Dear readers, I would like to inform those that vacation in the Catskills of the “Summer 2011 appeal”.

Reaching Beyond The Confines Of Our Own Intellectual Bias

Surveying the steep cliff at the edge of a mountain crest, Izzy lost his footing and over he went. Grabbing onto a protruding tree limb, he managed to break the fall, but he knew that his troubles were not quite over. There was no way he could climb up the steep precipice; nor could he hang on much longer. A glance at the canyon’s 1,000 foot drop evoked a barrage of frantic cries for help.

“My dear Izzy,” came the unmistaken voice of G-d, “I heard your call, would you like my help?”

“Oh Lord, I promise to be a good person… l shall be a loyal servant for the rest of my life. Never shall I sin again… Just get me out of this place! Please!”

Reaching Beyond The Confines Of Our Own Intellectual Bias

Surveying the steep cliff at the edge of a mountain crest, Izzy lost his footing and over he went. Grabbing onto a protruding tree limb, he managed to break the fall, but he knew that his troubles were not quite over. There was no way he could climb up the steep precipice; nor could he hang on much longer. A glance at the canyon’s 1,000 foot drop evoked a barrage of frantic cries for help.

“My dear Izzy,” came the unmistaken voice of G-d, “I heard your call, would you like my help?”

“Oh Lord, I promise to be a good person… l shall be a loyal servant for the rest of my life. Never shall I sin again… Just get me out of this place! Please!”

Izzy sat faithfully at his wife Norma’s side, every day for several months, as she slipped in and out of a coma.

One day as Norma came to; she looked at Izzy with tear-filled eyes. "Izzy, my Izzy,” she said, “You have been with me and stood by me during my toughest times:
When I lost my job, you were there.
When my first hairdressing business failed, you stood by me.
When I got hit by that car, you were with me.
When we lost our dear Jonathan, you were there for me.
When my health started to fail, you stayed by me.”

Postage stamps aren’t just for mailing. Can one find Torah in pursuit of a hobby?

The Avner Institute presents a unique and newly released letter to a stamp collector, where the Rebbe shows how he not only can connect with Jews of all backgrounds and interests, but can turn these very interests around to teach valuable lessons. With special thanks to Rabbi Sholom Ber Schapiro of the Nissan Mindel Archives for releasing the letter in honor of his grandson’s Simcha.

Two unrelated Jews from different walks of life meet in an unlikely place and discover they are connected. You've heard that story before in Jewish folklore. Well, it happened to me recently.

“If only G-d would give me a sign… such as, say, a large deposit in a Swiss bank account under my name...” (Woody Allen)

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Sam is unrelenting in his petition of Heaven. His unremitting prayer causes such an uproar above that G-d dispatches an angel to determine what it is that troubles this tenacious petitioner.

”It’s the lottery,” Sam tells the querying angel. “How big a deal is it for G-d to let me win the lottery?

Over the year’s late British businessman Zalman Jaffe and his wife Roselyn spent every Shavuos in Crown Heights, where they merited an especially close relationship with the Rebbe and Rebbetzin. At the Rebbe’s request Mr. Jaffe faithfully recorded these visits, which were published annually as My Encounters with the Rebbe and savored by Chabad readers everywhere.

A man once approached his Rebbe demanding an explanation as to what made him so great.

“You eat and I eat,” argued the disciple, “You say a blessing before you eat, as do I. So what makes you so much greater than me?”

“What you say is correct,” said the Rebbe, “Indeed, you eat and I eat; you say a blessing before you eat, as do I. But there is one small difference,” asserted the Rebbe: “You see, while you say a blessing so you can eat, I eat so I can say a blessing!”

A man once approached his Rebbe demanding an explanation as to what made him so great.

“You eat and I eat,” argued the disciple, “You say a blessing before you eat, as do I. So what makes you so much greater than me?”

“What you say is correct,” said the Rebbe, “Indeed, you eat and I eat; you say a blessing before you eat, as do I. But there is one small difference,” asserted the Rebbe: “You see, while you say a blessing so you can eat, I eat so I can say a blessing!”