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updated
8/26/04 |
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Back in Albany preparing for Shabbos... |
The new year is upon us!
It's already Freshman Weekend.. Thanks to Wendy Miller and Rachel Harris who
came over late Thursday Night to bake and cook with Raizy. Thanks to all the
student volunteers who tabled for Thursday's move-in, and those who will
table tomorrow on Friday. We look forward to another wonderful year! |
|
A day in NY visiting family |
Knowing that we'd be in the
Metro NY area for Yishai's wedding, we made some appointments for Monday in
NYC to speak with some people (alumni etc) about sponsorship/dedication
opportunities in the new Shabbos House. But in the end those appointments
were cancelled, so instead of rushing back, we spent the day visiting
grandparents, a great-aunt, and a Brit of a cousin's newborn son. Often when
we go into NY there's a lot to get done, and not as much time to visit the
grandparents, so this turned out to be a wonderful opportunity.
|
|
Yishai and Rachel's Wedding |
We had a wonderful time at
Yishai and Rachel's wedding (8/22) in New Jersey, and were honored to play a
part in their Simcha.
We have a
page up with some pictures... Mushkie and Chanie were thrilled to be
flower girls, and Moshe did a fine job as ring-bearer.
Yishai and Rachel will
be living nearby (320 Fuller..) for the first months of their marriage.
Yishai is working his last credits at an internship at the Attorney
General's office.
May we always share
Simchas! |
 |
 |
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Shabbat away |
We weren't at home for the
last Shabbat before Freshman Weekend to have a little break before the New
Year begins. |
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|
updated
8/15/04 - |
|
UAlbany Leadership
Weekend Retreat |
This leadership weekend
retreat was the brainchild of several student leaders, this first
annual event was a productive and friendly get-together for Jewish Students
serving on Jewish Student Boards this coming academic year ('04-'05).
Shabbat meals (Friday Night, Saturday Lunch and evening) were at Shabbos
House, with late-night Friday Night Chavurah and a Sat afternoon Meet Hillel
Staff sessions at Chapel House.
>> Here's a picture
taken following Havdalah. |
 |
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Outings with our Kids...
|
Now that the Gan Israel
Day-Camp at Delmar Chabad is over for the summer, we've been doing one
outing each day with the kids, to try and spend some quality time with them
before the new year starts.. We love it! |
|
In the 2nd week of August we've been to The
Crossing Park in Colonie (great walking trails, all-new playground, pond
with ducks & fountains and an adjacent farm with cows!), Indian Ladder
Farms in Altamont (we all picked blueberries, including Sara who loved
it, ate a picnic on scenic hilltop, and fed the goats and sheep),
Hoffman's Playland in Latham, where the kids enjoyed some kiddie rides
and got over their fears of others).
Click
here for photos of some of our outings.. |
 |
 |
|
NYC Alumni Reunion! |
Sunday, August 8th in NYC!
See the Alumni Page for Reunions (2004) or
click here for the
direct page for news and photos of this exciting event with 90 alumni
friends of years past, spanning classes of 1997-2004 with some dating back
to '90, '92 and '96... Thanks to all who came, it was a beautiful event..
too short! |
|
A Shabbat Away |
The Shabbat before the
Reunion we went to Rabbi Mendel's parents in Albany for a relaxing
and enjoyable weekend. Late Saturday Night Raizy catered a small pareve
wedding for a couple getting married in the area. And Sunday morning we were
off bright and early to NYC, for the alumni reunion. (Little did we know we
were heading into Manhattan traffic and rerouting due to a parade on 6th Ave
and a Fair on Madison Ave). |
|
An Alumni Summer Weekend |
Several alumni came up
to spend a Shabbos back in Albany on the last weekend in July. Thanks to
their coming, we even had a Shabbos Day Minyan, which we usually don't have
in the summertime. It was a beautiful Shabbos together, both with the
visiting alumni and with our summer "regulars". |
|
|
updated
7/20/04 |
|
A New Twist on an Old
Midrash |
Being that it's the "9
Days" of remembering Jerusalem's Holy Temple, Moshe was learning in camp
about "what happens when Moshiach comes." One quote they studied was that
the growth process of produce will be considerably quickened - and as Moshe
interpreted it when he came home: "When Moshiach comes, fruits will grow
straight out of the computer!" BTW - Sara now plays "starfall" a kids
interactive learning website, but still needs help navigating and clicking
around with the mouse. She also keeps asking for "wing" - which is the new
swing-set several Class of 2004'ers kindly gave us and installed in our
backyard. |
|
Kids in Day Camp |
For the month of July our
kids are enjoying the local Camp Gan Israel Day Camp, directed by Mrs. Clara
Simon of Delmar Chabad. They come home exhausted and thrilled, sharing their
daily exploits and activities. Mushkie is learning to swim.. This week they
visited Ft. Crailo (a museum of Dutch history in the Albany area) and Chanie
came home with vivid descriptions of the building and artifacts. |
|
Blueberries for Shabbos |
On a day camp trip our
children picked 60 ounces (!) of blueberries, most of which we nibbled on as
a healthy snack, and the rest Raizy turned into a tasty Shabbos dessert
treat. They also spent some time at a local Jewish farmer. |
|
Special Shabbat Guests
7/16 |
For the Shabbat dinner of
7/16, in addition to "summer regulars" (some of whom were away) Emily
Rubenshtayn (who's been our family's babysitter since we came to Albany with
4-month-old Mushkie) came with her daughter Olga and grandson Sasha Alex
Timofayev, who had his Bar-Mitzvah at Shabbos House earlier this year.
Zahava Krevsky of Florida is a keyboardist with Dr. Laz. She spent Shabbos
with us back in November '03 when they played here, and spent this Shabbos
here again after a gig played in nearby Gilboa NY at the Golden Acres Ranch.
Mr. and Mrs. Marks of Queens joined us for Shabbos Lunch, and Professor
Herman Prins Salomon shared with us fascinating stories of Jewish Life on
Curasao and old Dutch/ Spanish-Portuguese Jewish traditions. |
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|
updated
7/11/04 |
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Nice, Cozy Shabbos |
Once again, we had a nice
cozy Shabbos with a small number of students and friends who are u[ here for
the summer. Thanks to all who came, it makes our Shabbos special.
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|
|
updated
7/7/04 |
|
Zoning Board Hearing |
We appeared at the Zoning
Board of Appeals for the new Shabbos House on July 7th, 2004. There was a
considerable number of neighbors with concerns, some of which were addressed
at the meeting, and others will be addressed in the following meeting(s).
The Zoning Board recommended a Town engineer look into some of the issues as
well. We hope to share good news and progress over the summer... |
|
|
updated
7/4/04 |
|
Hillel Transitions |
Gadiel Schultz (Hillel JCSC
for this past year) is now married (Mazal Tov!) and living in Pittsburgh.
Our good friend, Dr. David Liebschutz, former Hillel Executive Director, is
now Assistant Dean at UAlbany's Rockefeller Graduate School. The new Hillel
Exec Director, Rabbi Ben Shull (formerly of Virginia), will be assuming his
new post later this week. There's also a new JCSC and a new Israel Fellow,
working for Hillel and we at Shabbos House look forward to meeting them as
they arrive and working together in the special cooperative relationship
Jewish life on this campus is blessed with. |
|
July 4th! |
In the evening we went
downtown to the Empire State Plaza where thousands of people came out for a
July 4th festival and fireworks show. We secured ourselves (and our car) a
spot atop a nearby parking garage and had a splendid view. |
|
Back for Shabbat
7/2-3 |
After two weekends away it
was nice to be back for Shabbos. We had over 20 people around the table on
Friday Night, including several visiting alumni, friends of students, and
students at other colleges home for the summer. It was a cozy enough meal
for everyone to introduce themselves and share a highlight of their week
(that was nice). Some students came back for Shabbos Lunch, as well. While
we don't have a minyan in the summertime, one visiting alumnus trekked up
and down from "The Shteeble" (Cong. Shomray Torah) a few miles away on New
Scotland Ave. |
|
"What's Cooking?"
in the mail |
We just mailed our Summer
"What's Cooking?" update, an online PDF version is available on the
"What's Cooking?" page. It includes
pictures and tidbits from the Spring '04 semester at Albany, the new
cookbook ordering info, sponsorship opportunities at Shabbos House,
operating and building fund donors... Not on our mailing list and want these
keep in touch connections? Give us a call (518) 438-4227 or
shabbos@albany.net |
|
Cookbook Orders.. |
We already received a
number of orders for the new Shabbos House
Cookbook (we'll mail the first batch on Tuesday after the holiday
weekend), as well as reservations for the 2nd annual Alumni Reunion in NYC
on August 8th. See the back page of "What's Cooking?" (Summer 2004) for info
on the reunion.. |
|
Chabad Campus Conference |
Last weekend we had an
excellent, enjoyable and productive conference at the Homowack Hotel in the
Catskills, with other Chabad families who do the same work on college
campuses across the USA. Raizy gave a workshop session on organizing Shabbos
meals, and we shared experiences and gained ideas and insight from our many
friends there. It was organized by (relatively) new national office of
Chabad on Campus. The
spirit and energy was amazing. |
|
|
updated
6/21/04 |
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Shmuly's engaged |
Rabbi Mendel's brother
Shmuly is engaged to Mina Leah Cohen of Montreal. Shmuly has been a huge
help with building (and taking down) the Sukkah each year, and we wish them
much happiness together!
They're having at "L'chaim"
at the "FREE" Synagogue 1383 President St in Crown Heights, on Tuesday night
6/22/04 - following
"Gimmel Tammuz" - the day of the Rebbe's Yartzeit. All who remember
Shmuly are welcome to come. |
|
Cookbook Now Available! |
The long awaited
"A Taste of Shabbos House" Cookbook
is now available at $20 each, plus $2.50 (s/h).
Click here for more info.
It is 90 pages coil-bound, with over 130
recipes (tried and tested!) used at Shabbos House. Contact
Shabbos House for your copy!
shabbos@albany.net or 518-438-4227.
This fundraiser was made possible by the
diligent efforts of Adam Kofinas (SH intern Spring '04 and incoming Hillel
Student President Fall '04). Thanks! |
|
In Brooklyn with Family |
We were in Brooklyn for the
weekend of 6/18-19 celebrating a "Pidyon-Haben" ceremony of our new nephew
Mendel Wolf (Raizy's sister Elkie's first child). It was a special time with
family since (almost) all of Raizy's family was there together, also to
commemorate the
tenth anniversary of the Rebbe's passing on the 3rd of Tammuz.
|
|
|
updated
6/16/04 |
Passing of Dr. Susan
Sherman
6/3/04 |
Dr. Susan Sherman was a
gerontologist, a modest but respected member of the University at Albany
faculty, serving as a distinguished service professor (Collins Fellow) in
the School of Social Welfare. She also served as a guide and mentor to the
RUACH Student Group and served on the Chapel House Board. She passed away at
age 64, after a difficult illness, on June 3rd, 2004. As she was close with
several students (now alumni) active at Shabbos House, we thought it
appropriate to post here. |
|
|
updated
6/13/04 |
|
Busy Day in Jewish
Albany
6/13/04 |
Not that these events are
University related, but June 13th happens to be a such a busy day in the
Albany Jewish community ('tis not often that SO much is going on at once).
