The sky was clear and cloudless. With music being played in the background, over ninety family and friends of Susan & Danny Newman, former co-campers of Stevie Newman, A"H and Camp HASC staff began filling the chairs on the basketball court to officially dedicate and open the Steven Newman Music & Sensory Program for the campers of HASC.
 
The program began with meaningful greetings and introductions by Rabbi Shmuel Kahn, Director, HASC Summer Program and Rabbi Shlomo Stern, Executive Director, HASC. The program also included the sharing of fond memories with Stevie from, Joshua Salmon, Chair of the Steven Newman Music & Sensory Program Campaign, Aaron Flesksher, Stevie's former counselor and Avi Pollak, Head Counselor, Boys Division.
 
The dedication was highlighted with moving memories from Stevie's mother, Susan on how much camp meant to Stevie. In her speech, Mrs. Newman recalled the excitement Stevie used to have each year in the immediate weeks prior to the start of camp. She reminisced how she and Stevie would have do a count down each day beginning two weeks before the start of camp. The countdown would include announcing how many days until the start of camp, followed by the singing of the camp song.
 
The dedication was brought to a conclusion with a ribbon cutting by Stevie's parents Susan & Danny and brother, D.J. to the building which is now The Steven Newman Music & Sensory Program.

The faces seen around camp on Sunday, July 5th might have looked new or unfamiliar to current staff, but needless to say, the faces sure knew there way around camp. Over 100 staff alumni came together this past Sunday for the Annual Alumni Day & BBQ organized by the office of Alumni Affairs.

Alumni enjoyed an afternoon of walking down memory lane through camp, seeing old campers, catching up with each other's lives and either participating or watching the Alumni v. Counselor/Camper baseball game, with the first pitch thrown out by HASC's very own Executive Director Rabbi Shlomo Stern and announced by the dynamic duo of Camp HASC, Dr. Steve & Avi Pollak.
 
Following the baseball game, alumni gathered under the gazebo for a sumptuous bbq and time to catch up with one another.

Save the date for Alumni Day 2010 when the staff time capsule from 2000 will be opened!

The summers we spent at HASC as YAP counselors were fun-filled and memorable. While working with campers who were our parents' or grandparents' age wasn't what we anticipated when we first signed up to work at HASC, working with some of HASC's oldest campers ended up suiting our personalities perfectly. We have fond memories of assisting our campers with their OD duties, working out every morning in the big bubble to Gary's incomparable mix tapes, YAP bowling trips, and exciting outings to Wal-Mart and Woodbourne. Unencumbered by academics and other distractions, the YAP division is all about fun!

Although we didn't first meet at HASC, we never would have ended up together if not for the slow lines for snacktime meds and the daily calisthenics sessions. We returned to HASC after getting married to work as the YAP division head (Danny) and in recreation (Meira). Last Sunday we were fortunate to be able to share our camp experience with our daughter Eliana at Alumni Day. It was great to introduce her to the camp we hold so dear! 

Though it has been four years since our last summer working at HASC, the time we spent at camp has left us with fond memories that we will carry with us forever. We look forward to every opportunity we have to visit, and as the song goes, we truly feel like it is our summer home.

(Based on "A Summary of Halachos of the Three Weeks" by Rabbi Shimon D. Eider)

During the three weeks between the 17th of Tammuz until after Tisha B'Av, the custom is to observe some aspects of mourning over the destruction of the Holy Temple. The observance intensifies as Tisha B'Av approaches.
(The following is according to the Ashkenazic custom, for the Sephardic custom please consult an appropriate rabbi.)

Curtailing Rejoicing

1. Weddings should not be performed during this period.
2. Engagements may take place with a meal until the 1st of Av. From the 1st of Av until after Tisha B'Av they may take place with refreshments only.
3. Dancing and playing or listening to music is prohibited. A musician who earns his living by playing for non-Jews may do so until the 1st of Av.
4. The custom is to refrain from reciting the blessing "sh'hecheyanu" on new garments or fruit, except on Shabbat. Pregnant women or ill people who need the fruit may eat it normally. New garments that don't require this blessing may be purchased and worn until the 1st of Av.

Haircuts, Shaving, Cutting Nails

1. The custom is to refrain from taking a haircut, including the beard. An adult may not even give a haircut to a child.
2. Trimming the mustache is permitted if it interferes with eating. Combing and brushing the hair is permitted.
3. A person who usually shaves daily (in a permitted manner) and would suffer business or financial loss by not shaving, may do so until the 1st of Av, or at most until the Friday before Tisha B'Av. In any case, one should consult a competent rabbi.
4. A married woman may remove hair that protrudes from under her hair covering, and facial or bodily hair that may be unnattractive to her husband.
5. Cutting the nails is permitted until the Friday before Tisha B'Av. Even then it is permitted for a woman before immersion, or for a man as well, in honor of the Shabbat (for example if Tisha B'Av is on Shabbat and postponed to Sunday, or if it is on Sunday itself).

