Erev Rosh Hashana in Cleveland

It’s hard to believe, I know, but here we are writing the third COVID-19 pre-Rosh Hashana message. In 2020 we were sure that we would not see a period of time longer than the 1918-1919 Spanish flu, but as we all know, COVID-19 moved into 2022 with even more vigor if not less lethality. And, despite that, things are definitely normalizing, as the economy staggers forward, travel opens up and venues become populated again. OK, now as we move forward, what should we be focused on? 

Well, clearly, family is key! So, we made the Rosh Hashana trek to Daniella and Monty’s in Cleveland. We have a very long tradition of Rosh Hashana with the US based Mazers; I think we visited then every year they were in St Louis except for 2020 (Shoshana’s Bat Mitzvah plus tight US travel restrictions). And now we are back to Beechwood, Ohio, navigating the 9-hour drive along the 81 and I90 with no issues. We even brought Grandma along for her first trip to Cleveland. We were here for Shabbat and will stay till after Rosh Hashana, leaving on Wednesday. 

It's great to be here, to catch up with everyone and to spend time with the kids. Tali, now 11, has started middle school at Fuchs Mizrachi School. She’s really quite a young lady, and is super social, has lots of friends and is busy with lots of activities. She also is super adept at Cricut, Lego castles, swimming, computers and most anything she tries, like ice skating, which we had the pleasure of watching on Thursday evening when we arrived. Ezra is now 6 and in first grade. As we all know, the leap from kindergarten to first grade is indeed a big one, and Ezra has bounded over the chasm with no issues. He has tons of friends, is super active and energetic, also excels at Lego and swimming and, to our delight, has also taken really well to skating. Plus, the kids recently acquired an arcade style table hockey set, which has led to lots of excitement and the sound of the puck boinging around the table, with the occasional goal thrown in for good measure. 

Monty and Daniella’s move to Cleveland has been very positive. It’s a young, growing Jewish community with a lot of facilities and a really good school that is in an exponential growth phase with 40 new families this year after accepting 30 new families last year. On Shabbat we spent time with Michelle Farkas and Josh Arbesman and their family, Michelle being ex of Cote-St. Luc-Beth Zion-Hebrew Academy. They have three kids with whom Tali and Ezra get along really well, so the kids very much entertained themselves while the adults chatted about school, shul, making lunches….sound familiar to everyone?

To get back to my first paragraph question, as we move forward to the Jewish New Year of 5783, what should we focus on? In many ways, people look upon the New Year as a way of getting a fresh start, to do things differently, to try to reinvent oneself. I think that after almost 3 years of the pandemic, it may be even better to take a step back and say, how can I do what I am doing in the best way possible? How can I look upon my daily routine, my family and friends, and give them 100+% at all times? To never take what we have around us for granted and to really fully appreciate who we are, what we have, and what opportunities are in our grasp. I would like to paraphrase Avraham Fried, who is a superstar in the Jewish music scene; he said that renewal is not about continually doing something different but rather about doing what you have always done, only better. We should never think of things as “Oh, it’s the same-old same-old” but to look upon everything with a perspective that it’s new, fresh, a new opportunity to connect, to enhance a relationship and to build upon what we have done. 

It's certainly that way when we get together with our family as we are doing here and in Israel, Montreal or wherever they will be, and perhaps this thought of continual renewal should be a large part of our attitude in life going forward

We wish you all Shana Tova, A sweet and joyous New year Full of Health and Happiness. 

Barbara and Bruce

We wish Happy Birthday to Eva Kehayia

We wish Happy Birthday to Avi Kessler

We wish Happy Birthday to Nina Glick 

We wish Happy Birthday to our beautiful niece Melissa, and our great niece and nephew Penelope and Hendrix