Rabbi Abrams Blog

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. ...

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.  ...

All the Chabad rebbetzins gather in New York every year for an extended weekend of gathering, workshops and recharging their batteries. At face value, taking over her duties while she’s at the convention pushes me to my limit. Besides for my regular work, last week I had a minyan to pull together for Friday night and then Shabbos morning, with guests, teaching, davening etc. On top of that, I also had the responsibility for four of our younger children.  It’s not easy to get anything done while caring for children.   The bright side is that I get quality “Tatty time” with my children.  The kids helped with the mailer you hopefully just received, and we went on a hike on Sunday.  Levi said, “This was the best day of my life!” Besides for the benefit of my relationship with my children, two things really stick out to me this year: I appreciate how much Natanya does.  I challenge anyone to care for all the children like she does and get anything done for the commu...