Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
After a weeklong birthday celebration, I can honestly say that Lori and I are becoming well acquainted with some of the dining opportunities that South Palm Beach has to offer. We hit Abe & Louie’s with lifelong friends and were treated to dinner at Trattoria Romano by my father in law, Ken Weinstein, now a snow bird here. The big question is: how I will fit into my tuxedo this weekend for a big event?!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
This has been a week of celebrations, coincidences, and connections. I celebrated my 59th birthday this week and also reunited with Albert & Marcia Schmier, who are longtime family friends. The Schmiers are friends with longtime Levis JCC supporters Helene & Roy Schwedelson, who kindly invited us to join them for dinner. That’s when I found out that it was also Marcia’s birthday this week. I thank the Schwedelsons and Schmiers for generously hosting us, and again wish Marcia a very happy birthday!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
Here we are in 2023 – the start of a new and hopefully exciting, prosperous, happy and healthy year ahead for all of us. With all of the holiday travel challenges, Lori and I were so happy that we were able to visit with our daughter Danielle, son in law Colin and granddaughter Emi Lou in St. Louis. What a difference from the 2 month old baby we met for the first time this past July. Now 8 months old, Emi Lou is so animated, playful and fun. Each time she smiled and waved to me as I entered the room, my heart melted! We took her to the St. Louis Aquarium and her fascination and amazement at all she was taking in was so delightful! We can’t wait for the next visit and to see all the growth and development.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
This is the last Shabbat message of our secular year – I can’t believe it! For me, 2022 seemed to come and go in the blink of an eye. It was a remarkable year for my wife Lori and me, as well as for our children. Our daughter, Danielle, and her husband Colin welcomed our first grandchild earlier this year, and Lori and I are so happy to be traveling to St. Louis to be with them this coming weekend. Our son, Noah, recently became engaged and we are very excited to welcome lovely Patricia and her two daughters to our family. This past year has brought us so many special personal moments! Professionally, I began interviewing to become CEO of your Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center in January, was hired in February, and began work here in early April. These past few months have brought me endless opportunities to meet wonderful leaders, staff, community members, partners, program participants, and prospective members.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
You are receiving this week’s message as Jews all over the world collectively celebrate Chanukah. Lori and I have been enjoying a wonderful “Festival of Lights,” celebrating in person with recently arrived family, and virtually via FaceTime with our son, his fiancée Patricia, and her sweet young daughters who are delighting in learning about Chanukah for the first time. It is indeed a holiday of light and joy for us.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
The weather here in South Florida has finally turned! My wife Lori and I are enjoying our newly updated outdoor “Zen room” and we really can’t wait for the completion of our swimming pool renovation. It’s been a pleasure for us to spend time with relatives and friends visiting this past week. It is such a busy time for all of us as the calendar year winds down.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
I am writing this week’s message to you from my mom’s apartment in Forest Hills, Queens. I came in to assist her after she underwent her second cataract surgery. My brother Stefan, who was here to help her after the first one, our mother, and I are all so thankful everything went well with both procedures. Hopefully she will be seeing and reading much better. This experience makes me think about how fortunate we are to be living in a time where many matters of aging can be addressed, improving our quality of life.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
You are receiving this week’s message on December 1st. I feel that this November flew by faster than any I can ever recall in the past, and it really was a great month with so much to be grateful for! On a personal note, when our son Noah was in town for a holiday visit with my wife Lori and me, we had the truly special experience of going together to select a beautiful engagement ring that he then took home and presented to his lovely fiancée, Patricia. We are so happy for them both! Lori and I are also really looking forward to the trip we will be making to visit our daughter Danielle and her husband Colin in St. Louis during New Year’s week. We just can’t wait to see our sweet granddaughter, Emi Lou!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
I’m excited to be writing this Shabbat message to you 3 days before Thanksgiving, which is when you will receive it. Noah, our 26 year old son, came in on Sunday and it’s been wonderful to once again fill our “empty nest” with the young man that we love so much. Along with Noah, we have been spending time with lifelong friends and we really are beginning to feel at home. Speaking of home, our renovations continue to progress with the pool deck now completed - next up the pool!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
