Abrams Extra 3/11/16

 

 

It is with mixed feelings that I announce that John Palmer is leaving Abrams to assume a supervisory position at the Water and Sewer Department for Falls Township.

John has worked at Abrams for the past 24 years in many capacities- he currently supervises the maintenance staff, the physical buildings, drives students, works in the kitchen, and generally does what needs to be done to keep the school moving. In the past, he even coached the basketball team.

It is rare that an institution can boast that it keeps staff for a quarter of a century, and that says a lot for our Abrams community!

The opportunity at Falls Township is a good career move for him, and although it saddens me to see him go I am very happy that he has found a position that will be beneficial for him and his family. I wish him every success and happiness in his new job and know that he will be as valued an addition to their staff as he is at AHA.

Again, I wish John success in his new job and hope that he will keep in touch with his Abrams family. I also congratulate Maria on her promotion.

___________________________________

Dear Rabbi Budow:

We are enclosing a check to Abrams Hebrew Academy in honor of the recent passing of my father, Jack L. Barber a”H (Yaakov Leib ben Moshe Chayim) on 12 Sivan.

Eleven years after moving from Yardley to Pittsburgh, we also want to say thank you to you and, by extension, to all the others in the Abrams staff and family.

In the winter of 1998 I called you on the phone when we were moving from Maine to Yardley, so that we could get back in touch with the Jewish community and I could work in Trenton. We had a number of questions, including how our oldest child, Shlomo, could be integrated into the third grade coming from just a weekly Hebrew School and, equally important, how could we handle tuition for three children.

You said to me, “Moshe, don’t worry, we’ll take care of it!”

By the way, this was in sharp contrast to the nearest Solomon Schechter School, where they told us that they have a very bad record of success with kids like our then 8-year-old son and discouraged us from even applying.

With a lot of nachas in which you should have a share, we want to update you on the three Abrams students.

Shlomo is now 25 and married with a beautiful daughter. Shlomo and Chaya live in Melbourne, Australia, where she is a native. He went to the Chabad kolel there after they married, and the day he finished they hired him to organize education programs for the baile batim and raise money. His highlight at Abrams was the Israel trip- he refused to move to Pittsburgh until he graduated! After graduating high school here at Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, he went to yeshiva gadolah at Yeshivas Lubavitch Toronto and Chovevei Torah in Crown Heights before going on shlichus to the Lubavitch mesivta in LA. He received Smicha from the West Coast Rabbinical Seminary in LA.

Adina is 21 and also thriving. After she graduated from Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, she went to seminary at Beit Chana in Tzefat. She is the Volunteer Coordinator at the Friendship Circle here in Pittsburgh where she interacts with about 500 people involved as members with special needs, high school volunteers and their parents.

Miriam is 19. She also graduated from Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh and went to seminary at Beit Chana in Tzefat. She is now a shlucha in the Yeshiva Schools high school here and loves it.

Anyway, we want to express our deep thanks to you and wish you and Abrams all the best!

With love,

Moshe & Batsheva Barber

 

I read a very interesting article in the New York Times (link attached below) that is indicative of the siege against Jews not only in Israel, but throughout Europe. Jews all over the world are facing rampant anti-Semitism, and it is important for us to recognize these attacks for what they are and to fight against them in whatever way possible.

I again considered the wisdom of making the trip to Israel this year, and my conclusion is that I believe showing solidarity with Israel is the right thing to do if it is at all possible to do so safely.

I invite any adults who want to join us on this trip to let me know as soon as possible. Three out of the 4 hotels where we will be staying are 5 star establishments, and the tour will take us from the North to the South of Israel. We are particularly fortunate to be able to include a visit to the Knesset and a meeting with Michael Oren, current Knesset member and former Israeli ambassador to the U.S.

I believe that our itinerary competes with any commercial tour you can book, and the trip will demonstrate our support for our fellow Jews. The itinerary is attached below.

Rabbi Ira Budow