This will be the last blog post from our amazing month-long teaching tour. Last post I left off in Vancouver. It was our first time visiting this beautiful city surrounded by water everywhere and majestic mountains. After our wonderful program with Chabad we were invited back the next night to the home of Rabbi and Rebbetzin Bitton for dinner. During that visit he shared how he had been a good friend and learning partner of Rabbi Gavriel Holzberg who was murdered along with his pregnant wife Rivki in Mumbai India 4 years ago. His center had recently dedicated a sefer Torah to their memory. He told how the shock had reverberated throughout the world of Chabad, especially the young shlichim around the globe and how it took a long time to integrate the events. Last week I wrote of my great esteem for the work Chabad does all over the world, sometimes at great cost - but this evening raised my esteem to a whole new level.
We left Vancouver for Chicago and the next day drove to South Bend, Indiana with my sister and brother-in-laws. Their daughter, (our niece) lives there with her husband and baby daughter. We did a full shabbaton with Carlebach davening, communal meals, divrei Torah, classes, discussions and singing. Saturday night we were invited to an impromptu music jam and played late into the night. Sunday morning I spoke and played music at a brunch, where the topic was once again The Mystical Power of Music. All in all everyone was very receptive and welcoming, a perfect way to end our teaching on this tour.
Next stop - home and a new year!!! May we all be blessed with the best one yet.
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