Proposed yard sale changes

Open letter to Deerfield Beach residents:

I need your help!

Your City Commission will soon be voting on an issue that could affect you. We are taking a look at a proposal to amend the land development code (Section 98-91d) regarding garage sale regulations. This amendment would change several things including:

1- Limiting garage sales to two, per calendar year, per residence.

2- A City Permit would have to be granted for garage sales.

3- Property owners would not be allowed to sell goods that were acquired or consigned for the purpose of reselling.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this item, which we are expecting will be on the City Commission Agenda in March. I want to make sure that I am making an informed vote on your behalf. I thank you for your help!

Please email your thoughts to me at bganz@deerfield-beach.com.

Bill Ganz

Vice Mayor,

Deerfield Beach

$2 Spay/Neuter from Stray Aid

Dear Editor:

Thank you to the Observer for the article regarding the $2 Spay/Neuter Program for our feral cat problem offered by the wonderful Stray Aid and Rescue organization. I filled out their form at www.strayaid.org and was contacted by Cheryl Knudson, who had their terrific Volunteer/Trapper Bianca Robertson make arrangements with me for the trappings. I wanted to have this service performed years ago, but could never afford it nor was I able to transport any animals. This organization solved all my problems. They came to me! They received a state grant to cover the cost of the rabies shot they give each cat and only ask for a donation for the trapper for her time and gas. Worth every penny! So far Bianca has trapped eight cats, and I know there are plenty more in our 33441 zip code.

I understand there is a time limit to use all the funds so they can reapply for another grant. So, I urge everyone in need of this service to please contact this outstanding organization. They can also be reached at 954-816-0799 and have a Facebook page as well.

Paula Curry

Deerfield Beach

St. Ambrose Annual Carnival & Music Festival

Thursday, March 3 through Sunday, March 6

St. Ambrose Catholic Church

380 S. Federal Hwy.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Rides, food, drink, live music, games and more. For information, visit www.stambrosecarnival.com.

Food Truck Invasion

Thursday, March 3, 5 to 10 p.m.

Quiet Waters Park

401 S. Powerline Rd.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

Gourmet burgers to tacos, ribs to desserts, there’s a special dish for everyone! For information, call 954-357-1007 or visit www.foodtruckinvasion.com.

Oceanographer speaks on Melting Ice, Rising Seas

Thursday, March 3, 7 p.m.

Community Presbyterian Church

1920 SE 4 St.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Oceanographer and sea level rise expert, John Englander, discusses the latest science, impending impacts and potential solutions to sea level rise. $10 donation appreciated. Call 954-427-0222.

Movies in the Park: Angels in the Outfield

Friday, March 4, 7 p.m.

Villages of Hillsboro Park

4111 NW 6 St.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

Free. Bring a blanket and lawn chairs. Snacks and glow items available for purchase.

Bird Walk

Saturday, March 5, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Deerfield Island Park

217 NE 5 Ave.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Ages 8 and up. Participants must be at Pioneer Park dock by 8:15 a.m. to catch the boat shuttle. Sturdy shoes and binoculars recommended. Tour space is limited and preregistration is required. Free. Call Quiet Waters Park at 954-357-5100.

Annual Prayer Breakfast

Saturday, March 5, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Westside Park Recreation Center

445 SW 2 St.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Sponsored by I Am My Brother’s Keeper Ministries. Guest speaker Pastor Kevin Allen, with testimony by Diamond Excell. Door prizes and giveaways. For information, call 954-418-0216.

HISC Youth Sailing Program

Saturday, March 5, 9 a.m.

Quiet Waters Park – Splash Adventure

401 S. Powerline Rd.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

Every Saturday in March. The Hillsboro Inlet Sailing Club Youth Sailing Program offers sailing and boating safety training to children 8 to 18. Must pass basic swimming evaluation, wear a USCG life vest. Safety training every session. Learn to sail three different types of vessels. $65 for four-week class. Email hiscyouthsailing@gmail.com.

