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Jewish outreach

Female emissaries of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement gather for a group photo in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on February 6, 2026. (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
February 8, 2026, 9:20 pm
From far corners of the Jewish world, the women of Chabad gather in freezing Brooklyn
Annual gathering of female emissaries provides a respite for those on the front lines of religious life in far-flung communities, performing outreach and providing vital services
By Grace Gilson
Ashriel and Maayan Ashush with their children Odeh and Naya at Bet Halev in Varkala, India, February 28, 2025. (Courtesy)
November 16, 2025, 11:48 am
In India, a Jewish home becomes a place for traumatized Israelis and others to breathe
After traveling the world, Maayan and Ashriel Ashush opened Bet Halev in the beach town of Varkala, welcoming thousands of Jews, non-Jews and those bearing scars from October 7
By Bernard Hacker
'The Very Narrow Bridge' is a prayer book designed for people who are incarcerated on Rikers Island, New York City's jail that's accessible only by bridge. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images via JTA)
August 16, 2025, 12:34 am
New on Rikers Island: A Jewish prayerbook designed for incarcerated congregants
Possibly the first of its kind, ‘The Very Narrow Bridge: A Rikers Island Siddur’ seeks to meet the needs of a readership as diverse as the jail population itself
By Marla Brown Fogelman
Rabbi Levi and Sara Volovik came to western Massachusetts in 2003, and inaugurated the new Chabad of the Berkshires building in July 2025. (JTA Photo)
August 9, 2025, 2:01 am
The new Borscht Belt? More Jewish professionals are making the Berkshires a summer home
A new Chabad house is the latest sign of a metamorphosis in western Massachusetts as Jews are increasingly drawn to this modern, highbrow version of the Catskills
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Hozrim Betvuna founder Naor Narkis, right, speaks with a passerby in the largely ultra-Orthodox central Israeli city of Bnei Brak, May 2025. (Alexandra Vardi)
May 24, 2025, 8:02 am
Venturing into Haredi enclaves, an Israeli atheist tries a new form of Jewish outreach
Naor Narkis has launched a movement to help members of the insular ultra-Orthodox community explore other options – an initiative, he says, that aims to thwart a demographic crisis
By Alexandra Vardi
Yossi Farro, center, finds himself between Jewish rapper Kosha Dillz, left, and actor Michael Rapaport, while facilitating the donning of tefillin. (Courtesy)
December 24, 2024, 3:54 am
This Chabadnik is on a mission to wrap tefillin for US Jewish celebrities
20-year-old Yossi Farro has facilitated prayer for public figures from Lil Dicky to Bill Ackman, saying they can inspire others to embrace mitzvahs
By Luke Tress
Rabbi Gabriel Kretzmer-Seed, right, speaks with volunteers about his work as the Jewish chaplain at Rikers. (NYC Department of Corrections)
April 23, 2024, 10:01 am
At Rikers Island, Jewish volunteers connect with inmates by leading prayer services
Joining grassroots efforts to alleviate the notoriously brutal conditions at NY State’s largest jail is a group from the UWS Base that learns, prays and spends time with prisoners
By julia GERGELY
Rabbi Mendel Zarchi helps Howard Rother lay tefillin at his cotton farm in Cecil Plains, in the Australian state of Queensland. (Courtesy of Rabbi Menachem Aron via JTA)
September 15, 2023, 4:34 pm
How roving rabbis help the few Jews of rural Australia celebrate Rosh Hashanah
Known for its religious outreach, the Chabad movement often sets up outposts in towns with small Jewish populations, but this effort in the outback takes the (honey) cake
By Nomi Kaltmann
Rabbi Mark Borovitz kisses Harriet Rossetto. (Courtesy)
May 5, 2023, 10:10 pm
Film tracks the match made in prison that turned a convict into a rabbi on a mission
‘The Jewish Jail Lady and the Holy Thief’ tells feel-good true story of Harriet Rossetto and Mark Borovitz, who turned over a new leaf to help former convicts and addicts in LA
By Julie Masis
Attendees of a Chabad teen convention in Times Square pose next to the mezuzah affixed to the doorpost of American Eagle Outfitters' flagship store. (Courtesy of Chabad via JTA)
March 5, 2023, 2:34 pm
American Eagle now has a mezuzah at its Times Square flagship
The popular apparel brand’s CEO Jay L. Schottenstein is well-known for his charitable Jewish contributions, including to Chabad, whose teen program engineered the affixing event
By Jacob Henry
Esther Hecht, the emissary to Auckland, New Zealand, speaks at the annual conference for Chabad women emissaries in New Jersey, February 2023. (Courtesy of Chabad via JTA)
February 17, 2023, 4:17 am
Chabad women gather in the US once a year. The rest of the time, there’s Instagram
Over 4,000 of the Hasidic group’s emissaries from far-flung locales around the globe meet for annual event in NJ to share strategies and enjoy a moment of in-person connection
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Illustrative: In addition to no heat and light in Chernivtsi, lack of electricity means lack of TV and radio use, along with spotty internet service. (Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images via JTA)
December 17, 2022, 4:41 pm
In Ukraine, Hanukkah candles are a lifeline in the midst of power outages
As Israeli emissaries of Conservative Judaism arrive with supplies in the western city of Chernivtsi, they find fellow Jews in the cold and dark hoping for a miracle to end the war
By Steve Lipman
A student takes a picture of a graduate of Milton Friedman University in Budapest, Hungary, July 15, 2017. (Milton Friedman University/via JTA)
October 24, 2022, 11:54 pm
A secular Budapest university run by Chabad is eyeing a major expansion
Milton Friedman University, operated by the Lubavitch-affiliated EMIH, is using a $22 million government grant to raise enrollment — and it hopes to attract more Jewish students
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Jews 'have special emotions toward the Chinese,' Rabbi Matt Trusch explains in a Douyin video aimed at the vast Chinese audience. (Courtesy/ via JTA)
August 26, 2022, 5:40 am
A Texas rabbi is fighting Jewish stereotypes on China’s TikTok
Matt Trusch lived in China for years, but it’s been tough to go back to visit during the pandemic era. Now he’s found a way to connect with Chinese speakers that has gone viral
By Jordyn Haime
The Lehrhaus is inspired in part by Frankfurt's Jewish House of Free Study, where intellectuals of the early 20th century like Bertha Pappenheim, Leo Lowenthal, and Martin Buber lectured and learned. (Getty Images. Design by Jackie Hajdenberg/ JTA)
August 21, 2022, 2:54 am
Boston’s Jews are getting a ‘Jewish tavern’ – to study religious texts, drink beer
Combining the Old Country secular Torah study house and the kretshme, or Yiddish pub, the Boston Lehrhaus seeks to woo all denominations with food, cocktails and meaningful classes
By Jackie Hajdenberg
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