Dear Friends and Family,

“Cats in the Cradle”
From our own Fathers to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Ben-Gurion, Abe Lincoln, JFK, Pope Francis, MLK, Albert Einstein, Warren Buffet, Mahatma Ghandi…or whomever you choose. It’s time to pay tribute to the Patriarchs and “Fatherly” Heros of our Lives.  Happy Father’s Day to all Dads, Abbas, Tateh (Yiddish), Baba (Turkish), Babbo (Italian) and Vader (Dutch) and especially our family’s Fathers.  And for a musical accompaniment in honor of this weekend’s celebration,

Here is newly inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer (and my high school crush), Cat Stevens’ (aks. Yosef Islam) classic song dedicated to Fathers and Sons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q29YR5-t3gg&feature=kp or if you are a Harry Chapin fan (like us), here is his classic Father and son poignant message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s5r2spPJ8g

By the way, Harry Chapin was one of our favorite concerts back in the early 80s. (Josh F. what’s your musical reply this week?)

 Happy Father’s Day!

Shalom (Good Bye)

“One Love”
During this political season, Party Platforms are being drafted and Shame on the Texas Republican Platform as they include Gay Therapy in theirs which states: “We recognize the legitimacy and value of counseling which offers reparative therapy and treatment to patients who are seeking escape from the homosexual lifestyle.” This statement is disgraceful! If Homosexuality is a choice to be corrected, so too must Heterosexuality though no one is ever asked when, during their lives, did they “Choose” to be Straight.  Here is the full article about the Texas Platform:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/05/texas-gop-conversion-therapy_n_5454875.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl17%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D484743

          Much more support is still needed for these heros.

“Taking Care of Business”
Israel swore in it’s (new) 10th President, Reuven Rivlin, this week.  Mr. Rivlin seems a stark contrast to the previous (and well respected) Shimon Peres (who founded a Peace Center in his name). Reuven comes from (Likud) on the right side of Israeli’s political spectrum with a pro-settlement stance. Not sure his views today but he was opposed a 2-State solution in the past. Good thing his job is mostly ceremonial, since he seems to lean somewhat conservative.

“A Taste of Honey”
On a delicious Israeli note, the farmers in the south have named a new melon after the sweet vocal sounds and delightful moves of Justin Timberlake who performed in Israel last month.  This cantaloupe will hit the Israeli fruit stands in September and arrive to our U.S. shores soon after.
http://israel21c.org/news/new-melon-is-sweet-like-justin-timberlake/?utm_content=bufferafd85&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

“Trouble, oh Trouble can’t you see”
Was the Iraq War fought in vain? In hindsight, some view it as a mistake.  Just this week, an extremely brutal Jihadist (Terrorist) group, called ISIS took over Mozul, the 2nd largest city in Iraq. This group is so extreme it was shunned by Al Qaeda as being too heinous.   The American trained Iraqi soldiers had to flee the city with their uniforms tossed aside to protect their lives.  This is an unfolding story that could have dire consequences for the whole region.  World leaders are closely following these developments as this story continues to unfold.

“You’re in my heart” (Rod Stewart soccer song)
Among much controversy,  much money, much protest… The World Cup in Brazil gets underway this week.  It used to be prestigious to host the World Cup and the Olympics but these days it is more costly to build the arenas and infrastructure so the countries come out of the events with a huge deficit that they can’t afford in the first place. Good luck to the host and the teams competing.

“John Barleycorn” (song by Traffic)
I was in NYC this week (shout out to my friends at National Women’s Philantropy) and got to walk the city a bit.  I kept thinking about that Seinfield episode with George crossing the street with his Frogger machine. You remember the scene…right? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRK-pRza5eA  Well here is a real life extremely busy Ethiopian intersection that has NO traffic signals yet it looks like everyone gets through safely.  Very cool to watch:
http://twistedsifter.com/videos/meskel-square-timelapse-addis-ababa-ethiopia/

“Celebrate, Celebrate, Dance to the music”
Kol Hakavod to (well deserving) Dr. Richard Krugel on being selected to receive our Jewish Community’s highest honor of the Butzel Award.  Richard is a mentch and one of the shining gems in our community.  Mazel Tov to Richard, Sally and his whole family. Also, Kudos to dear friend, Jocelyn Benson on her appointment as Wayne State University’s 11th Dean of the Law School. A very wise decision for this brilliant woman.  Jocelyn is the youngest woman (at age 36) to ever lead a Law School and I know she will lead it with distinction. Congrats to Jocelyn (and Ryan).

Wishing you and your loved ones a Sweet Shabbat Shalom and a Happy Father’s Day,

Lisa