In preparation we're working on a souvenir journal to be printed in honor of this historic milestone event, and anyone wishing to participate with an ad or greeting can do so prior to 9/3 or 9/4. For additional details, see the Sweet Beginnings Page.

We've also opened an online Shabbos House registry at MyRegistry.com - and are slowly adding kitchen equipment, accessories and other items to furnish and accessorize the new Shabbos House. Thanks to those who already purchased a professional series Kitchen-Aid, 2 hot-water urns, and other gifts. We will continue to update this registry, as time goes on.

The event program is still in formation and tentative. Updates will be posted to the "Sweet Beginnings" page.
 

Wednesday and Thursday were freshmen move-in days at Indian and State Quads. Quite a few Empire Commons folks started to move in as well. Classes begin on Monday, August 31st.
 

After Teaneck we drove to NY to spend some time with Raizy's sister Sara who is laid up with a leg cast. We also went around to several shops in NY to purchase items for the new house, including Mezuzot.

Guess who is #2 on the leaderboard (as of this writing?) Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff, our brother-in-law, of Chabad in Houston Texas - who stepped up to the plate and helped out with the many who ended up in Houston during Hurricane Katrina! Go Chaim, Go!

The first weekend in August looks like we'll have a nice crowd, as Raizy's sister Nechama Dina and family will be visiting, visiting alumni Jessica and Craig will be sponsoring Shabbat in honor of their recent engagement, and will be up here with alumni friends, and current student Steve who's been up here on student government business most of the summer will have NY area friends up to visit.

The train ride was long, 5 hours in both directions, plus station-wait times. Mendel spent more time aboard than actually at the conference itself. And there was no internet connection, so all he could do is work on ideas for the upcoming Fall '09 semester of Torah Tuesday classes.

Talking of campus Torah-study, at Albany we're planning a new series of Torah-Tuesdays (including a few classes that were prepared pre-2005). We're looking for students to prepare and present a 10-minute topic once each month during Shabbat lunch. And once we're settled in the new Shabbos House, we hope to revive or start new study groups based on student-interest.

• 7/26: Alumni Reunion 1-3pm in NYC 182 Fifth Ave...
• 8/16: Fundraising BBQ graciously hosted by Dan ('04) & Jenni Levy in Teaneck NJ - details TBA
• 9/13: Opening date, ribbon-cutting and dedication for the new Shabbos House at 320 Fuller Road
• 10/9-10/09: Homecoming Weekend at Simchat Torah - first time at the all-new Shabbos House and all-new Sukkah

The first few weekends will still be at the old place. The Sept 13th dedication is still being planned. The Sukkah Building BBQ may entail less work this year, but there's no shortage of what to do. Chanukah falls during Finals Week, look for a pre-Shabbat first Menorah lighting, and the 2nd one together with Havdalah. The L'chaim Board is working on a Mad-Science Shabbat with an energizing Nanotech professor. Shabbos House and Hillel will once again collaborate on Yom-Kippur Services. Rosh Hashanah falls on a weekend this year, with virtually no extra days off, so whether we do a special Rosh Hashanah prayer service and festive meals depends on student-interest (and hopefully some additional donor sponsorship).

As a souvenir of the event, Rabbi Israel Rubin (Mendel's father) found "Rebbe-Dollars" tucked away in his archives that belonged to each of the sons. The Rebbe would give a dollar - to empower one as a messenger for charity - along with a blessing (and on Sundays, a quick opportunity to ask the Rebbe something specific etc) and we would give another dollar (and more) to charity in exchange, and keep the Rebbe's dollar inscribed with our names, the date/occasion, and perhaps something the Rebbe said to us then. These were always very precious to us, but all the more so now that it is 15 years since the Rebbe's passing in 1994.

Around 1am I met up with Raizy outside the Ohel, literally on the street, which had been police barricaded off and was teeming with people. She came out earlier and arranged for me to see my youngest brother Motti, who came in from his year of study in a Chicago Yeshiva, my brother Ephraim who is doing his advanced studies in Crown Heights, her brother Shimon, who came in from his year of study in Kfar Chabad Israel, and Shachar Luz - our dear friend and 320 resident who joined us for one year while he did engineering work for an Albany firm, and before he headed out to study in Israel. We haven't seen Shachar in two years! There was so much to catch up and so little time. It was very late (or was it early?) when we finally headed back up to Albany, and arrived home at 5:45am, after stopping to cat-nap at several rest-areas.

