Dear Ones:
Somewhere between Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat Davide and I left the synagogue to show our lovely faces at a benefit for AIR-Austin, the non-profit group who are getting www.hashemshouse.org back on the internet. AIR stands for Austin Internet Rally which will actually happen on October 16th when Team Hashem’s House will actually compete in a rally to get the website up in one day! These folks are wonderful…and they threw a great benefit party tonight with great food, lots of good live music and even a couple of belly dancers and a raffle for good measure. I met the woman who runs the Austin office of the Department of Assistive/Rehabilitative Services for Texas. We’ll be working more closely together as time goes by. She was thrilled to hear that we intend to offer ministry training to folks who have visual and auditory challenges. She believes, since we are a career that folks can get tuition assistance to come to our programs! That made me feel good. Here is a shout-out to Teenya Franklin and the gang… you throw a nice party!
The last two days have been challenging. Rebbe Gelberman died yesterday and I just received word today of the death of one of my most favorite Michaelson cousins. Jerry was my guidance counselor in high school and a delightful cousin all these years. He also helped me while I was taking care of our cousin Avalon during the last couple of years of her life. May Jerry’s good deeds as an educator and volunteer for Lighthouse for the Blind is as a blessing on our heads.
On a lighter note, Davide and I did some first-hand research tonight on the way home from the benefit. We stopped at Chick Fil-A because in an article that I read this afternoon, it claimed they had the best-kept dessert secret in Austin. The claim was that their vanilla ice cream was the best. They only have vanilla and it’s really soft-serve, not ice cream…but it’s a lovely vanilla color (not the milk white stuff you get at other drive thru places) and the flavor is very rich…there is cream in there somewhere. It was delicious. I don’t know if it’s the best in all of Austin because we have Amy’s and also Austin Scoops…but it was very fine indeed!
So, during these the Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur may you stay balanced with some light in your life to off-set the dark…life cannot be without both sides…but they should stay in balance over time.
With many, many blessings and very great love for all of us,
Rebba Raine
