By Rabbi Nochum Mangel, Chabad of Greater Dayton Not so long ago or so far away, a community council decided to redesign its town center. It wanted to create a plaza where people could congregate, socialize, relax, and enjoy the beauty of their neighborhood and nature. The architect came up

By Rabbi Nochum Mangel, Chabad of Greater Dayton My granddaughter Kenny just celebrated her third birthday. Her parents — my daughter Sarah and her husband, Henoch — threw a big party late Friday afternoon, the day of her actual birthday, for this special occasion in addition to the birthday bash

With detailed social distancing safety procedures in place, Chabad of Greater Dayton will reopen for worship services on Shavuot, at 10 a.m., Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30. Chabad emailed information about the services and procedures this morning to those who regularly or semi-regularly attend its Shabbat and Yom

By Rabbi Nochum Mangel, Director, Chabad of Greater Dayton Miami Valley rabbis share thoughts on unprecedented U.S. antisemitism Sunday evening, Dec. 29 — the last night of Chanukah — after the attack in Monsey, N.Y., when a terrorist with a machete attacked Jews celebrating Chanukah, I lit my own menorah,

By Rabbi Nochum Mangel, Chabad of Greater Dayton The high point of Rosh Hashanah and the unique mitzvah (commandment) of the day is the blowing of the shofar. The words of the holiday prayer book are deep and their extraordinary poetry is beautiful and moving, but the focus of the

By Rabbi Nochum Mangel, Chabad of Greater Dayton When the young Rabbi Moshe Feller first arrived in St. Paul, Minn. as shliach (representative) of the Chabad movement, he was invited to write an article in the local Jewish newspaper. He felt honored by the opportunity, and wrote an article about

By Rabbi Nochum Mangel, Director, Chabad of Greater Dayton As we approach this time of year, you may hear people saying that Chanukah is really a minor Jewish holiday. They may be basing their judgment on any one of the following points, alone or in combination: • Chanukah has no

By Rabbi Nochum Mangel Director, Chabad of Greater Dayton As many in the media have noted, the bruising fight over the Iran deal revealed a deep split among American Jews. For many decades, the overwhelming majority of American Jews were united in their support of Israel, no matter what their politics.

By Rabbi Nochum Mangel Chabad of Greater Dayton I carry around in my pocket every day dollar bills that I received when I went to see the Lubavitcher Rebbe, may his merit shield us, on my birthday. When I told the Rebbe that it was my birthday, he replied by

By Rabbi Nochum Mangel, Chabad of Greater Dayton The Torah teaches that at the beginning of Passover, the Israelites should harvest an Omer (a certain amount) of the newly ripened barley and bring it as an offering of thanksgiving to the Temple in Jerusalem. Following that, they were to count