Yesterday, our family took a boat trip thirty miles out into the Atlantic Ocean to the Stellwagen Bank just off the coast of Cape Cod. The purpose of the trip was to hopefully see some whales and some of the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean.
It was a very different kind of activity than the usual, and far away from the nonstop political campaigning that is dominating our nation’s news and conversations over the last two weeks.
As we went further out to sea, the stifling humidity of Provincetown was replaced by a brisk ocean breeze and occasionally some salty ocean spray. About fifty minutes out to sea, we spotted our first whale and over the next hour or so we sighted dozens of massive humpback and fin whales.
Watching these massive ma… Read More »
Anti-Semitism and people propagating their hate for Jews is quite an old phenomenon. In fact this form of hatred has actually existed for thousands of years including in an episode that is recounted in this week’s Torah portion.
In mid August, I will be going on a short visit to Israel where I have arranged to spend two days of the trip visiting families who have been impacted by some of the recent terror attacks. I hope that these visits will provide a certain level of tangible support & solidarity for these families who have experienced the loss or severe injury of a family member in some of the recent attacks. 
Just over ten years ago, Shayna and myself moved to Sudbury to establish a new Chabad Center for the local Jewish community in order to provide a welcoming and warm space where people could connect with their Judaism and heritage. In doing so, we joined thousands of other centers that have been setup on almost every corner of the globe with the goal of enabling Jews to connect with their heritage and help make the world a better place.
As a parent of a similar age girl, I was shaken to the core by the news yesterday, when Hallel Yaffe Ariel a 13 year old Israeli girl was killed in her bedroom by a Palestinian terrorist. She was murdered in her bed the morning after a dance recital for the sole crime of being Jewish.