Episode 24 Avrum Rosensweig, Just Me!

THIS EPISODE IS IN MEMORY OF OUR CHILDREN WHO DIED OF HIV/AIDS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, OR WHO BECAME ORPHANS BECAUSE OF IT. IT IS IN MEMORY OF OUR NEIGHBORS, WHO LIVED ON THE STREETS OF OUR TOWN AND DIED THERE THIS PAST WINTER. REST IN PEACE. THANK YOU FOR COMING OUR WAY! 

Episode 24 of Hatradio! is a first of its kind. It is a 1-man show, Just me!.

I quite enjoyed doing this segment. I enjoyed it because it gave me the chance to talk and hear my own history and how tikun olam (repairing the world) was so prevalent and a lead up to the creation of Ve'ahavta.

Doing this show was therapeutic. It allowed revisit my past and 'hang out' with my zaidies and boobies (grandfathers and grandmothers). I adored telling the story of my mother, Gitel, walking through Queens Park with her father on Shabbat, seeing that image in my head....the squirrels running past them, the two of them sitting on a bench giggling and telling stories about the old country. I loved talking about my father, Shragah Phyvle, and his two brothers, all of whom were community builders, and cared deeply about the Jewish people and Israel. 

I think when you hear about my family, their journey from Easter Europe and the solid lives they made in the West, you might consider aspects of your own life, your parents and grandparents. You might smell the mothballs in their homes as we did in our grandparent's home, and recall the communication challenges you had with the Boobie, as we did. They were warriors though. They worked arduously. They were beautiful spirits. They lived their lives with verve and purpose and truckloads of love.  

And then their is the second half of the show about the genesis of Ve'ahavta. Man, those were something. They were glorious and golden years. Everything shone. I remember telling my girlfriend at the time, Roz, to remember the coat-hanger we'd purchased for our new office because it was the first coat-hanger of the first Jewish humanitarian organization ever.

In this segment you'll hear about our homeless initiatives including our Mobile Jewish Response to the Homeless and our Ve'ahavta Street Academy for the Homeless.  You'll learn about our international work including medical missions to Guyana in Bartica and the rainforests, and the outstanding work we did with our teams through the brilliant efforts of Dr. Michael Silverman. You'll discover our successes at the Howard Hospital in Zimbabwe, through the tenacity of Scarborough born, Dr. Paul Thistle who has made a life for himself there.

Folks, we met superstars. We were mentored by them. We shared with them. We were exposed to divergent cultures, different peoples, the children! Oh, the children! 

Our toil was holy in its own way and I loved every minute of it.  Every frickin minute. 

The greatest challenge doing this podcast was being articulate throughout the 1 hour and 40 minutes but mostly telling a good story, that flowed, was cogent and consistent - that made sense.  Howard and I worked on the post-production and while it wasn't the most editing we'd ever done we had to listen closely to ensure a poetry of words. And I think we figured it out. I think you'll enjoy the show.

Have a listen and let me know what you think. Share this link as I am hoping people will be encouraged through it to pursue their own dreams and enhance our world and those whom we share this planet with. 'm hoping our community of listeners here, will see their blessings and recognize what we have, versus what we lack. That is not easy, but it is do-able. 

Hatradio! The show that schmoozes (with regular folk). 

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Thank you to David Nefesh for creating the Hatradio! song. David's been my brother since we're eight year old. We adopted each other. He's talented as hell. Do a google search on David Nefesh and listen to his music. He has a voice of an angle and his lyrics live.  And thank you to Howard Pasternack, my friend, for his post-production work which he does consistently every Thursday afternoon - Thursdays with Howard. We have amazing times together, editing but more so, attempting to understand the world. He's a fine teacher and cerebral partner. Well done Howard! 

Credit for music in commercial:
Slow Burn Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/