Soul Freedom – To Want What You Do, Or To Do What You Want

Rabbi Yossi Kahanov Shliach to Jacksonville, FL

A skillful fiddler caused a large crowd of pedestrians to clap their hands and tap their feet as he played lively tunes in the center of the town’s square. Unable to hear the music, a deaf passerby stopped to observe the strange spectacle. As he watched the people bounce and swirl in the middle of the plaza, he wondered to himself: “What has gotten into these people, why in the world are they acting so bizarre?”

On the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Nissan over 3,000 years ago the Children of Israel were liberated from their protracted bondage by the mighty hand of G-d. A relentless series of shock and awe style occurrences had finally weakened the iron resolve of the wicked Pharaoh and the cruel Egyptian tormentors, causing them to let the people go. The event serves as the cornerstone and birth of the Jewish nation and religion.

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You can make a beracha shehakol bajillions of times a day. You have a chance to say “Baruch… Mechadesh Chadashim” only once a month. We say “Al Biur Chametz” just once a year. But Birchas Hachama comes only once every twenty-eight years. Nobody—not even your old grandfather—has done this mitzvah more than three times. When Birchas Hachama comes around again, you might be as old as your parents are now!

For Jews, Another 28 Years, Another Blessing of the Sun

By Joyce Cohen for the New York Times
Rabbi Joshua Metzger, top right, his father, Rabbi Alter Metzger, and his children Mendel and Sarah Perel at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in Manhattan, where a group will gather.

NEW YORK, NY — Every day, the sun rises. But only once every 28 years does the sun return to the position it occupied at the same time during the week of its creation, according to Talmudic tradition.

This auspicious occasion is cause for celebration among many observant Jews, who will greet Wednesday morning with the Birkat Hachamah, or Blessing of the Sun. In the Hebrew calendar, it is the 14th day of Nisan in the year 5769.

Selfless Giving in Tough Times

A large truck pulled up near 770 last night, unloading a large cache of good quality fruits and vegetables.

Once again, today, a truck is standing at the same location and unloading cases filled with vegetables for all to take. There will be more than one truck starting now [3:30pm] for a few hours, first come first serve.

No questions asked; Feel free to come and take.

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Video – Council Questions NYPD Stats Of Declining Crime

NEW YORK, NY [NY1] — At a hearing Monday, the City Council’s public safety committee questioned whether crime is truly waning in New York City.

Major felony crime was down 3 percent in 2008, but that is less of a drop than in recent years.