Once again, Chabad hosted a fun and enlightening Purim party. An event filled with comedy, culinary delights and charisma!

Congregation Bnai Avraham in Brooklyn Heights is an amazing place where everyone feels at home. Singles, couples, families, elders all enjoy weekly classes, congregational meals and time with the amazing Raskin! Forget the Amazing Kreskin, Raskin puts him to shame..his family welcome everyone and the Rebbetzen dressed as Queen Esther (but without the ego) is beautiful.

Simcha Weinstein runs multiple programs for Chabad and teaches at Pratt University. He is also a published author and a very funny Englishman!

Speaking of funny, the annual Congreation Bnai Avraham Purimpalooza, offered members top of the line comedy in way of Steve Marshall! Steve is a very well known stand up comic, film director and comedy coach. His work and style is similar to that of Woody Allen, Steve Martin and Colin Quinn. You can visit his website, www.dontbehave.com for much more information on his work. He does great "kosher comedy."

For more information on Congregation Bnai Avraham, visit: http://www.bnaiavrahambrooklynheights.com

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From day to night, these two parties were completely different – or were they?

First stop, The Jewish Lawyers Guild party. Held each year around Chanukah and made up primarily of JLG members and their close friends, the party was all about networking, celebrating and ok, EATING!

The spread was "to die for" as they say…glatt kosher, all the old heart-clogging items you can imagine. Indulged upon by attorneys whose ties were loosened in preparation for the feast.

Most came from work, still in suits and ties (typical lawyers right?)..Then again maybe not. I met one man who I told in general terms, about the fun Jewcy party I was heading to right after the JLG event (no group name or address given- don’t worry Jewcy staff). As "lawyer-ish" as he looked, he was so excited at the mention of interacting with a down to earth, younger, creative crowd that he almost dropped his black and white cookie.

NAhhhh THAT would never happen! Lose a cookie?

I continued on in my path for a few more cookies myself, then off to very different Jewcy party.

As I crossed over the Brooklyn Bridge back into the promised land, I opened my shirt (just a little bit- to the equivalent of loosening one’s tie).

As soon as I reached the lobby door I could feel the energy/vibe increase ten old.

From meat to dairy (dont tell anyone).

From red ties to red and green yarmulkes..

From a leather chair to santa’s chair.

And from suit jackets to Budweiser jackets..these were two different groups.

Or were they?

I figured out fairly quickly that as "different" as my two groups of friends/colleagues/fellow Jews appeared to be, was really more of a testament to our likenesses…our cultural bonds.

Food, parties, friends, creative conversation (whether about law or libation), we had more in common than one would first observe.

Even if the twain probably don’t meet often, we are met and bonded by our common love for life, people and parties. For networking and for not working. For shmoozing and for, well…more shmoozing.

Let’s join hands and realize that we are all one people and should really stick together because to many (but not all) people in the "non-tribal" sector, we are all the same..and they define us by our religion. Therefore WE should not redefine ourselves as separatists, suit wearing vs. Keds wearing.  It’s all good!

Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Christmas, and Happy Jew Year!

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Must be a "New York” thing, you say to yourself and others tell you the same. Or more specifically, is it a "Brooklyn" thing? The “thing” that makes you able to do 10 things at once and with ease, especially on a Friday afternoon heading home from another wild work week. For those in the know, a Friday afternoon drive through Borough Park, Brooklyn will bring with it tons of traffic, huge school buses and large families bustling around in preparation for the Shabbos/Shabbat.

It can take 20 minutes to get from 18^th Avenue to 16^th Avenue and you better be mindful of the many children running around the block and across the street. There is however,one thing which stands out in my mind and in my nose..hours after I arrive home from BP. Particularly on a fall Friday afternoon, when the early autumn breeze begins to blow, you can sense a distinct smell in the Borough Park air. What is it? Is it Challah baking? Vegetables cooking? Meat? Beans? Sauce? It is all of the above! And combine these aromas with the fall air and you have yourself a fine Cholent Breeze!

This “cholent breeze” always takes me back to childhood, where I spent many shabbos afternoons with my rabbi’s family. We would dip the fresh baked challah into the cholent pot, as not to miss a beat or a bite. Years later, the rebbetzen may have alternated meat for chicken, because she felt it was a little healthier. Any way she served it, it was delicious and special Now, whenever you are driving through traffic, don’t get upset, you will get home. Instead, take the time to smell the roses or the “cholent”..and let it take you back to a special time in your life. It may just bring you renewed meaning and happiness. Or at the very least it will get you very hungry!

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Why is it that so many people ask me, "You cook?" But you’re single, right?"

WOW, I guess single women don’t EAT, or they only order takeout. Why else would they need to cook WHOLESOME, HEALTHY meals, from SCRATCH!?? I guess it doesn’t really matter what you cook when you are single. Meals are only made for two. Yeah, right.

Not my meals, baby. Although I can sometimes eat for two or three people, I most certainly enjoy cooking my own meals. Lunch, dinner, snacks…whatever.

Why do you think companies make "single" serving dishes? I guess, to the contrary, "couples" can’t eat single serving dishes?

