By: Sandy Eller

Living in an age where the sixty second sound bites rules and a world of information can be carried in the palm of your hand, we constantly look ahead to the next new obsession, making it more important than ever to stay connected to our roots in order to ensure that as time continues its exorable march forward, the legacy that is our past stays fresh in our minds. As the last living witnesses to the horrors of Hitler’s unspeakable schemes live out their golden years, the movement to deny the Holocaust gains momentum, seeking to eradicate one of the defining periods in Jewish history by revising the annals of history.

It is the continuity of the Jewish people that has defined us for centuries and it is incumbent upon all of us to become the voice of those who survived as their numbers continue to dwindle, sharing their story with future generations so that the lessons of the past will not soon be forgotten. Every Jewish child that is brought onto this earth is living testimony to the eternal nature of the Jewish people and the greatest revenge that could ever be brought against Hitler and his army of evildoers. Now more than ever, we must continue to forge the chain that binds us to our past, by sharing the survival of our ancestors during the darkest moments in history, with our youth, our brightest hope and our link to the future.

Rainbow in the Night, a short YouTube clip, is a brief but exceptionally powerful video created specifically for today’s fast paced generation. Using stunning cinematography, a haunting score, hard hitting lyrics and vocals that will touch the deepest recesses of the soul, this historical work offers a glimpse into World War II Krakow as seen through the eyes of a survivor. Beginning with footage of a 1939 oil painting of a synagogue being ravaged by the Nazis, shown at a private event in the survivor’s home, Rainbow in the Night is an exquisitely emotional journey, as the survivor recalls first the warmth of his childhood home, then the shock and disbelief as people are forced to leave their homes for the Krakow ghetto, taken to an extermination camp and after enduring unspeakable cruelty, finally liberated. Set against a backdrop of utter despair and hopelessness, the survivor relives the inexplicable power that enabled him to persevere, the rainbow in the figurative night that promised better days to come. Culminating triumphantly with our hope for the future, the faces of hundreds of modern day Jewish children, Rainbow in the Night is both a euphoric tribute to the indomitable human spirit that enabled the Jewish people to survive against all odds and also a call to arms, to rekindle the spark of Jewish pride and unity among Jews worldwide, as we continue to rebuild the generations that were destroyed by the Nazis.

Filmed in New York, Krakow and inside the Majdanek concentration camp, this first ever music video depicting the Holocaust was directed by Daniel Finkelman, with cinematography by Mauricio Arenas and produced by both Finkelman and Arenas. With a stirring title track written and composed by executive producer Cecelia Margules and sung by legendary tenor Cantor Yaakov Lemmer, Rainbow in the Night is an epic historical work that will allow the voices of survivors to be heard for generations to come.

To download the song, please visit – http://www.mostlymusic.com/rainbow-in-the-night.html

Looking to keep the kids busy during the Asara B’Teves fast day? A puppet show for kids will be performing at Campus Chomesh on Thursday.

An entertaining program with the Small Wonder Puppet Theater will be held on Thursday, Teves 10 – Jan 5, 12:30 PM at the Campus Chomesh Rosa Auditorium, 470 Lefferts Avenue.

Girls of all ages and boys under 7 are invited to watch the 45 minute educational puppet show as their parents fast for Asara B’Teves.

Admission of $6 (child or adult) will include their choice of sandwich.

The program is being organized by the student Beis Rivkah High School to fund their annual Shabbaton on 18 Teves.

[Source: COLlive]

Be’er Hagolah Institutes, a non-profit organization, was established in 1979, in response to a growing concern over the educational and social adjustment of the children from the former Soviet Union. Today, the school’s focus is to educate Jewish children of any background or nationality. Despite the rising costs of tuitions due to the sharp rise in expenses and extreme cuts in funding, Be’er Hagolah accepts any Jewish child, even those whose families cannot afford the tuitions at private Yeshivos, and would therefore send their children to public schools

Although the cost of educating a child at Be’er Hagolah is upwards of $10,000 a year which includes support services and extra-curricular activities, many of our students’ families can barely afford to put food on their tables, let alone pay tuition.
All parents are on scholarships with some paying nothing at all or as little as $250 to $500 a year.
We have never turned away a child due to his or her parents’ inability to pay tuition.
We therefore rely heavily on charitable contributions to continue the crucial work that we do. There are no other institutions serving this population in this capacity, and without us, our students would have nowhere to turn for the critical services we render.

SUNDAY NIGHT OF CHANUKAH DEC 25 @8pm COME

RAISE
THE
SPARKS!
Women’s Night Chanukah – Rosh Chodesh Teves

FEATURING SHAINDEL ANTELIS
www.shaindelantelis.com

MC Elana Greenspan!
www.elanagreenspan.com

Rivka Nahari & the Brooklyn Jewish Dance Institute
www.bklynjewishdance.com

The ALL NEW BROOKLYN VOCAL ENSEMBLE
SONGWRITER RACHEL JAKOB * DANCER REINA POTAZNIK
COMEDIENNE LESLIE G! AND MORE

Followed by Zumba-style Dance Partay

FOR WOMEN ONLY

ONLY $11! Online opjchanukah.eventbrite.com
$15@the Door

550 Ocean Parkway
between 18th Ave & Ditmas, BROOKLYN 11218

AS THE PERFORMERS LIGHT THE STAGE
YOUR PRESENCE WILL LIGHT UP THE ROOM
CHANUKAH SAMEACH FROM ATARA & The OPJC!

