Rabbi’s Musings & Amusings

Before I go to sleep on most nights, I walk over to the beds of each of my children to kiss them good night. Before doing so, I watch them sleeping peacefully for a few moments. It reminds me what an invaluable gift each one is and how thankful I am for them. It’s not always easy to remember that during the day, especially when it gets hectic and tense. So, when my day is over and they are asleep, it’s a perfect time for that reminder. In addition, studies show that if people feel grateful before going to sleep, they have better sleep quality.^[1]

It’s the day after Tish’ah B’Av.

The clock strikes chatzos ha’yom.

The halachos of aveilus are over.

Not infrequently, I receive envelopes in the mail with printed words on the front: “Help us in our time of need!” “Don’t let them shut our doors!” “Yidden! Have compassion!”

By R' Dani Staum

What an unusual baseball season it has been! In a season that began quite late and had been shortened to 60 games, a couple of games were already canceled because of an outbreak among Miami Marlins players.

In Camp Dora Golding, on Shabbos morning before Musaf, Rabbi Mayer Erps delivers a three-minute message to the entire camp. The following is the powerful message he delivered this past Shabbos, the final Shabbos of this year’s camp season:

It’s an old Camp Dora Golding tradition. On Friday afternoon, the staff plays against the camp administration in a competitive baseball game. For most of the well over two decades that I’ve been here in camp, those games have been a mainstay of Erev Shabbos in camp. During the last few summers, however, those games fizzled out. But this past Friday, it was back on the schedule.