The Jewish Single

Regardless of how crowded and populated Jewish Long Island may seem, it can seem incredibly lonely. In the modern world, with all of our technology and means of impersonal convenience, more people suffer from the frustration of lonesomeness than one could ever imagine.

The Chai Center NY is pleased to offer their assistance in helping Jewish individuals find their soul mates. Any Jewish singles of any age, with any level of religious observance are urged to join.

The first step is to fill out the online application at the Dix Hills Jewish Chai Center website. The information you provide is the main guide for our staff to help you find a match. And don’t hold back! All the information you provide will only be viewed by our Rabbi and his assistant, both of whom take the confidentiality of your application very seriously.

The Chai Center is pleased to offer their assistance to all single Jews of any age. And while it doesn’t matter what your level of observance is, it’s important you indicate where you would prefer the level of your matches to be. Our intent is to match individuals within the same age who are looking for the same kind of person. Although The Chai Center is based in Suffolk County, Jewish singles from all over Long Island are welcome.

Our only request is that we dance at the wedding!

(For more information on "The Jewish Single" CLICK HERE)

Dix Hills Jewish Center Chai High

The Ultimate Teen Jewish Learning Experience!

It’s important for Jewish Long Island parents to stay committed in providing their sons and daughters with an intense level of secular education, so as to give them the best chance for success in life. However, by that same token, it’s clear a healthy amount of Jewish knowledge, beyond the well-known Bible-stories they’re taught in Hebrew school, can be just as important as their secular schooling, if not more so, while additionally providing the opportunity to explore and examine their own Jewish identity.

After all, these kids aren’t really kids anymore. They are more than ready to learn as adults, to be challenged, engaged, and ask the tough questions while exploring and discussing the relevance of what it means to be a Jew in the modern world.

The curriculum is always adapting and improving, while always a guarantee to spark lively debates and discussions. Lesson topics include Science vs. The Torah, suicide and self harm, peer pressure, drugs and alcohol, the value of money, the power of the soul and ones obligations to strangers.

Chai High takes place at the Dix Hills Jewish Chai Center on Thursdays from 7:00 – 8:30 pm. For Registration information, click HERE. Chai High promises to teach your children lifelong Jewish lessons and morals that will not only guide, but empower them into adulthood.

Dix Hills Jewish Center Chai High

The Ultimate Teen Jewish Learning Experience!

It’s important for Jewish Long Island parents to stay committed in providing their sons and daughters with an intense level of secular education, so as to give them the best chance for success in life. However, by that same token, it’s clear a healthy amount of Jewish knowledge, beyond the well-known Bible-stories they’re taught in Hebrew school, can be just as important as their secular schooling, if not more so, while additionally providing the opportunity to explore and examine their own Jewish identity.

After all, these kids aren’t really kids anymore. They are more than ready to learn as adults, to be challenged, engaged, and ask the tough questions while exploring and discussing the relevance of what it means to be a Jew in the modern world.

The curriculum is always adapting and improving, while always a guarantee to spark lively debates and discussions. Lesson topics include Science vs. The Torah, suicide and self harm, peer pressure, drugs and alcohol, the value of money, the power of the soul and ones obligations to strangers.

Chai High takes place at the Dix Hills Jewish Chai Center on Thursdays from 7:00 – 8:30 pm. For Registration information, click HERE. Chai High promises to teach your children lifelong Jewish lessons and morals that will not only guide, but empower them into adulthood.

The Chai Center "Ask the Rabbi!" Feature

One of the most personal, interactive, yet informational features of the Lobavitch Chai Center of Dix Hills website is the “Ask the Rabbi” feature. Located on the top right-side of the page, the Ask the Rabbi section provides visitors with an easy-to-use application that allows questions of any nature to get the attention of spiritual leaders.

This section of The Chai Center website also contains an Archives section, which contains detailed and educated responses to previous inquiries from other curious visitors. Among these other questions:

“Why is the Mezuzah Slanted?”

“Is there a blessing for a Volcano?”

“Is Honey Kosher for Passover?”

Not all of the questions are religious-specific, however. One writer spoke of how he and his father often turn polite discussions into angry outburst with “mutual, full-blown frontal attacks” that upset their entire family. Using the Chai Center website, this distressed son was able to seek the advice he needed to bring peace in his family.

Other non-religious-specific inquiries included “coping with suicide” and “should I remarry?” showing that the Chai Center “Ask the Rabbi” section can provide helpful advice to Jews of any level of observance.

