village, and later with a gentile "babushka" who took money for him, and used nearly all of it for herself. Now, boruch Hashem, he lives with us. When he says Tehillim on the Shabbos preceding the new Jewish month, I offered to give him 5 grivni (under a dollar) for each of the 5 books he reads.

When the tragedy in Mumbai occured, he quietly said to me "Leah, take the 25 grivni I have, and give it to the little boy, Moishie." I was quite moved, as he has nothing else for himself. But at least he feels secure in knowing that he has a home with us.

Chanukah, he got a griven or two each night for Chanukah gelt, and he played dreidle with the other students the entire week. He was the school champion. After Chanukah, he again came to me, saying "Leah, here is all of the money that I got on Chanukah. Give this also to the boy from Mumbai!"

"How goodly are your tents, Oh Yaakov; your dwelling places, Oh Israel."

Hashem -- reveal Moshiach already, and let the redemption begin!

Tragedy in Mumbai

Mon, 8 Dec 2008 5:35:00 AM

By now I would imagine the entire world knows about the unspeakable tragedy that has befallen us in Mumbai, with the torture and murder of our beloved shluchim Rabbi Gavriel Noach and his wife Rivkah Holtzberg, H"YD.

I would like to direct you to my photoblog about the tragedy, and to urge every single person, Jew and non-Jew, man, woman, and child, to commit themselves to observing at least one new mitzvah or good deed. Please click here in order to enter your choice and comments, and join in unity with thousands of others who have done the same.

May the light generated by all these good deeds totally obliterate the darkness in the world, and swiftly lead to the revelation of Moshiach!

Are You New Here? Welcome!

Mon, 8 Dec 2008 5:02:00 AM

Are you new here? Then I would like to welcome you! Sholom! Who are we and where are we? We are the Lubavitche Rebbe's emissaries to the all but forgotten corner of the world called Crimea. In order to learn more about us, I invite you to read the letters I wrote detailing our zany adventures and misadventures in this peninsula, located below mainland Ukraine, in the Black and Azov Seas, a mere two hours north of Eretz Yisroel by plane, but practically in a different time warp!

The letters can be found in the oldest archives on the right, or here.

I also invite you to view our photo albums and the brochure about our school.

Feel free to peruse the rest of the site, as well. All the best of Chabad is here, including the comprehensive online magazine, multimedia including the popular Kabbala Toons and Itche Kadoozy Show and the newest addition Stick Figure Vignettes, as well as children's and women's sections, holiday information, information about Shabbos hospitality and kosher food in Crimea, candle-lighting times, and much much more. A well stocked Judaica Store, and bargain filled Shop & Raise section are also here for you, and if you would like to help us in our vital work, you can securely donate online as well.

We are also happy to announce that very soon, G-d willing our site will have a new appearance. splash screen inviting you to view either the English site, or a brand new full RUSSIAN LANGUAGE SITE! Look out for it!

We hope you feel at home here, and will come back often to visit us! Please let us know what you think of our site, and if you have any needs you would like to see addressed here.

Paka for now!

Leah

Vote for Leah!

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 4:02:00 AM

If you don't mind, please take a moment to click on the link below and vote for an amazing teenager, Leah Larson, the granddaughter of a good friend of ours, Rus Krieger, who promotes Yiddishkeit in a fun and attractive way through her professional magazine "Yaldah" She started the magazine when she was only 13 years old (!) and it is put together totally by young girls. It will be a quick and easy mitzvah. Her magazine is a shlichus in and of itself - reaching out to so many young girls accross the globe. If you don't already subcribe and get it for your daughters, I highly recommend it! www.yaldahmagazine.com is the link to "Yaldah".

The voting really only takes a minute. Right now, the voting is quite close, but Leah is only in second place. Let's give her a boost! She already won $10,000 as one of 5 semi-finalists, but stands to win another $100,000 if she wins. She has signed a contract with Barnes and Nobel, and this will allow her to take the magazine to a new level.

"Please vote for me and my daughter. She has big plans for Yaldah Media. Thanks for your support, and please tell a friend!

Evelyn [Chava] Krieger"

www.wellsfargo.com/somedaystories

Thank you!

Kesiva v'chasima tova! May you have a good and sweet year!

Leah

Get A Load of This!

Thu, 15 May 2008 9:22:00 PM

Hi! Sorry I haven't posted for awhile. Three days after Pesach I mad a l'chaim / engagement party for Sarah Rivkah, who taught in our school, and since then I've been busy racking my feeble brains out trying to figure how to get the money to pay our teachers' back salary for the year. We have to find another $30,000 by May 22nd "or else." So, if you know anyone who can help, we'd REALLY appreciate hearing from you! Itchie will go ANYWHERE to meet with potential sponsors!