Either way, people are quick to judge and should just worry about their own kitchens.

Unless their kitchens are made from glass, they should not throw stones, or pasta.

As a matter of fact, even many men I date ask me the same thing or they are surprised that I know how to prepare more than a stack of takeout menus.

Don’t get me wrong, takeout is great on occasion, as long as you aware of the chemicals and high salt content found in many of these dishes. And salad? Ok ladies, how much salad can a single person eat? Yes I know it appears to the self, that you are watching your diet, when you order a "salad." Do you really think everyone washes their hands thoroughly before preparing your RAW salad?

Ok, back to single women and cooking.

Most women today are professionals, meaning they work full time and have several after-work responsibilities. This can inhibit their cooking time. The answer to this is to prepare a few dishes for the week on Sunday or early in the week. They don’t have to be elaborate. Light sandwiches for work, egg salad, dips, chicken cutlets with brown rice, almonds for snacking and some chocolate for decadent snacking.

Single women (or men, for that matter) should not deprive themselves or ever think they don’t have "time" or "know how" to cook.

Take a basic cooking class or a more specialized one- i.e. baking, sushi-making etc. These classes are not only tons of fun, they are great ways to meet friends and mates.

We all know how sexy cooking together can be! Cooking solo, while may not sound sexy, is definitely self motivating and rewarding. You feel accomplished and satiated at the same time.

So get out there (or in there-to the kitchen), single ladies AND gents. Be proud of all of your accomplishments and just be proud of who YOU ARE!

Remember, "there are no such things as failures, only unwanted results!"

Add a little "seasoning" to your life and start cooking, you single gourmets!

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I usually like to write about funny moments in life or the importance of putting humor to the not-so-funny moments.

However, today is a day of mourning in Mumbai, India, and around the world. We must realize that in 2008 we are still "under fire" as a people. Whether you are chabad"nik", secular, reformed, conservative, it means nothing at times like this.

We are all Jews and we need to come together because I can guarantee you that the terrorists who killed the innocent Chabad rabbi and his wife in India yesterday, while leaving their son orphaned, see no difference. A Jew is a Jew to them, and they want us all dead. The only "weapons" the rabbi and his wife were "armed" with were their love of Judaism, people, and education and their dedication to Torah and to Chesed.

We have to pray, be stronger than ever, not judge each other and be positive that justice will come to those who are evil.

Good will continue and Chabad will step up its efforts even more now, in light of this terrible tragedy.

I have had the good fortune of being involved with Chabad for many years now, whether it was to help my friend bury her uncle when he had no family nearby and lived alone in the most remote part of Maine or introducing my father to Chabad of Kings Highway in Brooklyn so he wouldnt be alone on Shabbat, to the "word of mouth" promoting of Chabad that I do whenever I see someone unaffiliated or lost.

Chabad helped me when I was going through a very difficult time in my life a few years ago. At this time of great anxiety when much was piled upon me (loss of a close aunt, losing my job and still not having that significant other I dreamed of)  I felt continuous anxiety and fraility. A Chabad rabbi said to me, "it was not my BODY which was in anxiety, it was my SOUL.’ Something was missing and I needed to find out what it was so that I could go back to being the happy productive person I was. I learned how to take soul-filled small steps in order to regain my stability.

Chabad is everywhere and always there: from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, to Raleigh, North Carolina, to Mumbai, India. Many who do not understand Chabad question their need to go to such remote and often unsafe regions of the world. This is their mission, and they will continue to carry out this mission in the glorious way which they do each day. Let us all do at least one mitzvah today and women please light a shabbos candle(s).

May Rabbi and Rebbetzen Holtzberg’s memory be a blessing, may their work continue through others and one day through their beautiful baby boy, Moshe…

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If you want to be on time, wear a watch. If you want to have really good time management skills, wear a watch. Overall, if you want to be successful in life, wear a watch. When you put on a watch, you immediately feel organized, professional and even pretty (especially if it is diamond-faced). However, more importantly than the look of the watch, is what the watch represents. It represents all of the above. It gives you a sense of purpose and sense of structure. I believe that in recent years and especially in today’s world, so many people are stressed out and tired of being overly organized and structured. We are all facing multiple responsibilities with never enough time to complete all of the tasks we have on our list.

Therefore, we often throw away our watches and see wearing a watch as a form of incumberance, a strain around our wrists. We often rely on our cell phones for the time, or on our computer screens. Nothing can replace "the watch." You actually have to think when you check for the time on your watch. You have to make quick mathematical calculations and check the big hand and the little hand. While this may sound like child’s learning…it doesn’t change much for an adult. Especially with all the stress we face today, why not do more things that represent childhood? No one has to know you are a child and you may not be able to write with crayons all over your boss’s desk or make loud slupring noises through your milkshake straw..However, you can always look at your watch, check the hands listen for that faint but childlike ticking sound and figure on your next play/work date. You can wear a watch and not look like a child! I have seen CEOs with Mickey mouse watches, and I have seen teens with watches they can’t afford. As long as it tells the time and fits your wrist, you are ready to go.

Time for me to go now… I have another blog appointment. Good luck!

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