From an email:
A HUUUUUUUUGGEEEEEE MAZEL TOV to my beloved friend and mentor Rabbi Brian Thau on the engagement of his son Avraham Tzvi, budding talmid chochom, soldier, lover of Torah and Zion. May the chosson and kallah merit to build a beautiful home together!!!
A HUUUUUGEEEEE MAZEL TOOOOVVV to my beloved friend Shmuel Refael Levine on his upcoming marriage with Shevy Spira. May they be zocheh to have LIMITLESS bracha in EVERYTHING!!
A HUUUUUUUGGGGEEEEE MAZELLLLL TOOOVVVV to my beloved friend Shlomo Aryeh Goldstoff on his upcoming marriage to Rebbeca Tessel. May this very special couple have much simcha for many years to come!!
I would happily attend both of these weddings [they actually invited me!!] but I have a previous obligation....
A huuuuuuge mazel tov to Mr. and Mrs. Jules Ehrman on the upcoming wedding of their granddaughter Gila.
A HUUUUUUUUGGEEEEEE MAZEL TOV to my beloved friend and mentor Rabbi Brian Thau on the engagement of his son Avraham Tzvi, budding talmid chochom, soldier, lover of Torah and Zion. May the chosson and kallah merit to build a beautiful home together!!!
A HUUUUUGEEEEE MAZEL TOOOOVVV to my beloved friend Shmuel Refael Levine on his upcoming marriage with Shevy Spira. May they be zocheh to have LIMITLESS bracha in EVERYTHING!!
A HUUUUUUUGGGGEEEEE MAZELLLLL TOOOVVVV to my beloved friend Shlomo Aryeh Goldstoff on his upcoming marriage to Rebbeca Tessel. May this very special couple have much simcha for many years to come!!
I would happily attend both of these weddings [they actually invited me!!] but I have a previous obligation....
A huuuuuuge mazel tov to Mr. and Mrs. Jules Ehrman on the upcoming wedding of their granddaughter Gila.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want to publicly thank for Hashem for the unbelievable zchus to raise this one in a billion neshma in my home. The truth is that I didn't really raise her. She was BORN sooo good all I had to do was not mess her up. So I tried to keep narcotics out of the house, didn't let her watch violent movies [or any movies for that matter - not that she was interested] and the about the most delightful human being I have ever met emerged. There is not enough I can say about Gila but I will say that I am not worthy to be her father. Why Hashem planned it out that way - only He knows but she is beyond anything I have ever seen. I used to bow down to her but she asked me to stop. Meet her and you will know what I mean. I sadly have not been as lucky with all my children which just makes me appreciate her even more. My offer that she and her chosson move in with us so that I can keep enjoying our close relationship was politely declined [although Baruch Hashem at the beginning they will be living nearby].
I want to publicly thank for Hashem for the unbelievable zchus to raise this one in a billion neshma in my home. The truth is that I didn't really raise her. She was BORN sooo good all I had to do was not mess her up. So I tried to keep narcotics out of the house, didn't let her watch violent movies [or any movies for that matter - not that she was interested] and the about the most delightful human being I have ever met emerged. There is not enough I can say about Gila but I will say that I am not worthy to be her father. Why Hashem planned it out that way - only He knows but she is beyond anything I have ever seen. I used to bow down to her but she asked me to stop. Meet her and you will know what I mean. I sadly have not been as lucky with all my children which just makes me appreciate her even more. My offer that she and her chosson move in with us so that I can keep enjoying our close relationship was politely declined [although Baruch Hashem at the beginning they will be living nearby].
I can only bless everyone else that they should merit to have at least as much nachas from their own children.
I would like to thank the many people who helped make Gila's marriage a reality. I really couldn't have done it without you. I love my daughter but not enough to rob a bank in order to marry her off. Instead, Hashem in his great love for His children sent me some messengers who made the impossible possible. Sometimes it is hard to say thank you. "Thank you" is an admission of neediness. People want to feel self sufficient and the words "thank you for all you have done for me" shatter that myth.