Okay -- I'm going to show you a picture, and (if you don't live in or originate from the FSU) I'd like to see if you can guess what it is. Here's the picture:

Have you guessed what it is? No? Okay -- here's a picture of the full item. Now can you guess?

Have you guessed yet? If not, here's another hint:

Did that help?

Here's the story. First of all, our household help (otherwise known as she who helped herself to our household) finally retired. There are pros and cons to that. My husband has been begging me to fire her for several years, as he couldn't stand her cooking. And I can finally be a little freer about leaving things around. Not expensive things, mind you, but like I can now leave the extra rolls of toilet paper in the linen closet, and not under lock and key, and I can be pretty sure they'll still be there when they are needed. On the other hand, I am now the household help, and in this country it's a bit more time consuming then back in the "old country" (meaning the United States, of course!)

I tried sending the laundry out to be done, but about 3% loses its way back home, and another 5% or so becomes seriously damaged. Since my old American washer and dryer have kicked the bucket, so to speak, and hand washing is both a bit rough on my carpal tunneled hands, and I didn't go in for the shriveled prune look on my hands either, I've resorted to a Soviet washing mashine, which is what is pictured above. (The threads you see near the drain holes are from my formerly good guest towels, which it ate for a snack this week.) One fills the machine with sink water, then adds a few items of clothing and soap. The timer sets for about 5 minutes of roughing up in the machine. The ensuing noise is kind of like a World War II jet bomber on a nose dive. After this, the hose is put into a certain bathroom fixture, where most of the water can drain out. The remaining few cups of water drain out from a spout onto the bathroom floor, and (hopefully) flow down the drain hole in the floor. This must all be repeated at least four times, in order to remove the soap and about half of the dirt from the clothing. Then comes the hand wringing, and hanging out on the line to dry. Which is also difficult in this rainy season. The third picture was of water dripping from my not too well wrung out laundry. In the winter, all the garments become frozen, and it can be dangerous to walk in dark yards at night, as they seem to attack you, hitting you in the face!

I've just about given up hope of getting normal American machines, as each time I look, the price doubles. And that's without shipping! There are now (smaller) European washers and a dryer on the market, though they too are prohibitely expensive.

So count your blessings, and enjoy doing your laundry -- believe me, it could be worse!

Paka!

Leah

Kindness and Tzedaka -- NOW!

Tue, 1 Apr 2008 10:10:00 PM

There is a wonderful email I get daily, called "A Daily Dose of Kindness. In response to his wife's tragic death in the Sbarro bombing, Shmuel Grenbaum has people report on positive acts of kindness they've done, to act as a catalyst to people doing further acts of kindness, as opposed to seeking revenge. For more information about it, you can contact Shmuel at Info@TraditionOfKindness.Org.

The current quote of the week is the following:

The best advice is for a person to give generously while they are alive and also do kindness.

Who knows when their time will end, and if their intentions will be fulfilled or not?

(Kav HaYashar, Chapter 30)*

Please help us help others, especially now, before Pesach, when the need is so great!

Click here to help.

*BIOGRAPHY:

Kav HaYashar was written by Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Kaidanover and published in 1705. The author was born in Vilna. His father was considered one of the greatest Torah scholars of his time, and his writings are still studied. Kav HaYashar was originally written in Hebrew, and has been translated into Yiddish, Ladino and English, and has been reprinted over 80 times since it was first written. Kav HaYashar was quoted often by the famous Chida and Yalkut Meam Loez.

New Life

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:45:00 AM

Several weeks ago, as I was coming home from school one day, I glanced up and noticed that due to unseasonal warmth, a branch of my apricot tree which overhangs the wall around our yard had already begun to blossom. During the month of Nissan or thereabouts, when we first notice the fruit trees blossoming, we say a special brocho. So I quickly ran into the house to find the text of the brocho.

Baruch Ato A-do-noy E-lo-hainu melech haolam shelo chisar b’olmo klum, uvoro bo briyos tovos v’ilonos tovim lihanos bohem b'nei odom.

The brocho is only said on seeing the first blossoms of fruit-bearing trees. And only before the flowers fall off and the fruits begin to grow. This blessing on the trees expresses our acknowledgement of Hashem's special gift to us.

Trees serve us very well. They provide us with fruit and with medicines; they restore oxygen to the air that we breathe, provide shade, prevent soil erosion, give us wood and paper, and make available living space for birds, insects, and small animals. But before the trees start to prepare fruits for us, they first favor us with a beautiful display of flowers, delighting our senses of sight and smell. And that is what we are thanking Hashem for on a crisp and balmy day in Nissan, when we say the Birkas Ilanos with deep feelings of physical and spiritual joy.

Several days ago I was in the yard, and watched as the new sprouts pushing forcefully, burst through the dry, cold, dark soil.

