Special guests for this Shabbat included: (1) Dr. Seth and Michele Chaiken and their son Rafi, Seth is a professor of at UAlbany's Computer Science department  (2) Rivky Galperin – for the last time as a Galperin before her September wedding to Levi Gansburg of Toronto (3) Rachel Serkin - up here visiting before she heads to England in September for study abroad (4) Yudi Simon the drummer of Dr. Laz’s band, here a few years back, with his wife Mindy. They are upstate for the YidStock concert on the Van Buren Farm in Stockport NY this Sunday. (5) Mr. Michael Levine an attorney from West Hempstead was in the area on business and could not get back home in time for Shabbos, so he stayed at the Holiday Inn and came over for meals and prayers. (6) Heshy Fried, the outdoor enthusiast and great conversationalist that we've come to know and enjoy during his internships for state government is headed for a drive out to Alaska (yes, a drive) for a great outdoors experience before he has to settle down with a job. We're going to miss him and wish him a great time!

Surprise, surprise, we had a Minyan for Friday Night Maariv prayer! As for the "going-around-the table weekly question, (a summer tradition) this week’s Torah portion “Re’ah” opens up with about Choices, so everyone's personal tidbit/insight/experience into a recent choices dilemma or situation was interesting to hear.
 

Bassie was thrilled with the animals, there are huge barns filled with cows, sheep, goats and horses. Moshe fed a horse and sat in the gunner's turret of a army humvee. Moshe was thrilled with the Zoppe family Italian circus, but Sara was upset about the clowns. They both enjoyed a pony ride. Raizy packed us a picnic lunch which we ate while watching a magician/comedian. Moshe climbed out of a simulated room of smoke at a NYS Fire Safety trailer. We were there 5 hours and the kids didn't complain one bit. And the kids admission is free! And there was yet more to do, but we had to go attend Mushkie and Chanie's performance at The Mitzvah Fashion Show at BMC in Troy.

This unusual fashion show at the Bat-Mitzvah Camp had Mitzvot come down the runway, with songs presented about each one. The announcer used fashion show terms to describe a Mezuzah, Siddur, Love of Our Fellow Jew, and the Holy Temple. The costumes were great as were the songs.

In 2005, President Kermit and Mrs. Phyliss Hall came to Shabbos House for the Grad Party and he addressed the Graduating Class of 2005. He was sensitive to student concerns, and helpful with Jewish issues. We will miss Dr. Hall, and wish the best and offer our condolences to his wife Phyliss, his family and the extended UAlbany community.

A memorial will take place on Monday, 8/14/06 at the Small Fountain at 3pm.

The Merzel family, Shluchim of the Rebbe in Tzfat since the late 1970's, have stayed despite the rocket attacks to assist those who have remained behind. See the email above for a description of the food packages and comfort they bring around to their neighbors and fellow Israelis. Mendel's grandmother, Mrs. Piekarsky made aliyah last year at the age of 87, decided to come back from her sons' house in Tel-Aviv and stick-it-out in Tzfat depsite the hardship, fear and danger. See our Israel Connection page for opportunities and links to what we can do from afar to help Israel!

Camp is over now, so as Moshe says "I have to entertain myself until school starts." (Chani will be joining Mushkie for one more week of BMC Day Camp in Troy). Actually, we will be doing activities and outings with the kids. This coming week we look forward to driving down to Long Island to celebrate Motti & Ilana's engagement and later week we look forward to our annual trip to the Altamont Fair.

John lives in Nashua, in the south-eastern corner of New Hampshire, so we turned it into a day-trip with activities for the kids along the way. In Bennington Vermont we took an elevator to the observation lookout near the top of the Bennington Battle Monument, and had a great time at Hemmings Vintage Auto Museum (we saw old cars, sat on an old firetruck, saw license plates from every state in the union and more!) and saw potters at a work at the Potters Yard. We also had a picnic lunch outside Deer Park (yes they have deer there) near the Vermont Veterans Home.

We drove along NY-7, VT-9 and NH-101 - all scenic country-side routes passing through villages and Main Streets. Very picturesque and interesting, an attraction in itself. On the way home we took the 495 near Boston, to the 90 - all big highway, so we could get home at a decent hour. We had another picnic for dinner at a rest-area near Worcester MA.
 

Shabbos House is part of a national www.UnityTorah.com project. Sign on for a your letter in a Torah uniting college students and alumni from around the country in support of Israel.

For additional spiritual and physical ways to help Israel - even from afar, see our Connecting with Israel page.

Aside for the physical efforts on behalf of Israel at this difficult time, including public and political support, financial support or solidarity visit etc, the Lubavitcher Rebbe would repeatedly emphasize the far-reaching spiritual power of a Mitzvah - a good deed or Jewish observance done in the merit of our brothers and sisters in Israel.

Some Mitzvot with special significance of safety and protection include wearing Tefillin and Mezuzah on our homes, giving of charity, the study of Torah and heartfelt words of prayer. It is a time-honored Jewish tradition in times of great need to say chapters of Psalms in addition to daily prayer. Every increase in Mitzvah truly makes a spiritual difference.