The Ehrich family is celebrating their son Caleb's upshernish (a big event
for our Moshe to attend), and the Bat-Mitzvah Club of Troy is having a
concert and festivity (Raizy baked and decorated some cakes for that event),
Yakov Morgenbesser (from a dedicated Albany family and) alumnus of the
Maimonides School is getting married in Brooklyn, Saratoga Chabad is hosting
Comedian Richard Morris in the evening, and its also the night of Jewish
Family Services 150th anniversary dinner. Did we miss anything? Well, I
(Mendel) will be in bed throughout, try to clear up my knee infection (see
below). |
|
Laid-Up |
All this past week Mendel
was laid up in bed with a nasty knee inflammation/infection. Thanks to Raizy
for managing it all on her own, and for helping get through it. It's on the
mend, and we hope to be up and running again this coming week.
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|
(finally..) updated 6/8/04... |
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No ILTSP for us this
summer.. |
After 7 summers of teaching
(6 weeks) at the ILTSP program near Ellenville in the Catskills Mountains,
we will not be returning there this summer. Instead, we'll be home in
Shabbos House, making cozy Friday Nights and occasional BBQ's, spending
quality time with the kids, and catching up on tons of work needed to keep
Shabbos House running. Now and then, we hope to do fun things as a family,
make up for the hectic times during the academic calendar when the kids
sometimes get short-changed, and go on day-trips to interesting places.
There's also the Building
Campaign Fund, while 2/3 there, has much work to be done, zoning (and other
kinds of) meetings and new building planning, updating databases, filing
paperwork, keeping in touch with alumni (we miss so many more friends each
year!), arranging reunions, printing and mailing the new Cookbook, sending
out a summer edition of "What's Cooking at Shabbos House", preparing for the
New Year, and much more. Be in touch! |
|
Shabbat Back, Summer
Style |
Now that we're going to be
home at Shabbos House for many of the summer weekends, we welcome students
or alumni who are up in Albany to join us for cozy, mini- Friday Nights. No
Minyan, but good food and atmosphere. Our first such summer Shabbat
snowballed, and we ended up with about 18 people. 3 alumni, a local student
who attended American University in DC brought along his friend who writes
for the Times Union, Tina and Laura Collitin, 3 of the Maimonides High Boys
(walked up for the night), plus our family and some others. The conversation
was all about politics since Bethanie Lesser works for Chuck Schumer, Brian
Levine works at the NYS Assembly, Matt Conti studied in Washington DC, and
the Times Union writer follows all this stuff... but we all had a good time.
|
|
Shavuos Trip to Michigan |
Raizy's sister Esty
Greenberg and her husband Rabbi Schneor run the Chabad House in Walled Lake
- Commerce Township in Michigan, about 30 minutes north-west of
Detroit. They just bought a beautiful new home, and being that college was
out at UAlbany, we made our biggest road-trip adventure yet all the way out
to Michigan. On the way there we broke up the trip in Buffalo NY (where we
have cousins) and on the way back to Albany we spent a few hours in scenic
Niagara Falls (Canadian side). We spent the holiday of Shavuos together, and
had a marvelous time. Our kids are, more or less, the same ages, and a good
time was had by all. Thanks to the Greenbergs for hosting us! |
|
Our Getaway to Florida
5/18-20 |
Last year we won 2 free
tickets anywhere Southwest flies in the Maimonides Raffle-Auction
Fundraiser. These tickets expire on June 1st, so we needed to take advantage
of them soon after UAlbany's graduation. Lucky for us, the Rubin SRs offered
to watch all our kids so we could have a little getaway. Needless to say, we
had a splendid time. We stayed in Orlando (got a great deal on Hotwire for
car-rental/hotel), spent one full day at Epcot (loved it), drove to some
beaches on the east coast and visited the Kennedy Space Center, and slept in
on the third day, went out to eat (there is Kosher in Orlando) shopped a
little for souvenirs and went to some small attractions. It was a full 3
days/2 nights, and we have hundreds of (digital!) pictures to prove it... |
|
What a semester!!
Sorry for the long
update delay... |
The last month of the
Spring '04 semester was so hectic, with many events back to back, and so
much going on, that we neglected to update the website all that time. Many
called and e-mailed, and we appreciate everyone's interest and feedback. We
hope to have the website updated and current, when we get back from our two
week long trip after graduation. In the future, we hope never to neglect the
website for so long! |
|
Graduation Day BBQ
5/16 |
Following the Main
Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony on the South Lawn of the New Science
Library, a big Graduation
Day BBQ was held at Shabbos House, running all afternoon to
accommodate various departmental graduations and packing up dorm rooms.
Graduates and familes
kept coming and going all afternoon, and it was a special time for last best
wishes and goodbyes.. though we hope to always keep in touch! |
 |
 |
|
Graduation Weekend
5/14-15 |
Thanks to the families and
friends who joined us on Shabbat of Graduation Weekend. It is a special time
to meet and celebrate with the families of the students with whom we have
grown so close. While most came by for the Sunday BBQ, several families
joined us on Friday Night and also for Shabbos Day Lunch. |
|
The Grad Party Class of
2004
5/9 |
 |
The Class of 2004 was our
largest involved class yet, and we will miss all these students who have so
greatly contributed to Shabbos House and Jewish Life at UAlbany.
The annual
Grad Party (for the
Class of 2004) has become an important tradition at UAlbany, eagerly
anticipated and many graduates and students participated. |
|
Finals Week Friday Night
5/7 |
Special guests for this
full-house Friday Night were Mr. & Mrs. Morris and Esther Massry, noted
community philanthropists. This family is very supportive of Shabbos House
and we were pleased to welcome them and allow them to experience first-hand
a Friday Night at Shabbos House. Another guest was Mr. Larry Aronowitz, who
is our contact at D. Brickman Produce Inc. Before coming here, he always
wondered what a little house could do with so much fruit and vegetables
delivered each week. |
|
Learning Night with
Rabbi Trugman
5/4 |
Rabbi Avraham Aryeh Trugman
started off living close to the land in Oregon and hanging out at Berkley in
the 60's. He met up with Chabad in San Francisco, and then became a close
disciple of R' Shlomo Carlebach. Together they founded a rural village in
Israel called Moshav Modi'in, otherwise known as "The Moshav." Today, he
teaches Torah at various universities in Israel, and is close with Rabbi
Yitzchak Ginsburgh, a prolific author of mystical works. Rabbi Trugman's
topic at Shabbos House, sponsored by TAGAR, was "The Holiness of the Land".
He explored the issue from various angles and dimensions as well as from his
own personal experience. |
|
Hillel's Liebschutz
Leadership Awards
5/2 |
A new annual year-end
leadership awards ceremony was established to honor (and surprise) and bid
farewell to David Liebschutz, on his taking leave of UAlbany Hillel. At a
special ceremony in Campus Center 375, with lay leaders and community
present, each Jewish student group was honored and noted. Then presentations
were made to David, thanking him for his leadership and all the good he has
done for the University at Albany Jewish Community. An ornate wooden charity
box was presented to him by the students (and Hillel Staff) and Rabbi Mendel
and Raizy presented a framed photo-collage with an tribute based on Ethics
of Our Fathers.
> Pictured on right are
the student leaders of the Jewish groups with David, Hillel Staff and
Shabbos House folks. |
 |
|
Last Hillel Dinner -
Spring '04 |
The last Hillel Dinner,
with Hillel President Ben Lieb as MC, included the usual awards (best this,
best that) along with several unusual ones (in pretty good taste),
concluding with an award to outgoing Hillel Exec Director David Liebschutz
for "Best Director". David said a few words in farewell, mostly about
"creating community" and working towards that goal. |
|
Return of PB Jam 5/28 |
Hillel's (SA) Social Action
event makes many peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless and
needy during lunch-time at Campus Center. This year the popular event was
done twice (hence "The Return" of the PB JAM). |
|
Israel Fair on Campus |
Tagar (SA) and Hamagshimim
sponsored a beautiful Israel Fair on Campus Center on Wed April 28th. Both
Tagar and Hamag printed T-Shirts and distributed them free, there was
Felafel, Pitas and Tehini, giveaways and Israeli flavor.
The Egged Bus was a
fundraiser to help outfit Israeli buses on vulnerable routes with better
additional security options, which are not covered by the operating budget
of Egged or Israel's security. |
 |
 |
"Nachal Guest"
4/27 |
 |
Tagar (sa) hosted Colonel
Zev of the IDF a former Nachal commander in Hebron (not the easiest place).
Nachal is one of Israel's elite army units. He stopped by Shabbos House at
the "Holy-Sites" Learning, and then gave his talk in Campus Center Assembly
Hall. |
"Holy-Sites"
4/27 |
"Holy Sites" was the topic
of Tuesday Night (April 27th) Learning at Shabbos House, a virtual,
illustrated tour of a selection of Israel's many Jewish holy sites. This is
the first time we used a powerpoint presentation for a Learning Night. All
the pictured helped highlight the experiences, and was a great springboard
for discussion of the history and meaning of these holy places. (This
learning night was sponsored by TAGAR in honor of Israel's Independence
Day). |
 |
|
KAJ's
Seniors Visit - a Shabbos House Catering
4/25-2 |
Khal Adath Jeshurun (aka
KAJ or the Breuers Kehillah) organizes seniors pleasure trips. Mrs. Molly
Resnick (a former NBC producer who spoke for Tagar at UALBANY several years
ago, is the wife of the late Dr. Larry Resnick, a prominent cardiologist who
was the Rebbe's doctor) is the organizer of these trips. She asked Raizy
(being that at this time Albany does not have a kosher restaurant) if she
could prepare meals and lunches for these guests. It turned out to be a
win-win situation. The guests got fabulous meals they kept raving about, and
the catering income was helpful to Shabbos House to keep paying the bills
and make programs and events possible. Thank You! |

Sam (Physics Major) with KAJ
President, Physics Professor at CUNY College. |

Revi talking with one of the
guests, they were interested in Shabbos House and college life.
|
AEPi Chartering
4/24 |
 |
After several years since
the Alpha Nu chapter of AEPi was refounded at UAlbany, it has grown to
become an important Jewish and Greek presence on campus, the nationals
reinstated its AEPI charter
at a gala event at the Quality Inn in Albany. Over 100 current and
former fraternity brothers, family and friends were present. |
|
Rubin's SRs visit 4/23 |
Friday Night was
co-sponsored by TAGAR as a pre-Yom Haatzmaut Shabbat. Rabbi Israel and
Rochel Rubin (parents of Rabbi Mendel, regional directors of Capital Chabad,
and founders of Shabbos House in 1975) visited for Shabbos. Rabbi Rubin's
"K-Raizy" (see "Time Out for Torah" on this Shabbos) joke lingered on for
quite a while afterward. |
|
|
updated
4/21/04 |
|
Memory Learning |
As one of our final
learning nights of the year, we did a learning on "Jewish Memory"... next
week's learning to be on Holy Sites in the Holy Land, and the following week
will be a guest speaker from Israel, both courtesy of Tagar (sa funded).
|
|
Holocaust Remembrance |
As in past years a 24-hour
vigil was held at the Campus Center Podium - reading the names of the
victims all night and all day long. Prior to the vigil CHARGE! brought Mrs.
Lobel, a daughter of a survivor who shared her mother's story, and following
the vigil TAGAR sponsored Dr. Barry Trachtenberg of the Judaic Studies
Department to talk about Moral Responsibility after the Holocaust.
