Sweetest Friends,

Let me begin by saying that the Jewish people are facing challenging times on many fronts but fortunately, we have the intellectual and spiritual resources to conquer all, with G-d’s help.  It is important, though, to remain unified and to recognize how special we all are, including our friends on the right or left of the political spectrum with whom we disagree.  Reb Shlomo, z”l, would quote the Talmud (Sanhedrin 37a) on the verse “and he smelled the fragrance of (Yaakov’s) his clothing”.  The Talmud tells us that the verse could also be read, “he smelled the fragrance of his wayward”, meaning that even the wayward of Israel are sweet-scented.  Though we face many adversaries and challenges, we need to remember how good we, and the seemingly wayward ones among us, really are.  With this perspective we are able to rise and shine and make the world a better place.
                The Carlebach Shul is really shining; our Day of Kabbalah organized by the Rabbi, was a huge success.  The name Kabbalah can connote many things.  For me, the day was an opportunity to focus on our spiritual side and take inspiration from the great Rabbis who lived in Tzfat a half a century ago.  Purim was really hopping and so were our parties, one for singles the other for kids. The number of people who have met at our shul keeps growing and we recently celebrated the weddings of two Carlebach couples.  In that regard we will continue to do everything we can to make singles feel welcome.  Our Shabbos services continue to draw people from all over the world and Pesach was, can we say, liberating.
                On another subject, when I was in college and had some free time, I would walk through the stacks and look for interesting tomes.  I remember reading in a volume of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica that the population of Jerusalem was heavily Jewish at the turn of the century.  After listening to the recent criticism of Jewish building there and even the right of Israeli sovereignty to Jerusalem, I decided to locate that edition of Encyclopedia Britannica and refresh my memory.  Sure enough, there it was in black in white, “The population in 1905 was about 60,000: Moslem 7,000, Christians 13,000, Jews 40,000.”  Clearly, Arabs started populating Jerusalem only after the Jewish people built up the city.  The next time anyone asks whose Jerusalem it is, please refer him or her to the Encyclopedia Britannica. 

In conclusion, I bless us all, Next Year in Jerusalem.

Shy