I was at the Celebrate Israel Parade this past Sunday, as I’m sure many readers were. Naturally, I took quite a few pictures. My pictures include Mayor Eric Adams, who despite whatever his record as mayor might be, has always been a friend of the Jewish community. There was Curtis Sliwa, another friend, and Rudy Giuliani. I did not see Senator Charles Schumer. That’s good (although it’s possible I missed him).

The Simon Wiesenthal Center sponsors the Museum of Tolerance on East 42nd Street in New York City. The museum is dedicated to teaching the importance of tolerance – that is, the evils of bigotry against all races, religions, and ethnic groups. I have never visited the museum, but it has a fine reputation for living up to its mission.

This past Shabbos, my wife and I were, baruch Hashem, privileged to attend the bar mitzvah of our grandson Yehoshua Buchwald, son of Rabbi Naphtali and Shira in Houston, Texas. In previous articles, I wrote about the very special character of the Houston Young Israel/Community Kollel neighborhood. The bar mitzvah was magnificent in every way imaginable. It was a great source of nachas for my wife and me, plus our entire family, bli ayin ha’ra.