We have some interesting
pictures of the vigil at 1am on Sunday Night, hope to be able to post those
soon. |
|
|
updated
4/17/04 |
|
e-mail problem |
Please note that we are
currently having a little e-mail problem (our
shabbos@albany.net account has some
service issues) - while some e-mails come through, others get bounced back.
For the meantime (until this is resolved) you can also e-mail our alternate
e-mail at shabboshouse@hotmail.com).
|
|
Mushkie's Birthday /
Shabbos Day |
We had a great on-time
Minyan and a wonderful lunch following. It was gorgeous out (finally..) and
some students took the kids on a long walk to Indian Lake, a Softball game
and to the (soon-to-be turned on) Fountain on the Podium. Now that Shabbos
afternoons are long, we started the "3rd Meal" tradition again - with a
round-table discussion of the first chapter of Ethics of Our Fathers.
A Highlight of this
Shabbos Lunch was Mushkie's 7th Birthday party! She stood up proudly by
lunch and said a little Dvar Torah - a list of 7 Jewish things that have to
do with 7 (her idea!)... and then we had a cake made by Raizy in the shape
of a 7. Happy Birthday Mushkie! |
|
Tagar's
Dr Beck / Hillel Dinner |
The Hillel Dinner on Friday
Night (4/16) had a very nice turnout including a contingent from SUNY
Oneonta. Dr. Ed Beck from "Scholars for Peace" spoke at (and following) the
Dinner, sponsored by TAGAR. He also joined for Saturday morning Prayers and
spoke during the Shabbos Lunch at Shabbos House. |
|
Cookbook Project |
Thanks to Adam Kofinas
(incoming Hillel President and Spring '04
Intern at Shabbos House) for putting
in hours of work (organizing and typesetting) and for his initiative and
focus in getting this project done before the semester is out. Stay tuned
for updates, as of now the plan is to have the cookbook printed by mid-May.
If you have input or ideas, please contact us (518-438-4227 /
shabbos@albany.net or for the
meantime: shabboshouse@hotmail.com
ASAP. |
|
|
updated
4/14/04 |
|
MHDS Raffle |
Our children's school (and
where Rabbi Mendel teaches AMs) is having their 2nd annual Raffle-Auction
fundraiser. All prizes were donated by companies and stores so your donation
goes directly to support Jewish education, and while you do a Mitzvah, you
have a chance to win some prize packages too! See
www.maimonidesschool.org
for complete details, including a downloadable Raffle-Booklet (and Order
Form) in PDF format. |
|
Looking forward to the
Grad Party
Got Pictures? |
The Grad Party, held each
year at Shabbos House on the Sunday of Spring Finals week, is special event
to honor and bid farewell to the seniors (soon to be graduates) who have
made a difference in our Jewish community at UAlbany. This year's class was
an especially involved and dedicated group and we will greatly miss them.
As in past years, a
picture-memories presentation is being prepared, all seniors who would like
their pictures included please get them over to Shabbos House sometimes this
week or next. While we do have a good number of photos from "Shabbos House
Archives" we can not take pictures on Shabbos and Holidays, so we'd
appreciate some extras to be sure we can include as many seniors as
possible. |
|
Internships |
Most slots are filled for
the Fall '04 Internships at Shabbos House via UAlbany's CPSP Program. For
more info contact us at Shabbos House. |
|
7th & 8th of Passover... |
Originally there was some
question if we would provide Passover holiday meals on Passover this year,
since UAlbany resumed classes on the 7th day of Passover and many said they
would remain at home for the holiday.
We're so glad we did. It turned out to be a
beautiful holiday, with many students participating and enjoying the
home-cooked Passover food and atmosphere. With Kosher Dining closed, there
was simply no alternative for Passover-interested students. About 50 came on
Sunday Night (including Dan Small's family, who it was a pleasure to meet),
about 25 for Monday Lunch, 70 for Monday Night and 45 for Tuesday Lunch. The
Lunches were open door, with students coming throughout the afternoon as
their class schedule allowed. |
|
Carport's down |
The Carport which was vital
in the winter months to take the couches out making room for more tables and
students at Shabbos House, was taken down during the non-holiday portion of
Passover by Shmuly Rubin (assisted by Simmy Rubin) in one afternoon. We
could not have managed on Friday Nights without it during the winter months.
It took longer to put up by Oren Silvers and Crew, since it had to be cut to
size and custom fit. At any rate, there's light coming through the deck
doors, and we hope to enjoy the deck in good weather, and look forward to
celebrating in our Sukkah out there. |
|
Rubin Family Passover
Stuff |
While we did not head to
Brooklyn for the Seders as in past years, we had a most enjoyable Seder with
Mendel's side of the family, all gathered in Saratoga Springs NY. The kids
were well prepared with their colorful Haggadahs and Seder centerpieces, and
even little Sara learned to sing Dayenu! They were wide awake for the first,
but drifted off for much of the second Seder.
During the non-holiday
Passover days, we tried to give the kids a good time. The highlight was our
trip to the Utica Zoo (1 1/2 hours west of Albany) where the kids had a
marvelous time. We also went to North Bethlehem Park (just 3 minutes drive)
where they had a good time as well. |
|
Readying
SH for Pesach |
Thanks to the students who
pitched in and helped us clean and ready Shabbos House for Passover. Though
a small house, there are so many nooks and crannies for little fingers to
hide cheerios and other goodies. It was also a pleasure to see the
bookshelves orderly and tidy and free of extraneous content. |
|
Hillel's Semi-Formal |
Once again Hilllel's
Semi-Formal was held at the luxurious Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Albany
(near the NYS Capitol). All in attendance had a great time, and a bonus for
this year was Hillel's t-shirt "I got Chai... at Albany Hillel".
|
|
Ethiopian Aliyah |
Tagar hosted R' Ran Reshef
and Ms. Mawai for a presentation on "Aliyah to Israel". Mawai's personal
story was especially riveting and inspirational as she described her
dangerous journey from Ethiopia to Israel. |
|
Moshe's 4th Birthday! |
In honor of Moshe's 4th
birthday (Tues 4/16) we prepared a special learning night based on the #4 in
Judaism. We found 40+ "4's" and listed them for quick review and discussion.
It was a fun way to learn about a broad range of Jewish issues and it made
Moshe feel very special for being 4. |
|
Next year's L'chaim!
Board |
L'chaim's Board for '04-'05
is Jason Kersch, Michele Adler, Dan Eisen, Michele Ginsberg, Justin Hirsch,
Wendy Miller and Dan Small. This board is far larger than in previous years,
but as Shabbos House and L'chaim activities and turnouts have grown -
there's a lot more to do! |
|
|
updated
3/29/04 |
|
New Boards |
Jewish Groups on Campus are
forming new boards - Hillel will be having their elections tomorrow night.
L'chaim Board has a great new time in place, and we had a meeting at Shabbos
House tonight. Koach and Ruach boards are also in plance. While this year's
senior class' graduation leaves many openings in student leadership, it is
also a great opportunity for younger faces to step up to the plate and take
an active role in the leadership of Jewish Student Life at UAlbany.
|
|
Yishai and Rachel's
Engagement Party |
One reason we were unable
to attend the important on-campus events on March 28th (see below for
Midnight Minyan concert and Dr Mitchell Bard) is that we were out-of-town at
the
engagement party of Yishai Cohen and Rachel Copp in East Brunswick NJ.
It was a beautiful Simcha,
and an exciting time to meet Rachel's parents and Yishai's extended family.
May we share many Simchas and joyous occasions. |
 |
|
Midnight Minyan and
Mitchell Bard |
Us Rubins were away for the
busy Sunday on-campus, with two big events: (1) Hillel's fundraising Jewish
Jazz music concert at Page Hall and (2) noted author Dr. Mitchell Bard spoke
on behalf of Hamagshimim on the Arab-Israeli conflict, of which he's written
a book titled "Myths and Facts". We're sorry to have missed both these
events, but we had to be out-of-town for several reasons. |
|
Simchas, Simchas! |
On Sunday 3/28 we traveled
down to East Brunswick to celebrate the engagement party (open house) of
Yishai Cohen and Rachel Copp (at Yishai's home). This coming week we look
forward to traveling south again, this time to celebrate the Brit of the
newborn son born to Josh and Faith Fisch. May we always share only Simchas! |
|
|
updated
3/12/04 |
|
A taste of Shabbos at
Multi-Cultural Night |
 |
On Multicultural Night
"around the world" sponsored by the Student Association in the Campus Center
Ballroom, we were the 2nd presenters titled "Sabbath".
Introduced by Harriet
Roffe, President of L'chaim, the Shabbos is one of the unifying cultural
(and religious) observances of all Jews. She also mentioned the Holiday
Packets distributed on the Quads by L'chaim, and people seemed to recognize
that.
We spread a white
tablecloth over a little table, Raizy lit the candles with Mushkie and
Chanie and Mendel made a Kiddush over a up of grape juice. When Moshe drank
his Kiddush following the blessing, there was this collective "ahww" from
the whole crowd. (Of course, being Thursday, we did not do the actual
Candles or Kiddush blessing).
The Ballroom was packed
with students and dark, with lights only up on stage, and it was quite an
experience to share this little taste of Shabbat with so diverse a crowd.
We concluded by saying:
"Shabbat Shalom. Shalom means Hello, it means Peace, it means Complete, and
it also means Goodbye." And then we waved and went off stage. |
|
|
updated
3/8/04 |
|
PURIM 5764! |
What a great long Purim
Weekend! Click
here for several PURIM pages on the many exciting and memorable
celebrating Purim at UAlbany! |
|
"Wings Over Purim" |
To celebrate Purim
festively, Raizy prepared 5 recipes of "finger lickin' good" Wings, along
with other specialties. Everyone enjoyed "Wings Over Purim" and some stayed
on afterwards to sings songs and say some L'chaim as is appropriate on
Purim. Check out our
Purim Day Pictures... |
|
Masquerade |
See the
Masquerade Page
for pictures of the many costumes this Purim. Thanks to everyone who made
this Purim so especially enjoyable and memorable. |
|
New This Purim |
In addition to the
traditional Megillah Reading each year (that Purim falls during the SUNY
academic calendar) we added a few new exciting items to the mix this year.
During the Megillah Reading, an accompanying illustrated slideshow
had captioned pictures of the Purim Story following the storyline as it was
read. While the illustrations came from our children's books, it was quite
entertaining and helpful to follow along. Following Megillah and the much
anticipated Costume Contest, we played our first game ever of "Who Wants
to be a Mitzvanaire" on a full screen projection. Ben Lieb was our
Regis, and we had a total of six contestants and all had a good time, not to
mention a great learning experience. We also played the "Bowl Race" which
used to be play on Sukkot, but is much more appropriate for Purim, anyways.
