D’var torah in honor of the Yahrtziet of Mark Samuel, 5773

Parashat Lech Lecha


A D’var torah in honor of the Yahrtziet of Mordechai Aharon Ben Michael, Mark Samuel

Parashat Lech Lecha begins with the call to Avram from Hashem to leave his residence in Haran and go to Eretz Yisrael. However, if we go back to the end of Parashat Noach, we see that Avram’s his father Terach and his family actually contemplating going to Canaan. During his Parasha Shiur last week, Rav Nadav Levin quoted Rav Nebensahl, pointing out that the family of Terach was on a sojourn from Ur Casdim to Eretz Canaan (Noach, chapter 11, verse 31). However, on their way they stopped in Haran, and stayed there. Rav Nebesahl reflects on the short-sightedness of Terach’s decision. Rather than continue on their journey and develop roots in Eretz Canaan, which was and would become the world’s center of spirituality, they stopped in Haran, most likely because it was familiar, because it was comfortable, and reminded them of their previous home. Instead of moving out of their comfort zone, instead of trying to reach the next level, they were satisfied with Haran, and there they stayed until Avram got the call to leave in our parasha.


It is difficult to leave your comfort zone, and to try to get to the next level. We look al around us at family, friends and acquaintances, and in general people don’t like to rock the boat, make waves or effect great change. It is those people who do leave their comfort zone, who do seek something higher and greater, that make the most difference in peoples’ lives. Avaraham Avinu set the greatest example, following G-d’s word and moving from the comfort of Haran to the wilderness of Canaan, a stranger among the tribes there. His is purpose, to find and develop spirituality, to publicize the concept of one G-d, completely changed Mankind. This is why the seemingly trivial detail that his father set of to Canaan and stopped, whereas Avraham heeded the call to go, is highlighted in the Torah. The contrast in decisions is one we all face and make in many aspects of our lives.

To reflect on Mark’s life is to reflect on someone who clearly was never satisfied with staying in his comfort zone. His work challenged the basic building blocks of matter and life. He worked continuously to question fundamental principles and to provide real solutions to the question of what makes up the basic tenants of the world. His quest to determine mathematical proofs to these issues (for over 25 years in the pre-PC world, with a slide rule or a calculator that used “reverse Polish Logic”) is even more impressive today as we can hardly add and subtract without pulling out our smart phones or doing an Excel spread sheet. This quest for ultimate truth led him to collaborate with people all over the world, and his travels frequently took him to colleagues in Israel. There is no question how happy this made him. He would make any excuse to see Professor Karlinsker in Tel Aviv, and always would visit Jerusalem and be sure to take in a good piece of the country. He would always come back from Israel reenergized and recharged, and ready to tackle the next challenge.

Leaving our comfort zone, challenging and pushing the envelope is not easy, but staying in our personal “Haran” rather than completing the journey to Eretz Yisrael can leave us empty. Whether we actually do change the world is not the issue. However, if we strive for the best, if we think out of the box, if we aim for higher heights of understanding and spirituality, the positive changes that occur in us will be the ultimate reward.

May Mark’s memory be a blessing and inspiration for us all.
Th-ey nishmato tzrurah b’tzror ha-chaim

Dv'ar Torah in Memory of Mark Samuel

The seventh of Jewish Month of Cheshvan is the Yahrtzeit of Mark Samuel (Mordechai Aharon Ben Michael), our dear brother, father, uncle, and wonderful friend. The seventh of Cheshvan is also the day that, in Israel, we modify the paragraph in Shmoneh Esray that includes the prayer for rain in Israel. The prayer begins “ Barech Alenu Hashem Elokena et Hashana Ha-zot”’ “Bless this year for us, Lord our G-d, and all our crops for goodness”. In the continuation of this prayer, there are two formulas. In the summer, we say “V’Teyn Bracha” (We should be granted blessing) and after the 7^th of Cheshvan in Israel we say V’tey Tal U’Matar l’vracha (We should be granted dew and rains for blessing). The formula is curious. Why do we not say V’ten Bracha shel Tal U’Matar i.e. We should be granted the blessing of dew and rain? Why the inverse formula? Our sages teach that there are two types of rain: Geshmei Bracha and Geshmei Klala; Rains of blessing and Rains of Curse. The meaning of this is very evident today, as we have seen in the past decade horrendous hurricanes, tsunamis and even tornadoes appear in geographical locations that have never previously been affected. For Eretz Yisrael, the dependence on rain for water is more crucial than most countries. We are told that we have a direct influence on the rain; in the second paragraph of Shema, we say three times daily that our actions and our dedication to G-d can affect when the rain comes and bring blessing to the land. We need to focus or actions and prayers to bring Geshmei Bracha, and not Geshmei Klala.

