Archive for July 13th, 2009
Yeshivas Nefesh Dovid
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on July 13th, 2009
The first Jewish high school of its kind in the world, Yeshivas Nefesh Dovid (YND), founded in 2001, channels the knowledge of Torah into the hearts, minds and lives of deaf and hard-of-hearing young men. YND, with its sterling secular educational program, is a valuable support system for this population throughout the global Jewish community. YND accepts young men in their teens from yeshivos, Jewish Day Schools, and public schools and addresses all the emotional and academic challenges that those with hearing loss typically deal with on a daily basis regardless of mode of communication.
A unique aspect of the program is the presence of role models who are deaf or hard-of-hearing themselves, including Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Kakon, the Dean and Rosh Yeshiva, and co-founder Dr. Hart Bressler, MD. In addition to trained and qualified rebbeim and teachers, sign language interpreting services, speech pathology, audiology services and an array of recreational activities all complement the program. Upon graduation, the students receive an internationally recognized Ontario Secondary Diploma. Since its inception, YND’s current home base at the Yeshiva Gedolah of Toronto only serves to further integrate the students with hearing peers and the community at large.
Rabbi Kakon earned his Master’s Degree in Talmudical Law and s’micha (rabbinical ordination) from Ner Israel Rabbinical College of Baltimore, Maryland. He also holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland. As a licensed therapist, Rabbi Kakon provided clinical therapy services for several years.
While in Baltimore, he also founded and directed the only overnight camp for deaf and hard-of-hearing Jewish adolescent boys at Ner Israel Campus for seven summers. The success of the program and the necessity for a year-around education for this population resulted in Rabbi Kakon and his family’s relocation to Toronto to co-found YND.
Rabbi Kakon, a descendant of the Ropshitzer Rebbe and a ninth generation descendant of the Baal Shem Tov, is a charismatic teacher whose unique experiences and achievements inspire people from all backgrounds and walks of life.
Dr. Bressler, Canada’s first deaf medical physician, is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine. As a full-time family physician, he also maintains a clinic that specializes in chronic pain management.
A past president of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Hearing Society, Dr. Bressler has spoken widely for both professional and lay audiences on topics dealing with deafness and hearing loss. He is uniquely qualified to provide support from a medically objective perspective as well as personal insight into the myriad of issues that impact those with deafness and their families. He studied at Yeshivas Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem and Yeshiva University of Los Angeles.
Dr. Bressler was instrumental in working with Rabbi Kakon to establish the Yeshiva in Toronto.
Yeshivas Nefesh Dovid caters to young men who are deaf or hard-of-hearing from all over the world regardless of level of education. The varied Torah backgrounds as well as the cultural diversity of the students only adds to the magnetism of the program, a program that truly works. The steady stream of different languages as well as the warm atmosphere, combine to make Yeshivas Nefesh Dovid a place where students learn so much from one another and that is why Moishe Alexander and The Canadian Funding Corp are proud sponsors of this yeshiva.
Hatzolah Toronto
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on July 13th, 2009
WOODRIDGE — An elderly man who was missing for nearly 16 hours was found late Tuesday morning sitting near a lake, one mile away from his family’s summer home in the Village of Woodridge.
Yankel “Jacob” Salamon, who is about 90 years old, wandered from the Woodlake Village housing complex about 7:30 Monday night. Salamon has dementia, and his family believes he walked away to find the nearest temple. His desire to worship — even when temples are closed — has increased since his diagnosis, they said.
Salamon’s disappearance set off a wide search by fire and police personnel from across Sullivan County, forest rangers, Orthodox medical teams and members of the local Jewish community. At one point more than 300 people scoured woods, streets and lakes around the village.
Worry grew as the morning progressed. Some feared for Salamon’s life, while others thought he hitched a ride back to his home in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn.
But Salamon was found unharmed by Yakov Greenberg of the Giti Gardens bungalow colony on Glen Wild Road, just after 11 a.m. He had walked through the woods and spent the night behind the bungalow colony, near a lake, authorities said.
After putting the man on a stretcher, rescuers stretched ladders horizontally across stacked-up milk crates to maneuver him across a knee-deep, watery ravine, and then up a rocky hill. Salamon was taken to Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris for a sore hip and dehydration.
Orthodox men danced in a circle and sang praise to God for keeping Salamon safe. Back at Woodlake Village, 20 friends and relatives gathered at the family’s home. Cell phones began ringing with good news.
“They found him!” one woman said. “And his vitals are 100 percent.”
“Oh, we need to call the camps and let them know!” said Beth Weider, a family friend. “He caused a little havoc, but it gave everyone a reason to get together and pray.”