The Campus Center Assembly Hall was filled for Megillah Reading, and quite a
few stayed on (not all, of course, it was a Sat Night) for the games
following. |
|
Purim Night |
The Megilah Reading and
Masquerade and Game Night (see above..) was held on Sat (Purim) Night in the
Campus Center Assembly Hall. See the
Purim Pages
for more details and pictures... |
|
Guests |
The Galperins (Raizy's
family) joined us for Purim, as well as Rabbi Yossi (Mendel's brother) and
Leyee Rubin. Several downstate college students (Queens and Brooklyn
Colleges) came over for one or two of the weekend events, as they were
visiting Albany (and UAlbany) for the NYPIRG Convention. |
|
Persian Wine Shabbat |
Now a tradition for several
years at Shabbos House, Persian students
help prepare a
festive Shabbat meal with Persian flavor on the Shabbat near Purim
(as Purim happened in Persia, 2,300 years ago). Desiree Rastegar was a huge
help, and came by several days during the week to prepare Okra, Gondi, Tadik
and other specialties. We also serve a nice variety of wines on this Friday
Night, and students enjoyed (and created) the festive joyous atmosphere. |
|
Hillel BBQ at Yishai's |
The Fast of Esther is
usually the day before Purim, but this year fell on Thursday. Students
planned a BBQ Break-fast at Yishai's House, (Shabbos House II) at 320 Fuller
Rd (Hopefully soon to be the site of the future, bigger and better Shabbos
House). A really nice turnout came out, and everyone had a great time.
|
|
Purim Packets in Quads |
Thanks to all the students
who came by on Tuesday Night (after the Purim Learning) and the next night
following Hamantasch Baking, and
helped pack the
2000 or so Purim Holiday packets we distributed in all the Quad
Dining Halls.. This year we did: Indian, State, Colonial, Dutch, Empire,
Dreidels (in CC) and Alumni Quad downtown. Recent update is that in the 4
major uptown quads, not a single packet remained (aside for a solitary one
on Colonial).. Students enjoy them! |
|
Pre-Purim Learning Night |
In the spirit of the
upcoming Purim holiday we studied selections from the Talmud Megillah with
Insight into the already fascinating story of Esther. This learning night
was especially well attended, and also included the Zeitlin Family, up
visiting with Jessica, who may attend Albany this coming Fall.
|
|
|
updated
3/1/04 |
|
Hillel's
Snow Tubing Trip |
Dan Mandelkorn put up the
pictures of Hillel's Snow-Tubing Trip at Jiminy Peak (MA) on the Hillel
website. Check out
www.ualbanyhillel.org.
For a while we (the Rubin family) thought about joining in, but there was
too much to do on this Sunday before Purim, and as the hills were steep and
fast, it is probably better we took the kids shopping and shlepping on
errands instead. But all students who went enjoyed themselves. The day was
one of the warmest yet this winter, but there was still plenty of snow
around. |
|
Carlebach Sat Night -
a taste of Bat-Ayin |
Now this was a unique
experience at Shabbos House. JERNY (a Kollel organization in Albany) hosted
Rabbi Natan Greenberg of the Bat-Ayin Yeshiva in Israel, along with a whole
group of his students and friends from NY and all over. They asked us if
Shabbos House would host the Sat Night event open to students and community.
So we did. Thanks to the students and MHDS High School boys who helped make
the transition after Shabbos.. The singing, spirit and music lasted all
night, with the last strums of a guitar at a little before 2am... Pictures
and details to be posted soon! |
|
The Huge Minyan |
Lest anyone feel
unnecessary or superfluous at a Sat Morning Minyan, please note that the
overflow crowd on Parshas Teruma were mostly guests. But the Minyan ran
smooth and timely, and we had to open the big door at Chapel House for the
first time in a while, and the Ezrat Nashim was maxed out. It was also the
first in several weeks that many Minyan regulars were all in town.
Guests included 5
students from Brandeis University in Albany for an inter-collegiate acapella
competition. A few brought warm regards from Rabbi and Mrs. Peretz Chein who
run the Chabad at Brandeis. We also hosted 3 students from the Albany
Mesivta / MHDS High, Foly Chudaitov, Tzvi Shuchat and Meir Simon. And
Jason Kersch had some friends visiting from Queens and Stern Colleges.
|
|
|
updated
2/25/04 |
|
easy help for MHDS |
If you have an
AdvantEdge Card and shop at Price Chopper you can help us out! As the
TNT (Torah and Technology) teacher at the Maimonides School (where the Rubin
kids study), it would greatly benefit my class if we would win the
state-of-the-art computer awarded from Price Chopper to the school in our
district with the highest points in the Tools for Schools Program. Our
school, Maimonides, was ranked highest at 100% for several months and now
slipped down into 99% for the last month of this contest. It ends
mid-March. You may be able to help us get over the top and win the
computer awarded for the highest school ranked at 100%.
It is simple!
Click
here to register your Price Chopper AdvantEdge Card to our school.
Our code is 15962.
(or you can sign up at any Customer Service desk and avoid e-mail sign-up)
Then, if you use that card each time you shop at Price Chopper points
automatically add up for our school. Each dollar purchase is 1 point. It
makes a huge difference and requires no further effort.
Thanks a lot! |
|
|
updated
2/24/04 |
|
Purim Edition of Holiday
Guide Newspaper |
The Purim 5764/2004 edition
of "The Holiday Guide" Newspaper is now available for your reading pleasure;
filled with holiday information, Jewish human interest stories, & inspiring
materials. The cover story features "Planet Purim" with a twist on the NASA
Mars Rover.
You can get these papers
at Shabbos House, and soon at Kosher Dutch Dining. Some will also be
available with the Purim Packets to be distributed in all Quad Dining Halls
on Thurs and Friday March 4th and 5th. Of course they will also be available
at all Purim events.
Look on page 3 for the
Shabbos House promotional piece. |
 |
|
Rabbi Zeff's DREAM Class |
 |
Rabbi Joel Zeff of Yeshiva
Darkei Noam in Jerusalem gave (our weekly Tuesday Night) class titled:
"Dreams, Jewish Interpretations". It was a fascinating collection of
Talmudic sources on this unusual topic. By the way, the Tam-Tam, Mushroom
(and whatever else Salad) was pretty fantastic as well. Thanks to TAGAR for
co-sponsoring this event. |
|
|
updated
2/23/04 |
|
Bar-Mitzvah |
On Rosh Chodesh Adar, 5764 / February 22nd, 2004, Sasha
Timofayev celebrated his Bar-Mitzvah at Shabbos House, as part of a (deluxe)
Minyan Bagel Brunch.
It was an exciting and unusual celebration for Shabbos
House, and the UAlbany students who attended are likely to remember this
event for a long time to come. Thanks to all who participated in making this
such a special and memorable event.
Click
here for pictures and details... |
 |
|
Alumni Guests and Simchas! |
It was exciting to spend
Shabbos with alumni Josh ('00) and Faith (Zuckerberg) ('99) Fisch now of
Brooklyn, Nadine Kochavi ('00) (former L'chaim President) of the Upper West
Side in Manhattan, Kalman Pivovoz ('00) of Brooklyn, and Josh Markoff, now
in Newburgh NY.
Mazal Tov to Fred and
Stacey (Wolinetz) Lotwin ('01) on the birth of a baby daughter "Rachel
Chaya" on 2/21/04. May
we share many Simchas! |
|
Shabbos Day/Lunch |
What a Minyan! Thanks to
everyone who made the effort despite the icy/rainy weather. We had six
tables for Shabbos Lunch, not bad for what used to be called "The Best Kept
Secret at UAlbany". Courtesy of Prof. Herman Salomon (in honor of his
recovery) we had "Flanken in the Chulent" which was good to the last drop.
|
|
Friday Night |
Visiting alumni, everyone
finding a seat inside, and the large contingent of AEPi brothers and pledges
made the atmosphere was really nice on Friday Night. |
|
|
updated
2/18/04 |
|
Aviva is engaged! |
Mazal Tov! to Aviva Zucker
(Jewish Student Life Coordinator for Hillel at UAlbany) on her engagement to
Ryan Snyder. They were engaged over President's / Valentine's Weekend while
away in Montpelier Vermont. |
|
|
updated
2/16/04 |
|
Presidents Weekend
Shabbos |
With most students away for
the extended weekend vacation, a few students planned an informal Shabbos
Dinner in one of the dorms (Empire Commons) but as it turned out more
students were staying than originally thought - so it was arranged at
Shabbos House. With Raizy away for the weekend, students came by earlier in
the week and she helped them with menus and with some of the dishes. Quite a
few students pitched in and helped out, Jason Kersch, Farrah Fidler and Ben
Lieb did a lot of the planning, shopping and cooking. Thanks to everyone who
made a variety of salads and dishes, arranged cold-cuts and dessert
platters, helped with the kids, set-up and clean-up: Teri Goldstein, Ally
Newman, Adam Kofinas, Corrie Borgner, Melissa Morse, (The Kurlanstiks were a
huge help..) and many others.. About 30-40 came over on Friday Night with a
little over 20 on Shabbos Day.
Special Guests for the
Weekend were: Dr. & Mrs. Robert and Vera Kurlantzik (Shoshana's parents)
with their children Avi and Aviva (is between Mushkie and Chanie's ages, so
she was a good playmate) of Maryland.. Alumni Mike Kashani, Arie Lipnick and
Ben Kallos were up for the weekend, and it was good to celebrate again
together with them.
Believe it or not, we
had a good (on-time!) minyan - thanks to the guests and to the students who
pitched in being that few were around. It was held at Shabbos House, and we
ended ahead of time. |
|
|
updated
2/11/04 |
|
1st time apart.. |
It's been an annual
tradition that the Rubin family goes down to Brooklyn for Raizy's convention
(Chabad Shluchos Women from around the world). Due to certain circumstances
we're unable to do that this year, and Raizy will be going down to NY while
the rest of us stays up here this President's Weekend. We now realize that
this is the first time in our marriage (to be 8 years, G-d willing, in May)
that we ever spent a night apart. |
|
Mushkie finalist
in Brachah Bee |
We're very proud of Mushkie
who was a finalist at the annual Bracha Bee held at Maimonides Hebrew Day
School in Albany. She held her own - even against contestants older in age.
Only a tough trick question got her out in one of the final rounds. Special
thanks to those students who patiently tested her during the week leading up
to the competition. |
|
Tu
Bishvat Celebration at NYS Assembly |
Capital Chabad and the
Maimonides School host an annual celebration at the NYS Assembly for Tu
B'Shvat, Jewish New Year for Trees.
Raizy made the fruit and
nut platters, and being that Harriet Roffe is an intern for Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver, she attended the event as well. Good thing she did, because
we almost got lost in the labyrinth of hallways and staircases with all the
food. Raizy and Harriet are pictured at right with Speaker Silver.
We also met Brian Levine
('03) in the Assembly Chamber. He was actually elsewhere in the building,
but came running over to see us when he heard our names being announced in
the Assembly session.
|
 |
|
|
updated
2/9/04 |
|
Sunday - Federation and
Ice |
Sunday morning Mendel and
Raizy did the morning shift at the Jewish Federation's "Solidarity Sunday"
Phone-a-thon, and the Hillel Staff went in the afternoon. Some students
joined in the morning shift as well. While Shabbos House is not directly
funded by Federation (we receive about $2,000 annually via UAlbany Hillel)
it is important to support the community needs - locally and abroad. The
Maimonides School which our children attend also receives some funds from
the Federation and UAlbany Hillel (professional staff) is significantly
funded by Federation allocation.
Sunday afternoon was
Hillel's Ice-Skating Trip to Delmar's B.I.G. Arena. Haven't heard yet back
of how it went, but no doubt all had a great time on the professional rink
(practice rink for the Albany River Rats and others). |
|
Shabbat Day TU B'SHVAT |
With some regulars away, we
were concerned about the Minyan - but BH (thank G-d!) we had a beautiful
minyan. Alan visiting from Montreal joined us. Jason Lavi read an aliyah in
honor of it being his bar-mitzvah portion, Prof Herman read the Haftorah,
and we were even able to squeeze Mincha in before Lunch. |
|
Friday Night TU BISHVAT
2/6/04 |
 |
Tu B'Shvat, Jewish New Year
for Trees, fell this year on Shabbat so with sponsorship for Tagar (this
week promoting planting trees in Israel) we prepared a festive fruit-themed
dinner.
