The dog days of August are quickly coming to an end. It’s certainly not too soon for me as this is about the time of year when the Florida summers of 90-100 degree temperatures with near 70% humidity become tedious, and yet we know that we still have 2 more months of brutally hot and humid weather to go. After 15 years in Florida in total, one would think I’d be used to the furnace like summer weather here. As August winds down and I look forward to the possibility of cooler days ahead, it also means the beginning of another exciting season at the Levis JCC.
This week my dad, Otto Haberer, z”L, would have turned 95. He passed 26 years ago and yet I am always keenly aware that my family exists in this world because of that man and my mom of course. His impact is so far-reaching. Thinking of him makes me think of my favorite movie of all time, the 1946 classic It’s A Wonderful Life, which highlights the impact each and every one of us has in the way the world is shaped and what goes on in it.
As we come to the end of the exciting summer Olympic Games held in Paris, this week JCC Maccabi Games and Access welcomed 1,200 Jewish teens to Houston, Texas to participate in the world’s largest Jewish youth sports event. I am very proud that our Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center’s Levis Krug Team Boca athletes have the opportunity to be a part of this incredible program. Unfortunately, my family and I had to cancel our eagerly anticipated vacation to Siesta Key Beach, but it really was the right call in postponing that trip. The Sarasota/Bradenton area received 17 inches of rain and some of the worst storm damage in its history due to Hurricane Debby. Lori and I are now eager to reschedule some precious time with our daughter Danielle, son-in-law Colin, and their daughter, Emi Lou, our precious granddaughter.
Today, our son Noah and his beautiful family returned to Arizona after spending such a wonderful week together. From a visit to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, beach time in Delray, and lots of time in our pool, we soaked up quality family time eating great food and watching season six of Cobra Kai together. Though it’s always so very hard to say L’hitraot (till next we meet), we are so looking forward to our next family visit – this time with our daughter Danielle, her husband Colin and our granddaughter, Emi Lou. We will be spending that time on Siesta Key beach in Sarasota, which was home for us for 13 glorious years. We can’t wait!
Today is “getaway day” for my family. Lori, Noah, Patricia, Gabby, Ollie and I will be enjoying Disney World for a few days. It is the first time Lori and I are visiting since we took our two young children 25 years ago! This time, as grandparents, is very special! We may even run into excited happy campers from our Marleen Forkas Summer Camp, who are on a two-day overnight trip to Disney World! It’s just one of the many things that truly makes our Levis JCC Marleen Forkas Camps program so wonderful.
What a crazy and hectic week this has been – Lori and I are very much looking forward to wrapping it up with some wonderful family time with our son Noah, his fiancée Patricia, and their daughters. We can’t wait for them to arrive! I know all my fellow baseball fans tuned in for Major League Baseball’s 94th All Star Game on Tuesday. After that terrific game, we’re all ready for the final third of another exciting season!
This Friday evening, Lori and I are very excited to be hosting another lovely group of 10 of our Board members at our home. It is such a nice way to get to know our leadership and we look forward to sharing a beautiful Shabbat dinner together. We have been hosting Shabbat dinners periodically since we moved to this community, and we really have made some wonderful friendships. We are both looking forward to another great evening of friends, food and fun!
Wishing all of you and those you love a happy and safe Independence Day and 4th of July weekend. Independence Day is a federal holiday commemorating the Declaration of Independence and establishing the United States of America, yet somewhere along the way, much like Memorial Day and Labor Day, the true significance of the holiday got lost. It’s important to remember the meaning of this day as Americans, as we celebrate by watching the fireworks and enjoying our barbeques.
We did it— our Florida Panthers are the Stanley Cup Champions for the first time in the 30-year franchise history! It took all seven games to accomplish it, but we got it done! It’s always so exciting when your home team wins a championship, and I am already looking forward to next year’s season of fantastic South Florida sports.
This Shabbat message comes to you after an exciting Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals between our Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers. While it wasn’t a win for us on Tuesday night, our Cats are leading the series 3-2, and I am hoping for a win tomorrow night. Go Cats!
This week, we celebrate one of the holiest Jewish holidays of the year, Shavuot (sometimes known as the Feast of Weeks). It is always interesting to me that so few in our Jewish community are aware of Shavuot, which is, our tradition tells us, when the Torah was given to the Jewish people. We count 50 days from the second night of Passover in anticipation of Shavuot (the Counting of the Omer). On a lighter note, Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was spectacular, with the Florida Panthers defeating the Edmonton Oilers last night; the Panthers are currently leading the best of 7 series 2-0 — GO CATS!