Fundamentally, however, we really cannot comprehend how the rains are controlled, how even the weather patterns that allow us to predict a year that Eretz Yisrael will have the sufficient water for its crops and for its inhabitants. Our primary way of controlling this is through our actions and our prayers. Thus, I think it is very significant that Mark’s yahrtzeit is on the 7^th of Cheshvan.

Understanding the fundamental building blocks of the universe was Mark’s calling, his passion and his life. He was driven to delve deeper and deeper into the things that make up our very being, with the hope that little by little, we could control some aspects of the natural order of life. Be it comprehending sources of energy, small particles that lead to the formation of atoms or molecules, or creating mathematical formulae that could prove crucial theoretical and experimental observations, Mark dedicated himself to building a better world. He wished that all his work would lead to betterment of life for all; that via our understanding of the world, we could always have Rains of Blessing. The change in our prayers on the 7^th of Cheshvan reminds us of how little we understand, and the tenuous position we have in a world in which something as essential to life as rain can be sustaining, or terrifying. It should also remind us, as we reflect, remember and celebrate Mark’s life, that we should not be afraid to devote ourselves to understanding our place in the Universe and to trying to make the world a better place for all.

May Mark’s memory always be a blessing for us.

 

Dvar Torah in Memory of Shlomo Henoch Ben Mordechai Chaim, 2012

This week’s parasha is Shoftim. It begins with an admonition to the Jewish people, “Shoftim v’Shotrim Titen le-cha bechol shearecha.” Judges and Officers shall you take in all of your (gates) cities. The next 2 pesukin deal with specifics, such as not to favor one individual over another, not to take bribes, and not to pervert justice. “Tzedek Tzedek tirdof”; you should pursue justice, so that you will live long and prosper in the land that G-d gave to you.

These three psukim are a very clear foundation for building a society. The need for judges who are not corrupt, for officers who enforce the laws effectively and fairly, is a basic need in any society. The Netziv, Rav Naphtali Tzvi Berlin, comments on the first pasuk that we learn that for each city, it is the responsibility of the head of that city to oversee the municipal courts and ensure they are fair and proper, and if not, he must bear the responsibility. The need for fairness and upright behavior is not only for those in the justice system, but also, more importantly, for the leaders. We don’t have to look far to see that today, those who purport to lead us are also those that are most frequently implicated in scandal. It is not only a major blight when leaders are not trustworthy, it is highly demoralizing to society. If no one in leadership or the justice system can be trusted, why should our personal behavior reflect anything else?

The answer the Torah gives us comes from the wording of the pesukim. It says Shoftim v’Shotrim Titen le-cha bechol shearecha; lecha and Shearecha are in the singular. Normally shouldn’t it say you (plural) should install judges in all your cities? However the singular is used. The Netziv points out that the singular refers to the whole House of Israel (Knesset Yisrael) as one singular unit. In fact, when the Torah refers to curses for Israel, it is usually also written in the singular. We are all one unit; we carry both individual responsibility and collective responsibility. Each one of us has the responsibility to ensure that the justice system is fair and administered properly. And to ensure that we must set individual examples of honesty, treating each other properly and judging each on their merits.

This Sunday, the 8^th of Elul is the Yahrtzeit of Shlomo Henoch ben Mordechai Chaim, our dear father and grandfather, dear husband and brother. Sid set a tremendous example for us all in his honesty and how he treated people. I remember many in the business world telling me how Sid was the only one to speak to them like a person, to treat them kindly, to really be human. I remember one summer when I worked in the Mayfair stores that Dad managed, coming to work one and finding that an employee was no longer there. I asked what happened to “John”, and was told “ I caught him with his hand in the till”. There was no room for “Everyone’s doing it” or “It’s not really my money, let the company worry about it”. Honesty was the driving force that made Dad unique in the game. I would tease him later on that being so honest may have been a disadvantage in the business world filled with sharks, but he would have never had it any other way.