Each table's centerpiece
was a "vase of flowers" seen on left. The flowers were all edible, being
made of dried fruit or fruit leather. As was the soil, (artificially)
fruit-flavored jelly beans.
The dinner menu followed
suit, with dishes on a fruity theme. Some were confusing however, since it
included a delicious mushroom-barley soup (being that barley is one of the
"7 Kinds" which Israel is praised for in the Torah). |
|
|
Friday Night's turnout was
smaller than usual (some regulars were away, there was also a Shabbaton at
SUNY Oswego, and it was a busy night of Rush Week at Albany for Fraternities
and Sororities) but we enjoyed the cozy atmosphere just the same. (We were
pleased to enjoy a fine AEPi turnout despite the hectic Rush Week...)
Special guests included the Brecher Family (parents of Stacey), Emily
Rubenshtayn and Olga and Sasha Timofayev, and Raizy's sister Elkie with her
husband Moshe Wolf. We also welcomed back Chaim Spilman who is soon off for
a tour of duty in Qatar or Iraq. Following the meal - we enjoyed platters of
fresh and dried fruits and some singing and hanging out together.
|
|
|
updated
2/3/04 |
|
Mazal
Tov Yishai & Rachel!! |
Just after the second
session of the Learning Night (Tues 2/3/04) ended, Yishai Cohen and
Rachel Copp walked in (in midst of the ongoing snowstorm) with the
exciting news of their engagement! We had a
mini-celebration with the few students remaining (and enjoyed nibbling the
freshly baked fruit tarts intended for Shabbos desserts), and a little while
later a few students trekked back in the snowstorm for L'chaim's and
congratulations.
May we celebrate many
Simchas! >>
The picture of Yishai and Rachel on right was taken this past summer during
their semester in Israel, in Moshav Modin, aka The Carlebach Moshav.
|
 |
|
Learning Night
2/3/04 |
Despite a snowstorm, coming
down heavy at times, quite a number of students came out for a Learning
Night titled: "Pomegranates in Torah, Talmud and Today". While learning, we
enjoyed Baked Ziti, Spinach and Broccoli soup.. and of course, some
Pomegranates. |
|
|
updated
2/1/04 |
|
Jamming Night
1/31/04 |
As of now, only one Jamming
Night was planned for the Spring semester, and though it took a while to
warm up into it, it turned out to be one of our best ever. Quite a few
musicians participated bringing lots of musical variety.
Welcome back to alumnus
Gabe Duci who brought the Jamming Night to a whole new level when he got up
here from New Paltz, and a welcome to transfer students Aaron Goldberg (from
Cleveland State) who played drums and Mike Katzberg (from Rockland) who
played guitar.
For more on the Jamming Night and for
Pictures.... |
 |
 |
|
Shabbat Day |
Though it took some time to
get a Minyan (Thank You Jason Lavi!) we managed to get back to Shabbos House
and eat Chulent before 2pm, so we would be able to eat dairy Pizza at the
Jamming Night scheduled for 8pm. For Dvar Torahs said at Lunch see the Time
Out for Torah page (and scroll to appropriate spot). We were even able to
get in a Mincha, and as it is when Shabbos is short in the winter, many
students stayed on and talked and relaxed until Havdalah. |
|
We will miss you David! |
During Friday Night dinner
(1st Hillel Dinner of the Spring Semester, held in the Assembly Hall) Dr.
David Liebschutz, Executive Director of University at Albany Hillel
announced that he would not be returning to Hillel in the Fall ('04). We
will most certainly miss David and all that he brought to UAlbany Hillel and
the greater UAlbany Jewish community (especially in regard to the unique
relationship which Shabbos House (Chabad) and Hillel enjoy on this campus)
during his 3 1/2 years here... We could go on, but enough of this for now.
For the meantime we have one more semester with David and we all look
forward to making the most of it. |
|
|
updated
1/28/04 |
|
Challah Baking Night |
Quite a few students came
out in the cold and the snow to braid and bake Challahs and hang out
together.
Click here for pictures and tidbits. Be sure to come over on Shabbos
Day Lunch to enjoy some of these Challahs (flash-frozen fresh) in regular,
whole-wheat and several creative twists of both home-made flavors.
One more Challah Baking
Night is planned for this semester (stay tuned for a date) and those
Challahs will be distributed in the "Challah
with Love" program. Also look for the Hamantasch Baking and Purim
Packing Night scheduled for WED March 3rd. Our
Schedule page is updated frequently, look there for more info.
|
 |
|
|
updated 1/27/04 |
|
Learning Night with
Dairy Dinner: "Struggle is Significant" |
 |
|
|
Pictured above is the first
group (5:30) for the Learning Night with Dairy Dinner titled: "Struggle is
Significant" - a study based on selections from Tanya, chapters 15, 27 & 30.
The many comments and questions enlivened the study (especially following
the 2nd group at 7:00pm) making it all the more relevant and interesting.
Below left - Yishai Cohen and Andrew Genger animatedly discuss the issues.
Raizy made Lasagna, salad and a Potato soup. Farrah Fidler came over and
made puffy and crispy Pop-Overs, which everyone enjoyed. |
|
|
 |

Farrah (making Pop-Overs) holds
Sara. |

Harriet holds Sara as she helps
with mailing the "What's Cooking" |
|
"What's Cooking" UPDATE |
Towards the end of Winter
Break we published a Winter 5764 / '03-'04 Update to be mailed to Parents &
Alumni, friends and supporters. We put them out on the tables on Friday
Night. The new name of the update is: "What's Cooking? at Shabbos House".
For a PDF version
viewable "What's Cooking?" Update online - click here.
|
|
Beautiful 1st Shabbos Back |
It is great to see everyone
again. 1st Friday Night of the Spring '04 semester was a packed house at
Shabbos House, everyone catching up with each other. Thanks to all
participated in making the atmosphere so special. Though crowded, it was
cozy, and there was a seat for everyone. Welcome back to Marissa Frankel who
is back in Albany after a year away, and welcome back to Yishai Cohen and
Rachel Kopp who spent a semester in Israel.
Thanks to Adam Kofinas,
Craig Brimmer and Saul Maslansky for shlepping out the couches and setting
the tables before Shabbos. And thanks to the Clean-Up crew whose teamwork
made it all run smooth and quick.
On Shabbat morning the
Minyan went well, with Yishai, Ben and Brad pitching in for Torah Reading,
and a host of guys sharing Gabbai duties. Lunch was really nice, with a nice
turnout, and people hanging out long after the meal, with quite a few still
at Shabbos House for Havdalah. The conversations were great, all had a
good time. |
|
|
12/29/03 |
|
Bat-Mitzvah at SH! |
An area family planned
their Bar-Mitzvah at local synagogue, but at the last minute (a few days
before) things did not work out as planned. So, it turned out that Raizy
catered this Bat-Mitzvah at Shabbos House. And it turned out to be a
beautiful affair. May we only celebrate Simchas! |
|
So what have we been
busy with? |
Though, no doubt, there's a
great deal to do for Shabbos House over break - especially with the building
fund and related activity - we had some extra work that kept us busy. This
year marks 800 years since Moses Maimonides, the famous Jewish scholar and
physician, who is also our school's namesake. To celebrate this important
occasion, the Maimonides Hebrew Day School of the Capital District is having
it's annual dinner on Jan 14th, the night of the yartzeit. Raizy is doing
the catering for this big event, and Mendel does the Journal.
Also, we're working on a
special video presentation "Maimonides 800 - An Albany Perspective"
interviewing a spectrum of local personalities on their connections and
reflections of the Rambam - Moses Maimonides. We're now done with the
filming, but the editing seems to be quite a challenge, especially since we
have not done it before.. Hey, you live and learn. |
|
The Kids... |
Chanukah is a special time
for kids, especially since we have more time at home with them this year. We
had several Chanukah parties, family and communal in town that we went to,
and enjoyed a "Chanukah Legoland" event in Troy NY on Dec 25th - when the whole town shuts down.
We've been taking out books
from the library and spending some time reading.. Now Mushkie can read "The
Fire Cat" (anyone remembers 'Pickles the Cat'?) all by herself! |
|
Cozy Post-Finals Shabbat |
We decided to stay at
Shabbos House for the Shabbat after finals, since some students said they
would be around. It was cozy, indeed, with about 5 students on Friday Night,
and another 4-5 for Shabbos Lunch. We also had the pleasure of having Erica
Newman's folks for Lunch. |
|
Pre-Chanuka Hot Latke
Table.. |
Special thanks to the girls
at Maimonides High for volunteering at the Pre-Chanukah Hot Latke Table.
Wile Chanukah did not begin this year until finals were done, we felt it
important to share the holiday spirit as a reminder and flavor a bit early,
during the last day of classes. The usual nippy chill was out of the air,
but many still stopped by to enjoy a mini-latke (with some applesauce) on
their way to and from classes.. |
|
|
updated
12/14/03 |
|
Snowstorm II |
Last Sunday (12/7/03) the
snowstorm cancelled Hillel's Ice-Skating event at the BIG Arena in Delmar.
This Sunday the white stuff is coming down again - big time!
As the storm began we
went to the Israeli Marketplace held at Temple Israel - to support Israeli
artisans and vendors. A few UAlbany students were there as well. We bought a
Jerusalem hat, an Israeli camel (for Moshe) and some jewelry. The kids were
amused to hear one of the Israeli vendors recite the same chapter of Tanya
(a chassidic text) that our kids know by heart! This guy also sang a
Chassidic melody which is appropriate for this day - the 19th of Kislev...
We planned to drive down
to Monsey for a cousin's wedding, but decided (little choice) to stay home
instead. Justin and Wendy (who were going to stay with the kids while
we were away) came over for dinner and played JR Monopoly with the kids.
|
|
The "Express Minyan" |
Shabbos morning Minyans
have been on the tight-side lately, and some 'regulars' were going to be
away - so we scheduled an "express" Minyan starting with Torah Reading at
11:15am followed by Musaf.
At 11:15 sharp we had
our Minyan, with 16 fellows total. By 12:45 we were ready for Kiddush -
after Torah Reading (thanks to Max Wein for good Gabbai-ing), Musaf (by Saul
Zeitlin) and even Mincha (by Brad Legum with Torah Reading by Steve
Kessler). Thanks to all who participated and made this holy experience at
SUNY Albany possible! |
|
Finals Weekend Friday Night |
Nice turnout for a finals
weekend. Justin Hirsch's (dad's) oriental chicken recipe got rave reviews,
and there was plenty of food and great atmosphere to go around. Rabbi Moshe
Chaim Dubravsky is the new National Coordinator of Campus Chabad and visited
Shabbos House with his family for the weekend. |
|
|
updated
12/7/03 |
|
Thank You SH Interns! |
In addition to the many
students who volunteer on Shabbos and at other Shabbos House events, several
students help a great deal as "Interns"
for 2 or 3 credits a semester via the CPSP program. There are open slots for
the Spring '04 semester. Interested? Give us a call (438-4227) or e-mail:
shabbos@albany.net Thanks! |
|
The Snowy Shabbos |
Friday Night was Hillel's
last dinner of Fall 2003, and it was a nice turnout in Campus Center 375,
with corned-beef brisket, veggie stuffed cabbage and other specialties. It
was good to be back and see everyone again. (Us Rubins didn't stay for
dinner, we spent the time with the kids at home.) The weather was cold, but
no snow yet.
