The People's Rabbi. Husband and Father. Born in Argentina. Moved to Winnipeg in 2003. Moved to NL in 2017. Director of @ChabadofNL and @NLFriendship
St. John's , NL
Joined June 2014
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Check out my last interview, this time with Dr. Tony Fang:
open.spotify.com/episode/2T7…
If you would like to be interviewed for the show, please send me a note!
This week's Parsha is Vayeyro.
Lot's wife becomes a pillar of salt, clinging to a city of taking.
Sharing feels like losing, but salt is harsh alone and brings out flavour spread through a meal.
Giving enriches a life, it doesn't shrink it.
St. John's: Light candles Fri 5:28 PM
Shabbat ends 6:32 PM.
Shabbat Shalom!
🕎 Drive-In Public Menorah Lighting 🕎
Join Chabad of Newfoundland for our annual public Chanukah celebration!
📅 Sunday, December 6, 2026 at 4:00 PM 📍 Viking Building Parking Lot, 136 Crosbie Road, St. John's
As in past years, this is a drive-in event — just drive up and enjoy the celebration from the warmth of your car.
We are honoured that Her Honour the Honourable Joan Marie Aylward, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, has confirmed her attendance, together with provincial and municipal politicians.
The evening features the official lighting of the menorah, followed by a marching band performance. Complimentary donuts and hot drinks will be served.
This is a free event, and everyone is welcome — bring the family, and bring a friend!
We look forward to celebrating Chanukah with you!
Thank you Tiller Engineering for sponsoring!
We've been working on a new logo for a while.
We are also going to order new Yarmulkas as the old ones are almost gone! (Boruch Hashem).
What do you think of the design ?
What will remain after you are gone? (Parshas Lech Lecho)
Avraham — philosopher, warrior for justice, man of kindness and faith — is remembered by one simple title: Avinu, “our father.”
His greatness wasn’t what he achieved. It was what he planted. 🌱
Candle lighting in St. John's is at 5:40 pm
Shabbat ends at 6:43 pm
Shabbat Shalom!
This past Sunday, our Friendship Circle families spent the day at Get Messy NL — and it was one of those days that reminds you why this work matters.
Every child got to make their own stuffed animal: choose it, build it, hold it tight, and take it home.
The smiles said everything.
For children with special needs, experiences like this arent a given.
A hands-on activity in a welcoming space, a room full of friends, the simple joy of making something with your own two hands — these are opportunities our kids too often dont get exposed to.
Days like this dont happen on their own.
Sunday's event was sponsored by @Marcogroup and we are deeply grateful!
This is what community partnership looks like: a local business opening a door that would otherwise stay closed.
If your business would like to help create experiences every child deserves, let's talk.
#FriendshipCircle #Newfoundland #Inclusion #CommunityPartnership
We are looking for a local matcher for Mr Kraft
On Tuesday, Robert Kraft announced a $5 million gift to Chabad-Lubavitch at Chestnut Hill, sharing it would carry his family’s name and be known as the Kraft Family Chabad Center of Chestnut Hill.
More: Chabad.org/7550952
When something about someone else really gets under your skin, pause. You may be looking in a mirror.
Noah's son Ham saw his father's shame and mocked it; his brothers saw the same scene and covered him.
What catches your eye — the flaw, or the fix?
This week's Parsha is Noach
Candle Lighting in St. John's is at 5:53 pm
Shabbat ends 6:55 pm
Shabbat Shalom!
Every Sunday, eight kids with special needs walk into Shine Music on Pippy Place — and for one hour, they're musicians, not diagnoses.
It's free, it's joyful, and every family from last year came back.
We've applied for a $4,800 City grant to keep it going all year.
The catch: we need $1,200 (20%) from private donors first, or the grant falls through.
It can be split — 4 friends at $300, 12 at $100.
Every dollar unlocks four more from the City.
Needed before Nov 27. Message me if you can help. 🎶
Rabbi Chanan Chernitsky retweeted
This image admittedly lives rent-free in my head.
October 7 was the initial shock. But for Jews living outside Israel, October 8 was a second shock wave: the day the home we thought we knew lost its foundations. The day I woke up from a deep sleepwalk and confronted the reality of the world we live in.