Orthodox men and women showered thanks upon the overnight search and rescue crews, which they credited with saving the elderly man. And when Salamon’s family returned home, friends greeted them with hugs and tears. His daughter-in-law, Estee Salamon, cried and told her friends that Yankel was OK.
“He survived the Holocaust, he can survive this,” she said.
Moishe Alexander and The Canadian Funding Corp support Hatzolah Toronto a life saving organization that is dedicated to the community. They provide service to Toronto and surrounding areas.
Bobov Rebbes
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on July 13th, 2009
First rebbe of Bobov
Rabbi Solomo Halberstam, the first Bobover Rebbe
Bobov originated with Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam in the Galician village of Bobowa, where the bulk of his Hasidim were originally followers of his grandfather, Rabbi Chaim of Sanz (the author of Divrei Chaim).
While most of the early yeshivos (“Talmudical academies”) originated in Lithuania, the 19th century saw the opening of similar institutions in Poland. The first yeshiva in Poland was established by the first Bobover Rebbe in 1881 in Vishnitsa where he was rabbi then; and it later moved with him to Bobov.
Second rebbe of Bobov
His work was continued by his son, Grand Rabbi Ben Zion Halberstam, author of Kedushas Tzion. The Bobov Yeshiva was originally situated only in the town of Bobov itself. However, under his guidance the Chasidus grew in numbers, with Hasidic youth flocking to Bobov. Subsequently as many as sixty branches of the Yeshiva under the name “Eitz Chaim” were established throughout Galicia.
During World War II the Bobov Hasidic movement was destroyed, the Second Rebbe himself perishing in the Holocaust together with thousands of his followers.
Third rebbe of Bobov
Barely 300 chasidim survived, and the Rebbe’s son Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam took it upon himself to rebuild Bobov. He first settled in the West Side of Manhattan; later moving to Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, The Yeshiva was located on the west side of Brooklyn Avenue between Bergen and Dean Streets; it later moved to Borough Park. Rabbi Shlomo was known as a very wise man and a Gaon in Midos (Giant in good manners/attributes) and a true gentleman. He was noted for his steadfastness in not taking sides in disputes. This brought him great popularity and respect.
Over the more than fifty years that Rabbi Shlomo was Rebbe of Bobov; he founded and built a vast network of synagogues, chasidic schools for boys and girls (yeshivas), High schools (Mesivtas) and post high school houses of learning. Besides schools, a summer camp for boys was founded in 1957 in the Catskills’ Ferndale, NY. These institutions span the globe. At the time of his death in August 2000, he was mourned by more followers than his father had in pre-War Poland. His Hebrew date of death was the first of Av the same as that of Aaron the Biblical High Priest (Numbers 33:38), which was noted by many (and mentioned at the funeral by his son Rabbi Ben Zion Aryeh Leibish Halberstam) for their similar characteristics of “loving peace” (Oheiv Sholom Veroidef Sholom – Loved peace and pursued peace) (Pirkei Ovos 1:12).
Fourth rebbe of Bobov
Rabbi Naftali Zvi Halberstam, the fourth Bobover Rebbe
With Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam’s passing, his older son Rabbi Naftali Zvi Halberstam was crowned as his successor and his younger son Rabbi Ben Zion Aryeh Leibish Halberstam was appointed as Rav Hatzuir (Junior Ruv). Rabbi Naftali Zvi died on March 23, 2005 (12 days in Adar, 5765) at age seventy-four leaving a wife, two daughters and two sons in-law; Rabbi Yehoshua Rubin and Rabbi Mordechai Dovid Unger; as well as his brother and sisters.
Bobov today
Fifth rebbe(s) of Bobov
Following the death of Grand Rabbi Naftali Zvi Halberstam, a dispute arose. Many Bobover Hasidim claimed his sons-in-law as the successors, splitting the title: Rabbi Mordechai Dovid Unger as their Rebbe (אדמו”ר) and Rabbi Yehoshua Rubin as their Ruv (אבד”ק). Many others however claimed his younger brother Rabbi Ben Zion Aryeh Leibish Halberstam, the Rav Hatzuir (Junior Ruv), as the successor. Both groups of Hasidim claim their Rabbi as the rightful inheritor of the position of Bobover Rebbe. This dispute is currently before a Beth Din (Jewish court). Currently, Rabbi Ben Zion Aryeh Leibish Halberstam is the Rebbe in the Bobover Beis Medrash, while Rabbi Mordechai Dovid’s Hasidim have established a temporary headquarters, and a weekdays and Shabbos Beis Medrash.
Moishe Alexander or the Canadian Funding Corp is very fond of the Bobov community and supports many of there local charities.