Violets, tulips, peonies, the rhubarb, which I finally had coaxed into growing, and chrain (horseradish) for Pesach.

The lilacs had also started to put forth buds, though the grapes were still dormant.

It's especially interesting to see the peonies bursting into life from amidst the dead remains of last years blooms. Kind of like Techias HaMeisim, the revival of the dead. Exactly what we are waiting for -- in more ways than one!

I gaze in wonder every year, as our yard very quickly changes from dormant and dreary to full of vibrant green life!

But then, as all too often happens, we heard the news that there would be more frost in store for us. I carefully covered the tender shoots of rhubarb, but was at a loss as to what I could do to try to save the profusion of delicate apricot blossoms.

Sure enough, the garden was ravaged in turn by strong buffeting winds, followed by rain, snow, and sleet.

The gentle buds froze, and it it not that likely that the apricot tree will bear its delicious plump fruits this year. Though who knows? When I went out the next day, miraculously there were still blossoms on the tree, and the bees were busily working around them!

The Baal Shemtov taught us that we must look for lessons in life in everything we see.

Just as the wind carries a seed far and wide, until it sets it down in a barren place to grow, the Lubavitcher Rebbe sent us far from our home to be his shluchim, his emissaries, here in Crimea. He obviously considered that we have the potential which is hidden in a seed, to grow and flourish, and to bring forth beautiful fruits here.

Unfortunately, there are evil people, who like the rock hard, dry dirt, and the inclement weather, try their utmost to stop us from succeeding.

Insidious as beautiful poison ivy vines in a garden, they will not let anything stop them, even stooping so low as to threaten to bomb our house, and to tell outright lies to rabbanim and to balebatim (supporters.) They use others as a mask to further their nefarious plans, later discarding them as suits their whim.

Our fruit trees may skip a season in bearing their luscious fruits, or have a year with a poor yield, but still the trees stand strong against the wind, and survive to bear fruit again the following years. So it has always been with Bnai Yisroel, and so may it be with us, G-d willing!

Miraculously may it even be this year!

So too, in spite of everything that is being done to stifle and destroy us and choke the lifeblood out of us, we will, G-d willing survive and gain strength, and grow!

In the Talmud, in Shabbos 104, it is written: Shin is the initial of Sheker (Falsehood,) and Sav is the final letter of Emes (Truth.) Why does the word for Falsehood consist of three consecutive letters, while the word for Truth consists of the first, middle, and last letters? Because Falsehood is common, but Truth must be sought out from near and afar. Why does the word for Falsehood rest on one point, while the word for Truth has a firm foundation? To teach that Truth stands, but Falsehood does not.

The G-d of Truth alone rules the world, and in spite of their cocky beliefs, in the end their Falsehood will fail. Just as in spite of the rocky hard clay and foul weather, our plants survive and thrive, so too I"YH will we. We may go through unbearably difficult times, but in the end, Truth will out! Might does not make right!

Our students are our blossoms.

Please help us help them thrive.

Please click “Donate” either above or to the left, to contribute to keeping our school and synagogue open.

And if you happen to know any individual, fund, or organization which can help Chabad of Crimea, please tell them about us. We can be contacted at chossid@gmail.com .

Thank you!

Leah

Purim in Peking in Crimea

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 6:20:00 AM

Thanks to many wonderful friends, and in particular one very generous shlucha, we had a really beautiful Chinese Purim! Decorations, costumes, prizes, candy, chopsticks, fans, Mandarin hats, and much more were donated. Our shalach monos were in Chinese take-out boxes and in each one were yellow and red candies, yellow fishy mondlen & red fishy candies, oriental crackers, fortune cookies... Also a Chinese lucky money envelope with money for matanos l'evyonim, and a Chinese lottery ticket (every single one won, which made everyone happy!)

Our menu was: Hamantasch challahs with a savory filling, which the kitchen crew forgot to serve, pretty and tasty Chinese flower rolls, sweet and sour chicken, pepper steak, vegetable lo mein, fried rice, fried chicken wontons, and delicious (absolutely killed my diet) egg rolls. I made duck sauce, lemon sauce, and hot mustard, and the dessert was a reddish jello comprised of every flavor and vintage jello I had in the house, topped with yellow "whipped cream" and red and yellow sprinkles, together with chocolate dipped fortune cookies. Of course there was lots of Chinese tea to wash it all down with!

We had a cute Chinese auction -- the old kind, where you auction off wrapped packages and people don't know what they're bidding on. I got rid of unneeded gifts, various donated prizes and other things that had accumulated, and the school made some very quick money. One lady paid 22 grivni for a Chinese fly swatter, but took it well. Others got nice jewlery, and other prizes. Everyone had a great time!

Here are a few of our pics. More can be seen in the Photo Galleries.