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Pesach, Seder & My Reflections

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Over the past few weeks, I’ve come to a new realization:  I love my job as a shliach. Property development has been (and still is) very exciting.  I really enjoy the adventure of it, and the satisfaction of seeing a vision come true. But it is very consuming from many angles.   And I know that all this construction has taken away from my ability to serve the community (hopefully we’re still keeping up, if not being as proactive as I’d like). This past week it’s become very clear to me that this construction project is a means to an end, and the end is a home for the Jewish community of Temecula.  This campus will give the community the infrastructure to grow, and serve everyone with the right tools. I can’t wait to reach the finish line, so we can get back to putting all our focus where it should be, namely on the community. (It’s interesting to note that a few weeks ago I heard a story about Rabbi Rubin, the shliach to Albany, NY.  In his first years on the job, he would send detailed
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Pesach Preparations

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Pesach is less than 3 weeks away!  As I mentioned a couple weeks ago in my email, Purim is a “partial redemption” (even after the plot of Haman was foiled and the anti-Semites were dealt a blow, we still remained in the Persian exile).   Pesach, however, is a complete redemption.  G-d send Moses to tell the Pharaoh to let us go. The Torah records the “hostage negotiation” between G-d and Moses.  At first Pharaoh didn’t want to let anyone go.  After G-d smote Egypt with a few plagues, Pharaohs hardline position started cracking.  He said, “I’ll let the men go, but not the women.  I’ll let the women go, but not the children.  I’ll let the children go, but not the animals.”   Moses responded, “With our young, with our old, with our sheep and with our cattle.”  Pesach is a complete redemption.  No one will be left behind.  We will go to Mr. Sinai to receive the Torah, and from there continue to Israel & build a temple for G-d. Complete redemptions take more preparation.  Indeed, we’re
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Destroying Amalek

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Amalek was the first nation to attack the Jews after G-d took us out from Egypt.  King Saul was supposed to destroy Amalek, but he left the king and some sheep alive and they regrouped.   Just a few generations later, Haman, the Amalekean bad guy of the Purim story was behind a plot to “destroy, kill and annihilate every Jewish man, woman and child”.   G-d commands us in the Torah to “remember what Amalek did and completely erase the name Amalek“.  The way we fulfill this commandment is by reading the Torah portion about it. This Shabbos is called Parshas Zachor (portion of remembering). This mitzvah hits home extra this year as we are literally fighting the modern day “haters of Israel”.  Just like in the days of Purim, we overcame our haters in the most miraculous way, and turned Haman into a cookie and gragger (noisemaker), may we merit to save the Jewish people and keep them all safe in the most miraculous way.
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Purim

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At first glance, Purim is a confusing holiday:  On the one hand, it is an amazing holiday.  The Talmud says that all other holidays will become “obsolete” besides for Purim.  Purim is the celebration of salvation from genocide, 2,500 years ago in a temporary Persian exile. On the other hand, the Megilla (Purim scroll) doesn’t mention G-d’s name even once. If you examine the entire story, it could be written off as a coincidence, and even after the happy ending, the Jews were still in exile (it was another decade until they moved from Persia back to Israel to build the second temple). To me, the story of Purim is a reminder that while I have my own exile, as I’m sure you do, and I’m waiting for Moshiach to set the world straight, it doesn’t mean we can’t have a major salvation resulting in a major celebration. I may have to wait for Moshiach until all of my problems will be solved, but that doesn’t mean that until then, none of them can be solved.  May this Purim celebration indeed lead
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The Secret to not Worrying

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Natanya & I just returned from a builders expo in Las Vegas.  Hopefully we made some connections that will save hundreds of thousands of dollars for our supporters who are making the Jewish Campus of Temecula a reality. Does G-d have my best interests in mind?   The short answer is “yes”. The longer answer requires an understanding of the difference between faith vs. trust . Here are two differences: Trust is stronger than faith . Trust is for the future, faith is for the past. Do you have faith in me, Yonasan Abrams?  Do you trust me? Can I borrow $10,000 and pay you back in a few weeks? That’s the difference.   Faith is believing in someone’s good intentions, that they will try their best, and rooting for them.   Trust , however, is relying on them for big things, and not worrying, even for a moment that things might not turn out as you were hoping. If things didn’t work out after the fact, I can have faith that the person tried their best.  I’m not angry that they lost my money
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Lori's Verses

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This year is a leap year, both in the Jewish calendar, and in the Gregorian.  February has 29 days, and the Jewish calendar gives us a full extra month.  Adar I & Adar II.  In a leap year, Purim is celebrated on 14 Adar II, but on 14 Adar I, we celebrate a “Small Purim”.  There are no major celebrations, and interestingly, the very last law in the first book (Orach Chaim) of the Code of Jewish Law says, “It is proper to add something extra to the meal in honor of Purim Katan as the verse in  Mishlei (15:15)  says “v’tov lev mishteh tamid- And one who has a good heart will feast continuously”. Lori Beck is a good friend of ours and has been active in the Jewish community for decades. In the past few years, she’s had a couple spats with breast cancer (May G-d keep her healthy until 120 years and beyond!). She wrote an article in the most recent Partner Appreciation Report about her journey with faith and trust in G-d, which I hope you’ve read.  It’s very inspiring. Her journey has b
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Just met Dr. Freeman again

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I had a very sweet few moments recently.  It started nine years ago. Our first year here I was going office to office selling calendar ads.  While trying to get ahold of a Dr., I’m standing in the waiting room and someone says, “Shalom.”  We started talking and sure enough Dr. Neal Freeman is Jewish (he was a patient, not the Dr. I was looking for). We put on tefillin then and there, and I took his number.  He came for Shabbos dinner the next Friday, and while it was a nice interaction, he made it clear that he’s not really interested in getting involved in a synagogue, and as such, we kind of lost touch. As Covid came, volunteers started delivering holiday packages, we started generating more junk mail and the building campaign started making noise. I think it was last year that Dr. Freeman sent in a donation in response to one of our mailers. I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t even reach out, but when he donated again this year, I made a point to call him.  We met for a coffee yest
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