Groups across the county and here in Sioux Falls are rallying behind Israel and its people. Watch.
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All those who have stood up against the Jewish people are now footnotes in the ashbin of history. They’re no longer here. The Jewish people will persevere, we will survive, we will thrive and the people of Israel will be victorious.” Watch.
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South Dakota Jews celebrate Passover with a dinner called Seder Watch.
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It’s been four years since the Alperowitz family arrived in South Dakota, and the hope now, Mussie said, is to reach every Jew in the state and to strengthen their relationship to Judaism in whatever way that looks like. Read More
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..."This is really a great time for us," said Alperowitz, who previously traveled to South Dakota as a visiting rabbi. "It will be an open home. ... Our primary goal is to help ensure that there isn't one Jew in the entire state of South Dakota that feels lonely and disconnected and that every individual feels at home and inspired by our traditions."...Read more
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He’s the Wild West’s newest mensch, leaving behind Brooklyn’s boulevards and brownstones for the plains of South Dakota — to become the only rabbi in the entire state. Hasidic spiritual leader Mendel Alperowitz, of the Crown Heights-based Chabad Lubavitch movement, is packing up his wife and two daughters for a new homestead in Sioux Falls next month. “We’re excited to raise our children in South Dakota, and we’re sure they’re going to grow up to become proud South Dakotan Jews,” Alperowitz said...Read more
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SIMON: I have been told, Rabbi, you are part of the Lubavitcher movement, and I've been told that most of the Jews in South Dakota are reform.
ALPEROWITZ: Right. Well, see, it's interesting because the way we look at it is every Jew is really a Jew. No Jew any less Jewish than Moses or Abraham, Read more |
Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz and Mussie Alperowitz discuss their historic move to South Dakota to be the only Rabbi in the state. Read more
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By some estimates, there are about a thousand Jews living in South Dakota. Make that 1,004: this week, Rabbi Mendel and Mussie Alperowitz and their two young daughters will travel from Brooklyn to Sioux Falls to become the official Chabad emissaries there, ending the state’s distinction as the nation’s only one without a rabbi." Read more
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...“The Rebbe taught us that no place is too far and no town is too small. Every person really matters,” Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz told the Post. “Over there we will really see the power of the individual.” “In the more established places like New York and Miami, it's easy sometimes to unfortunately overlook someone but there each individual is really a whole world,” he added...Read more
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Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz, a 27-year-old seminary graduate who currently works in Chabad’s headquarters in Brooklyn, will move with his wife Mussie, 26, and their 18-month-old and 2-month-old daughters to set up a Chabad House in Sioux Falls. “What inspired us so much is that we really saw a community of people, despite living out for a number of years far from their Jewish rituals, so passionate about their heritage,” Read more
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..."Each time, I was welcomed so warmly. People across Sioux Falls and the great state of South Dakota, Jews and non-Jews, was so warm and welcoming that we decided, we want to make this home,” he told local station KSFY. Read more
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Archive
2022
...At a time when Ukrainians are facing unprecedented war, hunger and a refugee crisis, Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz saw an opportunity to support the Jewish population there... Read More
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... This year Alperowitz says he wanted to use the time to help bridge South Dakotans and Ukrainians, through Matzah. Watch
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Although matzah is a large part of the celebration it is not available anywhere in South Dakota to purchase says Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz who takes personal responsibility for making sure each Jewish household has matzah for the Passover. Watch
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He has supplied matzah every spring since he came to Sioux Falls and has seen the demand grow annually. This year, the distribution will run in hundreds of pounds. Read More
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2021
"Having a menorah on display in Sioux Falls shines a light on the Jewish faith to the entire community." Watch
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"It's really an expression of Jewish pride... and it's really a beautiful place to do it- here at Mt Rushmore." Watch
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"Sukkot is a Jewish holiday with a universal message. We sit outside with family and friends and celebrate our dependence on
G-d." Watch |
South Dakota has the smallest Jewish population in the country. But the community has temporarily grown as eight rabbinical students tour western South Dakota... Read More
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2020
How Chabad is celebrating Passover in quarantine. Read More
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The Jewish community in Sioux Falls found a way to celebrate Chanukah, while social distancing.... Watch
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South Dakota's only Rabbi conducted the ceremony at Mount Rushmore saying "All should know about Chanukah". Watch
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"On Chanukah, Jewish people across the state should be able to have all the opportunities like Jews everywhere." Watch
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2019
The 90-year-old Holocaust survivor is visiting Sioux Falls as part of a special forum presented by the Chabad Jewish Center of South Dakota and Augustana University. Read More.
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Response to Poway: "We're going to become stronger, we're going to go forward, and nobody will ever be able to dampen our spirits," Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz said passionately. Watch
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2018
Sunday night people packed a room at Augustana University in Sioux Falls to help ring in Hanukkah. A six-foot menorah was ignited in a celebration that brought both Jewish and non-Jewish people together to celebrate their religious freedom. Watch
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Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz joins In the Moment for a look a the lighting of the Menorah across South Dakota for Chanukah. Listen
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Leaders of Sioux Falls’ Jewish community gathered in downtown Sioux Falls Thursday morning to light an electric menorah on one of the city’s busiest, most prominent intersections. Read More
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Alperowitz said Chanukah celebrates the first victory for religious freedom in recorded history. It celebrates the victory of light over darkness, right over might, and freedom over oppression. Read More
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“When our presidents, our Founding Fathers established this country, they gave us many opportunities including worshiping and to practicing religion freely,” Alperowitz said... Read More
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Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz says while Chanukah is a Jewish celebration, it has a very universal message. Watch
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"If it's not safe to be a Jewish American in a synogogue... then it's not safe to be an American." Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz on the antisemitic tragedy in Pittsburgh. Watch
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Today, less than 100,000 survivors are still alive and that number is declining quickly.
One of those survivors is in Sioux Falls, bravely telling his story for those who can’t. Watch |
Join Mussie, at KDLT's Kitchen to learn how to make a delicious Chanukah dish. Watch
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2017
“The message is really a universal message that each and every day, each one of us could add additional lights,” said Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz, co-director of the Chabad Jewish Center of South Dakota. “Additional goodness into our lives, into our homes and into the lives around us.” Read more.
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The Jewish festival of Sukkot began Wednesday and South Dakota's new rabbi is helping Jews in the state mark this important celebration. Read more
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Rosh Hashanah is in fact relevant and meaningful for all of humanity. It commemorates creation. Read more
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2016
Thursday night Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz held a public menorah lighting at the Washington Pavilion to celebrate.
Mayor Mike Huether was at the packed event. Read more |
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