8-17-06

I enjoy this weekly opportunity of saying “hello” and keeping you in the loop as to what is going on at Chabad House during these quiet summer weeks.

Well, we just completed another very successful season at the Ethel & Irving Berkowitz Day Camp, which was celebrated by a grand barbecue last Sunday, enjoyed by the campers and their families. What else... This Shabbos we are having a baby naming for a little girl from the Kohanim family (Manny's niece). By the way, Mazel Tov to Karen & Fred Blum on the haircutting of Avi! On Sunday a group of us will enjoy a nice outing to Shea Stadium to root for Rabbi Glogauer's favorite NY team.

All of us at Chabad are busy working to set everything up for the new school year. Rabbi Weinberg is busy overtime meeting and greeting Hebrew School parents and Bar/Bat Mitzvah families, while gearing up for another amazing year at Chabad Hebrew School. (Click here for more info on Hebrew School and to register right there online with a few clicks of the mouse.)

Mailers have gone out regarding an exciting 3 part lecture series on the KABBALAH with Rabbi Manis Friedman scheduled to take place in September (Click here for more info and to register online. What do you say... we're becoming pretty high tech here at Chabad). Plus, in spite of the summer quiet, we have been pretty consistent with getting a minyan every morning (7am – you're invited) and we have had pretty nice attendance on Shabbats (you're invited to come and stay for lunch). All in all, we've been keeping pretty busy.

Just keeping you up to date...

Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Shalom M. Paltiel

Chabad Outing to Shea Stadium-Final Call: Free tickets available
Thanks to the generosity of Jonathan and Philip Brill, we are offering our Chabad House community a limited number of free tickets to the New York Mets baseball game for Sunday, August 20th at 1:00 PM. If you would like to join us for this wonderful community outing please reserve your tickets by emailing: [email protected]. We have a limited number of tickets so please reserve as early as possible.

Berkowitz Gan Israel Day Camp
Berkowitz Camp Gan Israel has entered its 7th and final week of camp. This absolutely fantastic Moshiach Week began with a great swim on Monday morning and a few rounds of sponge tag! Later on, the campers had their final Tae Kwon Doe instruction and painted neat futuristic pictures of what it will be like when Moshiach comes and peace descends upon the earth.

The kiddy camp walked over to My Gym on Tuesday and had a super time bouncing around doing gymnastics. The older bunks were treated to a great show titled “Jack and the Bean Stalk.” On Wednesday the campers began their day by writing their special wishes to G‑d to be put in to the Kotel (the Western Wall in Jerusalem). Many of the children wished that the Israeli soldiers should win the war and that Moshiach must come now. The kids really enjoyed a their swim time at Mannorhaven Pool, not to mention ‘treasure chest’ cake decorating and sports instruction in the p.m.

Between an entertaining animal and magic show for the little ones and a full day at Boomers, Thursday was a jam packed day of fun! The last day of camp was Mizvah Mania Friday! Campers came to camp dressed up as mitzvos – good deeds. The kids baked challah for Shabbat, enjoyed their last swim of the season, made neat arts & crafts projects, and had a good bye Shabbat party bash. It has been an unbelievable summer and the kids are already talking about...the fun they are awaiting at Berkowitz Camp Gan Israel next summer!

View updated camp photos on our website - click here!

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	Weekly Torah Thought

It's Not Easy To Be a Son

Try ignoring your wife for a week. She won't let you. Try ignoring your husband, your children, your friends — it's not possible. You depend on each other, your lives are intertwined

Try ignoring your parents. Not only is it possible — it often feels right and necessary. After all, they let you do it. They encourage you to. They even seem to want you to.

For twenty years they tell you: "When you'll be older, you'll need to do this on your own"; and: "When you're all grown up, you'll do it your way." And if you don't, they're disappointed in you. "It's about time you stood on your own two feet," they say.

But when you don't do things their way, they get upset. It takes a while for us to figure out that our parents want us to lead independent lives and to make our own, independent choices, but they want us to independently choose to do things their way.

It's not easy to be a son.

"You are G‑d's children" says Moses to the people, after describing their difficult first 40 years as a nation. It's not easy.