This photo was taken in Montreal on October 8, 2023. Women smiling and handing out sweets and candy in celebration. This was weeks before a single Israeli soldier entered Gaza.
Had you asked me the day before or at any point in my life before then whether the massacre of Jews could be publicly celebrated in the streets of Montreal, I would have said: no way.
But it was not only Montreal. It was cities around the world. And it did not stop there: harassment, racist slurs, Molotov cocktails, gunfire at Jewish schools and intimidation. All this was met too often with weak, spineless leadership offering empty statements instead of meaningful action.
October 7 deeply hurt me. October 8 changed me forever.
I don’t think I would recognize the person I was before October 7. I was so naïve and trusting that antisemitism belonged largely to the past, and that the world around me was safer than it truly was.
I will keep looking at this image as a reminder that evil is real, it is here and it remains very much alive. It is our responsibility to call it out, confront it, and raise children who are proud, strong, resilient and unafraid.
In the Torah portion this week- Breishis, the impulse to do wrong is called "evil from youth"—it's an outside force, not your true identity.
When negative impulses strike, don't battle them. Use the 30-minute pause: delay the urge, let logic step in, and bring out your inner good.
Candle lighting in St. John's is at 6:06 pm
Shabbat ends at 7:08 pm
Shabbat Shalom!
Today we remember the men, women and children murdered in the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel. We mourn with their families.
Behind every name is a whole life. And a family whose pain does not end.
Today, do one good deed in memory of those we lost. Help someone who is struggling. Give tzedakah. Do one more mitzvah.
We remember. We keep bringing light into the world.
Am Yisrael Chai
Rabbi Chanan Chernitsky retweeted
Three years since October 7, 2023.
We remember the lives stolen by Palestinian Hamas. We honor the heroes. We carry the scars.
And still, we stand.
We rebuild. We live. We choose hope.
Am Yisrael Chai. 🇮🇱
#UNFORGO7TEN
Tonight begins Shmini Atzeret, leading directly into the boundless joy of Simchas Torah right as Shabbat ends! 📜✨
Shmini Atzeret is a unique time—literally meaning "holding back," as Hashem asks us to stay just one more day in His presence. It transitions seamlessly into Simchas Torah, where we celebrate finishing the entire Torah and starting it all over again.
On these holy days, we don't just study or pray; we dance.
Everyone Can Dance: The Frierdiker Rebbe taught that while not everyone feels ready for the intense prayer of the High Holidays, everyone can dance. Through simple, wholehearted joy, we draw down incredible blessings—both physical and spiritual.
Joy Changes Everything: Chassidic tradition teaches that genuine joy breaks all barriers and transforms dark situations into light.
The Torah Belongs to You: As Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev showed, every single Jew—regardless of background or level of knowledge—has an equal share in the Torah. When one celebrates, we all rejoice.
Wishing you and your family a deeply uplifting, joyous, and meaningful Chag Sameach! 🍷📜🎉
Candle lighting tonight in St. John's at 6:20 pm
Light candles Saturday night after 7:22 pm
Holiday ends Sunday night at 7:20 pm
How do you transition from a mountaintop spiritual experience back to the daily hustle? 🌿✨
The holiday of Sukkot teaches us a profound lesson: holiness isn't about escaping reality; it’s about sanctifying it.
Right after Yom Kippur, we don't change what we do—we change where we do it. By moving our daily life—eating, talking, working, relaxing—into the Sukkah, our ordinary physical world is transformed into a divine embrace.
G-d’s "embrace" surrounds the entire body as one. It reminds us that our physical endeavours, everyday responsibilities, and routine tasks aren't distractions from our purpose—they ARE the mission.
Don't leave your inspiration on the mountain. Bring the elevated energy into your everyday life and reveal the holiness hidden inside the daily grind.
Candle lighting in St. John's is at 6:34 pm
Light candles Sat Night after 7:36 pm
Yom tov ends Sunday night at 7:34 pm
Rabbi Chanan Chernitsky retweeted
KINSELLA: Jewish journalist faces discipline at CBC after documenting pro-Palestine protest
torontosun.com/opinion/colum…
