Mrs. Bergovoy has traveled throughout the United States, Canada and Australia enthusing her audiences to get involved in making successful shidduchim. She will be visiting Manchester, as well, on Monday, 15 September. For further information call 07956982451
The London Shiduch Group is proud to announce that the president of the International Shiuduch Group Network, Mrs. Elana Bergovoy of Chicago, is coming to London to inspire us all with a talk entitled, “Connect 4 Shidduchim” on Sunday, 14th September. The event will be held at Lubavitch house London starting at 7.45pm . Entrance fee is £5.
Mrs. Bergovoy has traveled throughout the United States, Canada and Australia enthusing her audiences to get involved in making successful shidduchim. She will be visiting Manchester, as well, on Monday, 15 September. For further information call 07956982451
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Jewish history was made in the greater metro Detroit community on Thursday evening, July 31st (4th Av) in Bloomfield Hills, MI. For the first time ever women, ages ten to eighty five, from all walks of Jewish life joined forces and created challah and unity during a time of worldwide turmoil. One-hundred forty Jewish women gathered for Operation Challah in memory of Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-Ad Shaer and Eyal Yifrach to bake challah for Shabbos. Mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and friends of diverse backgrounds from the Detroit metropolitan area joined forces to reach across the globe to our brothers and sisters in eretz Yisroel and transform the mundane to the holy through the mitzvah of challah.
The event was organized by Aviva Gordon, Leader of the Detroit Area Shidduch Group/Mazel Tov Connection, to bring Jewish women together to remember our boys, create unity and light, and bring down blessings. All net proceeds will be sent directly to the Fraenkel, Shaer and Yifrach families. The Secret Ingredients of Challah Baking program, developed by Mrs. Janet Chana Esses of Brooklyn, NY, includes blessings and insights associated with each step and ingredient. These blessings strengthen the qualities needed by women to nurture and nourish themselves, their loved ones and their communities. The evening began with Tehillim and a Prayer for our Soldiers followed by challah preparation, and the mitzvah of l’hafrish challah - separating challah. The step-by-step hands-on challah experience connected each step and ingredient with a blessing. Huddled around mixing bowls, the women mixed and kneaded with their hands and turned hearts and souls inward as they recited the blessings for unity, happiness, protection, health, success, wisdom and removal of negative influences upon themselves and one another. While the dough was rising, Zeesy Silberberg, Shlucha at Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center in West Bloomfield, MI, spoke to the room full of women wearing Operation Challah aprons dusted with flour. She asked the women to envision the effect of every Jewish home baking challah for Shabbat. To imagine in every neighborhood the smell of baking challah wafting through windows, doorways and crevices and the neighbors would know that Shabbat is coming because the Jewish women are making challah. At a Chassidic farbrengen once, the Lubavitcher Rebbe shared, “If we only knew what is accomplished when a Jew pushes out just one negative thought from his mind . . . the entire world is affected!” When the Rebbe talked about the “entire world” being affected, he made a 360-degree turn with his hand. Zeesy asked, “If this is what happens with THOUGHTS, imagine what our ACTIONS create! Our positive thoughts and acts create a force to influence and inspire the world.” While the mitzvah of challah is open to anyone to perform, Zeesy shared that it is specifically given to women. “Women do this mitzvah with all the proper intentions because it is in our nature, in our personal DNA to constantly give from what we have. We are the nurturers, the givers of society.” Zeesy led the women in the blessing of l’hafrish challah “separating the challah” and invited everyone to partake of the Light up the World Shabbat candle lighting kits. Not a one remained. The raffle prize was awarded and challah braiding began. Thanks to Nehama Abraham, video demonstrations played on the large screens showcasing the boys and step-by-step instructions of the practical and spiritual components of challah making. Hostesses were available for hands-on assistance. With elevated hearts and spirits, each woman carried home a ready-to-bake challah for Shabbat. Heartfelt thanks are extended to the many volunteers and sponsors, including the Detroit Jewish News, who made Operation Challah a great success. Over forty women gathered at the Annual Chicago Shidduch Group Conference on Sunday, July 27th/Tammuz 29 to learn, network, gain inspiration, and guidance in their journey of making shidduch Group Network welcomed women and post-seminary girls to an evening packed with fun and practical direction in guiding our children to the chuppah. Mrs. Bergovoy shared the story of how the Chicago Shidduch Group was formed with just a small group of friends nine years ago. Based upon Torah and the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the group’s activities led to engagements and has evolved into a global network. With chapters in over four dozen cities, the International Shidduch Group Network, now a tax-exempt 501(c)3 charitable organization, has had an important part in making hundreds of shidduchim since its inception.
The uplifting evening began with a dvar Torah by Mrs. Brocha Wolf of the Chicago Mitzvah Campaign. Raffle drawings, including a one day pass to the JLI Women’s Day Event, were sprinkled throughout and winners claimed a variety of prizes. Elegant table settings were featured by Rochel Bukiet, party planner and stylist extraordinaire. The highlight of the evening was the sought-after guest speaker Mrs.Esther Friedman. Mrs. Friedman is an experienced shidduch coach and co-director of the Torah Learning Center and Director of the Jewish Women’s Institute in Overland Park, Kansas. With her in-depth knowledge of Torah, Kabballah and Temperament Theory, Rebbetzin Friedman has counseled and helped countless people in all walks of life, including those in the parsha of shidduchim. Mrs. Friedman incorporates personal stories into her down-to-earth yet uncommon approach to shidduchim. She shared that when she was twenty-one, her father came to her with a suggestion for a shidduch. But first he asked her, “Is there anyone you’re interested in going out with?” She emphasized the importance of trusting our children, because “then they will trust us and trust themselves.” She enumerated over a dozen practical aspects to ensure a good shidduch, including approaches to reference checking, recommended duration and frequency of dating, the importance of a good shadchan as a go-between, and the need for a mashpia/coach with whom to process and explore any and all doubts/concerns that come forward. While the end goal is to make a dira b’tachtonim--to create a dwelling place for Hashem-- Mrs. Friedman acknowledged that what we accomplish in a shidduch is greater than Kriyas Yam Suf, the splitting of the sea. |
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