The section also provides an option for any guests of the site to deposit any other general inquiries for the staff of The Chai Center unrelated to rabbinical advice.

Every home needs a Dix Hills Jewish Art Calendar

Why? Because it’s your tante Pesya’s birthday and you forgot. What? DO I really have to give you reasons? Everybody needs a Dix Hills Jewish Art Calendar! Oh, and we’ve got one just for you!

Hey, it’s a wonderful piece of work that anyone would love to have. And the best thing about it – it’s got your name all over it.

Listen, when you advertise in a newspaper, your ad might be getting a 20 seconds lifespan before it’s dumped to the garbage. You basically get schmeckel for your shekel. But with a spot in our in our upcoming edition of the 2010 - 2011 calendar you get a yearlong ad on the door of your clients’ fridge. More bang for your buck!

And the calendar is a beauty, featuring holiday recipes, educational insights, candle lighting times, and besides, as Rabbi Yackov Saacks mentioned “you are taking an active role in advancing Judaism in the Dix Hills area, as well as surrounding communities, which in turn is bound to elicit a positive response from local citizens.”

DOWNLOAD JEWISH ART CALENDAR AD FORM

Shavuos at The Chai Center NY

If you’d like an all-encompassing Shavuos experience this year, you should plan on heading out to the Dix Hills Jewish Chai Center. In addition to the traditional Shavuos activities at The Chai Center NY, there will be a workshop headed by the Shavuos scholar in residence, Rabbi Berel Lerman.

Here’s this year’s schedule:

Tuesday May 18:
Light candles at 7:49 pm, services at 8:00 pm
Family Dinner and Torah-Thon at 8:45 pm

Wednesday May 19:
Morning Services 9:30 am
Ten Commandments and Ice Cream Party 10:45 am followed by a Kiddush luncheon
Holiday Hebrew School 4:30-5:30 pm
Evening Services 8:00 pm, Light candles after 8:56 pm

Thursday May 20:
Morning services 9:20 am
Yizkor Services 11:15 am, followed by Kiddush Luncheon
Shabbat and holiday ends at 8:57 pm

Get Connected At The Women's Site!

Ladies, if you’ve ever wanted a place to connect with other like-minded Jewish women, you can look no further than the The Chai Center NY. The women’s site is chock full of information for women of all ages. Whether you’re looking for spiritual guidance, relationship and marriage advice, health information, or a good place to share recipes, you can find all that and more at the Women’s site.

If you’re feeling creative, or need to be inspired by someone else’s creativity check out the poetry and writing section. You can submit your own original work for publication, or just read what other women from around the world have submitted.
There is the popular bi-weekly “Ask Rachel” column, where you can here other women’s issues that may be similar to things in your life, and hear what martial and family therapist, Tzippora Price has to say.

Whatever your need is, you’re sure to find it at The Chai Center NY and the Women’s Site!

Gold Party at The Chai Center

Do you have a ton of unwanted gold jewelry laying around in your home? Do you like making money? No, our blog didn’t get hacked by the Cash4Gold company, we’re hinting that you should come out to the Chai Center this Wednesday, May 5.

Why? The Gold Party! At the Gold Party, a professional jeweler will determine the value of your scrap gold and purchase it from you on the spot. But he’s not just taking gold—he’ll buy you’re unwanted sterling silver jewelry and flatware too! All proceeds will be generously donated to The Chai Center by Hersel Solaimani of Golden Island Jewelry on Veterans Highway, Commack, NY.

Lag BaOmer Party on May 2nd!

Next week at the Chai Center NY, to celebrate Lag BaOmer, Dix Hills Jewish center will be at Caledonia Park for sports, games, face painting, team building activities, a scavenger hunt, and water fun!

Light refreshments will be served and everyone will have a good time because the Chai Center NY Hebrew School and Community Center are teaming up. Just imagine, a green field with children running and playing about, soccer and games under the sun.

A Sunday morning of fun is less than a week away. The party lasts from 9:30 – 11:30, so you still have the rest of the day afterwards. It’s a great occasion to bring the kids out in the morning to get their ya- yas out. Then you can take everyone for a haircut to celebrate the coming of warm weather, and Lag BaOmer! There won’t be any bonfires, but there will still be lots of partying!

