Rabbi Abrams Blog

Wishing you a relaxing Shabbos.  There is nothing like the deep rest of Shabbos to revitalize a weary soul after a long hard week.  My wish for you is to experience this deep rest and get this rejuvenation. Just a couple days before Shavuos, our daughter, Moussia, celebrated her Bas Mitzvah. It’s the day when a “girl becomes a young woman” and we are so proud of her. The theme of the Bas Mitzvah was “Yogati umatzasi Taamin”. The Talmud says: “If someone tells you they tried hard but did not succeed, don’t trust them. If someone tells you they didn’t try but did succeed, don’t trust them. If someone tells you they tried hard and they succeeded, trust them” The Rebbe chose this wise and empowering passage from the Talmud as one of the 12 Torah Verses we drill into our children.  (I actually wrote a draft for a children’s book on them, which you can read  here .) Moussia personifies this particular verse.   Some kids are just “naturally good” at lot’s of stuff. And...

The Great Lag Baomer Parade in NY was absolutely fantastic! It was a lot to schlep the whole family, but it was totally worth it. When we returned, I spoke with Ron. He asked about the parade, and I invited him to come with me to NY another time, which he immediately jumped on with excitement. I asked him why he didn’t come with us for Lag Baomer, to which he responded, “I wasn’t sure if I was invited”. I told him that we really wanted to bring a Temecula delegation with us, referencing my email asking the community to join us, and showed him my to-do list, highlighting “bring group” for Lag Baomer. It really was a priority to bring a group with us. It was my intention to call everyone I thought might like to join, but I really am busy and sometimes proactive one on one communication just doesn’t happen, even though I really want it to.  Just like I wrote this email last Wednesday, but got interrupted and only am sending it now… What I want you to know is that whenever I write, “yo...