A picture for Zvi... Remember him??

A Daaaavvviiiddd... A Melech Yisraiyel!

If you don't laugh... You're only a beinuni!

Taken from yamlive.blogspot.com

One of the most beautiful (Goyishe) songs ever composed.

I heard this song for the first time back when I was in Ottawa. We were a few guys who went over to shabse Krevsky's house (some awesome dude from Ottawa) to hear him play some guitar on a Motzaei Shabbos. He played a bunch of songs. Some were Jewish some were not... But even the non-Jewish ones were obviously universally Kosher.
Anyways, this one stood out and made my heart melt.
Beautiful and inspiring. It's by Kenny Rogers... Watch!

MALKY ROCKS!!!!

Thank you so much for the wonderful and generous donation to our new Chabad House...

For all those who just tuned in. Yesterday I went to San Diego for a day. I wasn't considered an official Shliach until yesterday afternoon, when I met with Rabbi Fradkin, who is bringing me down and we shook hands.
That hand shake will change our lives forever. Yes. It's official now! We are going on Shlichus to Los Cabos, Mexico to open up a Chabad house for the community there and for the tourists... IY"H it'll be awesome!!!

I'm nervous about the responsiblity and expectations that are there for us... We'll have to see.

I love Jewish people.

Again, thanks so much Malky. You rock!

It hasn't even settled...

Recent picture with a son in my hands... A SON!!!!!

First picture that I ever uploaded onto the blog. Years ago. Also without a son!


It's so weird, how this blog started several years ago, while I was still a Pitzleh in Hong Kong, helping out with all the Peulois and other activities. The blog has followed me through fun, through tough, through depressing and incredibly happy times.
Now, the blog will come together with me into yet another new life that I am undertaking.
My life will change so much in the next few weeks. I will be responsible to do things that I've never dreamed I am capable of doing... But, knowing that it's not me doing it, it's the Rebbe guiding my every move is some comfort.
I guess it helps calm the troubled nerves of an innocent Yeshiva boy who doesn't know how to deal with a viciously raging sea called 'the world', when he believes that the Rebbe, who has infinite powers and potential is actually doing all the work. He is only the hammer in the Rebbe's hands...

That means that I'd better begin feeling like a hammer and not like the blacksmith!!

Anyways, hope this blog continues on through this new life and beyond. Happy blogging!

Shua and Bashy!!! Go BABY!!!!

Special shout out of gratitude to my wonderful Shvester Bashie and brother in law Shua Naparstek on their contribution to 'the cause!!!'

You guys rock!! Thanks so much for the donation.

Keep 'em coming baby!!!

Whoever donates goes onto our mailing list and will Be"h be paid back plus... Hashem will shower you with more money and blessings and you will also receive a thank you card from us (We're waiting until we arrive in Cabos, so that the thank you card can also show you pictures of what you're helping achieve!)

The Sabra RULES!!!!!

Thanks so much for the donation... Lets go people's... !!! Sponsor mullah!!!!

Donate to Chabad Cabo... Please!!

If y'all are out there and care any bit about us... Please send a donation to us. We could really use the help. You'll also be getting the Mitzvah.

Shkoyach!

In the morning...

I can't believe that I haven't updated this blog in over a week.

Alot has happened the past couple of days.
We need to work on the big move.
I need to travel to San Diego to meet with our soon to be head Shliach, Rabbi Fradkin. Here's the story:

You see, Rabbi Fradkin has the policy to not make any Shlichus under him official, until the Shluchim to be actually meet with him in person.
Therefore, we were planning on making a stopover in Diego to meet with the Rabbi, once we would already be on our way to Cabos, Mexico. That makes it cheaper for us and it would be more convenient as well.
Problems began when I realized that there were lots of things in Crown Heights that I couldn't take advantage of before going on Shlichus, because I wasn't officially recognized by Merkos as a Shliach.
Some people give generous donations to new shluchim. They give it only if there is a letter proving your new Shlichus position.
Kehos will give membership and the shluchim's discount only if proven that you're actually a genuine and legitimate Shliach.
Anyways, all this meant that I would have to see Rabbi Fradkin earlier, so that I can have all these Crown Heights issues dealt with before I even head off. It would make everything that much easier.