7/16

We went to visit Mushkie who is in her last week of overnight camp based in Troy NY - she is having a blast. Between riding 3 roller-coasters at Great Escape, overnight campouts, water-tubing, plays, dances and songs  - she is one happy camper. It's neat that little Bassie recognizes her, and giggles a lot when she first sees her.

We then took the kids to GE Kids Day at the Empire State Plaza. There were numerous booths with free giveaways (the kids have fire safety coloring books, I Love NY pins, say No to Child Abuse Pens and postcards from the NY Power Authority...), puppet shows and the like, but the highlight was a mega Bouncy-Land, with numerous inflatable jumping opportunities. Needless to say, they took full advantage of it!

7/15

An apples-to-apples game made up primarily of graduate students was especially intense and interesting. And we had a nice Pirkei Avot learning over Shalosh Seudos / Seduah Shlishit (3rd Shabbos Meal...) as well.

7/14-5

Due to the crises in northern Israel we did an Israel-twist to the "going-around-the-table" theme, so we heard a variety of thoughts, recollections and stories. Having returnees from a year-abroad, birthright israel alumni and the visiting professor couple from Jerusalem/Haifa, and Rabbi Sholom Hendel (born and raised in Israel) added to the mix.

This is also an auspicious time to write the Rebbe for a prayer/blessing. If you would like us to include someone - please call us 518-438-4227 (leave a message if we already left for NY), or you can email a request which will be placed anonymously among thousands of others at the Rebbe's gravesite. This is in accordance with time-honored Jewish tradition dating back to Joshua and Caleb to pray at a righteous person's grave, and is especially true of the Rebbe who understood, loved and cared so much for the Jewish people in our times.

For articles, teachings & inspirational first-person stories, visit the link below at www.Chabad.org :

Following the Yartzeit (for which we will be together in NY with Raizy's family) we will be attending the annual Chabad on Campus Conference for families who do the same thing we do at nearly 90 campuses across the country. We get ideas, network and share experiences with others in the same line of work.

But we discovered that we can't eat the fruit for 3 years! This is because of the law of Orlah which prohibits eating fruit (of fruit trees, which blueberries are considered due to their wooded stems) for the first 3 years. We originally thought this law only applied in Israel, but we were surprised to find it applies in the Diaspora as well (unlike other agricultural laws) if you know for certain (as we do) that they are under 3 years of age.

And listen to this: The blueberry card advises growers to pick off blossoms during the first 2-3 seasons to promote more vigorous plant growth before effort is placed into fruit-bearing!

(1) Peebles Island State Park between Cohoes and Waterford NY, where the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers converge. It is also home to the old (now closed) Cluett, Peabody Factory where pre-shrunk fabric was pioneered. Over a walking bridge, Lock 7 allows Boats through the Canal. A lady from Bermuda gave them a tour of her boat!

(2) The Landis Arboretum in Esperance NY, kind of a botanical garden of Trees. We saw a Great Oak dated approx 400-500 years! We enjoyed a picnic and a hike through wooded trails and open fields.

(3) Random Country-side Road Trips. If you drive 5-10 minutes out of Albany in certain directions you travel through picturesque scenic countryside, with plenty of sites of interest for the kids.

On the first week, 18 students + family around 4 connected tables, spacious, one-conversation.. Farewell to Daniel (Baruch) Gurwitz on his deployment to Iraq (first serving in at a base in the U.S.) We wish him well!

5/14/06

5/6/06

As the last in a series of 4 specialty Shabbat Lunches, we did a Kiddush-style buffet luncheon with old-fashioned traditional foods including herring, fish-balls, sugared kichel... along with more contemporary favorites like chip-salad.

5/5/06

The Maimonides High School Girls (Albany) joined us for Shabbos. While we had a fantastic showing of women for the morning Minyan, we didn't muster up a minyan as some regulars were away, and others slept in. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Since we didn't have a Shacharit Morning Minyan, we decided to push for a Mincha Minyan after Lunch, by when we had more than enough participants, one of whom, truns out, never had an aliyah to the Torah! He comes around to Shabbos House regularly, but was never here when we read the Torah. So we made a Bar-Mitzvah right then and there, complete with throwing candies and L'chaim well-wishes. Mazal Tov!

We haven't left town, we're still here! If you need something, want to chat, etc - still feel free as ever... We'll be back into the swing of things soon enough!

For Shabbat Lunch as a Post-Passover special we did "Sub-Shabbat" with deli and fillings. The fresh, thick, soft sub rolls were especially appreciated after a week of Matzah. 

Shabbos House was back and up and running for the 7th and 8th days of the Holiday, which are YomTov. There were nice turnouts for the holiday nights, somewhat smaller during the days. We had a nice minyan for 3 of the 4 prayer sets, and for the 4th we had a deluxe Minyan for the festive Kohen blessing at the end. Despite keeping to all Passover restrictions, including additional stricter ones kept by our families, Raizy managed to prepare full-course, delicious and diverse meals - all with holiday spirit and atmosphere.

