The Chabad.org Roving Rabbis

Three members of the Chabad.org team (including two members of the Ask the Rabbi team) hit the road this summer, joining more then 250 young rabbis who are spending their summer vacation visiting isolated Jews and communities around the globe.

Each summer - Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Lubavitch movement – coordinates the “Rabbinical Student Visitation Program” to small Jewish communities throughout the world.

Spearheaded by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson of righteous memory, more than fifty years ago, the program aims to reach out to each and every individual Jew. The groups teach classes, disseminates Jewish publications & plants the seeds of Judaism.

Rabbi Menachem Posner, on the Chabad.org team since 2006, is visiting Jews in Ireland, while Rabbi Shalom Davidson will be visiting the Jewish community in Shanghai. Rabbi Laibel Berkowitz, who is part of our website development team, is in Wisconsin.

You can read about their travels on their blogs here:

http://www.rovingrabbis.com/533117
http://www.rovingrabbis.com/533114

Tisha B'av on Chabad.org

Tisha B'av is tonight and tomorrow. On Tisha B'av, we mourn the destruction of the both Temples and the exile of Israel.

Check out our Destruction & Renewal website for all the information about Tisha B'av and how to observe the day.

Some features:

• How to observe Tisha B'av
• History of the Temples
• Temple Tour
• Insights
• More from the Calendar

Also see Mourning What is Missing: Understanding Tisha B'av, a current feature from TheJewishwoman.org.

Parshah Home Page Updated

Check out the new format of the Parshah homepage. It now has both the updated Parshah tab just like the home page, and also an updated index of the Parshah sections below it.

The Parsha tab highlights the key Parsha sections for this week, including featured Parsha articles from our columnists.

The index below the tab is your gateway to learning about the Parsha in all it's angles. Whereas before you had to enter each portal section to view its contents, now we list the highlights right there on the homepage for you to go directly there.

We hope that this upgrade will help you browse the Parsha section easily and more enjoyably.

Tzitzit and Tallit: New in Daily Life & Practice

The latest addition to our Daily Life & Practice resource center is a fantastic new section called "Tzitzit and Tallit".

In this section you will discover everything you needed to know about the laws of Tzitit & Tallit.

Start with the basic intro ("Hmmm, I've never hear about this before"), then get to know more basic facts and practical observance such as who wears them, when to wear them, and how to wear them.

Once you are set with the basics, move one to some interesting readings and perspectives, delve into the deeper meanings of tzitzis and the tallis, then complete your tzitzis education with material in the handbook.

If you've needed a guide on tzitzis, this is a one-stop-gets-it-all deal!

On the Fourth of July

Now that all the Independence Day barbeques have been reduced to depleted coal (and - if you live in the Northeast - you dried up from all that rain), and we are back to our regular workstations, it's time to reflect just what the Fourth of July means (from a Chabad.org perspective, of course).

On the Fourth of July, Americans recommit themselves to one of their unalienable rights: the Pursuit of Happiness. After 231 years it is safe to say that this pursuit has not brought us a scintilla closer to the objective. Yisrael Rice maintains that the pursuit itself is the problem...

Click here to read on.

17 Tammuz

Today is the 17th day in the Hebrew month of Tammuz. It is observerved as a fast day.

What happended today? From Today in Jewish History:

• Moses Breaks Tablets (1313 BCE)
• Temple Service Disrupted (423 BCE)
• Jerusalem Walls Breached (69 CE)

Click here for all the details.

Featured articles related to 17 Tammuz:

The Great Squeeze
What do a garden hose nuzzle, a rocket, a hydraulic power plant, a shofar, and this article have in common? They all operate on the Pinch Principle

Cholent expresses our profound yearning to escape galut even as we acknowledge it as the most fruitful epoch of our history.

The Holy Temple
What was the Holy Temple? Why was it destroyed? Why do we want to see it rebuilt?

For complete coverage on 17 Tammuz, Tisha B'av and The Three Weeks, click here.