The Chai Center NY for the Dix Hills Jewish center is always hosting fun events like this. Check our blog weekly to stay in the loop, or you could miss out! RSVP is mandatory, so that we know how many people to expect and how many refreshments and stations to have. We can’t wait to see you!

Classes at the Chai Center NY!

At the Chai Center NY there are tons of available classes and opportunities to better yourself. There’s a different class for every day of the week. On Sundays at the Chai Center NY, there is Hebrew School for adults, a great way to prepare to read the Torah in the tongue of our forefathers. Mondays is Jewish Law day and Tuesdays this spring is a class about the Holocaust. On Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings you can get your daily dose of Kabbalah, a 45 minute long philosophical inquiry into what it means to live as a human in the universe of our Creator.

On Thursdays, Jewish women can experience Dix Hills Jewish center in a special way: through a Torah class designed to discuss the role and powers of femininity in Judaism. And on Saturday mornings, in homage to Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, we offer a class about how to use the Torah in our modern times.

You don’t have to be an adult to experience the benefits of learning at Jewish Long Island. Every Monday, story time supper is a perfect way for kids ages 3-8 to read and learn together about Judaism and traditional values and mores. Visit the Chai Center today to start learning and understanding Judaism and yourself more completely.

Hope and Tragedy: The Holocaust and Judaism

The Holocaust was arguably the worst form of attempted genocide the world has ever known. To think that this period occurred just a few generations ago is incredible. Such evil and wickedness has not been forgotten, and never will be. Remembering the Holocaust and the survivors of such dark times restores hope and faith in the strength of humanity despite any atrocities we see in our millennial epoch.

The Chai Center NY is proud to present a six week lecture series beginning at the end of April. These Dix Hills Jewish talks will feature Rabbi Avraham Lehr discussing questions such as “What does Jewish faith say about our people and tragedy?” “How do we develop the kind of faith and optimism necessary to understand and encounter events as terrible as the Holocaust?” “How do we respond to this kind of suffering, and what does it mean to view the suffering of another?”

This philosophical inquiry delves into the human consciousness as we examine basic human and Jewish values that have helped our people to deal with a history of diaspora, struggle, and success. So join the Chai Center NY for this stimulating intellectual discussion as we come to understand the power of faith and Judaism to anchor hope and happiness in our lives.

Chess at The Chai Center NY!

Chess as we know it has been around since medieval times and its predecessor, chatrang has been around since the early 7th century. This game was played in Persia and India and with the conquests of Islam slowly spread throughout Europe. By the 13th century, pawns gained the ability to move two spaces on their first move and queens and bishops acquired their modern powers. Chess became competitive in the 19th century as the sport became accepted widely as more than just a coffeehouse game.

Today the youngest chess champion in the world is a Norwegian, age 19, named Magnus Carlsen. At 13 he was the third youngest Grandmaster in history.

On April 17th at the Chai Center NY, there will be a national chess champion, who will play 20 games simultaneously. Not only that, but there will be a blindfolded chess exhibition, and brief lessons following. Winners of the games will take home the pieces and chess boards they play on. There is a $20 fee to play, benefitting the Chai Center NY. If you don’t feel up to play but still want to watch a chess master at the Dix Hills Jewish Center, it’s $10 or a discount $30 for families.

Summer Camp at The Chai Center Starts June 28!

If you have a child between the ages of 2-8, you should send them to Camp Gan Israel, part of the largest network of jewish day camps in the world, at The Chai Center NY. The camp runs from June 28-August 6!

Children will participate in a broad array of uplifting and fun activities, specific to their age group. For 2 year olds, the camp session run 3 or 5 days a week from 9:30 to 12:30. For 3-8 year olds, the camp runs from 9:30 to 3:30 5 days a week. Visit The Chai Center NY website for more details!

Video for Chai Tots Preschool of the Arts at Dix Hills Jewish Chai Center

PS_690102 from JabMedia on Vimeo.

The Friendship Circle at The Chai Center NY

If you’re looking to get your teen involved in uplifting, constructive, and positive activities, The Friendship Circle at The Chai Center NY is the perfect solution. The Friendship Circle’s mission is to provide Jewish special needs children with social, recreational, and spiritual activities.

By having teens volunteer to take a few hours out of their lives and share themselves with others, the special needs children bloom and gain social confidence. In addition, the participating teens learn the value of service and how important it is to give. It is also beneficial for the families of the special needs children as tired and over-worked parents can get a few hours of reprieve from their busy schedules.