I am pretty excited about our Florida Panthers going back to the Stanley Cup finals for the second year in a row with home ice advantage and the favorites to beat the Edmonton Oilers to win their first ever Stanley Cup Championship. Lori and I do have a pretty good track record of bringing championships to the cities we move to while we are living there—New Jersey, Detroit, Tampa, and Phoenix (who came pretty close in 2 professional sports).
It is hard to believe that this is already the last Shabbat message in May and that Lori and I are completing our third May living in South Palm Beach County. I truly feel like I have once again become a Floridian, and while I have to admit I never expected it, I have become a passionate Florida Panthers fan…and what an amazing time to be a fan! I am personally elated by Tuesday night’s overtime victory and can’t wait to continue cheering them on in game 5. GO CATS!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
This week we will be commemorating Memorial Day, honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is a holiday with deep personal significance and meaning for me. My Uncle and my namesake, Private Martin Haberer, fought in World War II and was killed during the Battle of Bastogne on January 14,1 945, just shy of his 20th birthday. He was a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division, 327 Glider Infantry known as the Screaming Eagles. He is my hero.
This week I had the honor of welcoming guests to the Levis JCC Betty & Marvin Zale Early Childhood Center’s Pre-K graduation ceremony. It is such a wonderful feeling to see our collective future proudly cross our stage in cap and gown as they experience the joy and achievement of graduating from something for the very first time. It was a beautiful morning celebrating the children and acknowledging proud parents, grandparents, and recognizing our dedicated Zale teachers and staff who infuse each day at Zale with love, warmth, and caring. We will miss our graduates but know they are on their way to great things ahead in kindergarten and beyond!
On Tuesday evening, I was privileged to participate in my third Annual Meeting for our Adolph & Rose Levis JCC in Zinman Hall on the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County Campus. It was a packed room, beautifully decorated, and most importantly there was so much warmth, happiness and an overwhelming feeling of pride for our Levis JCC.
I hope you all had a wonderful Passover filled with family and friends, as Lori and I did. This year, there was so much to contemplate and celebrate, and while it was wonderful to enjoy this beautiful holiday, my heart and mind constantly returned to our beloved Israel. I am fortunate to be able to spend a good amount of my Passover days in my garden, and this year was no different. It is a good place to reflect on everything happening in the world. With news reports of distressing events coming in daily, I am reminded that here in our area, we continue to build a strong community and find ways to come together.
Let me begin by wishing each of you and your families a happy Passover. Also known as the Festival of Freedom, Passover is all about being together for Seder and retelling the story of how our ancestors, freed from slavery in Egypt, made the Exodus to Israel. Lori and I were delighted to join Levis JCC Immediate Past Chair Emily Grabelsky and her wonderful family for a beautiful Seder, while across the country in Arizona, our son Noah, Patricia and their girls enjoyed the first Seder at their local Chabad. They had a wonderful time, met new friends and are now enthusiastic about participating in more events and activities in their community. At the Seder, Noah recognized a second cousin who he had no idea had moved within 4 minutes of his home. He and his family, and Noah and his family celebrated a wonderful holiday all together. Even amid our joyful celebrations, at Seder tables around the world, our hearts ached for the 133 hostages that remain captive in Gaza. The place for the prophet Elijah felt especially lonely and poignant to me this year. We continue to pray for their safe return, and for peace in Israel and everywhere.
I cannot write this week’s Shabbat message without expressing the deep emotion I felt as I became aware of and anticipated the strike of 300 missiles from Iran into Israel. Thankfully and seemingly miraculously, almost all of them were shot down, although seven did land in Israel, and a young Bedouin child was harmed. I am keeping her and her family in my thoughts. Even more miraculous was the coordinated defense lead by the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom, France, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. We all wonder what comes next and pray for the safety of our beloved Israel.
Lori and I arrived back in town from Phoenix on Tuesday morning, and we both hit the ground running. My whirlwind day back at our Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center included several meetings, while our Center buzzed with the usual full day of wonderful programs, including a full house for the final presentation in our “A Literary Afternoon” featuring author Aaron Hamburger presenting his novel Hotel Cuba. That evening I attended our Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County’s Annual Meeting, which celebrated a healthy and growing annual campaign as well as an additional $4.1 million raised for the Israel Emergency fund. Kol Hakavod!
