Home page tabs update, and more...

It's been a little while since my last entry here, but of course it is not because there is nothing to write about...it's finding the few minutes to log it.

A change was made this week to the way the tabs on the home page operate. Instead of the panel being activated via hovering over the tab, you now have to actualy click the tab to activate the panel. This resolves some usability issues with people accidentally moving their mouse over a neighboring tab and the panel switching without warning.

By the way, clicking again on the tab will jump you to the tab's section inside the site. Also, not clicking anything will alternate the panels automatically...

This week Thursday-Friday we celebrated 80 years from the release of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchak Schneersohn, from the Soviet Gulag, 1927-2007. Here are some historical articles to bring you back to that era:

• Days of Light
• The Arrest
• Spalerno
• In the Corridor
• The Interview
• On the Staircase
• More...

Finally our Ask the Rabbi section continues to grow. Here are the latest entries:

• I want a more spiritual life, but my husband doesn't...
• Can a person with a tattoo be buried in a Jewish cemetery?
• Why is Joshua referred to as "bin" Nun?

Have a good shabbos!

New! Chabad.org in Hebrew and German

We are pleased to announce the launch of Chabad.org in Hebrew and German!

These new sites are operated by Chabad.org and include Chabad.org tools, content and many other features, that were previously only available to English speakers. Each site also includes locally unique content, written, prepared and compiled by the sites' editors.

A new permanent link on the left nav of Chabad.org has been added to link to the new language versions of Chabad.org.

We look forward to launching additional languages as well. French and Spanish should be available very shortly.

Links to the multilingual sites were also added to the bottom of the home page of Chabad.org.

Shalom and auf wiedersehen!

Jewish Summer Camp Search

Where will your child spend his summer this year? Looking for a summer camp where your child will have fun and learn about his Judaism?

Featured now on Chabad.org is the Camp Gan Israel Summer Camp Search. Use this page to search the Chabad-Lubavitch centers directory for a camp near you!

About Camp Gan Israel:

A camp should provide more than fun and games.

A camp should be a place where children learn the importance of caring, sharing, tolerance, patience and working with others.

A camp should bring out the best in each child's character and
personality.

A Jewish camp should be a place where children can experience
first-hand the richness, excitement & warmth of Judaism.

CAMP GAN ISRAELs worldwide provide all this and much more.

Camp Gan Israel was founded in 1956 by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, and has since grown into the largest network of Jewish camps in the world.

Today is Gimmel Tammuz...

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of righteous memory, passed away on the 3rd of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, of the year 5754 from creation (June 12, 1994). Today marks that the 13th anniversary of his passing.

Useful links:

• The Ohel, the Rebbe's resting place.
• Send a prayer request to be mentioned at the Rebbe's resting place.
• Visit special portal in honor of the anniversary of the Rebbe's passing.
• Read a brief biography of the Rebbe.
• Learn how to observe the Yahrtzeit.

My Encounter with the Rebbe

A new section released for Gimmel Tammuz this year is: My Encounter with the Rebbe.

This section contains clips from Jewish Educational Media's "Early Years" project, a series of documentary interviews exploring the early years of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.

In association with JEM, Chabad.org features 13 interviews of first person accounts of the Rebbe's life. From the Rebbe’s childhood to the Rebbe in Berlin.

This is a must see.

While you are at it, check out the previews of Part 1 and Part 2 of "The Early Years", and perhaps pick up a copy of the full-length feature...

Portraits of the Rebbe

An expanded section that has been updated for Gimmel Tammuz (the Rebbe's Yahrtzeit) this year is the "First Person" section of the TheRebbe.org. In it, famous and not-so-famous people describe their experience of the Rebbe.

Highlights in this section:

• Yitzhak Rabin
• Joseph B. Soloveitchik
• Diane Abrams
• Alan Dershowitz
• Gordon Zacks
• Ariel Sharon
• Jacob "Chic" Hecht
• Herbert Weiner
• Boris Smolar
• Mark Wilson

Click, browse, and enjoy.

Gimmel Tammuz Portal Updated

The Gimmel Tammuz portal has been updated with a new design, and with new links to updated and new sections and features related to Gimmel Tammuz.

Check it out here.

Additionally, follow the links at the bottom of the portal to the Gimmel Tammuz sections of Chabad.org's new (as of yet unannounced) language-specific sub-sites. Content is available in Hebrew, Spanish and German.

The Rebbe on Sports and Games

In preparation for the upcoming day of Gimmel Tammuz, the thirteenth yahrtzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory, we have updated many sections of TheRebbe.org, the supersite all about the Rebbe.

We will be posting a few of these updates over the next few days.

----

See this new section:

The Rebbe on Sports and Games: The Rebbe's lessons from sports, games, and the interaction with the players.

It includes links from other areas of the site related to the Rebbe's lessons from this topic, as well as two new articles: A Basketball Coach's Change of Career and Chess: The Game and its Players.

Jewish Calendar Got You Confused?

The solar and lunar calendars are as different as night and day. With a calendar that the term "hour" is dynamic, a "day" does not syncronize with a clock, a month can't make up it's mind if it's 29 days or 30, and a year that follows mysterious cyclical patterns - it's enough to frustrate you. Especially if your life and activities revolve around it!

Of course, Chabad.org comes to the rescue with a detailed but easy reading explanation of the Jewish Calendar system.

Check it out here!

The Miracles of the Six Day War

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the ceasefire that ended the famous Six Day War in Israel.

It was a miraculous victory. Against all odds, Israel prevailed. To commemorate this occasion, Chabad.org has prepared a timeline of of events leading up to the war and of the war itself, including commentary and related multimedia.

Click here to check it out. See below for excerpts from the introduction:

In the spring of 1967, following close to a decade of relative calm, Israel found itself poised for war against four of its Arab neighbors.

According to all the military analysts and pundits, it was to be a lopsided match. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) consisted of 275,000 troops, compared to the 456,000 soldiers of the combined Iraqi, Syrian, Jordanian, and Egypt armies. The united Arab forces also had a decided edge with regards to weaponry and military equipment: they boasted more than double the amount of tanks and close to four times the amount of combat aircraft. The three week period preceding the Six Day War was one of dread, shock and fright for the residents of the Holy Land...

...History books speak of the "Hundred Years' War," the "Thirty Years' War," and many other long-fought battles. Here, in a matter of six short days, a nation managed to utterly rout not one, but four powerful enemies!

Jews across the globe thanked G-d for the great miracles that happened. An incredible sense of pride and spiritual awakening gripped the Jewish people worldwide.

New Main Sections Features Box

A new feature added to the front pages of many of our main sections is a new "Features" box. This box will automatically display the current features of that section. For example, the Daily Life and Practice section now displays the fantastic Tefillin campaign documentary as a portal to that section.

These "Features" boxes are in reality the new "Tabs" that appear on the home page of Chabad.org. Each tab will now appear in it's respective section too.

The sections that include this new improvement are: Daily Life & Practice, Society & Living, Ideas & Beliefs, Audio & Video, Spirituality and Library.

We hope this brings the content of the site together very nicely by featuring items of each section in their section, and also bringing it all together on the home page.

While we are at it, the left nav improvements that were implemented a few weeks ago deserve a mention: The new left nav "flyouts" displaying the vast depths of Chabad.org by conveniently opening up sub-menus, and also the return of the Magazine link in the left nav.