For a few months now I’ve been having issues with my feet. I was certain that it was a re-awakening of my teenage “plantar fasciitis” (or as Menny calls it “Panther Ideeitis”). I worked with my trainer Aaron, did physical therapy next door to the Shul, soaked them in ice buckets, bought feet gadgets on Amazon, and did anything else I thought may work. It didn’t help. Walking back and forth from Shul on Pesach was hard, so the morning after the holiday, I visited the doctor. He x-rayed it, inspected it, maneuvered it and gave me the news that it’s a “torn tendon”. I’ve been wearing a walking cast-boot for a week now; it feels much better and G-d willing in a couple of weeks it will be healed.

In this week’s Torah portion, Kedoshim, we are taught about obstacles. The verse says “…You shall not place a stumbling block before a blind person, and you shall fear your God. I am the Lord”, our sages deduce from this that it’s inappropriate to create an obstacle for any human being, especially if they have no way of knowing that it’s coming their way. Included in this prohibition is ensuring that we don’t give a gullible or inexperienced person advice that isn’t beneficial for them, physically, materially, or spiritually. Life has enough natural obstacles, reality has sufficient challenges, we therefore shouldn’t be in the business of making it harder for those who are clueless on a particular matter.

On Wednesday, when Bozeman was bombarded with the biggest spring blizzard that Chavie and I can recall since moving here in 2007, it was hard to get around with the boot. I quickly started appreciating the ramps, handicap parking spots, electric scooters in groceries, functioning railings on staircases, businesses that plow with alacrity; it allowed me to express gratitude for the things that have never been on my radar. The Torah is encouraging us, demanding of us, to make our environments easier, clearer and more straightforward for people who may be struggling, not to, G-d forbid, cash in on the vulnerability of others, while harming them.

I am grateful for the boot; it’s teaching me to live in other people’s shoes!

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Mashiach speedily. May G-d protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be!

Pesach was spectacular.

Packed Seders and meals. Minyans every holiday morning. Matzah delivered to close to six-hundred homes. Visits to nursing homes and hospitals. MSU students participating in higher numbers than ever before. Birkas Kohanim and Yizkor services. Prayer for dew just before the blizzard. Every aspect of the Yom Tov was uplifting. If that wasn’t enough, 36 hours after Passover, we joined as a community to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Adam “Avraham”, with his mom Irma and sister Julie at his side as he laid his Talis and Tefilin for the very first time. The joy in the room during his Aliyah and subsequent dance, was palpable, and a stark reminder that Am Yisroel Chai.

Jews are on fire.

In this week’s Torah portion, Acharei-Mos, we read about living a Jewish lifestyle. The verse says, “Like the practice of the land of Egypt, in which you dwelled, you shall not do, and like the practice of the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you, you shall not do, and you shall not follow their statutes.” It isn’t easy to ignore the peer-pressure, to ignore the echo chambers of insanity that exist in our culture, and to remain steadfast as a Jew in love with our people, our Torah and our land, but as Dr. Seuss said, “No one said it would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it”. In a world that is host once-again to unadulterated Jew-hatred, in a society that changes its “rock-solid” ideologies bi-weekly, in schools that teach students to think that morality is man-made and a choice, we are commanded to stand apart and represent light, clarity and moral-high-ground in our communities.

During the first days of Passover, our friends the Russ’s joined us from Montreal. Their son Isaac, who is thirteen, read the Torah, served as the cantor, and inspired our community, role modeling what a healthy, G-d-loving, Jewish teenager looks like. He was pleasant, friendly, knowledgeable, and learned. Like Isaac, Adam will grow as a proud, well-read, and inspirational Jew. He was circumcised at twelve and Bar Mitzvah’d at thirteen and he shared his journey with his non-Jewish classmates. He will ask lots of questions, he will join Chabad when he’s at college, and he will eventually be a super star in our Jewish community. Don’t despair, don’t let Penn, Columbia, UCLA and Yale freak you out; the future is looking good and terror-loving IVY Leaguers can’t change that.‍

From the sea to the river, Adam and Isaac will deliver!‍

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Mashiach speedily. May G-d protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be!

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