We met in Lima, Peru.  It’s the kind of meeting that could not have happened without G-d’s direct involvement.  There’s just no other way to explain it!

I was studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina and had two weeks of vacation between my summer internship and the start of school, so I decided to spend one in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador and one in Peru, visiting Machu Picchu.  I happened to know the Chabad Lima shaliach’s daughter and so decided to stop there for Shabbos in between the two other legs of my trip.  If it hadn’t been for that friendly connection, I might never have shown up there.

Meanwhile, Rabbi Ben was one year into his initial four-year round-the-world travel plan. He stopped in Lima, planning to spend just a couple of days.  While he was there, though, he found the book Garden of Emunah by Rabbi Sholom Arush.  He decided to sit down and learn it, which took him a full three weeks.  At the end of that three weeks, I walked in.

Rabbi Ben was sitting at a computer and I thought he was an employee, so I began to speak to him in Spanish.

“I speak English,” he said dryly.  “And your accent is terrible!”

Rabbi Ben and I exploring Miraflores the first weekend we met, in Lima, Peru

I was insulted because I thought my accent was perfect, but when he announced that he wanted to split the cab fare and accompany me into the city, I accepted.  I am Jewish, after all!  During the whole cab ride, he made jokes about my degree in philosophy and I decided I had to find a way to get rid of him.  But although I kept disappearing into museums he didn’t want to enter, he patiently waited for me outside every one of them.  We also did other “romantic” things like to visit the Museum of the Inquisition.  In spite of all that, we actually ended up having a really great time together.

We didn’t see much of each other on Shabbat, but afterwards, we went to the open-air market at Miraflores, where we joked with local children.  When it was time for me to go back to my hotel, he walked me back and then had me add my contact information to his “address book,” which contained the contact information of every other person he’d met in his travels (I’m guessing it contained about 250,000 names).  I figured I’d never hear from him again, especially since he had a flight to Europe booked for later that week.

The second time we met, again in Lima, Peru, Rabbi Ben took me to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life, and took me to the romantic Parque del Amor.

To my surprise, Rabbi Ben did email me, just a few days later, to tell me he canceled his flight and was still in Lima!  A friend of his had gotten engaged and Rabbi Ben was staying in the Americas for a while so he could attend the wedding.  Plus, the Chabad of Lima had offered him a chazzan position for the high holidays that he couldn’t refuse.  I happened to have the first flight into Lima that Thursday, and the last flight out, giving me an entire day free there. As a result, we were able to spend my last day in Peru walking together in Lima and getting to know each other.  Unfortunately, Rabbi Ben was still insistent on continuing with his round-the-world travel plan and I was not interested in waiting for him.  We parted ways and I thought I would never see him again.

For the next two-and-a-half years, we kept in touch sporadically via phone and email.  In December of 2009, Rabbi Ben was finally in the same time zone as me, so we were able to talk on the phone more.  It took me two months, but I finally managed to convince him to visit me in Miami, Florida, where his grandparents also happened to be at the time.  He found the perfect flight: one that got him into Miami in the morning, so he could have lunch with his grandparents, but flew out in the evening, just after having dinner with me.  Then he’d fulfill his longstanding promise to visit me, but instead of staying too long, he’d end up on the beaches on Puerto Rico.

But G-d had different plans.

Rabbi Ben had accumulated quite a few air miles over the years, so he always checked his statements meticulously.  However, this time, he had misread the date of their expiration.  He had mixed up the day and the month, reading it European style instead of American style, and as a result, he found his air miles expired.  He called the company to try to fix it and they told him the only way to do so was to take a flight of a certain distance within the next couple of weeks.  A flight to Miami was just what he needed.

Only divine providence can explain how, 3 years after first meeting in Lima, Peru, Rabbi Ben and I finally got engaged! Our l'chaim took place in Miami Beach, Florida, followed by our wedding in Jerusalem, Israel.

So he had to forego his planned “perfect” flight to Puerto Rico in favor of one that went just to Miami, but was on the right airline.  Late on a Tuesday night, as I was driving home from work, Rabbi Ben called me.  “I’m flying in tomorrow afternoon – can you pick me up at the airport?”

This was a huge surprise to me, since I hadn’t seriously expected him to come visit.  But I was happy to see him again, so I rolled with the punches.  He only planned to spend a couple of days visiting his grandparents before continuing on to Puerto Rico.  But he never made it to Puerto Rico.

Instead, after only a couple of months of dating and a Pesach trip to meet his family, we got engaged.  A few months later, we were married in Jerusalem, Israel, overlooking the Kotel.  And now our first year has passed… It’s amazing how time flies!

G-d had to work hard to get us together, across thousands of miles and several years, but in the end, everything happens in its proper time.  It is a true story of divine providence, as is every story of “how we met.”  But in our case, I think G-d had to work extra hard!

Last week we went for a walk to Mont Royal. We ran into some international folk dancing festival. There must have been 150 people there. Some were dressed up.

It seemed that the music and dancing style was %95 Bulgarian and the people who were dressed up were wearing traditional Bulgarian clothes.  To make it an ‘international event,’ they played a song or two in some other languages.

