Upshernish pics... Start from the bottom of post.

Photos of my life and stuff!

My big boy Kovi!!! Three years old.

Like father like son... The picture is me when I was two years old.

Every Sunday outside WalMart there are little kiddie cars to rent and drive around in.

Kovi loves driving... Just don't do what your Daddy did.

My zeeseh beeseh Menny!

We had a Jewish family come from LA. The wife brought all this paradise to our home. Isn't that so kind of her??

World famous Mendy Pellin visited Cabo and came to us for dinner.

The Purim costumes...

Thoughts that are in my head going 'swirl'

Divine providence


Life is not easy. At least that’s what we’re always told by the adult figures in our lives.

Is it? As young, lively human beings, still immune to pain and suffering, will we ever come to experience the hardships of life? What do the difficulties entail? Will we be able to handle them efficiently when they come? Or will we lose our sanity to the endless challenges that we are told will inevitably torment our conscience sometime in the future?

Judaism explains that before every challenge, Hashem sends the necessary strength to persevere. Nothing is outside our reach. If we grab onto that determination, faith and strength that G-d almighty gives to us, then we can handle anything.

In fact, with the small, microscopic issues that have been hurdled to me in my lifetime, I’ve always found that Hashem somehow injected me with the strength to crawl through.

Whether it be financial, medical or emotional difficulties… Hashem helps us.

So several weeks ago, when we got a substantial donation to our Jewish Center, I was thrilled that we had some extra cash to go around. We would not be so tight anymore with funds and stuff like that. It would be nice to know that we have some money in the bank, to be able to spend on trips to the U.S. or wherever we end up. I looked at it as a bonus from the heiligeh Aibishter, Boruch Hu uvoruch Shmoi.

However, several weeks after receiving this donation, we see that Hashem had prepared us for yet another challenge. He gave us this donation, not as a bonus to our lives, but rather as a very direct assistance to an upcoming issue that we will face.

Sonia just came out of a minor, yet critically important surgery. She’s doing fine and we are so glad that Hashem keeps blessing us with so much all the time. Yet, the price tag on such a surgery and stay at the clinic is not cheap. Here in Mexico, if you are a foreigner, you are automatically considered wealthy… Considering the way a chunk of the Mexican locals live, indeed we are very wealthy. That wealth gives justification to the medical clinics around Cabo to charge arms and legs when treating foreign patients. There is no choice. One must pay the amount demanded, or the patient will remain in his/her room, nourishing their medical bill to grow to tremendous numbers each day, until the full amount is paid and the unfortunate account closed.

Well, Baruch Hashem we were given what to pay with. Yes, perhaps we are now left hanging dry in the wind. Perhaps our Pesach budget for this year will not be as easy to pull together as I had thought and hoped… But we are going to all be healthy and we are sure that Hashem and our dear Rebbe will not leave us alone. We are in great hands!

Ashreinu ma tov chelkeinu uma noim goiroleinu!

Incidentally, yesterday, before we went to the surgery, we wrote a letter to the Rebbe and placed the paper inside an Igros Kodesh.

I opened up the Igros to read the Brocho of the Rebbe. Yet instead of opening a letter addressed to someone many years ago on the exact date as we wrote it (typical for miracle letters), I opened the letter to Igros Kodesh, volume 18, page 117, letter 6,619, dated 1 Teves, 5719.

I began reading to Sonia.

The Rebbe begins by mentioning a blessing that he will ask at the Frierdike Rebbe’s kever. Then he begins talking about the month of Teves (which, in my mind is connected to Chanukah, especially since it’s the first day of the month, which is on the holiday of Chanukah itself).

But then, all of a sudden, for some unexpected reason, the Rebbe begins explaining Purim. He explains how Achashveirosh and Esther are compared to the Jewish people and Hakodosh boruch hu (acharis vereishis sheloi). That G-d (Achashveirosh) loves and takes pleasure in the Jewish people (Esther).

It is our job to brighten the dark, as that is our entire life’s purpose here on earth.

Then the Rebbe blesses us all with continued brightness in our lives.

Sonia and I sit there shocked! Purim was even mentioned in the letter and here we sit, three days away from Purim.

As I said before, the surgery was a success baruch Hashem and we look forward to many bright and happy days in the future.

We moved and stuff...

We no longer live in a beautiful, two story, gated community, swimming pool area home anymore.

We have moved.

We thought that the physical benefits of living in such a beautiful area would affect our Shlichus for the better.

"So what if we need to spend every single Shabbos locked away in a hotel eating from tuna cans?? This is Shlichus!! And this is the price that we are ready to pay for Shlichus!!"

Well, not so.

We moved.

We left the 'glamorous' lifestyle that we were trying to live, albeit not very efficiently. I mean not efficiently, because, although our neighbor had an ATV and two dogs, and another fellow down the block has four cars, including a smashing new four seater dune-buggy and two jetskis, however, we did not fit it.

Every time I drove our Shlichus mobile into the community after 7pm, I was sure to wake up the neighborhood dogs who apparently, fluently understand the noisy language of my car's engine (or is it the exhaust pipe? Or the muffler flube-belt?)

Our kids would scream like any normal kid does from where I come from. However, from wherever our neighbors we hatched, it seems like screaming is from the worst things that a person can possibly do.

***

We are in a small, but decent and kind apartment complex. As excited as we feel about this move, we are also slightly skeptical of what lies in store for us in this new cove called home. Yes, we are very close to Shul and that means that we can have a warm Chulent on Shabbos afternoon and then head off to our comfortable beds for a Shabbos nap... However, with spring break starting and all the howling from outside students, we're not so sure how much we're going to enjoy our new pad anymore.

Bless us!

Good night to all my faithful readers.

Benoit!