As we remember at the time of this second Yahrtzeit, the message of honesty and upright behavior, the example of fairness and proper treatment of others that is the foundation of society should always remain with us. This is Sid’s legacy and it is an everlasting teaching that we should continue to pass down to all generations.

Tehe Nishmato Baruch: His memory and soul shall always be a blessing for his entire family.

Shabbat Shalom

Pesach April 6, 2012

Welcome to spring in Netanya. Sunny, 23 C, light breeze, the ocean beckons…sounds nice, doesn’t it? Come and join us on our next adventure that we can entitle “Passover on the Beach". Actually, we will celebrate the first night of Passover in our apartment, not far from the beach, and the weather has been lovely, but not lying on the beach weather yet. There is really a fine line between just right and too hot. I think this is just right, not humid, perfect for walks or running after the kids in the park. So, we prepare for Passover in Israel once again.

We arrived on Monday of this week, and have been organizing, cleaning, shopping and in the last 24 hours or so, we have been cooking, all in preparation for the upcoming holiday. One thing is clear; we are very much looking forward to our Passover Seder tonight, the festive Passover meal when we recount the story of the Exodus from Egypt. This is to be made even more special by the fact that our whole family is together. All our boys, daughter-in laws, grandchildren…we have not had all the boys together since 2005!! This is really special and will be greatly appreciated (B"H).

In all honesty this has been a week with pretty routine stuff going on. We arrived Monday afternoon, set up in the apartment, and organized to see the family. Tuesday, after waiting a couple of hours for Hertz to come fix our battery (car didn’t start….but they don’t give boosts, they just change the battery!), we set off for Jerusalem to see Elan, Nomi, Shoshana and Shlomo. We took advantage of one of the huge Passover Supermarkets and the half a million other shoppers to load up on Passover food. We picked up Ariel on the way home and had a great dinner by the sea.

Wednesday was Market day, picking up fruits and vegetables in the City Market in Netanya. Then it was off to Haifa, to spend time with Monty, Daniella and Tali and pick up the roasts, chickens and other meat from the Vishnitz Hassidic Butcher in Haifa (Delivered at 1 AM Wednesday night!). Thursday was cooking day, which was a bit of a marathon (menu available on request) but that is what getting ready for the holiday is all about.

I will leave you with a scene of Israel that cannot be duplicated elsewhere. As Passover arrives, we clean our homes of all products that contain Chametz, leavened flour (bread, cakes, cereal, etc). The prohibition about owning leavened products is very important and taken very seriously.

On the morning before Pesach, we customarily burn any leftover Chametz, which is a rather definitive way of removing something from existence. In most communities, the synagogue or community center will set up a bar-b-q or fire pit and everyone will come and throw in the leftovers. In Israel, it is very much a do it your self project. There are fire pits everywhere…any open field, any synagogue….everywhere. Last year I drove to a park where a few people made fires. This year, out our back door is a field, and at least 5 bonfires going on! We didn’t even get to visit the nearby Hasidic community of Sanz, where I figure the fires were burning bright all morning!

We wish everyone a wonderful holiday, whatever you be celebrating!

Chag KasherV’sameach!

Have a Happy Easter

And stay tuned for installment 2 next week, when we share the fun of the holiday!!

Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom,

Barbara and Bruce

We wish a very Happy Birthday to our son Elan!
Happy Birthday to our niece Jessica and nephew Joshua (no, they are not twins!)!!

Welcome to Talia

Dec 25-Jan 8^th

Dateline, Netanya, Israel : We w

ould like to introduce you to the newest member of our cast! Welcome to Talia Beila, born on December 9, 2011, daughter of Daniella and Monty Mazer, currently of Haifa! Talia is a gorgeous young lady, a real night owl, who, like many of her generation, prefers to sleep away the days and party all night. Of course, her parents would prefer that she kept more normal hours, but, you can’t be too choosy! Seriously, she is an adorable addition to the Mazer clan, and we wish Talia all the best in this (admittedly sometimes crazy) world, and lots of Naches, pride and joy for Monty and Daniella. Of course, all the grandparents, Bruce and Barbara, and Chuck and Rochel Wagner of Toronto (first timers!), and the super proud great grandmother Phyllis Mazer are super thrilled with the new member of the crew.

