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Ten Minute Video Class! – Parshas Nitzavim-Vayelech

CrownHeights.info — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:02:57 +0000

CrownHeights.info are pleased to present our fifteenth online class in the ?Torah in Ten? series, presented by the editor-in-chief of Kol Menachem, Rabbi Chaim Miller.

Live: Full Day Torah Vigil for Israels Saftey

CrownHeights.info — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 13:30:00 +0000

Beginning at 10:00am today, Sunday, a series of 1 hours Torah classes will be broadcast live all day in vigil for the safety and security of Israel.

Deadly Silence! – The Torah?s View On Gratitude

CrownHeights.info — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:53:36 +0000

By Rabbi Yoseph Kahanov Jax, Florida.

Walking in the park, a woman one day stumbled upon a diamond ring. As she reached for her bag to store her precious find, an alms seeking vagabond appeared with an outstretched hand. Yet nothing she offered seemed to satisfy him.

?What do you want,? the woman finally exclaimed. ?That?s what I want,? insisted the beggar, pointing to the glimmering little object in her hand.

With little hesitation or ado the woman proceeded to hand the jewel over: ?Here,? she said, ?It?s all yours.? Unable to thank her enough, the man was soon on his way, but not for long.

A short time later the beggar sought out the woman again. ?I wish to return the diamond,? he declared: ?It?s not what I want; I seek something far more precious.?

?But what have I to share that is more precious than a diamond,? cried the woman.

?Your giving heart,? said the stranger. ?Please teach me the secret behind your giving heart!?

What’s Wrong with Shaking a Woman’s Hand?

CrownHeights.info — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:33:35 +0000

What can be wrong with a simple handshake? Especially when it is a widespread custom? The Avner Institute would like to present a letter of the Rebbe written in 1976 to a woman who asked why observant Jews refrain from any physical display of greeting to certain non-family members. With special thanks to the Nissan Mendel Archive.

?Carbon Footprint:? Fact or Fiction? – Accepting Personal Responsibility

CrownHeights.info — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:12:48 +0000

by Rabbi Yoseph Kahanov, Jax, Florida

A man was once accused of a serious crime. The evidence was so incriminating that a guilty verdict was all but inevitable. ?Your only hope,? advised his lawyer ?is to enter a plea of insanity; but you must remember to act crazy in court.?

The man followed his lawyer?s counsel and put on a great act. He made the strangest sounds as he twitched his head and thrashed his hands. So well had he performed, that the case was soon dismissed.

To his utter dismay, when the lawyer came to collect his fee, the man resumed his ridiculous gig; strange motions and all. He soon realized that he had become the butt of his own ploy ? his expert advice had come back to bite him.

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?Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices? (Alfred A. Montapert).

It's choice--not chance--that determines your destiny.? (Jean Nidetch)

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Perception or Deception? – The Pious Animal Inclination

CrownHeights.info — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:34:59 +0000

by Rabbi Yoseph Kahanov Jax, FL

Abe Steinfeld is pretty sure that the man on the street he?s just run into looks exactly like his old friend Sam.

“Sam,” he says, “Is that you?! Why, you've put on a ton of weight and your hair has turned so gray. You seem a few inches shorter than I recall and your cheeks are puffy. What's happened to you Sam?” You sound so different; gosh, you even walk differently.

“My name is David, not Sam and I don?t know you from Adam,? replies the gentleman; half amused and half bewildered, ?so why don?t you just buzz off”

“Wow!? says Abe: ?Look at you, you son-of-a-gun! You even changed your name.”

Sicha of the Rebbe – The Month of Elul

CrownHeights.info — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:29:58 +0000

The Rebbe says:

1. In one of his talks during Passover, the Previous Rebbe (Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson) describes the general feeling in the city of Lubavitch on the Shabbos (Sabbath) before the month of Elul, which is the Shabbos on which we bless the new upcoming month (Shabbos Mevarchim Elul).

To quote the Previous Rebbe: ?In Lubavitch, during the Shabbos before the month of Elul, even though it would be a clear day with the sun shining, the air (atmosphere) had already changed and we had already began to feel the Elul aroma, and a ?Teshuvah wind? (?a wind of repentance?) was already blowing?.

What’s Wrong With Being Right? – The Truth About Moral Relativism

CrownHeights.info — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:01:56 +0000

By Rabbi Yoseph Kahanov Jax, FL

When Robert A. Rockaway, a recognized authority on Jewish-American history, decided to chronicle the story of the Jewish mob, he sought out Jewish old-timers in order to gather information on this less than reputable element.

Rockaway even interviewed his own mother, a native of Detroit, Michigan, who personally knew some friends and family members of the nefarious subjects of his research.

Once, while talking to his mother about the reprehensible conduct of a particular mobster, his mother stopped him short in his tracks: ?All that you say may be fine and good, no one said the guy was a saint. Between you and me, he was known to have made a few people disappear. . . But you shouldn?t rush to judgment. Don?t forget that he was always kind to his mother! Does that count for nothing? Trust me; the man was a real Mentch!?

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No great, inspiring culture of the future can be built upon the moral principle of relativism. For at its bottom such a culture holds that nothing is better than anything else, and that all things are in themselves equally meaningless. Except for the fragments of faith (in progress, in compassion, in conscience, in hope) to which it still clings, illegitimately, such a culture teaches every one of its children that life is a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing ? Michael Novak

Beautiful New Book from the Markowitz-Gopin Wedding

CrownHeights.info — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:44:49 +0000

CrownHeights.info has acquired an online friendly version of a popular Teshura that was distributed at the Markowitz-Gopin wedding.

Not by Bread Alone – Turning Reality On Its Head

CrownHeights.info — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:51:28 +0000

By Rabbi Yoseph Kahanov Jax FL

A joyous farbrengen was held one evening at the humble home of Rabbi Shmuel Betzalel Sheftel (The 'Rashbatz'). For hours the group of Chassidim sat, toasting L'chaim's, singing, talking, rebuking and inspiring one another. As the clock marked the passing of the night, the meager platters of 'Farbeisen' (food with which to follow up the L'chaim vodka) ran out, so Rabbi Shmuel Betzalel instructed that the lamb being raised in his yard be slaughtered. A hot stew was prepared to fuel the Farbeisen for many an hour to come.

The next morning Rabbi Shmuel Betzalel's wife came in from the yard with the distressing news that the lamb ? which constituted the whole of the 'family ranch' ? had disappeared! Said Rabbi Shmuel Betzalel: “No, no, the lamb has not disappeared, the lamb is very much here, it has only changed its sound. Yesterday it said meh-eh-eh. . . today it is saying Echo-o-d. . ., O-o-one. . . ” (as in G-d is one).

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?Man does not live by bread alone, but by all that emanates from the mouth of G-d does man live.? (Deuteronomy 8:3)