For more information be sure to visit www.thechaicenter.com

The Chai Center NY: Hebrew School for Special Needs Chidlren

It’s very important to me that all of my children to have a quality Jewish education.

My youngest child is autistic and requires a specialized learning program. I searched far and wide for a jewish long island program that fit her educational, emotional, and spiritual needs, but I wasn’t having very much luck on my own.

After I consulted my rabbi, he suggested the Hebrew School for Children with Autism Special Needs at The Chai Center NY in Dix Hills.

I had no idea there was a Dix Hills Jewish center that had programs for special needs children!

The warm and loving staff is special education certified, the classes are small, and the school features inclusion activities with the regular Hebrew school.

It was important for me that my daughter was in a school that catered to her unique needs, as well as taught her the elements of her heritage.

At The Chai Center NY Hebrew School for special needs, the kids are taught to understand the importance Jewish Holidays and traditions. The dynamic and energetic staff works hard to ensure that the lessons are taught in visual, creative ways that the kids can really identify with. Music and movement are also key components to the learning process at the Chai Center School.

If you’d like more information about Hebrew School for Children with Autism Special Needs, be sure to check out thechaicenter.com

The Chai Center Purim Video

p2_690102 from JabMedia on Vimeo.

Purim at the Chai Center!

Ah Purim, a day of feasting and celebration! And this year the Chai Center is having special activities all Purim weekend. On Saturday night, we are having an ESPM night – Extreme Sports Purim Madness! Whether you’re a Nets fan or a Knicks fan, a Rangers or an Islanders fan, come by the Chai Center and have some fun! There will be ball park food, music, and a Megillah reading. And if you’re a member, it’s only six dollars per person, or twenty four for the entire family. For non-members it’s barely any more. It all starts at seven o’ clock, so mark the calendar now.

Then, for Purim day, we have a whole morning of events planned. At eight we begin the day with morning services. At eight forty five, we have a first Megillah reading followed by a community breakfast at nine thirty. There will be a second Megillah reading at ten thirty and then, at eleven, the talented performer Rabbi Shalom Mendelshon is back by popular demand for a Juggling and Fire Show!

For dinner, we’ll have a delicious catered Purim meal at five followed by an evening of relaxation and celebration. RSVP today to reserve your place, because tickets are only twenty five dollars for adults and fifteen for kids, and with food so good, and prices so low, spots are sure to fill.

We look forward to seeing you for Purim, at the Chai Center!

Stimulating Events for Kids and Parents at the Chai Center NY!

Instead of leaving your kids at home to watch tv and laze around this President’s Day break, give them a chance to do something different. The Chai Center NY is offering a camp from Monday through Thursday of President’s Week (the 15th -18th) for kids from toddler years to 5th grade.

You can feel secure knowing that your kids are in a caring Jewish environment that has plenty of learning, art and recreation. There are field trips and plenty of activities planned to keep your child excited and engaged.

And if you’re feeling a little bored and restless this winter, the Chai Center NY is offering adult education classes. We have one for every day of the week! You can try the Hebrew Reading Crash Course on Wednesdays –because if you’re like me, your Hebrew could use the practice! And maybe the Kabbalah course too, which goes on four times a week. If you really want to think about life in a different way, the Tanya, a mystic Jewish book, will help you understand and cultivate life changing practices.

It can get tedious, these winter days, but the Chai Center has something for everyone. So whether it’s you or your kids you want to keep active, stop by the Chai Center for some winter fun.

Calling All Sisters!

The Chai Center provides a community for Jewish women to come together and discuss our womanhood. If you’ve been feeling lost, or out of touch with your Judaism, then come to celebrate your strength and rediscover what it means to be a woman.

Together we learn about what it means to be a woman, without men, and how a married life can still provide time for your self. Through events like yoga and kaballah, we can help you to explore your spirituality and understand how to live life every day the best way you can.

And activities like wine tastings, cooking classes and museum trips will allow you to explore new facets of life that are without, and discover opportunities that are difficult to exploit alone. So come to the Chai Center Sisterhood and make friends, learn about yourself, and what it means to be a strong, beautiful Jewish woman.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker…

As a Jewish single, I had been dating around the city for three years. It’s so tiresome to meet men online only to find out how boring they actually are in real life. When I realized that I had had enough, I asked my mother’s advice. She told me to go to my synagogue and try to meet a man there, but I was reluctant. So I found the next best thing: the Chai Center. I applied and sent in my picture to their singles program and the following week I got a phone call. Desperate, I met the man who they set me up with, but at the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised! Not only was he handsome and sweet, but he’s a doctor. Needless to say, we got along really well.