With the new plot lines of the Talia saga being written, the other members of the cast congregated in Israel to celebrate. Barbara arrived on December 15^th and Bruce and his Mom arrived on Dec 27^th. The weeks have been super busy, and super fun. We have travelled up and down the coast, with our base apartment in Netanya, going to Haifa to visit Monty and Daniella and the new baby several times. We have travelled down the coast to Givat Shmuel, where Ariel is living, having started Law School at Bar Ilan University. And of course, we travelled across the country to Jerusalem to spend time with Elan, Nomi, Shoshana and Shlomo. Shlomo is celebrating his first birthday! He walks, babbles, plays, and smiles A LOT!

Shoshana is 3 ½ and basically can run the house by herself. There is nothing that gets by her and she keeps all of us smiling.

We have been fortunate enough to attend other peoples smachot (celebrations), with Barbara going to Tali Wasser’s wedding in Tel Aviv, and both of us attending Gabe and Miri Homa’s marriage in Jerusalem on Dec 28. They were beautiful weddings. The night after (Dec 29^th) was a large Toronto wedding, hosted by the Winter Family, at which Monty and Daniella and Daniella’s parents Chuck and Roche

l Wagner attened. That led to us all spending Shabbat last week in Jerusalem, with great meals at Elan and Nomi’s house and lunch at the Inbal Hotel with the entire cast! Talia of course, slept through lunch and almost all other daytime activities when everyone was around!

So, what is going on at home in Netanya? Since we were her in October, we have painted and fixed things up, and added some housewares and furniture. The apartment is very nice, and the location, less than a block from the boardwalk, is superb. We are organized enough to have a large crew for Shabbat this week, including all of our family, the Wagner’s and our cousins Lynda and Allan Zysblatt from Jerusalem. When I have more time, maybe I can tell you the saga of getting a dining room table, but the bottom line is that through some sort of divine intervention (the name of the store was Salvatto and Divana!) we had a dining room set delivered yesterday in time for all of our guests!

There are lots going on in Israel too; crazy stories of tensions between a fringe group of ultra orthodox Jews and more modern orthodox Jews, with a little 8 year old girl appearing on National television to talk about the abuse she receives walking to school. These types of actions really make one ill. There was a wonderful response to all this which I read on the Aish Hatorah Web site. The Torah teaches us to love our neighbors as one’s self. All people are different, and we need to be able to celebrate our differences and teach mutual respect and love. Tensions need to be met with firm but direct communication, teaching tolerance and understanding. To create a better world, we need to take those values that are important and help them guide our behavior, setting positive, constructive examples. That is the type of world we want for Shoshana, Shlomo, Talia and all our children and grandchildren

Shabbat Shalom,

Barbara and Bruce

Mazel Tov to Yaacov and Ryla Fruchter, new grandparents Sylvia and Haim Fruchter, and Aunts Bilha and Orly Fruchter on the birth of Sheelo Netta. May she only bring naches!

Mazel to to Albert and Sari Arazi and new grandparents Rochelle and Jeff Rein on the birth of Olivia Devora. May she bring you lots of joy and light!

Mazel tov to Susan and Allan Mattarasso, on the birth of a new grandson!

Happy 1st birthday to Shlomo Yehuda!

We wish Ariel a Happy Birthday!

We wish our great friend Sylvia Fruchter a Happy Birthday!

Yom Kippur-Sukkot October 15, 2011

It’s been a while since I sentout one of these blog docs (a new word I just made up) so let’s start off properly. As you know, we are in the time of the Jewish New Year period, with Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur just behind us, and the holiday of Sukkot having just begun. On behalf of Barbara and the whole Mazer family, we would like to wish all our friends and family health, success and sweetness for the forthcoming year and many more!

Now for the News (appropriate background music)……We are in Israel (which should be no surprise, since that is the theme of this blog). What some of you may not know is that over this summer we recently purchased a small apartment in Netanya to allow us to be a little closer to our kids and give them and us a place of refuge. As we have said before, Netanya is a small city near the Mediterranean. We have a really nice location and there is enough room for our children to visit.