UPDATE:

Dear Friends,

First, a little update on my daughter 'Rivka bas Yaffa Leah' whose name, many of you have been saying in your tefillos for a successful surgery and for complete post-op recovery. Thank G-d, she is doing well, and is back to her old antics (jumping up and down as you try buckling her in her wheelchair, playing games as you try feeding her, but best of all, throwing kisses and laughing with real zest!!!). Last week was her first time out into the wonderful 'Magic Moments' program run by Yedei Chesed, a local organization that provides support and services for children with special needs and their families. This week and for the next six weeks she is back at her school's summer program and I hear she is doing great, thank G-d.

I appreciate from the bottom of my heart your having been there with us the entire time, which, no doubt in my mind, was the biggest factor contributing to the success of Rivky's surgery and subsequent recovery.

At present, we are in the process of getting a new, custom wheelchair to provide her with the comfort and support which she desperately needs, especially following her surgery and the changes that occurred with her posture . Unfortunately, it is a long process (taking 5-6 months). At this point we are praying that she should get her wheelchair ASAP, as she is not too comfortable in her present chair. As we are approaching the Three Week period, mourning the destruction of the Holy Temple and of our present state of being scattered in all corners of the world with no leadership, we should take pride in our small accomplishments of Ahavas Israel and use them as springboard for continuous acts of kindness and feelings of care for one another.

May we merit that this Tisha B'Av should become a holiday celebrated by all of us together in Yerushalayim and to experience Everlasting Healing and Salvation!

B'ahava,
Leah Sigal

PLEASE CONTINUE SAYING TEHILLIM FOR:

whose condition has become extremely critical with Pneumonia, Heart, Kidney & Lung failure in result of the H1N1 (Swine Flu).

 "These are the sons of Binyamin according to their families, and their count was forty-five thousand six hundred. These are the sons of Dan according to their families...Their count was sixty-four thousand four hundred (Bamidbar 26:41-43)."

The Chafetz Chayim brings a very important lesson that comes out from Parashat Pinchas. There is a census in this week's Parasha, which took place after the plague that killed 24,000 people in last week's Parasha during the episode of Ba'al Peor. Hashem commanded Moshe and Elazar, the son of Aharon, to take a new census of Klal Yisrael. Rashi compares this to a shepherd who counts his flock after it is attacked by wolves. So too, Moshe was commanded to count the Jews who had survived this terrible plague (out of a sign of love). In this census we see something very strange. We see that there were two tribes that were counted whose numbers were very much askew. First was the tribe of Binyamin, whose final numbers were counted at 45,600. And second was the tribe of Dan, who was the second biggest tribe (after Yehuda, who was the largest) whose final number was at 64,400. What was so strange about this and what does this come to teach us?
The Chofetz Chaim explains the significance of these numbers. Yaakov Avinu had come down to Egypt with seventy descendants. His youngest son, Binyamin, with ten sons, had the largest family. Dan had the smallest, a single son named Chushim. The Talmud (Sotah 13a) says that Chushim was deaf. One can only speculate how difficult it was to raise a deaf child in the time of the Avos.
"Parents of a handicapped child have many worries about their child's future," says Rav Pam. "To what extent can the child develop into a Torah Jew and become a productive member of society? Will the child be self-sufficient? Will he or she be able to marry and raise a family? Earn a living? These and many other issues have to be dealt with. These concerns were undoubtedly compounded in the case of Chushim".
Dan was not simply the father of a handicapped son. He was the progenitor of a tribe of Klal Yisrael, a major part of the eternity of the Jewish people. What must have gone through Dan's mind when he took his deaf son to the house of Yaakov Avinu, whereas his brothers walked in with 10 sons, or 6 sons, or 5 sons, etc. Dan must have been thinking what the future would bring, or in his case what the future would not bring, since he had only one son, and that son was handicapped. It's true that Chushim Ben Dan was famous for one episode for he was the one who killed Esav, but after that we don't hear too much about him.
This is the significance of the contrast between the census totals of the tribes of Binyamin and Dan. From Binyamin's ten sons came forth a below-average total of 45,600 male descendants. Yet one deaf boy, Chushim, had 64,400 male descendants, making it  the largest shevet in Klal Yisrael, aside from the royal tribe of Yehudah. The Chofetz Chaim concludes that if it is the will of Hashem, a parent can be more successful with and have more nachas from one son than that of ten sons...In life, one can never predict how things will eventually turn out. At times, the achievements of an only child can be more than that of ten children. Rav Pam continues, "One cannot give up on a person, no matter what the handicap or disability. It often happens that the one who is considered "least likely to succeed" is the one who produces the greatest achievement. Hashem has endowed every human soul with immense treasures. Parents of handicapped children should take inspiration and chizuk from Chushim's accomplishments and realize that they, too, can see great nachas from their offspring." This lesson teaches that great descendants can come from special children. The Borei Olam is in control and this is the power of the accomplishments of a single yid. Shabbat Shalom!     

HAVE AN UPLIFTING AND JOYOUS SHABBOS!!!(Suggestions? Comments? Interested in writing for SaMeaCH? Please feel free to contact Aaron Fleksher at aaronflek@gmail.com)