Rabbi Mendel celebrated his 42nd birthday with a 42-minute farbrengen at each of the Torah-Tuesday sessions. Raizy went all out with a delicious spread of Mashed-Potato-Bar (sweet and regular) with toppings, Make-Your-Own-Salad, a big Sushi-Salad and Minestrone Soup, plus birthday cake for dessert, of course.
The study topic was the number 42. First we explored 42 in popular culture from Jackie Robinson and his sports-wide retired number to Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, plus trivia tidbits like Gutenberg’s Bible and the Game of Spores. Then we went to 42 in Judaism, going from the Kabbalistical (and Talmudic) 42-word name of G-d, the Ana B’Koach prayer, and the 42 stops (or travels!) in the Desert between Egypt and Israel. An insight from the Rebbe about life-journeys and the 42 stops/travels, brought us to 2 Chassidic melodies at the end of the farbrengen:
Marc C. stopped in between one meeting and another to bring Mendel this gift of a UAlbany Great Danes sweatshirt, on behalf of himself and the Student Association. The gesture was very special, and the sweatshirt very useful because heaven knows we need all the warm layers we can get this freezing cold winter in Albany! We are proud to share in the school spirit!
This night was also the eve of Sharsheret’s Pink-Day a day of national awareness of the programs and services available to Jewish women who face breast-cancer. So we took a photo wearing “Chabad Goes Pink” tshirts, from Capital Chabad’s fall-time team walk at the annual Breast Cancer walk in Albany’s Washington Park.