Lots of changes at Chabad.org

It's been a while since my last post, but don't think things have been quiet here! Many changes have been happening in the article and navigation structure, changes that hopefully will help our users find relevant content quicker and easier.

Notice the left navigation changes:

1. Daily Life & Practice and Lifecycles have been moved out of the Judaism 101 section and have become primary sections
2. Judaism 101 has been renamed Ideas & Beliefs.
3. Library has been reinstated, and Stories moved from the left nav into Library.

The Library now includes texts, books and history.

Some new sections in Lifecycles include Pregnancy and Birth, The Jewish Birthday and Growing Old.

Some more changes are on the way - keep an eye out for them, or check back here daily!

Featured on Google Video's Blog: IK Chanukah Video

Google Video's blog had a feature on Chanukah, and guess which video was the #1 pick?

Chanukah audio and a new embedded audio player

Discover more about Chanukah by listening to these fascinating classes and lectures on many Chanukah themes. You can even download them to your iPod to go. For lighter listening pleasure (no pun intended), gather the family and listen to traditional Chanukah songs, hear the blessings of recited on the Chanukah menorah and more.

On the discussion of Chanukah Audio, check out the comments on the "Oh, Chanukah! Oh, Chanukah!" song. Such a simple song, so many customs. How did you sing it?

While you are there, notice the new embedded audio player. We think it helps bring together all related content, comments and settings, and it more compatible with popup blockers, etc. What do you think of it?

Why Do We Spin the Dreidel?

Ever wondered why we spin the dreidel?

Check out these articles on the spin why we spin the dredel, the Hanukkah top, on Hanukkah:

Check out the basics, according to Kabbalah, two different kinds of spins, for kids, and a story about a Dreidel in the Soviet Era.

Chanukah Quiz

Check out our Chanukah Quiz. It's a very popular page, enjoyable, and gets lots of comments. You can sit down with your kids, learn a lot and have fun too!

Itche Kadoozy's final Chanukah episode is out!

The final episode of the Itche Kadoozy chanukah mini-series is out!

Check it out here. If you missed the first two episodes, here is part one and here is part two. Check out the comments, and post your own!

New Chanukah Articles

As you prepare for Chanukah once again, we would like to highlight a few new Chanukah-related articles that have been added to the site this year:

The War Is All About The Oil

Yehudit and You

Making Chanukah Candles

Potato Latkes

Chanukah Presents

Chanukah in a Nutshell

And on a basic practical level: Don’t forget about the Chanukah Guide, with all the how's and when's of Chanukah.

Fight or Light? Re: The SeaTac Menorah Controversy

The recent debate over the menorah display in the Seattle airport has caused a stir of opinion.

As a response to this event, Chabad.org has release a new article called Fight or Light? - Controversy and Irony at SeaTac Airport, a humorous and ironic read from Yanki Tauber.

We hope you enjoy, and that this will provide some food for thought and perspective on the issue.

Happy Chanukah!

Events Export to Outlook

Last week the calendar got an upgrade to help visitors import events they see online into calendar programs like Microsoft Outlook.

Say you are search for a chanukah event in our Chanukah Event Directory (which by the way has events in over 460 cities in 32 countries) and you come to this page. Click on the little calendar icon and this event downloads and can be saved to Outlook.

Yud Tes Kislev on Chabad.org

Chabad.org has a wealth of infomation on Knowledgebase subject on Yud Tes Kislev too.

What is Yud Tes Kislev? From our Glossary:

Kislev 19: anniversary of the passing of R. Dovber, the Maggid of Mezritch, in 1772, and anniversary of the release from capital sentence and imprisonment of his disciple, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, in 1798; celebrated as a Chassidic holiday amongst Chabad Chassidim

Click here to read more about the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman. Check out this biography of the Alter Rebbe with copies of original document and other interesting artifacts.

Chanukah Events featured in the AP

Check this out.

This article from the Associated Press that will be appearing in the Travel section in hundreds of newspapers worldwide features our Chanukah Events Search that now contains events for almost 400 cities in 24 countries!

Looking to do something fun this Chanukah? Just search!

8th Yartzeit of Rabbi Kazen

This past Sunday was the eighth yahrtzeit of Rabbi Kazen, the founder of Chabad.org and pioneer on the Jewish Internet.

Read more about Rabbi Kazen here.

Here is an exclusive photo of Rabbi Kazen at work in our old office:

Part 2 of the Itche Kadoozy Chanukah Series

If you liked Part 1 of the Itche Kadoozy Chanukah Mini-Series, then I am sure that you can't wait to check out Part 2, now available here.

Synopsis: Rabbi Kadoozy works on finding a way out of prison, Jono trains for his donut eating contest, and Gefilte Fish tries to sell his exploding dreidels to the government.

http://www.chabad.org/452352

Enjoy!

New RSS Feed

There is a new RSS feed available to the public: A Daily Quote.

You can use this RSS feed to embed a Daily Quote on you site or newsreader.

http://www.chabad.org/tools/rss/dailyquote_rss.xml