News Blog

 As we approach the holiest day of the Jewish Calendar, our hearts and minds are filled with thoughts and emotions about the times in which we live. This is a different kind of Yom Kippur than what most of us have ever experienced, as the pandemic has changed the course of our lives dramatically and brought with it an abundance of challenges of every kind, including financial, health, emotional and more. In some places right now including Israel, it is once again out of control and wreaking havoc on society and Yom Kippur will be done under complete lockdown.

Whether we will praying at home and observing Yom Kippur in our living room, or joining in an in person socially distanced outdoor service, our hearts and minds will be filled wi… Read More »

It is a New Year, a very different one, but it is a new start and G-d willing for a good year of health, happiness and more. For most people Rosh Hashanah was not the same as it usually was, yet at the same time, the strong desire to connect, be inspired, hear Shofar and pray and reflect on the first days of the year, was a testimony to the spiritual and moral hopes and aspirations that are at the core of all of us.

As many have commented, the Shofar and its clarion call for change, had a different touch as it was blown outdoors and in nature. The simple sound of the Shofar, coupled with the rustling of the leaves and the chirping of the birds, seemed to pierce nature itself as the world around us absorbed the sounds of chan… Read More »

So the new year of school began and thank G-d all of my children are doing okay in their respective classes and schools and getting used to the new rhythms of life. Zalman is enjoying online school with twenty students from places like Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Canada and many States within America. Mendel is enjoying in person school in Brookline with social distancing protocol and likewise Chana & Levi are doing the same in their schools in New York.

However a few nights ago, one of my children who studies out of town was potentially exposed to someone with COVID like symptoms and at midnight on Sunday we were scrambling to figure out quarantine and how to make it manageable. Luckily after three days of quarantining which… Read More »

Yesterday Reb Yehoshua (Hershke) Raskin of London, England returned his soul to his creator at the age of 97 years old. His passing left me with many emotions and thoughts as a piece of my childhood moved on to heaven.
When I was turning 13 and terrified to have to publicly read my Haftorah in the large Chabad Synagogue in London, he lovingly coached me and taught me the meaning, the cantillation marks and how to read it properly.
As a young 12 year old boy, he seemed very old to me, although at the time he was just 68 years old. Each week I would come to his house and he would teach me how to read, why it is important, and inspire me with confidence to be able to do it.
To this day I can hear his voice ringing in my ears as he taught… Read More »