His family put together a website www.ronensegal.com and those who remember him can email their memories to ronenmemories@gmail.com as well as a special fund to support his two children: The Ronen Segal Memorial Fund c/o Segal & Schuh Law Group, 13575 58th Street N. Suite 140, Clearwater FL 33760.

At Shabbos House that evening, it was already Finals Week when we don't usually schedule weekday events. But how can we let Lag B'Omer pass and not do something special? So we planned a fire-pit (which didn't work out as well as we'd like) out on the deck with smores, chocolate fountain inside, and a relaxing evening which people came and went, and some actually stayed for quite a while.

See our Pesach 2009 Page for updates on Passover festivites, meals etc at UAlbany.

During the week we tried to get some paperwork done, applied for grants (may them come to fruition - amen!) and did stuff for the Maimonides School - where our kids were not on break, aside for the extended weekend of Presidents Day (Friday and Monday off). Due to the many midweek Jewish holidays this year, and the 4 or 5 snowdays they already gave off, they couldn't give Presidents Weekend off, too.

For Friday and Shabbos we went to Mendel's parents in Albany. On Sat Night, our younger kids enjoyed toasted black marshmallows and the fireplace at Mendel's parents house, where we got to see Nachman Aryeh, their cousin, son of Devorah Leah (Rubin) and Mendy Mathless. Over the Chanukah weekend, Mushkie and Chani attended the "Jewish Girls Retreat" an overnight program held this year at the Maimonides School. Highlights of their weekend included Mushky's choir solos on Saturday Night, Chani's creative writing, and they both enjoyed snow-tubing down Willard Mountain. They had great dedicated counselors who came to Albany from New York, Toronto and elsewhere.

Most of the Chanukah Days the kids had half-days at school, we spent the afternoons cleaning-up and organizing around the house, shopping for kids stuff, and doing some crafts. Raizy made the kids colorful homemade playdough. And the computer. Moshe loves the National Geographic video clips, the kids played some games, and designed some things on MS Publisher. One or two of the days they had fun in the snow. On the night after the big ice-storm, Mendel got to work sawing the fallen tree limbs into firewood. Maybe one day we'll get a fire-pit and toast up some marshmallows.

Then we had to figure out Shabbos. We went out and bought candles, figured out what could be served cold, and realized that the gas-stove top still worked (though the oven did not) so Raizy made a soup. There are tree limbs down everywhere. During the day the house started to get colder (the gas heat needs electricity) and with our sump-pump down, parts of the basement started to fill with water. School was out for the storm, which gave us time to work, but the kids were getting antsy (besides the car has heat), so I took them out for errands (some stores had power, others didn’t) and Raizy called that our power came on – with less than a hour left to Shabbos. The weather was brutal that night, in the teens, and its finals week, but we had a full house and it was a great Shabbos. That night we looked out and saw the most of the neighborhood was still dark. A student went around with the kids to invite neighbors, but it seems they all left due to the power outage. It's amazing that we got power back just in time for Shabbos, the last of the Fall semester with students.
 

We recently mailed a Construction Update with a reminder about our 50% gift-matching opportunity which runs through the end of December 2008. Click here to view in PDF.

Several of our long-time involved students are graduating this December with the commencement ceremonies on Sunday. It was a pleasure having the Messer and Hirsch families for Shabbos Lunch, and congratulations to Justin and Craig, to Josh Sisskind (who spoke at the graduate commencement), Gil Abada, Shimon G, and all the others celebrating their undergraduate or graduate commencements in December. Best wishes with all your future endeavors. (We do all the official goodbye ceremonies each May, and include December graduates in the festivities and gifts).

Rob Kovach brought a diverse sampling of his extensive comic-book and graphic novel collection, and his talk went through the history starting with the golden age, the silver age, the bronze age, and the current comic book and graphic novel scene. He discussed Jews involved with the founding of the industry, illustrators, writers and marketers, as well as sharing books that have explicit (and hidden) Jewish themes or characters. There was great feedback from students, some of whom are quite the experts themselves.

