a balloontwister’s aliya saga

Its Elul….
And you can feel it here…wow..
One of the fellows in my car pool hosted a shiur on Shaarei Tsuvah and asked me to come.
I brought my brother, dovid and my father in law…
A guy by the name of Menachem Kuperman, Israeli was giving the shiur. Hes in the middle of becoming a rabbi, a year away I’m told.
Approximately 35 people (30 men, 5 women) came to the shiur which went around 45 minutes.
It was good to go and listen to a shiur on teshuvah to start off elul.
I’m going to try and learn from the sefer every day until Yom Kippur or at the very least. Set aside a few minutes to think about the teshuvah.
What was most interesting is that in NY, people wouldn’t give this man a second look.
White serugi yamulka, trimmed beard. Some shuls wouldn’t let this guy be called to the torah..etc..
But he gave an incredible shiur and went into the historical significance of the sefer.
He spoke about the 2 sides of teshuva… going FROM Averah and going TO H-shem.
For more details, you can call me. I guess.
It was also nice to meet some more people in the area.. the NON Black People.
People that don’t have black hats…etc.
A side note, the sharrei teshuvah sefer I have is from my cousin Sruli Fischer, who lives in Lakewood, NJ.
He got me the sefer when I was 12 and he picked it up for me on his trip to Israel.
So I gave him a call.
Its one of the oldest seforim I own.
He was trying to get me off the phone as he assumed I called collect.
After I told he I didn’t he still tried getting me off the phone by making “Static noises” and saying the line was bad.
The same noises we all make when Fishy calls…(don’t tell him I said that).
I also got an email for little league for the kids.
There are actually 2 little leagues in the area.
One that plays in the area.
One that plays against other cities / towns.
The former is 250 shekel
The latter is 850 shekel.
I guess the kids Won’t be making friends with people outside of Beit Shemesh.
Oh well.
There is a sefer that Yoni started using in Yeshiva, its called Pirkei Gemara.
Its in Hebrew but it is like an Intro to learning Gemara.
Talks about the difference between tanaim and Amoraim. The Mishna / Gemora..etc.
Perhaps if you have a son starting gemora, its kedai.
By the way, the shoulder is getting a little better… not alot ..
I think I’m going to see a doctor anyway.
Have a good day!
Yudie