Yet all are part of one neshamah, planted in rich, verdant soil, determined to grow. May our garden continue to produce a glorious assortment of flowers and trees, each attached firmly to its roots. Our diverse southern vegetation flourishes and grows into different trees, flowers, and fruits, and a rainbow of glorious shades and hues appears. Yet each shoot is rooted in the same soil, stretching its branches and blossoms heavenward in an endless pursuit of growth and connection to the One above.

This past Lag B’Omer, we were blessed to make our first upsherin, where we celebrate our son’s first hair cut. It’s a wonderful milestone that mimics the three years that we refrain from plucking a tree’s first fruits and symbolizes the entry of the child into the world of Torah learning. It’s a clear sign to everyone; this boy is no longer a baby.

Although there are more direct and faster routes to Beer Sheva and Eilat and all the sites and towns in-between, the Basor River is one of the beauties of the Negev that defiantly justifies a diversion.

The importance of death customs has been ingrained in me since birth. When I served as a shomeret for my grandmother, I was instructed not to eat, drink or perform a mitzvah in the same room. In the shock of death, it seemed rather inane to be told it would be considered mocking the dead. My grandmother was gone; she couldn’t do those things because she didn’t exist anymore, a fact that still makes me tear up.

The Chaya Aydel Seminary has added the study of Hemshech Ayin Beis to its curriculum. Hemshech Ayin Beis is a lengthy series of discourses from the Rebbe Rashab. This past Shavuos marked 100th years since this series of maamorim began in the city of Lubavitch by the Rebbe Rashab, the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom Ber Schneersohn (1860-1920).

The 31st Annual South Florida Chassidic Chanukah Festival is getting bigger and better. Over 10,000 people have participated each year since the event was moved to Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach in 2007. The upcoming festival planned for Wednesday, December 8, has a star-studded program that will likely see the largest attendance ever.