We spent this past Shabbos in Miami Beach Florida. It was a year since our last Sahbbos spent there. Shabbos day we met a couple from New Jersey who were eating lunch at the same host family as us. Rachel has known the family for a number of years and they, knowing we were back in the Miami area, invited us for Shabbos. The New Jersey couple found the host family on shabbos.com.

When we spent Shavous with ‘Daven With Dov’ on Hollywood Beach, there was a boy staying over the chag who also had found the place through shabbos.com.

I have not ever used the site personally though perhaps I will try it soon, as it seems to be working and it appears that one could find some very nice people to spend Shabbos with.

The view from Daven with Dov's shul in Hollywood Beach, Florida is stunning and inspirational... a true reminder of G-d's wonder and very appropriate for this season of receiving the Torah.

This year for Shavuot, Rabbi Ben and I will be in Hollywood, Florida. Just north of Miami, it’s an incredible location. Rabbi Ben will be performing as chazzan, or cantor, at Anshei Chesed v’Emes, a little synagogue more commonly known as “Daven with Dov.” We spent last Shavuot here, just days after our engagement, and it was an inspirational experience.

Personally, I can’t think of a better place to spend Shavuot. Shavuot is the holiday that celebrates the Jews receiving the Torah. After running from the foreign land of Egypt (and their hostile hosts), the Jews had to travel through the desert for a long time in order to finally reach their destination: the small and unimposing mountain called Sinai. There, they were finally able to reach a high enough spiritual level to receive the Torah.

Rabbi Ben and I are similar wanderers… and it seems we have come to Sinai! We are not spending Shavuot at a big, flashy synagogue. Like the small and ego-free mountain of Sinai, Daven with Dov is small but mighty. Just as each Jew heard G-d speaking the words of the Torah just to him, so too will we be in an intimate environment where learning is personalized and valued.

Not only that, but an important element of Shavuot is to feel as if we are at Sinai, accepting the Torah. Imagine the awe and wonder the Jews felt when they first saw the booming sounds of G-d’s voice. Here at Daven with Dov, we will eat, pray, and sleep with a magnificent view of the beautiful, bright, blue Atlantic Ocean. To view the waves, the beauty of the sky, the clouds that turn pink each sunrise and sunset, to feel the warm, golden sand beneath our feet is a reminder of the majesty that is G-d and the gifts he has bestowed upon us.

This Shavuot, let’s all look around at our synagogues and view them as miniature versions of Mt. Sinai. Let’s look at the world and the creations around us with eyes newly opened with wonder, like children. Let’s let the awe flow into us and become part of us. Let us re-accept the Torah with hearts full of love.

Chag sameach!

The Atlantic Ocean from Hollywood Beach Florida

Rebbetzin Rachel and I are now in Florida and it’s great to be by the ocean.

There is a special berachah/blessing that one makes when seeing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time in thirty days. The beracha is “Baruch at ado-nai elo-heinu melech haolam oseh (or She’asha) hayam hagadol.” Blessed….who made the great sea.

I believe that this blessing is not said when seeing the Pacific Ocean.

A blessing “oseh ma’aseh bereshis” is made when seeing the Mediterranean Ocean if one has not seen it in the last thirty days. According to some authorities, one should add the words “She’asa es hayam hagadol” immediately after saying “oseh ma’asheh bereshis.”

Now what happens when you are traveling between North America and Israel and will have the opportunity to view both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean? You only make one berachah. If your flight originates in North America you will say the blessing “Oseh (she’asah) hayam hagadol,” and not make a beracha when seeing the Mediterranean Sea, since there are Rabbis who rule that the Mediterranean Sea is also called “yam hagadol,” the great sea.

If, however, your flight originates from Israel, you will have made the blessing “oseh ma’ase bereishis,” upon seeing the Mediterranean. You will then not make the beracha “oseh (she’asah) hayam hagadol” when seeing the Atlantic Ocean, because according to some Rabbi the correct Blessing to make on seeing the Atlantic Ocean is “oseh ma’aseh Bereishis,” and you already made it on the Mediterranean Sea.

During his trip on the Israel Trail with Derech HaTeva, Rabbi Ben had lots of opportunities to act as a leader. We learn in this week's Torah portion what it means to be a leader and just how important it really is.

