My daughter on (above?) Long Beach.

Now, my kids don’t have a PSP or a Wii or whatever but it does seem that the rest of the world does. We recently visited Old Bethpage, a Restoration Village where I took this pick of Tom Sawyer and Becky my son and one of my daughters getting old school with the toys.

Two Sundays ago, i was asked to drive the pickup truck leading the procession for a Hachnasas Sefer Torah. Baruch Hashem, the weather held up long enough to finish the procession and the rain came down just shortly after the sefer torah entered the shul. It was a fun experience but very hot as there was no a/c in the truck. Much hotter though for the musician riding in the bed of the truck!

I took this shot on top of Massada as our tour guide “fed” the birds. It was at the same time that I took the shot up in the blog header above.

Two weeks ago, the shul across the street from my house had a hachnasas sefer torah, I was zocheh to write a letter.

My son started a new sleepaway camp this summer and, to tell you the truth, we were a bit concerned. He’s a very independent kid and makes friends easily but it wasn’t his first choice for camp and very few of his friends were going there. Today, he called for the first time. When I asked him if he’s having a good time, he didn’t just say yes, he said, enthusiastically, “For sure!” Whew, what a relief.

My wife and I took a cruise around Manhattan in support of Chevron (more about that later). I took this shot of the Statue of Liberty as I wondered how my mother felt when she first saw her as she entered the US fleeing from the Nazis.

My wife’s cousin, Danny has started a blog chronicling his experiences as a medical student doing research in Uganda. Fascinating stuff. Check it out here.

I’m not a big father’s day guy, really I’m not, but I do look forward to trying to spend a little extra time with my kids on Father’s Day. This year, I knew that would be difficult.

After returning home at around 1 am Sunday morning from an out of town Bar Mitzvah, we had a packed day ahead of us. One of my daughters had a school breakfast with my wife around 11. Before that, I needed to pick up one of my daughter’s from a sleepover. After the breakfast, my wife and three of my kids had to help out at orientation for a day camp that our good friends (the camp directors) run. During that time, I was going to be home with my youngest daughters and two of the camp directors’ younger kids who came over for a play date. At around 12, I put everyone in the car, took them to orientation, and drove straight to my son’s school for a car pool pick up. After dropping off the other five boys, I took my son home but he wasn’t feeling great so he crashed on the couch. After a while, I woke him up, gave him some medicine and made him some lunch. At two, I had to run to a vort for a friend’s son and then I went straight to pick up another of the camp directors’ kids on his way home from school so that I could drop him at the orientation and pick up my gang to bring them home. Then, I quickly changed out of my suit and ran out to do carpool for my son’s little league playoff game (I am the coach). The game lasted until 6:20 or so (we lost) and after dropping off the other boys, my son and I put together a new office chair that we had bought for my father-in -law and we all headed out to surprise him at my sister-in-law’s house. On the way back, we stopped at the local grocery store to buy milk for breakfast and snacks for today’s lunch. We came back home at aprox 10:30 and I had to finish up some work for today. Whew!

Knowing that the day would be hectic, though perhaps not as hectic as it actually turned out to be, I davened earlier than usual (I teach college on Sunday mornings but I’m off for the summer so I generally enjoy a late Sunday minyan) and rushed home to wake up my soon to be 8 year old. Although, I mentioned that I’m not big on Father’s Day, this little one holds a special place in that regard. When my father passed away eight years ago, my wife was nearly due to give birth. A friend (the same one who had the vort yesterday) told me that the first Father’s Day without my Dad would be difficult. Sure enough, my wife ended up giving birth to Atara on Father’s Day.

About a week ago, I taught Atara to ride a two wheeler and ever since she has been begging me to go ride but I just haven’t had the time. So, yesterday morning, I woke her up early and when I asked her if she wanted to go bike riding, she nearly jumped off her bunk bed. That half hour or so was my secret Father’s Day treat. Though, in retrospect, I actually think that this was really the perfect Father’s Day. After all, I did what a father does: drive car pool, pick up a kid from a sleepover, hang around during play dates, take care of and make lunch for a sick child, take your kids to camp orientation, coach little league, put stuff together with your son, take your kids to visit their grandparents, buy milk for breakfast and snacks for lunch and go bike riding. A perfect Father’s Day. Hope yours was great too.

My friend, Rabbi Ilan Ginian has recently been commissioned as a full Chaplain, CH (1LT), for the U.S. Army. Rabbi Lt. Ginian begins basic training this summer and has been stationed with the the 101st signal brigade in Yonkers, NY.

While Rabbi Ginian may be new to the U.S. military, his Grandfather is a well decorated WWII veteran and his great-grandfather was a WWI veteran. Yasher koach and G-d Bless the U.S.A.!

Rabbi Ginian (left) being sworn in/affirmed