But difficulty aside, I nevertheless want to say thank you. First and foremost to my parents [who on the last day of sheva brachos will be celebrating their 50th anniversary!!!!]. They have never let me drown in the 44 years I have had the honor of being their son. Despite my many efforts, I have not always been able to put food on the table and they made sure that didn't happen. Baurch Hashem my wife and children only miss meals on fast days and are always well clothed. Macy's is naming my mother "customer of the year" for all of the clothing she buys her grandchildren [but almost never for herself].
I also thank the many people [some of whom swore me to secrecy] who helped me through this [and many other] difficult [in the fiscal sense] period. For many, a simcha turns into a time of stress and misery but thanks to my many good friends that didn't happen to me.
Thank you Hashem, thank you beloved friends!! I only hope I can repay people in any and every way possible.
Hashem is here EVEN WHEN HE LOOKS LIKE HE ISN'T!!!! http://viewpure.com/jFB3nBOxPn4?ref=search
I also wanted to thank the many wonderful talmidim in Mevaseret Tzion where I had the honor of learning this past year. I don't know what I am doing next year but feel especially grateful to Hashem and the yeshiva that I had the opportunity to spread Torah to such a wonderful group of boys. There is no greater zchus! I was thinking that for my next position I could move to Michigan and become a Chasidishe Rebbe. The "Meshiginer Rebbe". I just need a bekeshe and clowns hat. Sponsors?
Ahhhhhh - the dvar Torah.....
It is dedicated to my beolved and long time friend HaRav Yonatan Shai Freedman Shlita, Ra"m in Yeshivat Har Etzion and his wife Rachel. They should enjoy their summer break and many many more years of good health, happiness and nachas. ה' ימלא כל משאלות לבם הטהור לטובה!!
And to my beloved friend HaRav Daniel Eli Shlita ben Shlomit and his Rebbetzin [they are Charedi so I can't divulge her name but I assure you that she has one
]. May they have much nachas from their children and continue serving Hashem bi-simcha in Yerushalayim.
If I am not mistaken - both Rabbonim are Ramaz graduates. So I have to do teshuva for all the jokes I have made about Ramaz over the years
. I love you Reb Chatzkel!! You have produced many fine graduates, many of whom don't even send their children to coed schools. Look at my Dad Shlita - he went to Ramaz back in the forties [19 not 18] and his granddaughter is marrying a chasidishe boy with peyos down to his shoulders who doesn't speak English - only Hebrew and Yiddish. No Harvard for him..... I myself would have married a Ramaz girl had my wife attended Ramaz but alas her parents chose to send her to the Hebrew Academy in Cleveland. It would have been a rough daily commute.
OK - What you have all been waiting for [if you made it here...]
Rashi says in Parshas Naso that if one withholds the gifts he owes the Kohen, in the end he will have a wife who is suspected of infidelity and will have to drink the sotah waters [this year I learned Sotah with the boys... Whatta a year. What boys! What is a married Jewish girl doing secluding herself with a man other than her husband??!!]. What does one have to do with the other?? Where is the middah kineged middah???
Explains the Holy Pnei Menachem of Ger: Kohen is an acronym for כי השביע נפש [the pasuk continues שוקקה]. The job of the kohen is to satisfy the soul. If one is connected to the kohen, the tzadik, the talmid chochom, then he is guarded from negative occurences. But if one withholds the gifts then he risks falling LOW DOWN. Even to the point where his wife engages in very suspect, shady behavior.
This is a big lesson in life. Sometimes we think that by not giving we are saving. What I have learned is that the price of not giving is always FAR GREATER than the price of giving. When you give, you never lose. When you don't give you always lose. That is the lesson of the Torah and my life experience as well.
In the words of the former Houston Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon [!!!!] "G-d comes first. Paradise is not cheap".
The person wants to keep the kohanic gifts for himself - he pays a heavy price....
I would like to thank the many people who helped make Gila's marriage a reality. I really couldn't have done it without you. I love my daughter but not enough to rob a bank in order to marry her off. Instead, Hashem in his great love for His children sent me some messengers who made the impossible possible. Sometimes it is hard to say thank you. "Thank you" is an admission of neediness. People want to feel self sufficient and the words "thank you for all you have done for me" shatter that myth.
