Shalom!
Welcome to Clifton Park Chabad Jewish Center! Here at Chabad, you will find a wide array of programming designed to enhance Jewish life in southern Saratoga County. We strive to create an environment where every person is welcome, every individual Mitzvah is cherished, and where Judaism is an accessible reality to all Jews regardless of background, affiliation or age!
Through Shabbat Dinners, Holiday events, Jewish Womens circle, Chabad Hebrew school and everything in between, we are cultivating a community together. We look forward to meeting you in person at a Shabbat dinner, Torah class or a casual coffee date.
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Clifton Park Chabad
Where every Jew is family! Come join our ever-growing family in Southern Saratoga County.
I shared this story with my family this week, and I wanted to share it with you as well.
Thirty years ago, as a young yeshiva student, I spent the summer at a Jewish camp in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, a place very far from the centers of Jewish life. The Soviet Union had only recently fallen, and many of the Jewish children knew very little about Torah and Mitzvot.
We taught them simple things - washing their hands in the morning, saying blessings, putting on tefillin, learning about kosher - and, most importantly, helped them discover the Jewish spark within them. It was incredibly heartwarming.
What made the experience even more meaningful was knowing that Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, the Rebbe’s father, had been exiled to Alma-Ata in 1939 because of his dedication to keeping Jewish life alive under Soviet rule.
We had the privilege of bringing the children to the Ohel (holy gravesite) of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak in Alma-Ata. Standing there together, we prayed and made good resolutions - to learn more Torah, do more Mitzvot and strengthen our Jewish lives.
It was a powerful moment. We were literally walking in his footsteps.
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak walked those streets under the most difficult circumstances, never giving up on Jewish life. Decades later, we were walking those same paths with Jewish children, bringing Torah and Mitzvot to a new generation.
That experience also sparked in me a lasting love for learning the teachings of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak - his deep Torah insights and his incredible ability to find meaning and holiness even in the most difficult circumstances.
The Jewish soul cannot be exiled.
This week, as we mark his Yartzeit on 20 Av, I think about what it means to follow in his footsteps - not necessarily by facing the same challenges, but by carrying the same commitment: never to give up on a Jewish soul.
This week's Parsha, Re’eh, tells us:
“See, I place before you today a blessing and a curse.”
The Torah places before us a choice between good and bad, life and death, and then tells us:
“Choose life.”
Every day, we have choices. We can choose another Mitzvah, another act of kindness, another moment of Torah, another opportunity to bring light.
Choose life. Choose goodness. Choose Torah.
As we bless the last month of the year - Elul - this Shabbat, may we continue walking in his footsteps and bring more Torah light and Jewish life into the world by choosing life - spiritual life, true life - every single day.
Shabbat Shalom!
Light candles at 7:50 pm
Shabbat ends at 8:54 pm
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As we welcome the Jewish New Year, there is no better place to celebrate than around a warm, festive table. Join us for our Rosh Hashanah Dinner filled with meaningful reflections, delicious traditional holiday foods, round challah, apples and honey, and wonderful company. 🍎🍯
📅 Reserve your spot today:
👉 jewishcliftonpark.org/events/rosh-hashanah-dinner-2026/
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