One the 8th Night we had a special Moshiach Seudah, a tradition begun by the Baal Shem Tov, with focus on future redemption - not just historic redemptions of the past. We also had a smaller, though more lively Moshiach Seudah at thetail end of the holiday as the 8th day was nearing its close.

Thanks to all who participated for one meal or throughout, you made the holiday special.

In the special tradition of the small summer weekends we went around the table with a question for everyone to share a "liberating" thought or experience as a preparation for Pesach - the Festival of Freedom.

Not only did we learn this here at UAlbany, but since we shared it on the Chabad on Campus network, students at a number of other campuses around the country had this new view of the four sons, as well.

The first weekend we spent in Brooklyn, where Raizy was attending the annual Chabad Shluchos Conference, for Chabad women around the world who do Chabad work in their community, as Raizy does in ours. Believe it or not, Mushky and Chanie joined a sleepover camp of Shluchos Kids and they had an inspiring and energizing weekend as well. The rest of us enjoyed quality time with the kids and with family at the Galperin house.

Then we got back up here and started to work on orders and preparations for Purim, always an exciting time. The 2nd weekend we spent in the Albany Jewish community with Rabbi Mendel's parents and family. The weather changed a lot this week, switching off between summery and freezing temperatures, so the kids took turns being under the weather.

Most students are moving in on Sunday - good luck with moving back in, and welcome back for another semester!

Here's a little something that made us proud of the Rubin Kids. Our kids love going to a Simcha, getting dressed up fancy and spending time with family. But it so turns out that our school performances are on the same night as Dina's engagement party. Behold a dilemma! But our kids, knowing that they're in a small school, and each actor/performer make a big difference, decided on their own to stay back in Albany so they could be part of their performance, while we travel with the baby to NY for the L'chaim. We are so proud of their sense of responsibility and commitment!

We traveled out to Michigan to celebrate the Upshernish (traditional 1st haircutting at age 3) of Levi Greenberg, son of Rabbi Schneor and Estie Greenberg (Raizy's sister) and cousin of our kids. It was really nice spending a family weekend together, as Rabbi Moshe & Elkie (also Raizy's sister) came out from Chicago to join us at the Greenberg's in Commerce, Michigan. May we always share Simchas!

Thanks to Ilana Nathan for taking the picture on right, our first complete family picture since Bassie was born in September. We're not ready yet for the professional sitting, so this is a homemade production, and it was no simple feat to get everyone in place and cooperating, more or less.

We still have more to do to update the website, it has been a hectic semester, but we wanted to get a number of new pages up, as well as this picture.

Thanks to one and all for a great semester, looking back it was really exciting and beautiful, starting off with a new baby, the 5 Theme Weekends, Sukkot and Simchat Torah are always awesome (but the dancing this year on Simchat Torah was really special), and all the many events and celebrations together.

We look forward to more next semester. Check back here in the next few weeks for updates, more photos, new Spring '06 schedules... We''re also mailing the Fall/Winter "What's Cooking? at Shabbos House" Newsletter update to student and alumni homes sometime before the New Year.

We look forward to having a great visit in Michigan, and wish everyone a very happy Chanukah, and an enjoyable and productive winter break!

All the best always,

Mendel, Raizy and the Family

P.S. So you may ask, where is this dark background at Shabbos House? We hung a black cloth over some tables behind us. Shabbos House is too bright for this kind of effect.

It was also our last Shabbat with Sam Gillman ('06) who is headed to Haifa University in Israel to finish up his last semester of undergrad. Sam has been involved here from Day One of his arrival at UAlbany, and has been a steadfast pillar of the Tagar student group. We're going to miss him and wish him well and much success.

See the LatkeFest Page for more info and photos...

The highlight of it the whole weekend is the Banquet, held this year at the New York Hilton, with approx 2700 Shluchim and some lay leaders. This was the first year that Rabbi Galperin (Raizy's father) attended and all four sons-in-law (Rubin-Albany, Greenberg-Michigan, Lazaroff-Texas, Wolf-Chicago) sat together with him at Table #98. Also at Table #98 was Rabbi Turk, the Chabad Shliach in Cordoba Argentina, 10 hours from Buenos Aires. He and his wife have eight children of their own (no small feat to raise anywhere, especially in such a remote Jewish community) but recently adopted 3 additional children (long story why there was no alternative). Hearing first-hand of such personal self-sacrifice made all our challenges feel like a breeze.

Another highlight of the Convention Banquet was the address by Professor Alan Dershowitz, noted civil rights lawyer and activist, brilliant professor at Harvard and author of many books including "Chutzpah!" and "The Case for Israel". He spoke of his learning the "secret" of Chabad at Harvard, Rabbi Hirshy and Elkie Zarchi, which is to focus on the 90% which Jews can agree on and experience together, instead of the 10% we disagree on. He opened his remarks with this line, “Whenever I hear people talk about the diminution of yiddishkeit around the world, I wish they could be here to experience this." He also spoke of 10 basic fundamental points he hopes all the Jewish community can share regarding Israel. I copied the transcript of his speech onto a page of speeches and articles about this special convention...