A Rosh HaShanah Greeting

Though we thought about suspending our Rosh HaShanah preparations in order to focus on the Wall St. bailout plan, we decided that we would celebrate Rosh Hashanah as planned because, ultimately, a Jew has to focus on more than one thing at a time. With that in mind, Adira and Michael have recorded a special Rosh HaShanah message just for you!



Shanah tovah u'metukah (a happy and sweet new year)!

Love
Michael and Adira

Disaster Relief for Myanmar and China

As our wedding approaches and our excitement increases, our attention is seldom taken away from the details of planning and arranging. However, over the past two weeks, two devastating natural disasters - a cyclone in Myanmar and an earthquake in China - have jarred our attention from our narrow world of wedding-planning and have forced us to instead focus on the "bigger picture." The situation in Myanmar and China have reminded us that while we "fix" the details of our wedding, we have the more important obligation of working to "fix" the world, which involves doing our part to alleviate the suffering of so many thousands of innocent people.

Therefore, we have added disaster relief for the victims in Myanmar and China to our list of charities on our Tzedakah Registry, and we hope you will join us in contributing to these worthy causes. Providing food, shelter, and medical assistance for the innocent victims of these disasters, in our mind, is the best gift you can give us and the world.

A Jewish wedding concludes with the smashing of a glass. This act reminds us of the complex and broken world into which we will enter as a married couple. We pray that through the strength that our union provides us, we will be empowered to go forth into that broken world and work wholeheartedly to repair it. We hope you will use our wedding as an opportunity to join us in this work.

Engagement Party/Shiddukhin Photos!

Dear friends,

We are pleased to announce that photos from our Engagement Party and Shiddukhin (betrothal) ceremony in Atlanta are now online. There are too many to post, here, so after enjoying the free sample on this blog, please follow the link below:

Adira and Michael and family at the Shiddukhin ceremony

Awesome photos of beautiful people - click here!

Thank you to Uncle Steve "Nose" Farrow for the pro-bono professional photography!

Love,
The newly betrothed

A New Addition to the Tzedakah Registry

Adira and I are proud to announce that we have added Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger to our Tzedakah Registry (on the right hand side of the page).

MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger is a national nonprofit agency that allocates donations from the Jewish community to prevent and alleviate hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds.

The embarrassing part of all this is that we are only just now putting Mazon on our Tzedakah Registry. It is a great organization and an incredibly worthwhile cause, truly deserving of your consideration and your support. Plus, donations are tax deductible.

So many people in the world are hungry and, thank God, Adira and I are not among them. We encourage you to use our wedding as an opportunity to give to those who truly need it.

Thoughts?

Love,
Michael and Adira

More "Meet the Couple" Pictures!

Patti, FATHER SAM!!!!, Rav Rose












Gord, Trudy, and Kathy














Maid of Honor, Groom, and Bride

Meet the Couple (and hosts of Winnipeggers!)

While in the YWG for the High Ho's, Adira's parents threw a "Meet the Couple" party so that the entire province of Manitoba could meet and either:
A) Express their approval of Adira's choice in life partner
B) Politely say in public that they approve of Adira's fiance while reserving all the negative things they had to say about him for the long ride home.

By the way, option "B" is a fun game, if you haven't tried it yet!

Anyway, here are some pictures of what was a wonderful evening. Thanks to Neal and Carol Rose for such a loving, thoughtful, and fun event, and thanks to Adira's Maid of Honor, Shosh Coodin, for the incredible decorations!

Our Wedding Location - The beautiful Fort Garry Hotel

We know it's been a long time since we last posted, but we finally have some new news to share. Adira and I actually went to see our wedding hall today, which is at the magnificent Fort Garry Hotel in downtown Winnipeg. The historic venue is the perfect setting for a beautiful wedding, and we couldn't be more excited. For the weekend of June 27-29, 2008, we will turn the Fort Garry into the simcha capitol of the world; it will be you, our dear friends and family, who will bring MERRY to the GARRY.

Here are some pictures: