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Rabbi Fishel's Blog

we often take our freedoms for granted

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Dear Friends,

 As you drove through some communities in the past few days, you may have seen some small versions of Old Glory waving from the medians, or perhaps some larger versions almost draping the homes of the very patriotic.  "Memorial Day — how nice," you may have thought as you continued driving among fluttering flags.  But wait, take a moment to reflect.
 Sometimes we take these familiar icons for granted. In the same way, we often take our freedoms for granted, accepting them as rights rather than privileges that were won in exchange for the lives of many people— some young, some older, people  just like us. There is no doubt that  we should honor the sacrifices made by these heroes, and perhaps consider living to love more in their honor.  

Yes, Memorial Day is a time when we get to spend more time with those we love.  In addition to showing our young  loved ones  as much affection as we can, we can show them by example that the Stars and Stripes are more than just decoration: those flags deserve our attention and are a symbol of our hard-earned freedom.  

Let us now be worthy of the sacrifices of our heroes while praying that their souls should rest in peace.  We pray for blessings of safety and strength for all members of the armed forces and their families, today and every day.

 

 

we are busier than ever

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Dear Friends,

Now that season is over and things are slowing down — wait a minute! At Chabad Naples you'd never know:  at this time of year it seems we are busier than ever.  We just  enjoyed a beautiful end-of-year celebration, we'll rejoice this next week with the graduation of two preschool classes and Hebrew school as well. Then, we will be treated to the sound of about 598 little feet  dancing though our doors as we host the biggest summer yet at our camp.

We all know it's impossible o have a bad day when you are surrounded by children,  so if you feel a need for energizing and recharging your love batteries, just take advantage of this standing invitation to come visit and tour the camp's activity center.  We can learn so much from these enthusiastic, young children! As they burst with energy, so Chabad continues to hustle in a healthy, happy way. 

 

 

Our precious Holocaust Torah!

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Our precious Holocaust Torah!

At our Grand Opening festivities in 2011, we formally welcomed this very special Torah. In 1940, this Torah scroll was buried underground in Warsaw, Poland, and was thereby saved from the horrific inferno of the Holocaust. In the years since, this Torah changed hands a number of times and fell into a state of disrepair.

We have become the stewards of a valuable piece of history, thanks to donors Sam & Trudy Adwar, who entrusted it to us saying, "It is in good hands at Chabad of Naples." 

And thanks to the generosity of Ellen A. Goldman & Sam Savage , and Ben-Rachel Federman & Rachel Federman this resilient and historical treasure has been fully restored to proper and usable condition.
Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), which begins tonight, is a time of remembrance. Not only do we honor the survivors, we also honor the special neshamot who are not with us.

We never stop mourning what we’ve lost, but at the same time, we never stop living. We go on building and rebuilding; planting and replanting. We go on teaching our children. We go on celebrating and standing together, bringing comfort and support to one another. Am Yisroel Chai!

 

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