We arrived in Israel on the day before Yom Kippur, with lots of luggage in tow, including “stuff” for the new apartment and a car seat for Monty and Daniella, who are expecting a baby (not the one in the picutre!) this December. After a very rapid blurry eyed stop at the apartment (we left all the lights on when we left), we took off for Haifa, where we would be spending

Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is a solemn day of fasting, prayer and introspection, but we had the privilege of joining Monty’s synagogue, where he led Shacharit, the Morning service on Yom Kippur. He is really great at this, and the congregation was full of praise and congratulated us on his awesome performance. Of course, we did not have much to do with it, but the praise and pride of hearing him do so well was great.

Yom Kippur ended with a great meal at Monty and Daniella’s with a group of their friends (it began with the same group at another of their friends) and then we were back to Netanya. The next four days were run at breakneck speed, as we made the first inroads into setting up the apartment. Meetings with people to do some basic repairs, painting, electrical, shopping for essentials, looking at furniture….thank goodness for our kids here. They’ve been a huge help with lots of practical advice. Thanks to Monty and Daniella’s shopping, we equipped the place with beds before we arrived. In addition, kudos to Ariel who came to Netanya from Jerusalem to allow the bed installers into the apartment. We ran around and learned more about this new community in a very short time than we thought possible. The finishing touches included the building of our Sukkah, a temporary dwelling outdoors for

the holiday of Sukkot. This holiday was made for Israeli weather (and most certainly not for rainy, chilly Canadian weather). We have a very small balcony but it is sufficient, and with Ariel’s considerable help we put up the sukkah in record time.

We began the holiday of Sukkot back in Haifa (a 1 hour drive), where Monty had proudly put up a Sukkah about 3 times the size of ours on his balcony. He and Daniella were again great hosts, and we contributed by shopping in the Hasidic district of Netanya (called the Sanz quarter or Kiryat Sanz, after the group that lives there). We learned the best places to shop there for great home style food (if you are a Hungarian Hasid, that is) including amazing chopped liver, herring and potato kugel. Rib sticking stuff! Monty and Daniella hosted friends at each meal and we had a great time. Then back down the highway and we began to prepare for Elan, Nomi, Shoshana and Shlomo to come for Shabbat. We spent Friday with all the family together; in fact the Haifa group joined us for a walk along the boardwalk, and a lunch on Independence square. We aren’t quite set up to sleep more than 6 yet, but we plan to have enough accommodation so we can have everyone together in the same space for many years to come.

Shabbat here was great, with nice meals, going to synagogue, walks to the park and lots of time chatting with Ariel, Elan and Nomi and playing with the kids. Shoshana, age 3 is a real big girl, very happy, great precocious language skills and an excellent big sister. Shlomo, age 10 months, is into everything (as he should be) and keeps everyone on their toes.

After Shabbat, we went for a walk back to the town square, and received a surprise phone call. Our friends Ronen and Michal Sela, who

lived in Montreal over 10 years ago, said they were in the car and how would we like visitors? Of course we would like visitors! So with almost their entire family in tow (5/6 kids and their eldest daughter’s boyfriend) they arrived for a tour of our apartment, a walk on the beach and a tour of the neighborhood. It was great catching up, seeing the kids

What else is going on in Israel? Well the big news of course is the prisoner exchange for the Israeli Soldier Gilad Shalit who was kidnapped in 2006. There will be approximately 1000 prisoners released to Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank when Gilad is liberated. There are, of course, mixed feelings about this. On one hand, no one debates that it is wonderful for the family of Gilad Shalit that they will get their son back. The question is, what price does one pay for this? Among those who will be released from prison are terrorists who planned the operation that blew up the Park Hotel during a Passover Seder and murdered over 30 people, and those that planned the explosion in the Dolphinarium dance club that killed teenagers. Does this mean that there will be more kidnappings since the ultimate settlement is so generous? Only time will tell. The prisoner exchanges should begin by Tuesday.and strolling in the clear cool air.

