5 years and 4 months Gilad Shalit is HOME

I don't want to get into the ups and downs of this agreement right now- but instead we all need to celebrate the return of our soldier! WELCOME HOME GILAD!

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/gilad-shalit-reunites-with-family-at-idf-base-following-return-to-israel-1.390719

Rubashkin Petition

Dear Friends,

When we stand before G-d this month, we ask Him to judge us favorably. We ask Him to extend blessings to us for our needs. There is no better way to preface this request than by judging others favorably and assisting another in need.

Schluchim who have hosted me in PA, Rosie and Rabbi Aryeh Weinstein, have an uncle, Sholom Rubashkin, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison for a white collar crime. He has a wife and 10 children. Similar offenses were typically given a 1 year sentence.

Here's my request... The White House launched a feature on their website called "We The People" where every person 13 years and older in the U.S. can now petition the White House on important matters. The Rubashkin Petition, now in it's third week, has launched a campaign titled "Fortune 500." The goal is to become the petition with the most signatures gathered in a 30-day span. The petition has gathered close to 35,000 signatures in about 2 weeks' time and needs to gather another 25,000 in the next 2 weeks.
The petition urges President Obama to respond with action to the request of 47 Congressmen and 75 law professors and U.S. Attorneys, including 3 former Deputy Attorneys General -- Philip B. Heymann, Charles B. Renfrew and Larry D. Thompson -- who have, in an unprecedented fashion, asked the Department of Justice to initiate an investigation in what they called "allegations of impropriety and unfairness in the Sholom Rubashkin case."

The deadline for the petition is October 22. That leaves just two weeks to go.

To sign the petition, follow these steps. If you have trouble in your first attempt, please try again. Imagine Sholom's 10 children who are waiting for their father to return home.

1) Visit http://wh.gov/gWM
2) Click "Create An Account" and fill out form (Sometimes “Create an Account” doesn’t work easily. Please try again if you experience this issue)
3) Check your email and click link
4) Click "Sign This Petition"
5) Please forward this to at least 10 friends

Thank you for your time and participation! One good deed can make all the difference. 

Wishing you an abundance of blessings and unparalleled success this coming year.

Yom Kippur

For the past 9 days we have been in the intermediate days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. We have been doing teshuva and working on ourselves and saying tachnun, avinu malkeinu, and some saying selichos. So what is different about Yom Kippur than what we have already been doing

There are two different types of teshuva. Teshuva out of fear and teshuva out of love
First we should address the actual meaning of teshuva- commonly referred to as 'repentence', chasidus teaches that it is more about returning. We are returning to our essence and trying to make our connection with our Creator more of a tangible reality.

Doing teshuva out of fear is more about the actual sins and averas you did. You understand the extent of what you did and how it affected your yiddishkeit, and therefore want to change out of fear of what could happen in the future to you. It is still a legitimate type of teshuva and Hashem could accept it and make it as though those sins were just done out of accident, they were mistakes and you were forgiven.
However, there is an even deeper level: out of love

If you do teshuva out of love, your focus isnt on the sin as much but your connection with Hashem. Its about where you want to be and what you can do to get there. It is about what it did to you and your proximity to Gd.

On Yom Kippur especially, the essence of your soul is revealed and your sins dont affect that level at all anymore. so when you do teshuva on specifically Yom Kippur- it can do so much more and reach an even deeper level

May everyone have an easy fast and strive to strengthen our connection with Hashem with love

gmar chasima tova 

Shana Tova!

Tonight begins the New Year Rosh Hashana and entering the year 5772

On Rosh Hashana we crown Hashem King and there is an elevation of the malchus. It is a time to consciously crown Hashem as our one creator and kabalas ol malchus shamayim (accept the yoke of Heaven). May everyone have a sweet new year and see only brachos

Now for some fun videos from youtube

Israel info

Areas Israel Needs to Protect

Quotes from this week's UN voting

Pres. Abbas- “We will not deal with any initiative” that does not meet our preconditions

vs

PM Netanyahu- "We have to stop negotiating about the negotiations. lets just get on with this lets negotiate peace.” 

Chabad Serving NYU

starring my friends Yaniv and Molly- fellow board members

Chabad serving NYU is taking it to the next level. They are in the process of moving into a new building that will not only expand the physical chabad house- but also be able to expand the number of students that can be affected by the Chabad house on campus. The schluchim put all their time and energy into making it a great environment for friends and learning and growth. I"m excited to come back and see the finished project  

ISRAEL

On Monday I landed in Israel where I'll be staying at Mayanot

I'm really excited to be here and I've been waiting for a long time for the chance to dedicate a solid amount of time to Torah learning. I want to give a big thank you to everyone who supported me financially or with their love and especially to my parents. Taking the year off of school was a big decision but with commitment and the right mind set I know I can make it well worth it.

So far we've had class from 745-9 or 10 and have also went on a tour of Katamon (in Jerusalem) and I've been to the Kotel and the shook, baked a banana chocolate chip cake for Shabbos, and learned even more Torah. The days are long and I'm still getting used to learning for such a long time all day but soon my mind and body will get used to it and I'll be able to internalize even more iyH. The teachers here are brilliant and we learn everything from the current situations in Israel with David Project, to the older Jewish History, Gamara, Mishna, Chumash, Parsha, Chassidus on the Parsha, Halacha, and ul pan. I'd like to say all of them are my favourites but if I had to chose I love Chasidus in the morning with Rabbi Levinger and Mishna.

Shalom from the Holy Land

Noa

**Disclaimer: the periods are all off on the document because my computer switched to hebrew format on its own, please be patient. **