Manhattan $24 – 

Hebron 400 Silver Shekel!

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They call them settlers, and the land is occupied!

Every school age child in the United States knows that in 1626 Manhattan Island was purchased for 60 guilders. Ever since, the most famous value applied to the purchase of Manhattan Island by the Dutch from the Lenape Indians is described as $24. Yet, it would never occur to anyone to call New Yorkers settlers and occupiers!

Likewise everybody recounts the biblical detailed narrative of Abraham’s purchase (approx. 2085 years after creation--1675 B.C.E.) of the cave of Machpela in Hebron, for four hundred silver shekels. 16th century sage Rabbi Yitzchak bar Yehudah calculates the value of land in biblical times was 50 silver shekels for a cur, or 75,000 square amot ("cubits"). Thus, the area purchased by Abraham was eight cur, or 600,000 square cubits. A square cubit is the approximate area occupied by an upright human being.

You do the math….

665 years later, 2750 after creation (1010 B.C.E), King David inaugurates his kingdom in Hebron.

In 1929 the Jewish community of Hebron was massacred and expelled, and their properties confiscated by their butchers.

In 1967 Israel was attacked by her neighbors, and the Jews returned home to Hebron .

What revenge did the Jews perpetrate against these butchers?

How does the world celebrate this incredible justice?

Learn all about the realities of Hebron from Rabbi Danny Cohen, Chabad Shliach to Hebron, as he takes us for an in depth tour of Judaism second holiest city.

Tighten your seat belt for a most amazing trip through history, a land and a people, on “A Cable to Jewish Life” www.cablejew.com. Seen on 450 Cable-TV stations and via satellite all across the USA.

Join us next week as we start celebrating the Passover holiday with all the trimmings. 

	Go Kosher for Passover
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They call it spring cleaning. And the Jews smartly chose to celebrate Passover and get ready for the holiday by cleaning the house. Or so it seems. Well, the truth is exactly the opposite.

When G-d took the Jewish people out of Egypt. En route they baked flat bread on the backs of their neighbors under the scorching desert sun. So to commemorate this miraculous event, Jews celebrate Exodus by ridding their homes spotlessly from all leavened products. Not a speck can remain in your possession.

Hence, Passover cleaning was born.

Some of the neighbors liked the idea, and spring cleaning followed. But really, how do you successfully clean your house for Passover?

“Go-Kosher” to the rescue.

Rabbi Sholtiel Lebovic and his staff from an organization called “Go-Kosher,” help thousands year to “Go Kosher.” So when it comes to Passover they know the tricks of the trade. Rabbi Lebovic was kind enough to share his wisdom and experience with us, on this weeks show at www.cablejew.com.

Rabbi Lebovic takes us step by step through the Kitchen, the stove, the fridge, and the sinks, and he guides us through the entire Koshering for Passover process.

Even pots and pans can be koshered according to Rabbi Lebovic. With his sleeves rolled up and a good pair of thick rubber gloves he demonstrates every step of the way all the way to a spotless Kosher-for-Passover-kitchen.

So fill your mug with a nice warm drink and with pen and paper in hand take notes as you learn all the tricks of the trade to Go Kosher for Passover.

Just a reminder, please make sure to sell you Chametz in time for Passover (this year advisably before Tuesday April 11, 2006 ). Contact your local Rabbi, or you can call us at 718-221-2539 for assistance.

Join us for our next show which will really give you the spirit of Passover.

Until we meet again, hopefully with Moshiach, we wish you, easy preparations for Passover, Bracha and Hatzlacha and all the best.

Passover, The Meaning of Real Freedom

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If Passover is about freedom, why do we celebrate it by eating the poor man’s bread?

Why did the Lubavitch er Rebbe declare the richest man in the world as the ultimate prisoner?

Is it possible that you find yourself in Siberia and still be the freest man in the world?

What is true FREEDOM?

A story is told of poor man who asked his Rebbe, the holy Maggid of Mezrich, how can I be happy when I have so many problems because I am very poor?

The Maggid sent this Chasid with this question to his disciple Reb Zushe of Anipoli.

The Chasid came to Reb Zushe who lived in a broken shack which looked much worse than his own home. He told Reb Zushe that he was instructed by the Maggid to ask him how to be happy when one is poor?