Sometimes travel is complicated.  Situations arise that you don’t always know how to handle.  Maybe your luggage is lost, or maybe it’s you that’s lost.  Sometimes you want to be adventurous and go off the beaten track or maybe you’re like Rabbi Ben and in love with trekking and mountain climbing.  Whatever your situation, it’s hard to be a serious traveler and not have something unexpected come up.  The question is: How do we handle it?

Parshas Nasso is the longest parsha in the Torah.  Why? Because it details, again and again, the offerings the princes of Israel brought.  Why is it so important for us to devote so much time to reading about this? The Torah doesn’t waste any words! It must be that this is incredibly important.  To get to the answer to that question, we have to ask why the princes were bringing these sacrifices.  As it turns out, when the mishkan (the tabernacle) was being built, the Jews had to donate a lot of different items.  Before the donations started, the princes got together and decided that they would give for the mishkan anything left over that the Jews didn’t give.  They figured there would be quite a bit left.  But the Jews were so enthusiastic about giving for G-d that they very quickly gave everything necessary – and then even too much! Moshe even had to stop them from giving any more.  The princes were left unable to give anything.  By bringing these sacrifices, they were finally able to give.

Like the princes of Israel, we as travelers often find ourselves in situations that we’ve never encountered before.  Every situation is not just a challenge, but an opportunity – and we each have the potential within us to become a great leader.  Last summer, Rabbi Ben traveled to Israel, where he spent a month walking the Israel Trail.  But it wasn’t enough for him just to walk it – he had to lead a group of teenage boys on that long hike.  And, being a leader, he often had to make decisions – what trail to follow, where to set up camp, and how many hours to hike that day.  He was constantly receiving opportunities to act as a leader.

And he did act as a leader, by jumping in and solving problems and taking advantage of every chance that arose.  When they passed through a grove of wild fruit trees, he didn’t sit back and wait for the kids to notice the abundance G-d created – he didn’t let the opportunity pass him by.  Instead, he led the children to enjoy things like wild figs and berries.  By acting as a leader, everyone was able to participate and enjoy – including him!

That is what we must learn from the lesson of the princes.   Had they acted as true leaders, they would each have been the first to give a reasonable amount for the mishkan.  In that way, all the Jews in their tribes would have followed suit and everyone would have had a chance to give – including the princes.  As leaders, this is our potential – let’s make it a reality!

Derech Hateva Link

In the desert dunes of Rajasthan, India, it's easy to see how the Jews really had to rely on G-d to provide them with sufficient food and water during their time in the desert.

Early this year, Rabbi Ben and I set out into the desert.  In Rajasthan, India, we spent eight days in the desert – five of which were just the two of us alone with two camels and our guide.  It was an incredibly transformational experience.  Wandering in that wilderness, we had to trust our guide completely.  We had to hope that we had enough food and water, and that what we had wouldn’t spoil.  We had to find safe places to sleep at night and we had to hope we didn’t have any trouble with our moody camels.  I learned, in Rajasthan, that going into the desert truly is an act of faith.

This week’s parsha is called “Bamidbar” and is the start of an entire new book of the Torah, also called “Bamidbar,” “In The Desert.”  Into the desert the Jews go, destined to wander for the next 40 years.  But the Jews’ experience wasn’t just one of walking around in the desert, of loading and unloading their animals, and of experiencing the physical world.  If anything, they spent most of their time in the spiritual world, what with G-d hovering over them in a cloud and dumping food on the ground for them to find every morning.  Still, I can’t help thinking that there has to be a reason the Jews ended up wandering in the desert.  After all, they could just have easily had to wander in a forest (hey, it happened to Goldilocks) or in the mountains or in a marsh.  Why the desert?

Sunset in the desert. With sand as far as the eye can see, you can see G-d on every horizon.

During our time in the desert, Rabbi Ben and I had a lot of time to think, to observe, and to talk.  What we noticed was that we were learning more about life and about deserts during that camel safari than either of us ever could have learned in a classroom, with a book in front of us.  Whether we were gazing at the clear, star-filled sky, or stopping in our tracks to watch a snake slither past, we were surrounded by wonder. I’ve spoken with many other people who have said that they also felt a sense of wonderment particular to the desert.  In other places, it’s easy to be too distracted to gaze about with wonder.  If you’re in a forest, you have to carefully watch where you step, and there are trees and large objects surrounding you at all times.  If you’re in a marsh, you have to try not to sink.  If you’re on a mountain, you have to try not to fall off.  But if you’re in the desert, there are no distractions.  You can take in the vast horizon with nothing to block you.  Perhaps this is what G-d wanted of the Jewish people as they wandered – to make it possible that wherever the Jews looked, they could see Him, with no preoccupations and nothing blocking their view.

