Shabbat Shalom / Rabbi Released from Jail and Happy 4th

	Shabbat Shalom / Rabbi Released from Jail and Happy 4th

Greetings, I may be a British Citizen and loyal subject of the Queen but I still appreciate July 4th as a unique and special day. As America celebrates July 4th this weekend we remember the profound kindness that America has shown to so many throughout its short history and its strong principles of religious freedom and expression. Remarkably this Saturday July 4th is also the 12th of Tammuz a day which is widely celebrated among Chassidic communities as a day of celebration in honor of the release from jail of the previous Chabad Leader Rabbi Joseph Schnerson. The Russians had originally sentenced him to death in 1927 for his great crimes of building Jewish Schools, Mikvah's, and Synagogues. But thank G-d through international pressure the sentenced was ultimately totally commuted. In previous generations and many other countries people had to literally fight to maintain their identity and Jewish faith, today thank G-d and especially in America it is allowed, encouraged, and a pillar of strength of this country. Rabbi Joseph Schnersohn eventually moved to the States where he established the Chabad Movement and he would often pay tribute to the USA and referred to it as a Kingdom of Kindness. To read more about the story of the 12th of Tammuz click here. With best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom and a Happy 4th! Yisroel Freeman

Thursday, 2 July, 2009 - 9:13 pm