Dear Friends and Family,

Survival
The Mayans, Babylonians, Sumerians, Assyrians…have all gone extinct.  In each case historian can explain their disappearance, but my question (thankfully) is WHY and HOW have the Jews been Passed Over for extinction for so many millennium and with so many attempts to extinguish us. Is it our Ethical Code, our Family Connectivity, our emphasis on Community, our importance of Education, our Generational Continuity, our Diet, our Humor…Who knows?  But, our traditions seem to play an important role.  This week begins one of our most favored and elaborate traditions with our Passover Holiday.  Its the opportunity when we recall our exodus from Slavery to Freedom. We have a 15 Step Seder (ceremony) where we hide food for kids to find, drip wine out of our cups, dip parsley in salt water, eat horseradish, recline on pillows among many other strange rituals just to creatively pass along our history to our next generation. This recollection of slavery reminds us that even today many are enslaved (both physically and emotional) and it is our jobs to help bring Freedom to all.  Here is this year’s Passover video with a “Frozen” twist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwBuNtd4xAY

Yusef Islam

*For Cat Stevens’ fans like myself, here is a lyrical piece he wrote for Rolling Stone Magazine about his Hall of Fame selection.  He includes many of his songs characters in a sweet story in the beginning and then moves on to elaborate on his life and the world’s reaction to his chosen religion of Islam. http://tinyurl.com/CatSteven-s-RS-Article

After days of disintegration and with the recent blockage of communication between these two neighbors, this image sadly represents the Israel/PA Peace Talks.

…and then it just disappeared off the radar!

6 Year Old Hero
Condolences to those who knew and loved sweet, charming, little Lacey Holsworth who passed away this week.  She stole the hearts of the MSU basketball team and supporters especially Adreian Payne. May her young life spur courage and charity to help find a cure for the deadly disease of Cancer.

WHY???
22 students were injured in Pennsylvania this week from a knife-wielding student.  Thank God he didn’t have access to a gun but the other half of our mass killing equation is Mental Illness and there is still a lack of much needed attention, funding, innovative research and treatments to help combat this disease.

Sad Reunion
In 10 days, our country will remember the 1 year anniversary of the tragic terrorist bombing in Boston.  Runners, supporters, victims’ families and survivors will take part in the Marathon through the streets of Boston that will surly bring back sad memories yet showcase much strength and bravery.

  Boston Mararton Monday April 21, 2014 Patriot Day in MA

A Tip of the Hat
Sometime in 2015 the Comedy Central network will bid farewell toStephen Colbert as he heads over to CBS to take over the reins for retiring talk show host, David Letterman.  I will miss Stephen’s Conservative Character, but hopefully he will come out to visit on occasion. This announcement will put a serious dent in my remote control as choosing between Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert will be mighty difficult.

Lisa

Oops, last week’s heading included a Hebrew Shana Tova.
Oops, Carolyn Tisdale’s birthday is NOT April 10th
Oops, I forgot to mention Jarett Friedland’s 21st birthday
Oops, Jean Chatzky is NOT named Jane.
Oops, I forgot to mention Abbe Sherbin’s birthday in March.