But little did I know what was in store for me... On Thursday, I wake up to several text messages, wishing me Mazel Tov and good luck on Shlichus etc... I figured that these friends who are sending me the texts just heard the news from some of the other friends whom I've told in person.
But later on, at Shacharis in 770 is when I figured out that it wasn't so simple. You see, there are Lubavich news websites who like having all that competition with the other sites. It makes them feel fuzzy inside and proud, when they can tell everyone that they got the news up the first. The best websites put up the news for the people. They're not slow and inconvinent. I guess it keeps people coming back for more... But never was I on the receiving end of that attitude. Never did I ever have to suffer for their competitiveness. Until Thursday.
Apparently, it was Shturem.net that somehow found out that I was going on Shlichus and then Crownheights.info got ahold of it too (apparently, they both work together).
Shturem.net, without any consent or even permission whatsoever puts up an article about new Shluchim heading out. They even put up some picture of Kovi, Sonia and myself. I don't know where they got it from. It was probably from a personal family blog or something. But without any consideration that Merkos has not yet approved these new Shluchim and publicizing it could jeopardize the upcoming Shlichus, they posted it, happy and content that they had found out the first and the world now knows only because of them...

I found out that it was put online in 770 and I was upset. I specifically hadn't sent in any info about our Shlichus because it wasn't officialized yet. But I still let it go. I don't care what the media writes. I didn't send it in and that was it. It was wrong of them to do that, but they're the media, so what can you do...

I had that attitude until later on in the day, when I began seeing the comments that were coming out of Shturem.net... People apparently had assumed that I had sent in that picture, which had me in some sweater (no hat or jacket) standing next to the wife and child. So they got upset at fact that I publicized a picture of a woman on a Lubavich website, which is borderline Tznius. Their problem was that as a Shliach, I need to have higher standards than this... "How dare I go around publicizing such a picture!!" "I should be ashamed at myself for calling myself Chabad!!" "I'm supposed to be a Neir LehoIr, not Ch"v ...!!!"
These were some of the comments that I read.
This made me extremely upset and prompted me to write Shturem the fiery letter, about how they have the nerve to publicize something that is still private. They are jeopardizing my entire Shlichus for their own gain. So that they can have 100 more people look at their site.
I was furious that our name and charachter had been scrubbed and degraded to be looked down upon like that by the Lubavich world.

Anyways, after a verbally violent phone call that my wife made to crownheights.info and a very nasty email that I sent to Shturem, the pictures were finally changed... But I still got a call from Rabbi Polichenco in Diego asking me if I put it up, because if Fradkin sees it, it may have a negative effect on our being hired by him.
I need to explain to him that I had absolutely no part in it and it was done without any permission whatsoever.

So that's my suffering story, with regard to the media and the horrible powers that they are capable of.

Kudos to Shmais and collive for not publicizing that news. I am going to send them an email thanking them for being responsible and Mentchlich about others feelings...

We'll see.

You're right anonymous...

Have you heard??

Have you heard of the Arab boy who threw a stone at some Israeli car, but the stone bounced off of the tire and reversed at high speed back into9 the arab boy's skull, leaving him critically wounded and then dying several hours later.?
Check it out here...

David and Goliath??

The most horrid of horrid!!

Iranian boy getting his hand crushed, because he stole from a store... These are the people we are protecting. How dare Israel fire upon them. Let them live their lives at peace between each other... Sickening.

(Pictures taken from Yamlive.blogspot.com)

In other news, it's Sunday and I just finished a game show. I need to do so much this week it's crazy!

Sonia 'borrowed' her brother Yossi's tune which he composed several months ago. She asked me to put words to it so that she can go and record it... I did.
Somehow, the song came out to be all about the situation in Israel and how our Mitzvo's can make this world a better place to live in no matter how impossible it may seem.

Portion of the song:
"Sitting in my lazy boy and thinking of a better world, my heart feels better when I change the channel on tv,
Reality is screaming and the Rabbi's they are dreaming when they tell me that the better world is up to you and me..."

Whu-eh-vuh!

I'm going to head off and see if the Shluchim's office can give me a list of people in CH who will donate money to new Shluchim heading off on Shlichus.
We need to raise about 40 to 50 thousand dollars for this year alone... I'm scared. But the Rebbe is with me. I think. I know. I believe!!!

My love can never stop!!

I cannot get over this Moshe yess and his guitar skills!!! Why isn't he the greatest on earth??!!

Thanks to Yanky Ascher for posting these onto youtube... Enjoy beloved crowd and watch Moshe's hands move!!















Don't ever stop watching these people!!!

Here's a little bonus from yanky Ascher. I love you so much Yanky!!!

