The purpose of this blog is to make everyone a star at the Shabbat table... Please share...
Happy Birthday to Marc in MV and to our dear daughter Devorah.
How did your family enjoy last week's 2020 jokes?
This week we turn more serious again.
Many families across the Jewish spectrum practice the beautiful custom of blessing their children Friday night.
Girls get the blessing, "May God make you like Sarah, Rivka (Rebecca), Rachel and Leah.
Four of the greatest; fair enough.
But boys get the blessing, "May God make you like Ephrayim and Menasheh."
Not like Avraham, Yizchak, or Yaakov. Not like Yoseph or Moshe or Aharon nor even like King David.
Rather, be like Ephraim and Menashe, the two sons of Yoseph, who were famous for ______?
Try using that as your first question for the table this week.
If everyone responds with a bewildered stare, you can say, "You're all right! Ephraim and Menashe didn't do anything worthy of inclusion in the Torah!"
So what's the point of the blessing?
Because unlike so many boys (ahem), they lived with zero envy.
Second question for your table: How do you raise kids like that?
How appropriate that this week's two birthdays are two individuals who don't need it. Marc in MV and our daughter Devorah are way beyond petty envy or rivalry. They are both genuinely happy for the success of others - even their sisters.
Last week I also mentioned the Siyum HaShas in cities around the world.
The UK version occurred this week in Wembley Arena (not to be confused with Wembley Stadium).
After the event, the following letter was sent:
+ + + +
Dear Siyum Team
It is 2am as I write this to you having just got home after the Siyum.
On behalf of all the team I must express our deepest pride and pleasure at being given the opportunity to host the Siyum event.
When we were first approached in July by the committee we had absolutely no idea what type of event this was nor what to expect in terms of the programme or what was actually going to happen.
Working closely with the team we began to gain an understanding, and as the date approached, I briefed our internal staff as to the nature of the event. However nothing could really have prepared us for what happened.
6,748 tickets were scanned at the door, aside form the top table Rabbi's who entered via the VIP entrance and of course all your volunteers and crew. There are are number of points that have blown us away:
Happy Birthday to Marc in MV and to our dear daughter Devorah.
How did your family enjoy last week's 2020 jokes?This week we turn more serious again.
Many families across the Jewish spectrum practice the beautiful custom of blessing their children Friday night.
Girls get the blessing, "May God make you like Sarah, Rivka (Rebecca), Rachel and Leah.
Four of the greatest; fair enough.
But boys get the blessing, "May God make you like Ephrayim and Menasheh."
Not like Avraham, Yizchak, or Yaakov. Not like Yoseph or Moshe or Aharon nor even like King David.
Rather, be like Ephraim and Menashe, the two sons of Yoseph, who were famous for ______?
Try using that as your first question for the table this week.
If everyone responds with a bewildered stare, you can say, "You're all right! Ephraim and Menashe didn't do anything worthy of inclusion in the Torah!"
So what's the point of the blessing?
Because unlike so many boys (ahem), they lived with zero envy.
Second question for your table: How do you raise kids like that?
How appropriate that this week's two birthdays are two individuals who don't need it. Marc in MV and our daughter Devorah are way beyond petty envy or rivalry. They are both genuinely happy for the success of others - even their sisters.
Last week I also mentioned the Siyum HaShas in cities around the world.
The UK version occurred this week in Wembley Arena (not to be confused with Wembley Stadium).
After the event, the following letter was sent:
+ + + +
Dear Siyum Team
It is 2am as I write this to you having just got home after the Siyum.
On behalf of all the team I must express our deepest pride and pleasure at being given the opportunity to host the Siyum event.
When we were first approached in July by the committee we had absolutely no idea what type of event this was nor what to expect in terms of the programme or what was actually going to happen.
Working closely with the team we began to gain an understanding, and as the date approached, I briefed our internal staff as to the nature of the event. However nothing could really have prepared us for what happened.
6,748 tickets were scanned at the door, aside form the top table Rabbi's who entered via the VIP entrance and of course all your volunteers and crew. There are are number of points that have blown us away:
1. We have a security cupboard in which we allow guests to deposit anything deemed dangerous or inappropriate. At an event this size we would normally have anything between 700-1,000 items. Tonight we held nothing.
2. There was not a single incident of drunkenness, boisterous or rowdy behaviour. Not a single one. I have been at the Arena for 28 months and accommodated over 300 events in that time. Never have we had no incidents.
3. All the team were blown away by the amount of thank you's that we received at the end of the evening. I actually thought everyone had been instructed to do this!
2. There was not a single incident of drunkenness, boisterous or rowdy behaviour. Not a single one. I have been at the Arena for 28 months and accommodated over 300 events in that time. Never have we had no incidents.
3. All the team were blown away by the amount of thank you's that we received at the end of the evening. I actually thought everyone had been instructed to do this!
I am devastated that Siyum only takes place once every seven years. This event was a delight for all of us.
Becky S_____
Operations Manager
+ + + +
Question for your table - where did that come from?
Shabbat Shalom
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