But here’s what blew my mind. The song ‘Hine Ma Tov,’ which I think is by the Miami Boys Choir, suddenly came on, and there were around 150 people dancing in step to the song. It was obviously not their first time hearing this Jewish tune. The steps most have been practiced dozens of times over the course of weeks or months to have them so fluid.

We as Jewish people have long been taking music from the non-Jews but this is the first time I’ve heard non-Jews take Jewish music and make it theirs.

Maybe there were a couple Jews there. It is possible. But certainly  not a trace of religious enough Jews to know about Miami Boys Choir.

The video was shot on an iPhone, the lighting wasn’t too great, but it gives an idea.

WARNING – There are a few seconds of some blurred females dancing in this clip. They are fully dressed in traditional clothing, though I can’t guarantee it will meet all standards of modesty. Please to not watch if you may be offended by this.

Even top US military experts have said that Israeli military victories can't be explained by conventional means.

One of the most fascinating things about travel is that you meet so many amazing people and if you pay attention, you will learn all sorts of incredible things from them.  Not only does travel mean you live stories, but you also hear stories.  This week, we stayed a few days with the family of one of the kids from Rabbi Ben’s Derech HaTeva trip last year.  So while the two of them were off banging on bongos, I sat with the women and listened to some of the most astounding stories this boy’s mother told.

At one point, it came up in conversation about how miracles happen in Israel all the time.  I heard once about how at one of the most famous military academies in the US, a professor was showing examples of wars and strategies and how they worked out.  Throughout the entire course, he never once mentioned Israel and the wars fought there.  When a Jewish student spoke up and asked why, the professor responded, “I teach military warfare, not miracles!” Israel’s military history simply defies logical explanation: The only way to explain Israel’s victories is that G-d is on our side.  So when our hostess shared a story of salvation with me, I wasn’t at all surprised to hear it.  It was told to her by a soldier she was friends with, who participated in this situation.

These Jewish soldiers see miracles all the time. We can too, if only we open our eyes to see them!

It was 1967 and Israel was under attack.  Up on a small hillside, 15 Israeli soldiers were being attacked by hundreds of  Jordanian soldiers.  As they saw the Jordanian troops approaching, the 15 soldiers made a pact.  They knew they would be killed – they were grossly outnumbered – so they would fight to the death in the defense of their country and they would not give up.  As the Jordanians came closer, as one they all laid down their weapons and surrendered.  The Israeli soldiers were stunned, so, as they marched them to the jail, one Israeli soldier asked one of the Jordanians why they surrendered when there were only 15 Israeli soldiers.  “15 of you?!” came the shocked reply, “I saw you – there were thousands of you!”

In this week’s parsha, Moses gives the Jews encouragement before they enter Israel.  He addresses their fear that other nations will be more numerous, and that without the strength that comes with numbers the Jews will surely fail.  “Do not fear them!” Moses admonishes.  Instead, the Jews are told to remember what G-d did to Pharoah in Egypt and to never fear enemies on account of something like numbers.  I hope we can all keep this very apropos message in mind, given this week’s attacks on Israel.

This is just one of the many promises G-d made to Israel… and it seems to me, from this, and many other stories I’ve heard, that He truly is keeping up His end of the bargain.  If G-d can do these miracles for us, to preserve the People He loves so well, then He can and does surely keep up with all His other promises, too.  All we have to do is to open our eyes and see the miracles that are all around us.

Shabbat shalom.

Yesterday we went to Kayam Farms for a Tu B’Av celebration. It reminded us a lot of Eden Village Camp. Kayam Farms are associated with Milldale, a Jewish day camp and Pearlstone, a kosher conference center.

Tu B’Av is a day when traditionally women would dress all in white and dance out in the fields outside of the city and men would come.  Then the men and women would find their future spouses.  Today Tu B’Av is a happy holiday we enjoy celebrating, especially after all the heaviness of Tisha B’Av.

Kayam Farms had a special event to celebrate Tu B’Av and love. They brought in a band from Israel and a couple of local Jewish bands to play.  They had music playing the whole time and plenty of fun people to meet. There were a lot of Jewish hippies there, which was neat.

We also went for a walk through the woods surrounding the camp and farm. It was a beautiful nature walk. We saw holes where animals live and a pretty little creek flowing through. We relaxed in one of the Camp’s outdoor structures and contemplated what it would be like to live outside.

All in all, it was a very fun and relaxed day. It was a happy and friendly celebration of a Jewish holiday celebrating finding love.

Havdalah drumming in Baltimore with Derch Hateva crew

Last summer, we spent a month in living in the outdoors, hiking, biking, and riding camels across Israel. I was one of two counselors for a group of teenage boys. It was an awesome trip. Type “Derech Hateva” into the search box for more about this.

Anyway, Came to Baltimore for a few days because two of the Derech Hateva boys are here. We’re spending a few days together getting back to nature, with getting spiritual in the outdoors: hiking, tai chi, praying, and meditating.

Last night after havdalah we had an awesome jam session on the drums.

We are in Baltimore. It’s a very Jewish neighborhood where we are staying. Almost every house is Jewish. I like this because the streets were quiet Friday night and Saturday because not many people were driving.

Shabbat morning I heard Rabbi Dovid Katz speak. Now, normally I’ve got issues with Rabbis talking for 35 minutes during the service, but not with Rabbi Katz. He’s a well-known Rabbi, professor and historian and he had some good stuff to say.