After midnight it began to fall, slowly at
times, heavier at others, by Shabbos morning all of SUNY was white. A few
students had a bug, others were afraid to venture out into the snow.. so we
had no Minyan at Chapel House on Shabbos Morning. But we came back for a
cozier lunch than usual, sang a number of Zemiros, and enjoyed delicious
salads and cholent. By Lunch-time we made our Minyan, and were able to read
Torah after Lunch and even have a Minyan for Mincha. The little Rubins had a
blast outdoors (in full snow-gear) thanks to Shoshana and Honey.
Mike Landsman, our
resident student weather forecaster, turned out to be right when he
predicted 1 1/2 feet of snow. Shabbos morning wasn't that bad, but by the
time Shabbos ended - the deep snow was here. |
|
Sara's 1st Birthday |
Sara was born on Nov 13
2002, corresponding to Kislev 9, 5763. Our family prefers to celebrate the
Jewish birthdate, so we
celebrated her
first birthday party on 12/3/03 together with a Learning Night
on "Jewish Birthdays" with Dairy Dinner. After learning several students
went online to
www.chabad.org/calendar to calculate their own Hebrew birthdays. In
addition to the students who came over to celebrate (with birthday hats and
all). |
|
|
updated
11/30/03 - sorry for the delay,
and thanks for keeping at me to get this updated.
It's been a very hectic and busy semester - may it continue to grow in
activity and student interest! |
|
Thanksgiving Weekend |
How was your
Thanksgiving?
Us Rubins were recuperating from a nasty stomach virus/flu - but recovered
in time to celebrate a wonderful Shabbat with family up in Saratoga (where
Mendel's brother Rabbi Abba & Rochie Rubin run
Saratoga Chabad) together
with family members who came in from all over. Always good to get back
together with family. |
|
Weekend Away @ Shluchim
Convention |

Many of the 1700+ participants in the
International "Shluchim" (Chabad emissaries) Convention. |
Thanks to all who helped
out with the Minyan and Shabbat Lunch while we were away for the weekend at
the Shluchim (Chabad Rabbis who do the kinds of things we do here -
all over the world) Conference in Brooklyn. Gadi Schultz (Hillel JCSC)
ordered a fine lunch from Kosher Price Chopper, and a few stepped up to the
plate and divided up the Torah reading.
<< Rabbi Mendel's
somewhere in the photo on left, but there are too many of us, and the
resolution here way too low for any hopes of finding him. |
|
"Getting along" with Dr
Laz... |
Honey Harriet Roffe worked
long and hard to pull off this special weekend - bringing
"Dr Laz" to SUNY Albany. Thanks to
her we (and the folks up at Skidmore) had an amazing weekend.. See the
Invite Poster..
On Friday Night (and what a
packed Friday Night it was, with Dr Laz talking near the doorway to allow
the students out in the carport to hear as well) Dr Laz spoke about "Getting
Along": his experiences working with special ed kids in the inner-city, his
inter-racial work in Crown Heights after the 1991 riots, and about his
struggles and growth in Jewish dedication. He hung around after the meal,
spoke some more, & after the crowd dwindled - taught us some of his original
"raps".. |
 |
|
Jammin' with Dr Laz... |
On Sat Night,
Nov 15, we had an lively
great night of music with Dr Laz, and his team: Yudi Simon, Zahava Krevsky
and Yossi (and Rafael) Lazerson - the special sound system we rented had
Shabbos House thumping with Dr Laz's special blend of rap,
reggae, blues, country, rock n' roll and doo-wop... and
of course, some Jewish songs and Chassidic rock.. See
Jamming with Dr. Laz!
for some pictures and more on this great weekend.. |
|
Laz Concert at Skidmore |
The big event of the
weekend was Dr Laz and Project Cure in concert at Skidmore College's Filene
Recital Hall. Few UAlbany folks were able to attend - so
here's
the link to Saratoga Chabad's site to see pictures of the event.. |
|
Shabbos Prep Help |
 |
Preparing for Shabbos is a huge job,
especially now that the crowd has grown so much. It is only thanks to the
Interns and the many student
volunteers who come over starting on Thursday and all through Friday that
Raizy is able to pull it off. Some come over to bake, other to make salads
on Friday, or to set up the tables to
maximize space, and even more for serving during the meal, and clean-up
afterwards. Thanks to everyone who pitches in - not only is it helpful, but
it is more enjoyable to do it with friends. |
|
Wedding Learning Series |
By student request we
created a class covering the basics of a traditional Jewish Wedding
ceremony, in categorizes like: Characters, Gear, Documents and Sayings.. we
did it in 2 parts and showed parts of our own wedding video at the end of
the 2nd. This class only covered the wedding day ceremonies and rituals and
didn't touch the relationship issues - but that can be a topic for yet
another Learning Night at Shabbos House... |
|
Making More Room:
The New Carport on the
Sukkah Deck |
Thanks to ever-increasing
turnouts in Fall '03 (continuing a good trend over the years) we're running
out of space in Shabbos House. May we always have such good problems! While
we can take out the Bima and the couches onto the deck when it's warm out,
we can't do the same once the rain and winter sets in..
We kept searching for a
way to temporarily close in the deck to
gain some space before the new building goes up, but each solution
was more expensive than the next. Until alumnus Oren Silvers came up with
the carport solution,
and in addition to paying for the material, spent a good part of several
days putting it up - together with help from students (Ben Lieb, Saul
Maslansky, Jason Kersch...) |
 |
|
Terror Funding Speaker |
TAGAR sponsored Rachel
Ehrenfeld at Page Hall (Sunday 11/9). Dr Ehrenfeld is an expert on
counter-terrorism efforts by tracking the Money trail. She showed a
powerpoint presentation of excepts from her new book: "Funding Evil: How
Terrorism is Funded and How to Stop it". Security was tight, but it was
without any incident at all. |
|
"Relentless" screening
by TAGAR |
TAGAR arranged for a
screening (11/6) of a new, powerful film "Relentless" in Campus Center 375
on the struggle for peace in Israel, and it had graphic footage which drove
home the tragedies happening in Israel. It was heavy stuff - but as one
freshman student said (in the elevator down) "Everyone's got to see this.." |
|
New! Women's Learning
|
New
Jewish Learning Opportunity at
SUNY Albany! For Jewish Women..
started Wed Nov 5th.. An almost weekly event outside Dreidels in the Campus
Center. Ladies Lunch 'n Learn with Raizy. First topic with text-sheet and
lively discussion was about Sarah. |
|
Hofstetter at Comedy
Night in PAC |
Hillel Comedy Night (Sat,
11/1) in the PAC Recital Hall featured Steve Hofstetter, opened by Josh
Jacobs (who was opened by Hillel President Benjamin Lieb) in the PAC Recital
Hall. It was pretty funny, and all who came had a good time.
Click here
to see the UAlbany Hillel Website for pictures of this evening as
well as other events.. |
|
"Torah on Self-Esteem"
Series |
On the Tuesdays of the last
week in October and first of November, we did a two-part series titled
"Torah on Self-Esteem" along with Raizy's dairy dinners. Both learnings went
very well, and people's discussion and input added a great deal. One of
these dinners was eggplant parmesan, with Farrah Fidler's help and
motivation. |
|
RC Bagels |
Celebrating Rosh Chodesh
(10/26) - we had a Sunday Minyan Bagel Brunch at Shabbos House. Not a bad
Minyan, and an even better Brunch. |
|
Ko-Ruach Egal Minyan |
New for this semester,
Koach and Ruach are doing a once-a-month Egalitarian Minyan on Shabbat
mornings at Chapel House. On those weekends the Orthodox Minyan meets at
Shabbos House. Other times Orthodox Minyan davens at Shabbos House include
YomTov (like Sukkot etc), when the Protestant folks are having their
Breakfasts at Chapel House, or if a key-holder doesn't get up in time. See
the Prayer Location Schedule at UAlbany
if this is confusing. |
|
Parents Weekend
|
This year's Parents Weekend
had the largest turnout of Parents for Friday Night dinner (10/24). The
Hillel Dinner was in the CC Assembly Hall, and it
was nice to meet the parents of some of the students who make our campus
community special. Following the Hillel dinner, quite a number of the
parents and students came back over to Shabbos House for an Oneg with more
food and lots of conversation.
The families of Dressler,
Legum, Rastegar, Hirsch, Miller, Gillman, Kersch, Ginsburg, Hale,
Szymkowicz, Kurlantzik, Small, Lesser's Grandparents, were among the parents
and family who visited for the weekend. I know we missed some folks - but
being Shabbat we could not write names down.. |
|
WCDB/WSUA Reunion |
Together with Parents
Weekend was the WCDB (UAlbany Radio Station, which started off as WSUA
before SUNY moved uptown) Reunion - and it was a pleasure to host (at
Shabbos House) fascinating personalities from years back (as far back as the
60's) with whom we had great conversations and heard lots of stories.
Jim Diamond (now a
defense attorney in Stamford CT), Steve Ostrove (and his wife Karen, who
illustrated several of the books our children enjoy), Bruce Lorence (living
in Albany, and a regular at Cong. Shomray Torah aka "Shteeble" downtown),
and Jerry Kahn (who entertained with his comedy on Shabbos Day, and his
newly married wife Suzie) were UAlbany WCDB alumni who stayed at Shabbos
House. And of course, we were delighted to have Jeff Wertheim back 2 weeks
in a row (for Simchat Torah and for the WCDB reunion). Marc Gronich, another
good friend of Shabbos House and Capital Chabad, as well as a regular in the
shuls downtown in Albany was a prime mover and organizer behind this whole
reunion.
|
|
|
updated
10/23/03 |
|
Israelis and Felafel |
TAGAR sponsored "An evening
in Israel" at Shabbos House with visiting Israeli students (IDF Tank
Commander and Driver) Aryeh and Tzachi - who also serve as Tour Guides for
the Mayanot Birthright Trip. Raizy served pitas and spreads, felafel and
Israeli salad, and there was some frank discussion about the situation in
Israel, and how young Israelis view young American Jews.....
For more on the amazing Mayanot birthright trip - affiliated with Chabad /
Shabbos House visit:
www.israelexpress.org |
 |
|
|
updated
10/20/03 |
|
Taking it all down.. |
Sukkot and Simchat Torah is
a big undertaking at Shabbos House and even after it's all over, there's
tons of work to do. Jason Kersch, Brad Legum, Saul Maslansky, Sam Gillman
and Ben Lieb came by after the holiday and late at night took down the
Sukkah.. the schach still needs to be taken away, bamboo sticks tied up and
stored, and tent pieces brought back to the garage at 320.. (Shmuly Rubin,
Sam Gillman and Shoshana Kurlantzik took down the tents on Monday evening).
|
|
What a Simchat Torah! |
What a Simchat Torah it
was! Unbelievable! Hakafot dancing and festivity ended after 1am, with
approx 250 students (including alumni and guests) participating and
celebrating in a big way! The atmosphere was really something very special.
|
|
Special Thanks.. |
to all those who pledged
(and contributed) to the ATA HORAYSA auction (as well as other times
throughout the year) your support makes Shabbos House dinners, events and
activities possible..
to everyone who kept the
singing and dancing going strong for so many hours.. and those who helped
make festive L'chaim's possible - in a responsible and enjoyable way ...