Shluchei Adoneinu!!

El Arco. The famous Arch at the tippy edge of Baja California... It is where the Pacific ocean and the sea of Cortez meet.

A random Pelican on the water. He will be my neighbor.

Kovi Kov. Still the cutestestestest pie-cake in the world.


So some of you are obviously thinking "Oh! He must've forgotten about this blog!!" "He's probably NEVER gonna' update this thing!"
Well, how wrong you are.
This past week, the entire 'Mishpoche' flew to Los Cabos, Mexico. We were checking out a possible Shlichus opportunity, where we would open a brand new Chabad House, going out on the Shlichus of the Rebbe.
Los Cabos is incredible. It's this gorgeous vacation resort town, where tourists from all over the world come to see its wonders.
Shabbos was incredible. Over 40 people came to the Shul on Friday night to Davven and enjoy a wonderful Shabbos meal with the community.
Friday morning I was taken snorkelling. That was cool. But not as cool as Sunday morning, when I was taken by one of the community members and my brother in law scuba diving. I've never experienced anything like it in my entire life. Swimming with wild sea lions was absolutely incredible.

Anyways, the point is that IY"H in just over a month, we will be embarking upon a lifelong mission of serving the Jewish community of Cabos and spreading YIddishkeit to that edge of the world, preparing it for the wonderful revelations of Moshiach which will come about imminently.

I am currently in the process of fundraising for the move and for the establishment of the Chabad.

When it's not so late at night and I have some more time, I will IY"H update this blog more and give you more details!!

Ciao!

My favorite singer. Ever!

Another video that Shleps out my Kishkes.

Why do these Palestinian children need to be so tortured by their own. It's not Israel's fault for defending themselves... How could the world stay quiet????!!!!

More songs for the fast.

Being that watching youtube video has sort of turned into a religious custom on fast days (It's sort of like chess on Nittul Nacht), here are several really cool videos that I am currently enjoying on this sad day of 10 Teves.

This has 'Kol Isha' and I will not embed it onto the blog. But a friend told me of this song from Israel during the Eurovison 1979 and it really is a gorgeous song.

This next one is a classic and I'm in love with it.



It's from the Eurovison of 1978. I think Israel won first place in Eurovision both those years. It was their first time ever winning

This is unbelievable.

Sonia is gonna' kill me for posting this.



When we were in Israel right after we got married, we stayed in this apartment for like 2 weeks. The apartment stay was a whole long story, but it happened to be right across from the "maafeh Neeman" at the corner of Yaffo Road and King Shlomo (I think) where this guy played every single day.
Anyways, it sounds nice when you watch the 35 second clip. But when you're woken up at 8am every single morning to the nauseating sounds of this guitar, you literally feel like emptying the guys can of change over his head and breaking that guitar. It was so frustrating every morning, but this is an awesome video which brings back fond memories.

Pictures from facebook that the world should see...

A new year's resolution: Could we be a little more polite, please?

The following articel was written by Michael Deacon for the English Newspaper... The telegraph. Very interesting and I thought it fitting to post it on this blog. Here is the link to the original article online.


Two years ago I was travelling by train from London to Edinburgh to spend Christmas with my family. All the seats were taken, so I had to stand in the aisle. I wasn't the only one. Standing a few feet away from me was an elderly man who looked familiar. The sergeant-major posture, the aquiline nose, the forbidding brow of an Easter Island monolith: Jack Charlton.

I was surprised. Not because I'd found myself sharing a standard-class train carriage with a much-loved former footballer, but because no one offered him a seat. A lot of the seats in the carriage were occupied by young men wearing football tops. Clearly, they liked football – and yet, just as clearly, they didn't like football enough to give up their seat to a man who had once helped their country to win the World Cup. Charlton, who was then aged 71, stayed on the train until it reached Newcastle. The journey took around three hours. He spent every minute on his feet, completing a crossword puzzle in a newspaper he had no surface to rest on.

I was surprised at the time. I don't think that I would be now. Because in 2008, Britain as a nation became ruder than ever. And I'm not even talking about the kind of rudeness that prompted Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand to leave chortlingly obscene messages on the answering machine of a blameless actor. I'm talking about bad manners.

More and more last year, it seemed that many of us thought it our right to offend or inconvenience others. We considered consideration beneath us. Today, as we decide on our New Year's resolutions for 2009, being more polite would make an excellent choice.