A On Time Studios
production

Live drawing December 19th, 2011. Monday Evening, 7:00pm- 10:00pm

Hosted by
Rabbi Yosef C Golding, Yossi Zweig, Mendy Pellin & Yoely Lebowitz

Featuring
Shloime Daskal • Yitzchak Fuchs • Yoely Greenfeld • Michoel Pruzansky • Beri Weber • Eli Gerstner with YBC Soloist

Music by
Aaron Teitelbaum Orchestra conducted by Yisroel Lamm

Choir by
Hamizamrim led by Chilu Posen

listen:
718.831.7787 or Yeshiva World Newsline 718.506.1111

visit:
www.rccsauction.org

YOU CAN ALSO WATCH THE EVENT RIGHT HERE ON JewishInsights.com

or on some of these other sites

Gruntig.net – YideoTube – CrownHeights.info – ChabadTube – Matzav.com – TheLakewoodScoop – COLlive.com – MahNishmah.com

MACCABEATS
Will be singing at
CHANUKAH ON ICE
1st Night of CHanukah 6-9pm
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
at Trump Wollman Rink
in Central Park, NYC

Join as they light the GIANT HANDCARVED ICE MENORAH
Skate Under the Stars to Jewish Music

Enjoy complimentary Kosher Food

ChanukahoniceNYC.com

Last Thursday, the Maccabeats announced their partnership with the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation and the start of the Judy Greenberg Memorial Miracle Match Campaign. The Maccabeats are the a capella group based out of Yeshiva University, known for their viral video, “Candlelight.” Gift of Life is one of the nation’s public bone marrow, blood stem cell, and umbilical cord blood registries.

The Maccabeats realized that because their concerts brought together people from across the Jewish community, these provided numerous opportunities for Gift of Life to collect cheek swabs. In the course of planning a campaign to swab concert guests, the Maccabeats learned that Gift of Life does not have enough money to process even the swabs it has already collected, and they decided to launch a fundraiser in conjunction with their new Hannukah video, a cover of Matisyahu’s “Miracle.”

Mayim Bialik, a supporter of Gift of Life and good friend of the Maccabeats, had this to say about the campaign: “It was a personal thrill to participate with my sons in the Maccabeats’ most recent video; I love their music, I commend their perspective on Judaism, and I am honored to be a part of such a creative and meaningful venture. However, The Maccabeats see their “success” as dependent upon – even incumbent upon- their ability to truly make a difference in this world, and in that light, they have combined their goals with those of Gift of Life. My appearing in “Miracle” has, because of this, been elevated from fun and exciting to meaningful and inspiring. I have been associated with Gift of Life for some time, and now I am linked with them through the Maccabeats’ magnanimous and touching mitzvah, which combines the joy they bring to the world and the potential for that joy to inspire others to see the deeper significance of miracles. As far as I am concerned, the Maccabeats are this season’s miracle-makers!”

Donors to the campaign can purchase goods and services from Mayim Bialik and the Maccabeats. “We’re hoping people will donate their money to Gift of Life instead of buying elaborate Hannukah presents – and we’re providing a way to turn that donation into a holiday gift or greeting,” says Greenberg. The campaign’s website is www.makesomemiracles.com.

The campaign is dedicated to Greenberg’s mother, who passed away in 2003. “She loved being Jewish and singing, but more than anything she was about taking initiative to help others.”

A On Time Studios
production

Live drawing December 19th, 2011. Monday Evening, 7:00pm- 10:00pm

Hosted by
Rabbi Yosef C Golding, Yossi Zweig, Mendy Pellin & Yoely Lebowitz

Featuring
Shloime Daskal • Yitzchak Fuchs • Yoely Greenfeld • Michoel Pruzansky • Beri Weber • Eli Gerstner with YBC Soloist

Music by
Aaron Teitelbaum Orchestra conducted by Yisroel Lamm

Choir by
Hamizamrim led by Chilu Posen

listen:
718.831.7787 or Yeshiva World Newsline 718.506.1111

visit:
www.rccsauction.org

YOU CAN ALSO WATCH THE EVENT RIGHT HERE ON JewishInsights.com

or on some of these other sites

Gruntig.net – YideoTube – CrownHeights.info – ChabadTube – Matzav.com – TheLakewoodScoop – COLlive.com – MahNishmah.com

CHANUKAH
R E T R E A T

at the
DoubleTree Hotel
Somerset, NJ

Friday December 23 – Sunday December 25
FEATURING WORLD RENOWNED GATEWAYS SPEAKERS:
R’ MORDECHAI BECHER
R’ DOVID GREENBLATT
MRS. DEBBIE GREENBLATT
MRS. TZIPORA HARRIS
DR. CHAIM PRESBY
MRS. CHAYA REICH
R’ JONATHAN RIETTI
R’ MORDECHAI SUCHARD

Gala Motzei Shabbos Entertainment featuring
AVRAHAM FRIED

RETREAT FEATURES:
• 3 Track Program
• Day camp and babysitting led by Rabbi Avi Frank
• Lavish tea room
• Indoor Pool
• Walking Paths
• Tennis and basketball courts
• An opportunity to meet & network with the Connections Shadchanim

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Call 800 722 3191 x 110 or email office@gatewaysonline.org

Motzei Shabbat Chanukah – December 24th, 2011

Starring

C Lanzbom
Nochi Krohn
Yisroel Juskowicz

Doors Open at 7:30 pm

Advance reservation: $20, $15 with Student ID
Fee at the door: $25; $20 with Student ID

Congregation Ohab Zedek, 118 West 95th Street, NYC
Register online at www.oucommunity.org or by calling 212.613.8300

Enter an auction for your chance to win an original Yisroel Juskowicz painting!