In total astonishment Reb Zushe replied: “There must be a very serious mistake here, because I have no idea what being poor is all about”!

Being free is up to you and nobody else, says Rabbi Simon Jacobson, best selling author of “Toward a Meaningful Life.” Nobody can imprison you if you know where you want to go and what you really want to do. Hardships are only challenges, that when you take them on, you are the ultimate free man.

It is no coincidence that the Rebbe’s birthday falls out only four days before Passover. The Rebbe epitomized true freedom, in spite of the fact that he had to deal with Stalinist Russia and Hitler’s Germany. The Rebbe was in full control of himself and his destiny, and ultimately the Rebbe inspired an entire generation to follow suit, and to be true free men who pass on this freedom to the rest of the world,” says Rabbi Jacobson.

Watch and listen to this entire episode on this week’s show of “A Cable to Jewish Life” on 450 cable TV channels and on satellite all across the USA. And now also on demand, online at www.cablejew.com.

Next week we’ll show you how Passover Seder’s are organized in the remotest corners of the world, by hundreds of young teenagers. Students, who instead of enjoying a personal holiday vacation leave their families to the four corners of the world, just to make sure that every Jew has a Seder and a Happy Passover.

Just a reminder: Please don’t forget to sell your Chametz to your local Rabbi in time for Passover. Before Tuesday evening, March 11^th 2006 . If you need assistance you can go to any Chabad website such as www.chabad.org where you can sell your Chametz online. You can also locate a Chabad center near you at www.lubavitch.com to find a Seder in your area. Or you can call us before the end of the day on Tuesday at 718-221-2539.

Until we meet again, hopefully with Moshiach, we wish you Bracha and Hatzlacha, a Happy and Kosher Passover and all the best.

Passover around the world

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Some spent the Seder in a hotel in Miami. Some spent it at their mother in-law’s place. Others hosted their aunt’s uncles and second cousins for a large family get together at the Passover night Seder.

At the Seder we read the Haggadah and we spoke of the four sons.

The wise son – every parents dream.

The wicked son - every parent’s nightmare.

The simple son – just don’t make trouble.

The oblivious son – hmm.

All 4 sons were present at the Seder; otherwise why mention them in the Haggada?

Somehow, the Passover Seder became synonymous with Jewish identity and Jewish family togetherness, that’s why we find all four sons at the Seder.

But what about the fifth son? Where is he?

Which reminds us of the classical cry one hears at all sorts of conventions where all kind of educators and professionals brainstorm how to handle the problems of drugs, crime and all kinds of promiscuity that lead to all types of diseases to which we still have to find a cure. Let alone the question of Jewish identity.

OY the youth! This is how they are being described in one sentence. Nobody has a positive word to say about our future.

Let me introduce you to the sixth son!

You see, thousands of Jews went to Siberia, courtesy of Josef Stalin. Many Jews go to India to visit the Ashrams. Some go to the Himalayas to confuse their own confusion.

Then there are hundreds who go to these places out of their own choice and with clarity of mind and clarity of purpose.

Hundreds of young Chasidic students spend their holiday vacation in far-flung corners of the world, instead of just staying home to spend the holidays with their families in a warm atmosphere with all the necessary comforts, just for the purpose of searching out those lost souls and help them find themselves and to reconnect them with their people.

Listen to a fascinating tale on www.cablejew.com of a sixth son, who traveled to Siberia , Sochi, Puna and Goa to find the fifth son. To help setup a Seder in the farthest corners of the world.

Reenergize yourself about the future of the Jewish people when you learn all about a youth which has no personal agendas other than total commitment to Judaism, the Jewish people and the future. A world that will be a place of total goodness and kindness.

Relax kvell and enjoy, as you lift your spirits not only by the miracles of the exodus of Egypt of old, but also of the exodus of the present exile in all its forms. As Menachem Mendel Wilansky, Arele Teleshevsky and Yisroel Noach Majesky take us for a ride to Russia, India and the Ukraine for a spiritual skyride on www.cablejew.com in these concluding days of Passover.

Until we meet again, hopefully with Moshiach, we wish you Bracha and Hatzlacha, a Happy and Kosher Passover and all the best.