News Sparks: Chabad Shaliach Gives His Shoes to Barefoot Man

Chabad Shaliach Gives His Shoes to a Barefoot Man on the Subway

“Why did I see a barefooted man just after I bought a new pair of sneakers that I had in a bag right next to me?” Rav Gabriel Benayon, a Chabad shaliach in Panama City, Panama, asked himself before spotting a barefoot man on a New York City subway and asking him whether he would like the black shoes the rav was wearing.

“Oh man!” the man exclaimed, before breaking out into a huge smile. “Thank you!”

Other subway riders looked on, impressed, applauded, gave their “thumbs up,” and told the man, who was now putting on his new shoes, “I hope they fit!” 

“We always have to be alert,” said Rav Benayon, who was in town two weeks ago to attend the International Conference of Shluchim. “We always have to try to think about the good we can do for another because if one sees another in a difficult situation, it is our responsibility to help him out.”

“I have a new style,” said the formerly barefoot subway rider, who happily danced off the subway at his stop.

Anti-Semite Threatens to Torch Bagel Shop for Displaying Israeli Flags

The NYPD is searching for a perpetrator in Queens who said he would set fire to a kosher bagel shop, if the staff did not remove the store’s Israeli flags.

The man entered Bagels & Co. last Wednesday and began recording a video on his cellphone, according to police, who said the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Unit, which is assessing the threat to the store, is investigating the incident.

“Remove those Israeli flags and shut the business down, or I’ll burn the building down,” he told a store employee.

Anyone with relevant information, please call Crime Stoppers at (800)-577-TIPS.

NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams Launches his Run for Governor

The ultra-progressive New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who is a Black Lives Matter activist, has announced that, he is also running for the New York governor: joining Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, and probably Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“I’m usually pushing and tugging at someone who has the levers to get things done,” said Williams, who is 45 and a former NYC councilman. “At some point, you have to stop looking to other folks and say, ‘I’m going to do the best I can for the people of the state.’ And for me, that’s running for governor now.”

When Mayor Bill de Blasio was asked yesterday whether too many progressives were currently running for mayor, he said, “The more progressive voices talking about where our city and our state need to go, the better, in terms of moving us somewhere.

“We're about to have a discussion of our future and what needs to happen, and I think we need vibrant, strong ideas as part of that discussion.”