As I write this Shabbat message to you, Lori and I are counting the days until our son comes to visit for the Thanksgiving holiday. We haven’t seen our youngest since July, and we really can’t wait to spend some time with him. Our sweet granddaughter Emi Lou is now 7 months old, hitting milestones including cutting her first 2 teeth! We continue to work on home improvements, and Lori and I both feel settled and very much a part of our warm community. This is a wonderful time to reflect with gratitude on all of the blessings we have in our lives.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
I am writing this week’s Shabbat Message to you on Election Day. Without getting particularly political, most of us are aware that our country has been split in half for quite a while now. The last several elections have been razor thin and the balance of power is as deadlocked as in any time I can recall in my 58 twirls around the sun. The outcome will be most interesting and will determine the direction our country is headed in at least for the next 2 years until the next presidential elections.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
Today is the first Thursday in November. That means that our seasonal chevre (friends) are returning to their second home. Welcome back! We missed you and are so glad you are back here. I just returned from New York, where I attended the very lovely and unique wedding of one of my cousins. Officiated by an Orthodox Rabbi, the ceremony was traditional and beautiful. As we gathered at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, Long Island amid spectacular fall foliage, we all looked on with joy and pride as two amazing young men stood under a gorgeous huppah (wedding canopy) and cemented their commitment to one another and to their Jewish heritage. It was a wonderful celebration of life and love, and I am honored to have been a part of it.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
You are receiving this message the night before the World Series. For baseball fans, the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies should be a fun match up. It will surely be a bright spot in a week of disturbing headlines that include brazen antisemitism, bellicose rhetoric from the Kremlin, and a significant leadership shuffle in the United Kingdom. Here in the United States, we’re heading into mid-term elections, with early voting underway in our area. Election Day is coming up on Tuesday, November 8th. To paraphrase the well-known Chinese proverb, we certainly do live in interesting times…
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
The High Holidays for 5783 have come and gone, leaving me with the feeling that these past few weeks have been a lovely and reflective time (and maybe with a few extra pounds too!). Lori and I have now passed the six-month mark here in our new community. We are very excited that our son Noah will be going on a Birthright mission to Israel in January, and that we will be visiting our daughter Danielle, son in law Colin, and granddaughter Emi Lou in St. Louis over the winter holidays.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
As the Jewish High Holiday season continues to unfold, my wife and I are appreciative of the very meaningful Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services we’ve attended, as well as dinners with new friends and family here in our new South Palm Beach community.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
I am writing this week’s message to you on Erev Yom Kippur. Our first Yom Kippur in South Palm Beach County, it also marks 6 months since we moved to town. So much has happened in our lives since then, and I am reminded of what a joy it has been to make new friends and to contribute to the growth and success of our new community. Lori and I will also be celebrating our 34th wedding anniversary on October 9th. Where have the years gone?
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
I’m writing this week’s Shabbat message on the second night of Rosh Hashana—from our guest bathroom. I have no choice, as it’s the only room in our house without windows, and Lori and I are riding out the tornado warning that is covering our area. It’s a good opportunity to reflect!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
I find it amazing that this is the last Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah 5783. This time last year, I could hardly have imagined that Lori and I would be Floridians again, happily settled here in South Palm Beach County and working on making our new house a home. A year ago, I had no way of knowing that I’d soon be CEO of the Adolph & Rose Levis JCC, which is really full circle for me, as I began my Jewish professional career running a swim program for the Westchester JCC when I was in college, and spent a year as the Teen Director of the Riverdale YM-YWHA. At that time, I aspired to become the head of a JCC. Many years later, here I am, and I couldn’t be happier. Life can take some interesting twists and turns, and that was certainly the case for the Haberer family in 5782.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
We are now just 10 days away from celebrating Rosh Hashanah and the year 5783. On the home front, Lori and I are now in our beautiful home here in South Palm Beach County for 5 months, and our current project is a backyard renovation that includes chipping out our swimming pool. This project is both terrifying and exciting, as at the moment, the yard looks like something from the surface of the moon.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
This has been a whirlwind week for us. Lori and I left for New Jersey on Friday for our niece’s wedding. Unfortunately, the weekend turned upside down when we learned of the sudden passing of Lori’s aunt, one day before the wedding and the morning of the rehearsal dinner. We managed to keep the sad news from the bride and groom until after the wedding, which was a wonderful and lovely simcha. Sadly, the next day we attended the funeral and first day of shivah. This topsy-turvy weekend was an example of what a rollercoaster life can truly be.
