Twelve years ago, I spent part of my summer visiting and working with Jewish communities in Central America. I was travelling with a friend and spent time in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador making communal Jewish programs and making dozens of visits to Jewish homes and businesses. During my travels, I encountered many amazing people and experienced several incredible stories, one of which I would like to share below.
One day, we travelled to Antigua Guatemala an old town that sits on the Central Highlands of Guatemala that used to be its capital until it was destroyed by an earthquake and volcano eruption. The population of the town is just over 30,000 and is mostly local made up of local Guatemalans along with a healthy... ( Read More » )
Which day of the week do you like best?
Over the last few years, the faucets in my house seem to have developed a syndrome that results in leaking and dripping taps. Sometimes the syndrome starts out as a drop here and there, but you can be sure that over time that turns into a small and steady trickle. Needless to say, our water bill has been steadily creeping up over time and in fact I am starting to think that I am one of the heaviest water users in Sudbury. We have tried different methods and tricks but alas, nothing really seems to be fixing our plague of leaky faucets.
As I write this note and prepare to usher in the Shabbos, most of Boston and many of its suburbs are under lockdown as 9,000 members of our law enforcement agencies launch one of the biggest manhunts in the nation’s history. Major thoroughfares and large swaths of Boston remain desolate and eerily quiet as residents peak from behind their windows at the happenings on their street. Even in our own small town of Sudbury, many banks and businesses are closed and the roads are visibly quieter.
Yesterday morning started out like a beautiful day with the sun shining on a beaming Boston that was celebrating Patriots Day and busy preparing for the exciting Boston Marathon. As I drove my children to school and went to teach in Boston we passed hundreds of busses on the Massachusetts Turnpike that were going the other direction and ferrying runners to the starting point of the marathon in Hopkinton. Alongside the busses were dozens of police motorbikes and I remember thinking to myself the irony of innocent marathon runners needing police escorts.
This past Wednesday morning as I was driving my children to school in Brookline, I noticed an airplane up in the sky carrying some kind of big banner behind it. I knew that this would excite my children who always find anything flying to be of interest, so I pointed it out to them and watched them crane their necks in trying to read what the banner had to say.
In 1972, my mother was a teacher for the 5th grade class in the Chabad Junior Girls School. One day my mother received a notice that the Minister of Education, a lady by the name of Margaret Thatcher would be coming for a visit and tour of the school. When my mother heard about the important visitor they would be having, she decided to prepare some Mint Chocolates for the Minister together with her students.
Over the first two days of Passover dozens of people participated in Chabad of Sudbury's communal Seder's. The first Seder was attended by almost 60 people from the Sudbury area and included a traditional and joyful Seder replete with songs, stories, inspirational anecdotes and memories by participants and lots of great food.
This past Sunday, over 150 people joined Chabad of Sudbury's annual Model Matzah Bakery and Passover Experience. The event which drew dozens of young families from the Sudbury and Greater Boston area was very well received by the participants who had come from far and wide. Spread over several sessions the Matzah Bakery provided an exciting hands-on Pre Passover event in which children and adults could learn how the Shmurah Matzah is made from start to finish while they experienced the Passover Story.
Last night as I sat down to give our weekly Torah Study, I looked around the table at the great group of people who had gathered to study, and I realized I am sitting with a Veterinarian, some people in the pet business, two vegans, one vegetarian, and a couple more people to top it off. This is a great group of people that makes for a very great learning group, but I suddenly realized that the topic of the week, Animal Sacrifices, may not be the most appealing topic for the assembled group!
I am writing this while in recovery mode from shoveling the “4-6” inches (more like 16-17) that fell in the latest storm. Although I was getting hopeful I guess this storm proves that Winter is not yet over.
This morning thousands of Russians looked to the sky to watch a ball of fire streak across the skyline and leave a stream of white smoke in its wake. Moments later a massive explosion shook the ground and caused 1100 injuries from flying glass to people who were looking out the window at the spectacle in the sky. Reports now say that a 49 foot wide Meteor weighing ten tons came crashing into the atmosphere at the speed of 33,000 miles an hour giving it the equivalent punch of 300,000 tons of TNT!
Tonight as I prepare to enjoy the Shabbos meal with my three sons, my wife and daughter will be missing from our table as they are away for Shabbos. Along with myself, thousands of my colleagues who are Chabad Shluchim around the world are also manning the home fortress by themselves, as our wives and sometimes daughters join together with thousands of others like themselves for an International Conference that is taking place in NY.... ( 
My three-year-old son Mendel often complains to me that it is taking too long for him to grow bigger and become a daddy like me. Mendel wants his hands to grow bigger so that he can be stronger, and is frustrated that he doesn’t see rapid growth in his hands when he measures them against mine. Mendel wants to be taller and that too is taking too long (in his opinion only), and one cold night he refused to go to sleep in socks, as he thought that it might limit the growth of his feet when he is sleeping.