Although we did ride them some of the time, our camels were most important for their ability to carry sufficient food and water for us on our journey through the desert.

When we went into the desert, we took one very important thing with us: camels.  Our two camels carried all our supplies, which consisted mostly of water, food, and bedding.  There’s no guarantee in the desert that we’ll find any of the above.  That’s another one of the things that’s special about a desert: there’s nothing there.  If we’d gotten lost or stuck in the desert with nothing, we would have been in big trouble.  Imagine how the Jews felt when they were in the desert.  Even with the manna coming from heaven, I would be nervous – the moment that stuff stops falling, we’re done for.   Basically, in the desert, there is no way to survive without G-d.  We have no choice but to rely on G-d.

And I think that’s really what the point of the desert ultimately is.  In the desert, you have to have faith.  When we have nowhere else to turn, we turn to G-d.  When there’s nothing blocking our view, no trees or mountains, no friends or enemies, but only desert as far as the eye can see, we can see Him.

“O G-d, You are my G-d, earnestly will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You, in a dry and weary land, where no water is.” (Tehillim 63:2)

A spread of delicious organic kosher vegetarian Indian food including specialties like palak paneer, dahl, and kofta are served one day as dinner at Eden Village Camp and remind us of our time in India.

Being vegetarian or vegan seems to be gaining popularity in the U.S., but it definitely doesn’t seem to be all the rage in the kosher communities.  In fact, more often than not I find myself having long conversations about why I’m vegetarian with all the meat-eating religious families who are kind enough to host us for meals.

From a practical point of view, it doesn’t matter how much you like meat, if you’re planning to do a lot of traveling you’ll be really restricted if you can’t go without meat.  During our three months of travel in India, we only encountered meat twice: at Chabad of Hampi during a special occasion and at Chabad of Varanasi, and both times only chicken was available. If you’re looking for beef, don’t expect to find it being served in India or Nepal! In fact, in certain very religious Hindu areas of India, such as Pushkar in Rajasthan, it is not possible to serve meat.  In Pushkar, canned tuna is only able to be served because the Indian employees don’t know that it’s fish! So if meat is a vital part of your diet, your travel will be extremely restricted unless you learn how to kill the animals kosher yourself.

Another practical point is that if you really want to travel, you will at some point be in places without a Chabad House, Bayit Yehudi, Lev Yehudi, or other Jewish institution to provide you with food.  Depending on where you go and for how long, you could be weeks without encountering other kosher travelers.  In India, Rabbi Ben and I generally went for about 2 weeks at a time without seeing a Chabad House.  During that time away, you’ll have to fend for yourself and make your own food.

After taking a special course, the resident baker at Eden Village Camp surprised us with these delicious kosher organic vegetarian croissants hot from the oven!

There are pre-packaged kosher meat foods available, but if you’re a longer-term traveler, you won’t want to lug around a suitcase full of them.  And even if you’re planning to slaughter some kosher critters, you may not find it practical to carry around two sets of dishes for meat and milk for kosher cooking on the go.  (By the way, in many of these countries, getting milk is very easy… just find a local with a milking goat, cow, water buffalo, or yak, and ask if you can pay them to let you milk a bit… then you can pasteurize it yourself in your own pot!  Many Jewish organizations we’ve encountered do exactly this, such as the Chabads of Pushkar and Pune, and Lev Yehudi of Hampi in India.)

Right now, Rabbi Ben and I are at Eden Village Camp, which is a primarily vegetarian facility.  It’s actually amazing to see the creativity of the chefs in making us healthy, delicious, organic, vegetarian food.  Even avid meat-eaters would be satisfied!  Don’t even begin to think we’re suffering… we’ve been treated to yummy entrees like eggplant lasagna, Caesar salad, chili (sin carne!), French toast, black bean burgers, and stir fries… and yummy desserts like chocolate and fruit-filled challah, ice cream and sorbet, chocolate chip and sugar cookies, and fresh granola bars.  If you ever worry that going vegetarian while traveling will be hard, just prepare yourself beforehand by learning how to prepare creative vegetarian dishes before you go!