But difficulty aside, I nevertheless want to say thank you. First and foremost to my parents [who on the last day of sheva brachos will be celebrating their 50th anniversary!!!!]. They have never let me drown in the 44 years I have had the honor of being their son. Despite my many efforts, I have not always been able to put food on the table and they made sure that didn't happen. Baurch Hashem my wife and children only miss meals on fast days and are always well clothed. Macy's is naming my mother "customer of the year" for all of the clothing she buys her grandchildren [but almost never for herself].
I also thank the many people [some of whom swore me to secrecy] who helped me through this [and many other] difficult [in the fiscal sense] period. For many, a simcha turns into a time of stress and misery but thanks to my many good friends that didn't happen to me.
Thank you Hashem, thank you beloved friends!! I only hope I can repay people in any and every way possible.
Hashem is here EVEN WHEN HE LOOKS LIKE HE ISN'T!!!! http://viewpure.com/jFB3nBOxPn4?ref=search
I also wanted to thank the many wonderful talmidim in Mevaseret Tzion where I had the honor of learning this past year. I don't know what I am doing next year but feel especially grateful to Hashem and the yeshiva that I had the opportunity to spread Torah to such a wonderful group of boys. There is no greater zchus! I was thinking that for my next position I could move to Michigan and become a Chasidishe Rebbe. The "Meshiginer Rebbe". I just need a bekeshe and clowns hat. Sponsors?
Ahhhhhh - the dvar Torah.....
It is dedicated to my beolved and long time friend HaRav Yonatan Shai Freedman Shlita, Ra"m in Yeshivat Har Etzion and his wife Rachel. They should enjoy their summer break and many many more years of good health, happiness and nachas. ה' ימלא כל משאלות לבם הטהור לטובה!!
And to my beloved friend HaRav Daniel Eli Shlita ben Shlomit and his Rebbetzin [they are Charedi so I can't divulge her name but I assure you that she has one
If I am not mistaken - both Rabbonim are Ramaz graduates. So I have to do teshuva for all the jokes I have made about Ramaz over the years
OK - What you have all been waiting for [if you made it here...]
Rashi says in Parshas Naso that if one withholds the gifts he owes the Kohen, in the end he will have a wife who is suspected of infidelity and will have to drink the sotah waters [this year I learned Sotah with the boys... Whatta a year. What boys! What is a married Jewish girl doing secluding herself with a man other than her husband??!!]. What does one have to do with the other?? Where is the middah kineged middah???
Explains the Holy Pnei Menachem of Ger: Kohen is an acronym for כי השביע נפש [the pasuk continues שוקקה]. The job of the kohen is to satisfy the soul. If one is connected to the kohen, the tzadik, the talmid chochom, then he is guarded from negative occurences. But if one withholds the gifts then he risks falling LOW DOWN. Even to the point where his wife engages in very suspect, shady behavior.
This is a big lesson in life. Sometimes we think that by not giving we are saving. What I have learned is that the price of not giving is always FAR GREATER than the price of giving. When you give, you never lose. When you don't give you always lose. That is the lesson of the Torah and my life experience as well.
In the words of the former Houston Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon [!!!!] "G-d comes first. Paradise is not cheap".
The person wants to keep the kohanic gifts for himself - he pays a heavy price....
May we all merit to give BIG-TIME with love, care and a happy heart. Not only is to "forgive" Divine - but to "give" as well.
May everyone enjoy a delicious uplifting Shabbos, especially everyone having an aufruff, like Shlomo Aryeh, Shmuel Refael and my chosson Avraham Aharon.
Bi-ahava rabba and hopes that we dance together next week [and the women - with my wife and daughter],
Me
May everyone enjoy a delicious uplifting Shabbos, especially everyone having an aufruff, like Shlomo Aryeh, Shmuel Refael and my chosson Avraham Aharon.
Bi-ahava rabba and hopes that we dance together next week [and the women - with my wife and daughter],
Me
