From the Desk of Rabbi Engel - Parshas Tazria 5771

• Once again we will be presenting a Grand Childrens L'ag B'omer Parade at the Israeli Expo on May 22nd, 2011. This year we hope to have at least 600 kids marching and there will be an audience of 6,000. The name of the parade this year will be The Jewish Unity Parade.


• All children that march in the parade and all high school age volunteers will be eligible for the grand prize which is an Ipad. The raffle will be held immediately after the parade and the prize will be awarded right there and then.


• We are looking for eight sponsoring companies at $500 a sponsor to cover the cost of the T-shirts. The sponsors can be hair dressers, doctors, car dealers, real estate agents etc. They will be able to have their logo, telephone numbers/ web adresses on the T-shirt. This is a great opportunity for those who wish to publicize their business while giving a tax deductable contribution. If you know of anyone who might be interested please contact them or call Rabbi Engel and pass on the information. Time is of the essence, please act immediately. The last time we did this about 10 years ago it was our school parents and shull families that got most of our sponsors for us, and thus we were able to give the parade T-shirts out for free to all who participated.


• Please plan on attending together with your family. The line up for the parade will be at approx. 1:45 pm. Exact times to follow. We hope to be able to give free T-shirts to all those who march in the parade as well as all the volunteers who are helping with the parade, as per the paragraph above. Forms to order these shirts in the appropiate sizes will be available in a few weeks.


• We have been able to secure the participation of a Jewish American hero, Tibor Ruben who is a Congressional Medal Of Honor recipient. (Google his name and you will see why he received this award and was honored both in the White House and the Pentagon. His story tells of his antisemitic superior who said that no jew will get the CMOH award under my watch).


• We all know how much the Rebbe wanted these l'ag b'omer parades for the Jewish pride and the messages that in engenders. Last years parade was such an unbelivable hit that it way surpassed any of our wildest imaginations of success. We hope and plan to do even better this year.


• As a parade like this cost thousands of dollars I am asking members of our community who are able to, to make a $100 tax deductible contribution towards the parade expenses (if this is difficult right now because of pesach expense, a commitment now to be paid after pesach would work).