This was really a packed 10 days and this little summary does not really do it justice, but I don’t want to bore you with too many details. One thing for certain; the people we have met here are very warm and welcoming. Neighbors have knocked on our door, people in synagogue have been very helpful, and we have really felt like this home away from home will be a lot of fun. Come join us!

Wishing you all a great week and Chag Sameach/ Happy Sukkot

Barbara and Bruce

We would like to wish a great friend Chaim Fruchter a very Happy Birthday!

Also very very very happy birthday wishes to our two daughter’s in law, Nomi and Daniella, whose birthdays fall in the next two weeks. We could not have picked better people for our sons to marry!

Shabbat April 29-30

How was Passover in Israel, you ask? Well, even if you didn’t ask, I’m going to tell you. The weather is measurably better than what the great North East had this year. Warm and sunny days, cool dry evenings, really perfect. That is very typical for April in Israel. For us, of course, the highlight was the ability to spend the holiday with family and extended family. We celebrated the Passover Seders with Elan, Nomi, Shoshana and Shlomo, Ariel and with the Goldberger family, Nomi’s parents. It was great; lots of lively discussion, singing, more discussion, and terrific food. The Goldbergers hosted all the big meals and we returned the favor on our second night.

We also were able to do a bit of touring; we went to the coast off the Mediterranean, towards Haifa, called Chof Dor. Here is our Bible lesson for today; as you know Jews are commanded to wear Tzitsit, fringed garments. There is a biblical commandment to dye at least one of the fringes Tchelet, or blue. The only problem is, the source of the blue dye that was used is not known. Scientific research and comparison with ancient texts seems to point to the source being a snail, M. trunculus, found off the cost of Israel stretching from Dor to the Lebanese border. This area is home to an ancient sea port, a fortress, a Christian Church and Crusader stronghold, and even the place where Napolean tried to invade when he moved into the middle East. But today the focus is the snail and we went Scuba diving to catch some (and throw them back) and to learn about how the dye is made from them. We then went south to Netanya, where we went out for lunch on Passover to a beautiful restaurant on the cliff above the sea. Israel is packed with restaurants all open on Passover. In North America, Passover is the time most restaurants take holiday. In Israel it seems that this is the hottest time of year for people to go out! You gotta try it.

We spent another lovely Shabbat in Modiin, as well as the last days of the Passover holiday. We were joined by Gail Jaffe and Ashie, as well has his new bride to be Dassy (they are getting married on May 22nd). It was fun to host them, and also to get to know Dassy (wishing the new couple many happy years together!). Passover ended for us on Tuesday evening and since we were not at home, the post Passover clean-up was pretty fast.

We then left Modiin for a few days away on the coast in Netanya. Barbara and I spent a few day s here last year, and it is really a great place to get away from it all. We stayed at the King Solomon Hotel, right on the boardwalk overlooking the Mediterranean. This is the ideal place for long walks, seaside dining, and, when the weather is hot (which is all relative, but right now it is in the low 20’s) it’s great for lying on the beach. Thursday was raining, so we drove around, did some indoor touring and then welcomed Monty and Daniella back from spending Passover in Toronto (Netanya is on the way from the airport to where they live in Haifa). In the evening, we met Rabbi Ronen and Michal Sela, ex-Montrealers. Israel was hit with a whole run of huge thunderstorms, which started in the late evening and continued through till about 5 AM. The lightning was pretty amazing (sorry, no pictures) and is a very unusual weather pattern for this time of year.

Our trip is coming to an end; back to reality tomorrow night. The final Shabbat will be spent in Netanya, and we’ve been joined on the beach by Elan, Nomi and family and Monty and Daniella. The nearby synagogue is the Young Israel of North Netanya, which is an Anglo bastion which would be easy to transplant to Montreal, London or New York! The people are very friendly and so it is a nice place overall to spend Shabbat.

Amazing, actually, if you think about it. When our children are young, we anticipate what it will be like when they grow up. When they do grow up and the nuclear family starts to move out in many directions, we miss the times that we were only one unit. It makes times like these, when we are all together, especially across all these miles, extremely precious. There is no taking for granted the importance of family being together. We wish you all a tremendous and meaningful Shabbat!

Barbara and Bruce

We wish Chuck Wagner, Jessica Samuel and Bilha Fruchter a very Happy Birthday!