The Announcement & other first May 2014 Shabbos Stuff

Yes, we made the announcement on Friday Night, so that students know of the special package we’re looking forward to this summer, while most are away on break. See more on the announcement and package tracking as posted on Mendel’s Messages. Also on Friday Night we sang (and danced) “Am Yisrael Chai” following Keshet (Hillel’s Israel Fellow) sharing her family’s personal story from the Holocaust to Israel. Nice crowd Friday Night.

On Shabbos morning, Moshe read one aliyah, and the visiting 14 year-old (from Ramaz) read Haftorah. We had nice-sized Minyans for Shachris and Mincha. Three guests spoke at Lunch, see below for details on that and links to what they said. We ended Shabbos with a great run of the Ding-a-ling Pirkei Avot call-in “show” at the Third Shabbos Meal.

Special guests this Shabbos included:

Rabbi Yossi and Leyee and family (cousins and friends for our kids) from Clifton Park Chabad. Rabbi Yossi spoke at Shabbos Lunch about the significance of 360 years since the first Jews arrived in New York (then New Amsterdam) in 1654.

Mr. Horowitz graduated UAlbany in 1992 and came back for a visit with his two sons. He shared an inspiring message called the Wagon Driver’s Lesson that he learned from the Lubavitcher Rebbe one day in Manhattan a few years ago, and it stuck with him, and he used it as a tribute to Shabbos House students today.

A prospective student was visiting with her family for Shabbos to get a sense of what Jewish life is like at UAlbany. At lunch, her father shared his love of Shabbos, why it is so important to him and how it played out in his life.

Bethany (2004) and Natalie (2007) stopped by to visit Shabbos House in the afternoon, along with husband and soon-to-be husband, as Bethany was honored by UAlbany’s alumni association. They have fond memories of the old house, have never seen the new house, and could not get over the changes. They live now in DC and Philadelphia respectively, so it was a real treat to see them, and be able to show them around the new Shabbos House for their first time.