Now Jerry and I have been together eight months, and the other day he proposed to me. I have never been so happy as I am now! And to think, after all those blind dates, and silly internet services, I finally found someone in the place I was least suspecting. There’s a reason we Jews are so good at matchmaking, and so now I feel silly saying, “Who knew!”

Jewish Nightlife for Teens at the Chai Center

My teenagers are just two years apart and they’re at the age where they’re starting to think about the opposite sex. I want them to be safe, and meet nice young girls, but it’s hard for them at school. When I first told them about the Chai Center Nightlife for Grades 9-11 on Saturday nights, they weren’t too enthusiastic, but they trust their mother.

So I brought them to the Chai and when I came back to pick them up, you should have heard the stories they told me! My older one met a lovely young girl, he said, while little Jerry was with his friends. And when it was time for the next social, they were ready to go. Usually David, my big boy never tells me about girls, but after the Chai Center he wasn’t bashful at all. I highly recommend the Chai Center Nightlife if you have teenagers you don’t know what to do with.

Giving Charity has never been more convenient. ECharityBox, Change for Change

Charity is an act of love, kindness and compassion. It is also a duty, a privilege, a right, an act of justice, a humbling experience even more for the giver than for the recipient. We all have the duty to give charity and help those in need or help a worthy cause, but some of us are very busy individuals with barely enough time in our busy lives to tend to our families and those close to us, not to mention time for charity! If writing checks and mailing them out is not working for you or collecting money in a Pushka (charity box) then making sure it gets to the right organization instead of lying around the house forever…and not to mention waiting for those mail donation receipts then finding them at tax time!...then 2010 has an easy solution for you! With ECharityBox doing acts of kindness and giving charity has never been easier, giving change for change.

ECharityBox offers an easy way to contribute to your favorite organization with one click! You can use ECharityBox online or conveniently on your phone.

ECharityBox features:

· One click contributing

· Instant dedications

· Automatic emailed donation receipts

· Making a difference a few pennies at a time

To learn more about ECharityBox and how you can easily make a difference today visit www.thechaicenter.com

Mommy and Me at The Chai Center!

I remember when I was a kid, my parents used to save a special day of the week and spend it with the one of us kids and I remember that alone quality time with my folks until this very day.

Now even if it seems impossible to juggle between your career and family, all you really need is that one morning in order to create unforgettable memories.

That’s why The Chai Center of Dix Hills created the new Mommy and Me program – a morning of excitement for the mother and child.

We offer a unique environments for Infants and for bigger kids (ages 1-3) and provide a great first play and social experience for your little one which includes parenting discussion, circle time, songs, parachute, bubbles… and lots of fun!

In the Chai Center you’ll find an all new Mommy and Me playroom and an innovative program for babies and toddlers in a stimulating, fun and creative atmosphere.

What’s so great about this program the multi-sensory experiences that encourages emerging language, motor development, socialization and bonding between parent and child. Plus, you get the chance to meet other Jewish moms and spend quality time with your child!

So let us know if you’re coming and don’t forget to visit our site at www.thechaicenter.com!

Jewish Humor Stewart Rappaport

We all have a warm spot in our hearts when it comes to Jewish Humor. It’s a part of our heritage, a part of our religion and a part of how we are. I mean, who doesn’t like the occasional rabbi that walks into a bar, or the story about the Jewish mother?

There are many Jewish comedians out there and you can even say that most comedians out there are probably Jewish or have Jewish roots. Just to name a few, you’ve got Woody Allen, Lewis Black, Mel Brooks, Lenny Bruce, Danny Kaye, Jerry Lewis, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, really… should we continue? It can take all day.

Nobody really knows what is it about Judaism that turns so many into comedians and stand-up artists and this week in Café Chabad we want to think about this issue with the help of Stewart Rappaport, the world renowned Jewish comedian.

Winner of the 2005 Jewish Week’s Comedy Contest, Stewart Rappaport has been doing stand-up comedy for over 15 years and has entertained many groups. He has starred in many regional theater productions, from “Fiddler On The Roof” to various Neil Simon comedies, such as “The Odd Couple” and “Broadway Bound”.



Join us on January 9, 2010 at 7:00 PM at the Chai Center of Dix Hills!