Ariel, Jeremy, Eric, AJ and Dan. |
|
Friday Night in 2 Rooms |
175 students, alumni and
guests sat down to Friday Night Dinner (celebrating Shabbat and Shmini
Atzeret) at Shabbos House.. (a record for a sit-down meal in Shabbos
House!!) only possible because we used BOTH the Sukkah and Inside SH to
accommodate everyone. It was no simple feat to cook for, thanks to the many
students who came over earlier to cut salads, make desserts, set-up tables -
and also to all those who helped serve - too many fine folks to mention.
|
|
Alumni & Guests |
It was a great pleasure to
welcome back Alumni: Mike Kashani, Arie Lipnick, David Shahverdi, Mitch
Greene, Jeff Wertheim, Matt Freedman, Fred and Stacey Lotwin, Linda Lampert,
Limor E., Asaf E., Marissa Frankel, Sam Klein, Shaun Zeitlin, Ben
Zeitlin, Ed Levin, Jason Nadell (and Rani), Joel Fuerer, Marc Wolensky (and
Dawn), did we miss anyone? Dan and Atara Marzouk walked up (from their home
in Albany) on Simchat Torah day with their adorable twins Noach and
Binyamin.
In addition, a number of
students attending other colleges: Queens College, Brooklyn College, Nassau
Community College, Brandeis University and others came up to celebrate the
holiday weekend with us. |
|
|
updated
10/16/03 |
|
L'chaim's Sukkah Party |
The Free Game Auction
worked out very well this time, thanks to Michele Ginsburg (L'chaim
boardmember) for buying the prizes ad Harriet Roffe for successfully running
the Questions and Game Auction.
Following the party, the
Hillel student group hosted a "Hookah in the Sukkah" event in the Shabbos
House Sukkah, and it seems that all had a great time. |
|
The Mini.. |
The Mini-Sukkah on Campus
Center stood strong, despite the winds that rocked the town all day
Wednesday. Zalmy Kudan and his sisters, all graduates on the Maimonides
School in Albany helped folks shake the Lulav up there on Tuesday, and on
the days following we left a Lulav set inside with the blessings and quite a
few folks helped themselves. |
|
Strong Winds |
On Tuesday and Wednesday we
had strong winds whip up quite a storm with gusts reported to be 50 miles an
hour. The Sukkah stood strong, but the white tent set up for Simchat Torah
got pushed around a bit, and took quite a beating. |
|
More Sukkah Visitors |
Traveling visitors on the
NY-Montreal route still stop by our Sukkah (all hours of day and night)
though in past years the Price Chopper (Kosher) Colonie Sukkah off Exit 2W
(sponsored by Capital Chabad) has become the "rest-stop" of choice.
|
|
|
updated
10/12/03 |
|
Thanks for helping on
Sukkot |
A real special thanks to
all those who helped Raizy prepare all the salads for each holiday meal, and
to those who navigated the cramped aisles with tureens of soup and other
delicious foods. Also thanks to Shimon Galperin for an expert Torah Reading
both days of the holiday, to returning alumnus Chaim Spilman (and Josh Zweig,
Max W, Jason and others) for leading the services, and a hearty welcome to
the Galperin Family - visiting for the 7th season for the entire holiday of
Sukkot and Simchat Torah... |
|
2nd Night Farbrengen |
We asked Raizy's father,
Rabbi Shlomo Galperin to farbreng with us after the meal on the 2nd night of
the holiday. He told stories, we sang some songs, some asked questions - a
cozy little time in the Sukkah for inspiration.. |
|
Something special about
the Sukkah... |
Just a bit more room in the
Sukkah - thanks to all for coming and contributing to the holiday spirit.
There's just something about sitting together in the Sukkah.. the greens
hanging overhead, surrounded by the raw panels of wood, the slight chill in
the air.. Students kept coming, (it must have been 130 students or so) and
it looked like there would not be enough room in the Sukkah, but somehow
almost everyone had a place - and the spirit was great. Of course, we sang
the Sukkahleh song.
|
|
Weather, Food, Lulav
Shakes and Minyans.. |
We had great weather (aside
for a little rain on Sunday) and even without the bitter chill, all enjoyed
our tradition of hot cider with cinnamon sticks. Raizy cooked up quite a
storm with a variety of salads and main courses. The Minyans were kind of
tight, just squeaking by with ten - but we did get to read the Torah each
day, and had great Lulav shakes on the 2nd day of the Holiday. By the way,
Lulav shakes are recommended each day of the holiday if possible, and we
hope to have it available with opportunities to shake it at Campus
Center/Podium. |
|
Sukkah
Building BBQ |
Sukkah Building BBQ 5764 / 2003
Thanks to everyone who
pitched in - the Sukkah and the big Simchat Torah tent were up in record
time! As usual, we had a BBQ running all afternoon in the backyard, under
the capable watch of AJ Nordlicht, Ben Lieb and others. Continuing a
tradition, the Sukkah-lovers guild, led by Saul Maslansky, Sam Gillman and
friends, richly covered the Sukkah with a sea of cut evergreens.
Less heavy this year, we
did not use pine boughs, instead we got hemlock - which gives good cover but
is not as heavy. Good thing, because added support beams would have taken up
precious space on the packed Friday Night in the Sukkah.
On the same afternoon
Jason Kersch (with some help from Moshe Rubin..) built 8 new benches to help
accommodate the growing turnouts on Friday Nights. Good thing he did,
because we would not have enough room in the Sukkah for 130-140 students -
if not for the benches.. and people make more room for each other.
|
|
Skipped a Learning Night |
Between Yom Kippur and a
Sukkah Building BBQ we didn't want to squeeze in a learning night, as
students do need some time to study - and we won't be doing one the week of
Sukkot either, having so many events in one week.
The week following Sukkot
we will be moving the learning night to WED, to have a special evening with
visiting Israelis Aryeh and Tzachi, of Mayanot birthright, and all are
welcome to come an enjoy "an evening in Israel" courtesy of TAGAR - and
enjoy Israeli foods, music and info (especially about the FREE trip, which
many Shabbos Housites have greatly enjoyed!)
We'll be back on - first
week in November - on Tuesday Nights with Dairy Dinner, 5:30 or 7:30, new
topic to be: "Torah on Self-Esteem". |
|
|
updated
10/7/03 |
Yom Kippur
@ UAlbany |
As last year most students
went home for the Yom Kippur extended weekend - so the University at Albany
Hillel did not schedule Orthodox, Conservative and Reform prayers as in
years past. So, as last year, we had a cozy, meaningful (and painless)
traditional prayer services at Shabbos House. When originally discussing
this we were worried about a Minyan, but thank G-d we had a wonderful
turnout - never under 25 or so, and peaked at 50-60 for Kol Nidrei and
Neilah (and break-fast..)
The services ran smoothly, and quickly (as far
as Yom Kippurs go) and all in attendance said it helped them have an easier
fast, and some said it was their best Yom Kippur service and things like
that. Thanks to all who made this a special Yom Kippur, by coming and
participating and being a part of it.
For about a dozen or so
years, I (Rabbi Mendel) was the Orthodox Cantor at SUNY Albany Yom Kippurs,
but I got so hoarse that I just couldn't do it this year. Special thanks to
Rabbi Shimon Andrusier (and his family) of the Albany Yeshiva High who
volunteered his services and did a beautiful job leading Kol Nidrei, Musaf
and Neilah. Alumnus Chaim Spilman and Freshman Brad Legum were great Cantors
for Shachris and Mincha respectively.
To keep the prayers
running smoothly, keep people in the loop and avoid the Prayerbook Blues - I
did the page numbers with a little running commentary. In addition we made a
booklet of Machzor Notes - comments and instructions for many pages, and
Gadi Schultz, Hillel's JCSC put together a Yom Kippur supplement with
interesting and inspirational reads.
Thanks to Raizy for a
great prefast and breakfast! The big hit at the breakfast were Teri
Goldstein's delicious mandelbread - everyone enjoyed them. |
|
cozy Shabbat Shuva |
Now and then, it's good to
have a small, cozy Friday Night dinner - and we had just that on the weekend
between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur - with most students back home with
their families. The meatballs were great, as was the atmosphere. We didn't
quite muster a Minyan for Shabbat Day, but had a nice one on Friday Night. |
|
|
updated
10/3/03 |
Challah
with Love! |
"Challah with Love" Pre- Yom Kippur 5764 /
2003 is special thanks to
* Farrah
Fidler, Rachel Harris, Sam Gillman and Harriet Roffe, and the Maimonides
High School Girls: Debbie Jellet, Devorah Leah Simon, Mazal Mardekhayeva,
and Shaindy Klein for making the dough, shaping and baking over 100
high-holiday-style round Challahs.
* Saul Maslansky, Nathan Tobin, Teri Goldstein, David Gretah and Michele
Adler for bringing the Challahs to seniors in their homes at Bnai Brith
Parkview Apartments, and to the Whitehall Senior Apartments on 10/02/03. |
|
|
updated
9/24/03 |
|
|
Our best wishes for a
very Happy, Healthy, and Sweet New Year!
See you next year! |
|
Pre-RH Challah |
Guys and Girls had a great
time kneading Challah, about 20 came over to bake Challah to take home for
the holiday. |
|
RH Candle Table at CC |
Raizy, Farrah and Honey Roffe tabled
outside Campus Center with special candle-lighting kits for Rosh Hashana,
with a special goal of "Shabbat Candles for Peace". See the global effort's
website: www.shabbatpeace.org.
Lots of folks stopped by to get a piece of honeycake or ask holiday
questions.
|
|
Conclusion of Series I |
Tzedakah - a prospectus"
studied in a 3 - part series at Shabbos House, was concluded this week.
Thanks to all who participated in the weekly learning - each Tuesday at one
of two sessions: 5:30 or 7:00pm. The dairy dinners were as enjoyable as the
study (if not more) and the group discussions and people's questions added a
lot to the study. We will try to incorporate comments and good insights into
subsequent editions of this learning material.
Study will continue with
Dairy Dinner each Tuesday, next originally prepared theme will be after
Sukkot: "Torah on Self-Esteem". Until then we will discuss Holiday themes. |
|
Shofar Factory |
Despite the darkened skies
and constant drizzle, the Shofar Factory near the Small Fountain was humming
with activity. Some 50 shofars were made by students with the assistance of
Rabbi Abba Rubin of Saratoga Chabad, and many more came over with questions,
or curious interest. Thanks to L'chaim and Saratoga Chabad for sponsoring
this popular and exciting project. See this
year's Shofar Factory Page!
|
|
|
updated
9/21/03 |
|
Jamming Night |
First Jamming Night of the
Fall '03 Semester at UAlbany (Sat Night 9/20). Jason Kersch now has a new
full-size KORG digital piano, along with an amp - and Dan Mandelkorn and
Jared Treiber brought acoustic guitars, and Ben Lieb and Brad Legum playing
both the big drum-set and a bongo he brought along. Some songs went over
real well, with everyone chiming in..
Click here for the
Jamming Page with Photos... This time we prepared
some Jewish and regular sheet music. The Pasternaks at
www.jewishmusic.com (Tara Music)
donated 7 books of Jewish sheet music (along with 12 cases of grape juice!).