When terrorists attacked the fledging settlement of Kfar Chabad in Israel and killed five yeshiva students with blood splattering their prayerbooks, the Rebbe wrote a 3-word Hebrew telegram that read: "With continued building you will be comforted." Chabad will not give up. A new fund has been established to rebuild Chabad in Mumbai, with a new young family as the Holzberg's would have wished, as well as provide for the Holzberg's young son Moshe who turns two years old. To contribute visit: www.chabadindia.org

For additional info and statements from Chabad-Lubavitch International visit Chabad.org's Page

In addition, as the Rebbe always encouraged, may we all take upon ourselves one additional Mitzvah, or an enhanced observance of a MItzvah, in memory of the Holzberg's.

Although we did not know the Holzberg's personally, all of Chabad, and indeed all Jews are family, and there are also other connections: Raizy's cousin in Israel married Mrs. Holzberg's sister and our brother-in-law Rabbi Greenberg's eldest brother also married an aunt of Mrs. Rivka Holzberg of blessed and righteous memory.
 

While there isn't much we here can do for them physically at this time, and we hope everything possible is being done by the security forces in India, it is customary in times of distress to recite chapters of Psalms in their merit: Gavriel Noach ben Freidah Blumah and Rivkah bas Yehudis. To find online Psalms visit:  Tehillim Hotline  or recite Psalm 20 on Chabad.edu/6320 (in Hebrew or English). For more on the story - simply "google": Nariman House, Mumbai Chabad (or Habad), Mumbai Jewish etc... it's all over the news, or see the Chabad.edu page on the crisis. 

The menu? Garlic Bread and Challah (both from the Mt Pleasant Bakery in Schenectady) Garlic Flatbreads and Roasted Garlic Bulbs, Ceasar Salad with Onion-Garlic Croutons, Tomato-Onion Salad (a Russian thing), and Angel Hair Garlic Pasta. The mock chicken soup had lots of onion and garlic, too. For the main course we did Cornflake Crumb Chicken with Garlic and Paprika, Onion-Noodle Kugel, and a Garlic-Onion Green-Bean Medley. After all that - dessert was mint-frosted brownies and a variety of after-dinner mints!

Being Friday, October 31st, we didn't think we'd have to take out all the couches, but we're glad we did. Despite many regulars being away for the weekend, and all the exciting parties going on that night, we had a pretty full (though not packed) house, and a great atmosphere for the Safari-Shabbat theme.

Though it rained on/off during the day, the rain held up at night, and we were able to use the Sukkah as well as the house (plus the tent for Atah-Horaysa). Special guests included the Sonenberg's of Guilderland, Rabbi Abba and Kids from Saratoga, Mitch Greene ('99) who hasn't missed a Simchat Torah since 1996, Allie & Adam, Danyel and Tani, Josh Rehr, and several other alumni. There was hot cider and Matzah-Ball soup in the cold Sukkah, L'chaims and beverages, hot kugels and platters of cold-cuts and breads inside. We sang songs from the Bentschers, the Torah Song and Sukkaleh Songs, Israeli songs, Carlebach melodies, Chabad Niggunim. Good times, Good times...

Special guests included Motti ('06) and Ilana ('07) Wein and Adam Kofinas ('06) and Allie Newman ('07). We also had a pleasant surprise to see Eric Nathanson ('08). Usually the Galperins (Raizy's family) stays for all of Sukkot, but this year they stayed through Shabbat and then traveled by bus to Toronto to spend the rest of the holiday with Rivky and Levi Gansburg who run the Chabad on Bayview in York Mills.

Great minyans this weekend - for each and every service, including a Shabbat ending Maariv.

On Wednesday afternoon, the 2nd day of Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Mendel, Mushkie and Moshe, and Rabbi Shmuly (Mendel's brother doing Chabad at Union College in Schenectady) walked back up to campus for a mini-service at Shabbos House. About seven students participated, who didn't attend local services, and we had Shofar, prayer excerpts and traditional foods. Then we walked over the Indian Pond (which is being redone) for a waterside Tashlich prayer.

Despite the fact that many students didn't move in before Sunday, we had a nice Minyan on Shabbat morning, including a nice freshmen contingent. Special thanks to these freshmen for jumping into Jewish life at Albany, and making a difference on their very first weekend up here! We also hosted a small Seuda Shlishit for students before the end of Shabbat.

UAlbany Hillel hosted a kick-off / welcome-back BBQ at Chapel House, on Monday the 25th, first day of classes. Quite a crowd came out, good to see old faces and new. While the Rubin kids came out to the BBQ, Raizy and Mendel were back at Shabbos House catering a 45th anniversary party for people in the community who wanted a Kosher dinner, and it held at Shabbos House.