We know that Britain has got ruder because all the signs are there – literally. In overground railway stations there are now notices begging passengers not to assault train staff. In stations on the London Underground there are similar ones pleading with passengers to let others off the train first, not to push each other, not to use seats for their bags. It's bewildering that we should need to be told these things, yet evidently we do. What's next, "Please don't steal", "Please try not to kill each other"?

The latest technology has also brought us innumerable new opportunities to be rude – and look how often we take them. The mobile phone, for instance. In 2008, it became an everyday occurrence to spend a bus or train journey inwardly groaning as some halfwit of a fellow passenger broadcast music through the tinny loudspeakers of their mobile. It was also common to see a customer at a checkout in a shop, babbling on their mobile while an assistant served them.

Then there's the internet. The internet is in many ways informative and entertaining, a revolutionary news resource. But as a means of communication it has become a mouthpiece not only for the decent majority but for the malicious minority.

Go to YouTube and search for a video featuring your favourite singer. Below it, read the comments posted by other visitors to the site. Among them there's almost certain to be an eruption of insults based on the singer's character, intelligence, gender, sexuality, nationality or religion. Other visitors, more often than not, will have leapt to the singer's defence – usually by posting messages insulting the original visitor's character, intelligence, gender, sexuality, nationality or religion. On the internet, people now feel at liberty to taunt others in a way they'd never dare do in person – or so you'd hope, anyway.

And while many of the latest electronic means of communication were created to bring us closer together, they are also cutting us off from each other. If you're reading your emails on an iPhone while walking down the street – an increasingly widespread habit last year – you may be keeping up with friends and colleagues, but you're oblivious to pedestrians around you.

However, these new means of communication have succeeded in achieving one thing: they have given us the impression that we are entitled to get whatever we want, as quickly as we want it. Listen to music, check your emails, make some telephone calls – whenever and wherever you like. Being spoilt in this way means that, when we find ourselves experiencing the least inconvenience, we feel affronted, as if our rights were being trampled on.

A long queue at the cash machine, being kept on hold when telephoning the bank, waiting more than 10 seconds to cross a busy road – it's almost a reflex, these days, to take such trifles personally. A phenomenon of the Nineties was road rage. Today, I'm sure that more and more of us feel pavement rage. There are too many people and they're in our way.

More than a million members of Facebook have joined a group on the website, called "I Secretly Want to Punch Slow Walking People in the Back of the Head". Getting angry, in this irrational and impotent manner, only makes us ruder. Either we barge other pedestrians out of our path or we snap, "Excuse me" in a tone more appropriate to a curse.

Perhaps the biggest problem is that rudeness is, in some quarters, no longer something to be ashamed of; it's applauded. This is an attitude fed by reality television. We see it in every series of The Apprentice and Big Brother. Again and again, contestants who have said something tactless or insulting will protest that they're merely being "honest", while contestants who politely try to conceal their dislike of others are dismissed as "two-faced".

Last year, it was announced that lessons in good manners were to be introduced to schools. As long as teachers drop the waffle (the classes are to promote "emotional and social intelligence", apparently), this sounds a useful idea. Well, if you overlook the inevitable flaw: the pupils most likely to pay attention to such lessons are the ones who already have good manners. The ones with bad manners, naturally enough, will ignore them.

But how can we expect the adult world to become any more polite in 2009 – as the recession's grip tightens, businesses collapse and jobs and houses are lost? If we were irascibly inconsiderate in the boom years, goodness knows how we'll treat each other in the lean years.

Let's try to look at it in a more positive way. The less that we have, maybe the more we'll realise the importance of manners, of thoughtfulness, of common decency. In a time of pessimism, that would be one thing to hope for. As life gets crueller, perhaps we'll get kinder.

Why can't the world understand??!!

And one link.

To collive

Finally... The video and the song.

Azoi is Geshriben when you watch the video.

Dear Friends,
Now that we've all had a chance to take a closer look at the lives of our dear shluchim and the whole world got a firsthand look at their mesiras nefesh and devotion, I felt that we should salute and honor them. We should not have to wait for devastating tragedies to recognize the preciousness of the shluchim. We should not have to experience such heartbreak to awaken us to stand united and do all we can to bring Moshiach. I hope this song expresses how indebted the world is to our wonderful shluchim. Together, let's fill the world with Hashem's light and with goodness and kindness.I would like to thank Chonei Milecki and Benny Hershkowits. A very special thanks to Dovid Weinbaum for his video production skills and for his devotion and driving force behind this entire project.
Chaim Fogelman