Special thanks to (Shabbos House Intern) Farrah Fidler to running back and
forth managing all the pizza and hot pretzels that all enjoyed.
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Apple Jelly Beans |
Before Jewish Holidays
Shabbos House and L'chaim (SA) prepare and distribute holiday packets to all
UAlbany Quad cafeterias to share the holiday flavor and spirit with
thousands of students. Look for them in the Quad Dining Halls!
In past years, before Rosh
Hashana we did variations on the Honey-theme: Honey-cake, honey-cookies,
honey-sticks and honey-candies. This year we discovered sweet apple-flavored
jelly beans by Just Born Inc. makers
of Mike and Ikes. They donated 50lbs!
Special thanks to the
many students who pitched in to make 1500 of these packets, with a little
bag of ten "Apple Dumpling a la Mode" Jellybeans stapled to a mini-New Years
card - at the Jamming Night on Sat 9/20: Michael Kupferberg, Justin Hersch,
Dan Caplan, Tina and Cora Collitin, Sam Gillman, Shoshana Kurlantzik, Adam
Kofinas, Michele Adler, Dara Stofenberg, Teri Goldstein, Harriet Roffe, Saul
Maslansky, Pam Blumenthal, and others! |
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Shabbos Day 9/20 |
Marshall Haber surprised us
on Saturday morning with a flawless reading of Parshat Vayelech, which was
his Bar-Mitzvah parsha some years back. Special thanks to everyone who made
the effort to make the Minyan, despite the odds turned out quite OK. We had
an overflow of Levites and Persians! Sorry we couldn't make the Mincha
Minyan but did enjoy a great Lunch and an evening Shalosh Seudos as well.
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Many students volunteer at
Shabbos House to help out with Shabbat and event preparations, as well as in
organizational and other areas. We would like to thank the official
interns for Fall 2003: Ben Lieb,
Farrah Fidler, Rachel Harris, and Revi Hay. As well as dozens of other
students who are always eager to lend a hand, and are a tremendous help on
Friday Night and other times. It would be impossible without you!
For Shabbos 9/20 Wendy
Miller baked delicious Honey-cookies, and Harriet R. came over to make
Oatmeal Apple Crisp and other delights. Steve Lidner mixed up the tuna for
Shalosh Seudos which we enjoyed over the last of our Pirkei Avos (Ethics of
our Fathers) readings, as the season winds down before Rosh Hashana.
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updated
09/14/03 |
Cruise
did Sail |
Hillel's cruise did sail
after all, Saturday night 9/13/03 aboard the "Dutch Apple" on the Hudson
River... Not as many were able to make it, due to some assumed restrictions,
but all those aboard had a splendid time, special thanks to the Hillel
e-board who spent much time and energy to let this cruise sail.
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Out with the Couches! |

click picture above for
more on Making Room at Shabbos House |
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To make room for the
ever-increasing numbers of students coming out for Friday Night dinners, we
had to take out the two couches (THE sinking "L" couch, and the firmer one
off in the other corner) onto the deck, so we could make room for 13 tables
inside cozy, little Shabbos House. Over 130 students managed to
squeeze in, somehow... See below for the students who used their brain and
brawn to get this little miracle to work.
Turn out there was just
enough room, a little tight - but thanks to all who came over - great
atmosphere. Raizy made plenty of food (hardly any leftovers) and it was
wonderful to meet and celebrate with new and old faces.. This Shabbos is one
more reason to get moving on the building project, and try and get as many
contributors to participate as possible, so the new, bigger and better
Shabbos House Student Center can be up by next Fall. In the meantime we hope
to do whatever possible to fit everyone in, and being that it will be
temporary, to hang in there until the new place is up and running. Thanks!
We also welcomed special
guests: Mrs. Rita Shachne of Albany (who sponsored Kiddush and sent over a
delicious platter of Leo's Bakery pastries), Rabbi Shmuel and Chanale Tiechtel,
who will be opening a new Chabad House Student Center at Arizona State
University in Tempe AZ after the Holidays, and alumnus Oren Silvers - who
brought lots of spring water for a refreshing Shabbos drink (as well as a
very generous building pledge/contribution).
We celebrated the
birthdays of Allison Port, Teri Goldstein, Dan Fingerman and Steve Orfali.
Best wishes! We are not prophets, so we only know your birthday, if you give
us that info sometime throughout the year. |
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Shabbos Thanks to: |
Adam Kofinas, Desery, and
Ally Newman came over Thursday night and peeled an endless stream of
potatoes and soup veggies.
Ben Lieb, Jason Kersch,
Eric Himy, Brad Legum and Harriet Roffe for coming over Friday afternoon for
brainstorming, shlepping and maneuvering the set-up to maximize every bit of
space in Shabbos House.
To all who helped serve
(not an easy feat getting though the maze of tables) and clean-up - special
thanks to Saul Maslansky, Eyal Cohn and David Gretah for getting a row of
tables cleaned and out of the way, and got the couches back inside before
the rain. |
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back to the "learning
nights" |
We did not schedule one for
the first week back, since everyone was busy getting back into routine, but
in the 2nd week back, we have now begun our weekly "Learning Night with
Dairy Dinner" Tuesdays at Shabbos House.
We tried two times 545
and 6:45 to accommodate more student schedules, but we still have to explore
the best time(s) possible for most students. Our first topic of the Fall
semester is "Tzedaka - a prospectus" presenting the classical Jewish texts
(Torah, Talmud, Maimonides, Tanya etc) in a financial investment format.
This series will continue for at least one, perhaps two more weeks. If you
missed the first one, you can jump right into the 2nd - have no fear.
Also if these times do not work, we can do some individual learning - minus
the dinner - at a time good for both of us. |
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Bagels... |
On the first Sunday with
everyone back, we had a Minyan Bagel Brunch. T'was good to nosh and shmooze
over fresh bagels etc, and we're glad to did eventually get the Minyan,
though it did take quite some time. |
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Great turnout at 1st Hillel Dinner |
150+ (!) at Hillel's opening
Shabbat dinner of the year in CC 375 - 4 tables needed to be added, somehow
there was room for everyone. It was a very exciting opener to the new year.
Reminds us of 1997 when we
first came to Campus, and the Hillel student group's 2 Friday Night dinners
in the Campus Center each year were a draw (the others were at Chapel House,
on alternate weeks of Shabbos House dinners) but numbers have declined since
those days, and it is inspiring, once again, to see so many students come
out for a Shabbos dinner... |
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More on 1st Shabbat Back |
Special guests included
visiting chemist Dr Aaron Garzon of
QuarkBiotech of Israel, alumnus Chaim
Spilman back from several months of advanced US Army Officers School, and of
course, the many new freshman we continue to meet.
This year, as begun last
year, Shabbat Lunch as become more of an "in" thing, with more students
coming over to celebrate. Some years back, former Hillel President, 320
Fuller Resident, and Shabbos House enthusiast Ed Levin used to say that
"Shabbos Lunch is the best kept secret at UAlbany"... the word seems to be
getting out. |
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Labor Day BBQ |
It was great to see so many
new and old faces at the Hillel welcome Labor Day BBQ at Chapel House.
Funny thing, there's a
group of local Albany area freshman students this year - who attended the
High School Midrasha program at Temple Israel last year. Rabbi Mendel
teaches there a mini-course each semester and they recognized him from those
classes - and even remembered the night he could not teach because baby Sara
was born in the next-door St Peters Hospital! They were so pleased to see
her, about 10 months later... |
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Update Mailed |
Just as the new year began
we mailed a "Building Fund UPDATE" to parents, friends and alumni, to keep
them posted of our progress and to also ask for continued annual support for
ongoing programming. You can visit the Building
Campaign page - or click here
to download the update in PDF format.
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Freshman Weekend '03 |
Welcome Class of 2007!
We had a larger than usual turnout for freshman weekend, and were excited to
meet quite a number of freshmen on Shabbos. A special welcome to Josh Zweig,
Jason Nussbaum, David Eshmoli, Danielle Goldberg, Natalie Lesser, Yoni Lamm,
Shoshana Kurlantzik, Michael Fink, Joel Klimaszewski, Brad Legum, and Justin
Hersch who celebrated with us for Shabbos Dinner and/or Lunch. Of course, we
look forward to meeting and celebrating with many more freshmen and students
in the weeks to come.
We were pleased to host
the Mandelkorn, Lesser and Klimaszewski families who joined us for the
meals. Also a special welcome to alumnus Mike Hoenig, now 2nd year at Thomas
Cooley Law School in Michigan, as well as returning students Bethanie Lesser
(from a semester in Washington DC), Marshall Haber (from a semester in
Syndey Australia) and Sara Szymkowicz (returning - engaged!- from a year in
Hebrew University, Jerusalem). 'Tis good to see you back! On Friday Night we
also had the opportunity to introduce Gadi Schultz, Hillel's new JCSC
originally from the Chicago area. |
Move-In
thanks |
Special Thanks to Aviva
Zucker, Hillel's Student Life Coordinator, for all her efforts and
arrangements behind the scenes and with student leadership to spread the
word and help new students be aware of all that Jewish Life has to offer at
the University at Albany. |
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New Family Pictures |
We took new
Rubin family pictures,
it is quite a trick to have them all smile/pose at once. It is about
time, our last professional picture had Moshe as a baby, with no Sara in
sight. |
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NYC Alumni Reunion |
On Sunday Aug 24th, a
first-ever Shabbos House - UAlbany alumni reunion was held in NYC at
Broadway's Jerusalem-2 Pizza place. It was a excellent occasion meeting with
old friends from a span of eight years.
Finally here are the Pictures.. Special guests included
Gregg, Shara and (not-so) little Yosef Aryeh Gilbert from Israel, as well as
former Shabbos House director R' Pinchas Schreiber (with 3 children) who
drove in from Hartford. R' Pinchas shared a nice story introduced by a
special tooting by Jason Nadell (a ceremony before our time). Approximately
sixty alumni joined for this celebration and we appreciate all who made
their effort to come, especially Dan and Atara Marzouk (with their twin
year-old boys Noach and Binyamin) all the way from Albany, Rimma Altshuler
who made the trip from Boston, Rachel Commer and Joel Feuer who came soon
after their birthright israel trip. Alumni with babies also included Eyal
and Tali Seinfeld with their daughter Michal, Ronen and Chana Raizel Segal
with their daughter Gittel Tova, and of course our own baby Sara and the
rest of our bunch - Mushkie, Chanie and Moshe. |
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Building Fund UPDATE |
Thank G-d, and our many
dear friends and supporters, we are now well-over the half-way mark in our
fundraising goal for the new, bigger and better Shabbos House Jewish Student
Center.
We printed a Summer 2003 Building
Fund UPDATE, (click to download in PDF format) to thank those who
already pledged/contributed and to continue our efforts in reaching our goal
of $300K to be eligible for a generous matching gift program. Also included
in the UPDATE is operating budget appeal, to support the many ongoing
programs at Shabbos House for students.
A new Shabbos House will
be able to seat more students on Friday Nights, be a better facility for
events, have a lounge for students to hang-out, more space for the family,
and a decent-sized kitchen to get things done. It will make a huge
difference to Jewish Life at UAlbany, greatly enhancing the SUNY Albany
Jewish Campus Community.
Please be a part of it!
This is only possible with everyone's support!
If you are not on our
mailing list, please e-mail or call with your contact info - Thanks.
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