COLlive Torah class for Rosh Hashana: Rabbi Shmuel Butman, Director of Lubavitch Youth Organization, explains the definition of Teshuva (repentance, return to a Jew’s true essence) according to the Rebbe and Chasidic thought. Video
Stuck in a Halifax Airport
From the COLlive Inbox: The Friday after 9/11/01 I was in a Halifax airport where I met 4 bochurim who were literally "lost." They were on their way to Crown Heights for Tishrei and all flights were cancelled. Full Story
Rebbe Saves a Whole Family
COLlive Presents: Shabbos Night Live with Rabbi Shmuel Butman. Weekly Story: An instruction from the Rebbe to a Chasid saved a whole family from assimilation. Rosh Hashana: How was it that Aili made a mistake, and the heartfelt Haftora reading of the Rebbe. Video
Go Home, the Rebbe Said
COLlive Presents: Shabbos Night Live with Rabbi Shmuel Butman. Weekly Story: A worried couple came by with their 4 year-old, and the Rebbe already had something to tell them. Chai Elul: What did the Baal Shem Tov do on that day in 5505 in Mezibuz. Video
“I Miss the Days…”
From the COLlive Inbox: This was written Sunday night as I watched on COLlive a video of the Rebbe during dollars in 770. Oh, how I remember and miss those days... Full Story
No Hiding From the Rebbe
COLlive Presents: Shabbos Night Live with Rabbi Shmuel Butman. Weekly Story: A sharp answer the Rebbe gave a person: "From me you don't hide." Ki Savo: Why does this Parsha come before Rosh Hashana and why one cannot eat the first fruits in his house. Video
Thanks for “Doing for Our Own”
From the COLlive Inbox: "I would like to give Hakoras Hatov to Yeshivas Kayitz Tzeirey Hashluchim in Tzfas. This Moisad has proven that Lubavitch can also "do for our own" children," writes Mendel Duchman of Los Angeles. Full Story
Why I Can’t Wait for School
From the COLlive inbox: A student of Bnos Chomesh, an individually-tailored Lubavitch girls High School in Crown Heights, writes how it can be that a teenager is actually waiting for vacation to end. Full Story
Rabbi Gutnick Wins Din Torah
The London Beth Din ordered the board of an Orthodox synagogue in Sydney to make a six-figure payout to Rabbi Moshe Gutnick, whom they tried to lay off. Full Story
‘The King is in the Field’
Elul Observances: Time for introspection and stocktaking, hear the Shofar, say the three additional chapters of Tehillim and "the king is in the field" proverb. Full Story
The Rebbe Promised Twins
COLlive Presents: Shabbos Night Live with Rabbi Shmuel Butman. Weekly Story: Without even asking, the Rebbe 'gave' the Jewish mother twins. Also: The concept of the Optional War mentioned in Rashi and its spiritual sense. Video
The Priest Was Jewish
COLlive Presents: Shabbos Night Live with Rabbi Shmuel Butman. The Priest who was Jewish and stories about the Rebbe and his father. For the Elul month: how can the king show everyone a smiling face when the Shofar - a sound of fear - is sounded. Video
A Communist is a Jew Too
COLlive Presents: Shabbos Night Live with Rabbi Shmuel Butman. Weekly Story: When someone spoke dismissively, the Rebbe protested: "You don't speak like this about a Jew, even if he is a Communist." Chof Av: Two stories about Reb Levi Yitzchak Schneerson OBM - the Rebbe cried when he heard one of them. Video
High Holidays with Brazil
Brazilian Chazzan Avraham Stifelman has recorded a High Holidays prayer album with musician Carlos Slibskin. It sold well in Portuguese and is being translated to English, Hebrew and Russian. COLlive has a sample. Audio
The Rebbe’s “Family Planning”
COLlive Presents: Shabbos Night Live with Rabbi Shmuel Butman. Weekly Story: As the treatments was being given, the Rebbe asks to hold them off and a baby was born. Shabbos Nachamu: Why are there repetitive words and the double blessing. Video
The Secret Anorexic War (2)
Follow-up Op-Ed by Rabbi Shea Hecht: We cannot sit silently and let someone harm themselves. On the other hand, involving ourselves can be overwhelming. What is the right way to help? Full Story
The Mother’s Last Words
COLlive Presents: Shabbos Night Live with Rabbi Shmuel Butman. Weekly Story: An answer from the Rebbe led the Chossid to find out what were his mother's last words. 9 Days: A Siyum and what is the connection between a birthday and Tisha B'Av. Video
The Secret Anorexic War
Op-Ed by Rabbi Shea Hecht: When number one on a shidduch list is that the girl be "skinny" I wonder to myself: Is this the son's obsession or the parents' obsession - and have they passed this "skinny" obsession on to their daughters...? Full Story
‘A Letter From Nobody’
Anonymous Op-Ed: I'm not gezhe, my parents aren't rich, we don't get discounts at Crown Heights stores. In fact, we're nobodies. I am also a procrastinator, and should've written this thank you letter about a year ago when I needed to. Full Story
Disappointed Ba’alei Teshuva
Op-Ed by Bracha Goetz: After deciding to be observant, we inevitably realized that many frum people were not as purely committed as those who had initially inspired us. Witnessing frum people engage in corrupt behavior can be a deal-breaker, especially if they wield authority in leadership. Full Story
Cause of Birth Complication
COLlive Presents: Shabbos Night Live with Rabbi Shmuel Butman. Weekly Story: The baby didn't turn over before birth, so the Rebbe suggested to check the Mezuzos. 'Three Weeks': The special message of strength and inspiration these sad days bring about. Video
How Far Do We “Reach Out”?
Anonymous Op-Ed: It has been a while that frum institutions - not in far flung countries but here in Crown Heights - are crossing basic boundaries in pursuit of fundraising and public relations. Full Article
Rabbis, You’re Both Wrong
Op-Ed By Rabbi Dovid Eliezrie: "Unfortunately, the conversation on COLlive.com between Rabbis Shmuley Boteach and Yoseph Korf fails on many counts to take a responsible approach to the questions that face us as a community." Full Story
The Crown Heights Chaos
Op-Ed by Rabbi Joseph Korf: The recent op-ed insisting that the Rebbe's desire was to push democracy is not only absurd on its face but a total mischaracterization. The reason Crown Heights is in the morass it finds itself is precisely because of its so-called democracy. Full Story
Catskills Have Shabbos Too
Op-Ed by Rabbi Shea Hecht: Erev Shabbos is always a harried time, especially for those who are headed to a bungalow colony or a summer home. A family who left late on Friday afternoon called us panicked after an erev Shabbos "miracle" didn't happen. Full Story
