With anti-Semitic incidents continuing to occur in Brooklyn, as well as throughout the world, Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, a second generation Holocaust survivor, told members of parliaments, government ministers, elected officials and representatives of international human rights organizations, at the World Without Nazisms Global Conference that if we ever hope to stem the rising trend of anti-Semitic hate crimes, we must educate our young people.

Regrettably, anti-Semitism is not just part of our history, but a horrifying reality that continues to headline our news. We are seeing an alarming escalation in the number of anti-Semitic incidents, hate crimes and events taking place throughout Europe, Canada and the United States, Cymbrowitz warned.

Guest speaker John Nicols used his experience and strength to convey the risks attached to smoking when he addressed the students at Magen David Yeshivah High School, Yeshivah of Flatbush High School and Hillel Yeshiva High School recently.

You dont have to die for a cigarette! One of the worst addictions is to nicotine. These wise words are just a microcosm of the dangers and risks of tobacco use.

My name is John Nicols and I would like to educate you on the dangers of cigarette smoking and nicotine. The theme is a simple one, as is my message. It is supported by an audiovisual presentation on the dangers of tobacco. I use the effect that smoking has had on my life to drive the point home. Being a cancer patient has had a significant impact on my life. I use these experiences to illustrate the real life consequences of tobacco use, with down to earth, everyday situations and examples, he said.

Sixty high school freshman at Yeshivah of Flatbush  were very excited to go back to school after winter break, because they were given an iPad to take home with them. What was the catch? They had to keep it with them every day and bring it into school.

They were given the iPads because their teachers had been practicing with them for months learning the best programs to use with their students, building websites to share with them, and sharing their insights with colleagues.

The entire high school has wireless Internet access, including the Beit Midrash, auditorium, gym, cafeteria, hallways and lounge.

In response to the recent turmoil in Beit Shemesh over issues of modesty and the role of women in Israeli society, Yeshiva University students flooded a lecture hall to learn about the challenges and history of the conflict and to debate possible solutions.

The event was organized by Kol Hamevaser, the undergraduate student bodys Jewish thought magazine, and the YU Israel Club. Panelists included Rabbi Jeremy Wieder, Dr. Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin, dean of students and lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School, who has also spoken extensively on womens issues; and Rabbi Yonatan Rosensweig, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Torat Yosef Hamivtar in Efrat and a Beit Shemesh resident.

Glowing butterfly streamers dangled from the ceiling of the brilliantly designed Yeshivah of Flatbush Metamorphosis Chinese Auction room at Shaare Zion recently. Everybody was upbeat, hoping for a big winand some got their wish. Change is inevitable, growth is intentional, was the theme, as YOF changes, enhances, and is reborn every year, always looking at how it can suit the children of our community, while maintaining its traditional standard of excellence.

I had an incredible time working with a wonderful committee of dedicated mothers and staff to make this night an amazing success! said Naomi Houllou, who chaired the event along with Vivian Farhi. I was so lucky to work on the auction with a great committee. The room looked amazing and our prizes were better than ever! Seeing the happy crowd made all of our hard work worth while. Im looking forward to next year! added Mrs. Farhi.

A few weeks ago, my niece told me that she was on her way to my neighborhood to pick up an older woman and take her to a wedding. Oh thats silly, I said, Im leaving the house now; I can drop her off for you. My niece explained that the woman was elderly and blind. Im not dropping her off; Im going with her. I saw a text from the Mitzvah Man and thought Id do a good deed today, she said.

I was impressed. My niece had been a mitzvah girl as a teenager but that sort of dissipated after she married and her husband, home and kids took up all of her time. When she got the text from Mitzvah Man, it sparked something buried down deep. Many of us have had similar experiences. We want to do good deeds, but were busy. We want to help the needy, but dont know how. We want to volunteer, but life seems to always get in the way. The Mitzvah Man has found a way to combat all those buts and actually get us in the game, one dollar, one day, and one act of goodness at a time.

A new beautifully ornamented mitzvah tank was recently dedicated by Chabad of Flatbush. Almost every day of the year, Chabad Director Rabbi Zalman Liberow and Rabbi Tomer Rotem are out on the streets of Flatbush/Midwood, mainly on Kings Highway, spreading the news of geulah (redemption) and Judaism to unaffiliated Jews. The mitzvah tank is comparable to a Chabad house on wheels.

The new mitzvah tank is artistically designed with images depicting the greeting of Moshiah and is dedicated in memory of Rabbi Zalmans son, Avrohom Dovid Liberow AH, who perished in a tragic car accident. They also dedicated a special Torah in Avrohoms memory from which they read the weeks parashah, every Monday and Thursday, in the mitzvah tank.

Sunday. April 1st. 7 PM. MDY Elementary.

Have you ever been in a room filled with professional singers, dancers and comedians all at one time?! Well the Koby Mandell Talent show gives you that opportunity for only 20 dollars. The show gives all of its proceeds to the Koby Mandell Foundation in Israel. Our talented artists are all handpicked and work tirelessly to produce a wonderful show. The Koby Mandell show branches together our community women to do an amazing chesed whilst having a great time!

Sixty years ago, Milton Friedman suggested eliminating the public-school system as it exists, and giving parents a taxpayer-funded voucher for every child to use toward tuition at any school of his/her choice. His vision hasnt come to pass, but around 1990 school choice for parents and children appeared in various places in the United States.

The school-choice proposals were never envisioned as tuition relief for parents who already send their children to private and religious schools, but as a means to allow children to escape from failing public schools. Opponents of allowing children to escape from failing schools suggest that we improve all the public schools, but they never say how to do it. Various methods have been tried for nearly 40 years, and the public schools still provide the same unsatisfactory results. Our children cant wait another 40 years.

Purim is the festival which commemorates the breathtaking Jewish victory over the murderous designs of Haman. It is a story of great courage and self-sacrifice, first and foremost by Queen Esther and Mordechai, and ultimately by the whole Jewish nation. This joyous festival reveals the hidden hand of G-d in the event of man.

Haman, who descended from the Jew-hating tribe of Amalek, devised a scheme to solve the Jewish problem once and for all by annihilating every Jew.

Modechai, a descendant of King Saul and advisor to King Achashverosh, sensed the danger. He called for his niece, Queen Esther, and told her that she must go to the king and plead for her people. Haman was defeated and the Jewish people were saved. They celebrated the holiday of Purim

The Magen David Synagogue, the oldest of the three Sassoon Synagogues in Greater Bombay, recently celebrated its 150th anniversary. The synagogue was built by philanthropist David Sassoon in 1861, to serve the Jewish community in the Byculla district of Bombay (now Mumbai).