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Chief Rabbi of Albania and Chabad representative to Thessaloniki and the Lower Balkans Rabbi Yoel Kaplan received a surprise award from Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi last week. Chabad of Thessaloniki & Balkan Jewish Communities

Mazal Tov to the New Shluchim to Hendon, UK! Rabbi Shlomo and Channa Fuchs were recently appointed to join the team at Chabad House of Hendon in London, England led by Rabbi Gershon and Esther Mindel Overlander. Rabbi Shlomo and Channa will assist with adult education and administrative operations. They are already learning one-on-one, leading classes and have established a morning study hall for small-group and individual Torah classes. The new shluchim are hosting events vi...a Zoom, or in a socially-distanced fashion and delivering Shabbat packages to members of their community at their homes. To find your local Chabad center visit www.lubavitch.com/centers Caption: Hendon Town Hall. Inset: Rabbi Shlomo & Channa Fuchs

Shabbat Shalom! In this week’s Torah portion G-d tells Abraham to leave his birthplace and go to the land where I will show you. Would you be able to leave everything behind and start anew?

The strange, funny and meaningful things that happen out in the trenches as Chabad representatives go about their business . . . Faye Kranz, Chabad Of Virginia Episode 4/8:... One Friday morning, on vacation in a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, my daughter and I were shopping at the local Dollar Store with all of her kids in tow. I told them to choose what they want (I am very generous in a Dollar store), and they were roaming the aisles. Every few minutes, one of them would ask, Bubby, can I have this? Bubby, can we buy that? After about fifteen minutes of shopping, a woman walks over to me and tells me, Do you know how long it’s been since I heard the word Bubby? She is Jewish, she told me, and she and her husband live not too far away. They have been here for years, and it’s a rare thing, she said, to meet a Jew here. I invited her to come to our house for Shabbos lunch. I took her phone number, and my daughter followed up with an invite. We weren’t sure if she and her husband would actually come, but sure enough, Shabbos afternoon there was a knock on the door. Over lunch at the table, someone asked her husband if he was retired. No siree, he said, I’m still working, I’m a weaver. And what does the man weave? I weave Talleisim (prayer shawls), he said. A Tallit weaver in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains! What are the chances? Sarah Kranz-Ciment Yossel Kranz

Ayelet Mamo Shay was feeling helpless. The Israeli businesswoman and author who lives in #Gibraltar got word that her son, a university student in London, was required to quarantine for 14 days. A student who lives on the same floor as he does, tested positive for coronavirus and so my son was told to quarantine as he may be infected, she said. Through a network of Israeli business people abroad Ayelet was connected with Chabad reps Shneor Glitsenstein and Dovid Cohen of Chabad of South London, Students and Young Professionals. Read her story here:

One afternoon in early September, four young men stepped onto Trigg Beach, a haven for surfers just north of Perth, Australia. A spring storm was brewing. Dark clouds threw shadows on the white sand and turned the usually turquoise water a dull gray. Dangerous weather, but the young men were not easily deterred from their purpose. It was the eve of Yom Kippur, and they had come to immerse themselves in preparation for the holy day. I grew up surfing, and I was a good swimmer..., but the ocean was different that day, Yitz Faigenbaum recalled. As the four men waded in, Yitz was caught in a riptide that swept him out to sea. He felt his muscles begin to freeze up, and he called out to his best friend, Aaron Lazer Goodman, who swam into the current to help him. He held me up for as long as he could, but the current was dragging him under, so I pulled away.

Mazal Tov to the new Shluchim to Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia! Rabbi Mendel and Esty Khutoretsky established a Chabad center on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. They joined the team of Chabad of Rural and Regional Australia (RARA) which services the Jewish population in Australia’s remote communities. The Sunshine Coast encompasses beach resorts, surf spots and rural hinterland in Southern Queensland on Australia’s east coast, south of Brisbane. In the pa...st few years traveling rabbis under the auspices of Chabad of RARA have visited the 630 square mile area, hosting seders for Passover, or visiting individuals at home. Rabbi Levi Jaffe of Chabad of Brisbane would often visit to lead a Torah class. Now the Sunshine Coast has its own, permanent Chabad center. They serve Jewish families in the area and the 3.5 million tourists who visit the coast in an average year. Chabad of RARA

"With the growing normalization between Muslim countries and Israel, we can expect to see a significant increase in the number of Jewish travelers and businesspeople to these areas, said Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky at Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in New York.

Sam Talatin sat in his room two weeks ago, browsing social media. An Iranian immigrant to Canada, the 19-year-old saw posts about the upcoming Simchat Torah holiday and learned of its significance in celebrating the Torah. Looking at all these posts made my heart beat faster as I realized that although most of my life I wasn’t involved with yiddishkeit, it’s never too late to begin a journey, he shared with Lubavitch.com Then a video titled Caught By Providence, posted by... Chabad of Markham caught his eye. The video is part of a Facebook series Rabbi Avraham and Goldie Plotkin, directors of Chabad of Markham have been presenting in an effort to lift the spirits of their community since the outbreak of COVID. In each three-minute episode they share stories of Small miracles in our everyday lives. The video Sam clicked on shared the story of a 900-year-old Torah scroll given to the Plotkins for safekeeping in the early nineties. Continue reading by clicking below. Chabad Markham

Shabbat Shalom! In this week's parsha, Parshat Noach, G-d wiped the slate clean and started the world anew. How can you let go of past difficulties in order to move forward?

Mazal tov to the new Shluchim to West Bel Air, CA! Rabbi Mendy and Dobie Mentz were recently appointed to establish a Chabad community in West Bel Air, Los Angeles. Mendy Mentz Dobie Mentz

How's your knowledge of the Talmud? Test yourself with these Talmud Teasers. This article appeared in the Lubavitch International magazine - Tishrei 2020 edition. To subscribe please visit www.lubavitch.com/subscription