Historic Butler House Tour and Car Wash

Saturday, March 5, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Historic Butler House

380 E. Hillsboro Blvd.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Donations welcome. Learn about the heritage of Deerfield Beach’s farming pioneers, including the Butlers. Tours conducted by Deerfield Beach High School Junior Historical Society, who will also be holding a car wash at the Butler House during tour hours.

Hillsboro Lighthouse 106th Anniversary Tour

Sunday, March 6, hourly 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sands Harbor Dock

125 N. Riverside Dr.

Pompano Beach, FL 33062

Celebration includes placing of historical marker. Transportation by boat. Must wear flat, closed shoes. Children must be 4 ft. tall to climb the tower. No pets. $25; free to HLPS members. Visit www.hillsborolighthouse.org/tours.

Pet First Aid and CPR Class

Sunday, March 6, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Woof Gang Bakery and Grooming

2016 NE 36 St. (Sample Rd.)

Lighthouse Point, FL 33064

Course includes skills for recognizing distressed animals, choking, minor injuries, bleeding, not breathing and pulselessness. $80. Register at www.pettech.net or call 954-461-8203.

Sky Celtic Revival Music & Dance Troupe

Sunday, March 6, 10:30 a.m.

First Baptist Church

701 NE 2 St.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

The Sky Family performs high energy Celtic/pop-rock music, dance and Gospel! For more information, call 954-427-1216.

Mardi Gras Casino trip

Monday, Mar. 21, 10 a.m. departure time

St. Ambrose Catholic Church

380 S. Federal Hwy.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

St. Ambrose Men’s Club trip to the Mardi Gras Casino. Bus transportation provided. Must have a Mardi Gras Casino Player’s Card, drivers license or passport. $15 per person includes bus, $5 free play and $3 food coupon. Call Jerry Mann, 954-856-6062.

Florida Renaissance Festival

Weekends through Mar. 27

10 a.m. to sunset

Quiet Waters Park

401 S. Powerline Rd.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

Huzzah! Enjoy Florida’s largest and liveliest Renaissance Festival. Entertainment, food, drinks, games, jousting and more await. Tickets: $21 for adults, $9 for children 6 to 11, ages 5 and under free. Season passes: $75. Look online for ways to save. For information, visit www.ren-fest.com.

Themed weekends:

• Mar. 5 to 6: Voyage to the Orient

• Mar. 12 to 13: Kilts and Colleens

• Mar. 19 to 20: Steampunk Time Travelers

• Mar. 26 to 27: Carnivale Masquerade

[On Purim, which begins March 23, we retell the story of Haman’s failed attempt to eliminate the Jewish people].

One millennium before Haman was born, at the foot of a lone mountain, the Jewish people received a gift which transformed their destiny and changed the landscape of human civilization. It was an experience which imbued Jewish life with the nobility of transcendence, the majesty of Divine ethics and the grandeur of holiness. The gift of the Torah inculcated Jewish life with great moral and spiritual responsibility, but it simultaneously bestowed upon the Jewish heart, the Jewish home, the Jewish family and the Jewish community a piece of heaven, a glow of eternity.

But what is heaven for one person may spell hell for another; piano lessons for a 4-year-old Mozart is a paradise, while for another child the lessons may be a living purgatory. Heaven for the Jews was hell for the Hamans of the world. If G-d exists, then the moral law prevails, and there must be limits to power and self-aggrandizement. If G-d exists, the barbarian must vanquish himself. Haman felt that two diametrically opposing and mutually exclusive powers were competing for the heart of humanity.

About 2300 years later, this notion was captured by a contemporary Haman, Adolf Hitler. He remarked that “The Jews have inflicted two wounds on the world: Circumcision for the body and conscience for the soul. I come to free mankind from their shackles.”

But Haman, the avid student of history, knew that this was no simple task. He knew what had happened to Pharaoh, Sisera, Goliath, Sancheirav and Nevuchadnezzar, how they each attempted to eradicate the Jew once and for all and how they each ended up eradicated and forgotten themselves.

It is here where Haman invented an ingenious strategy. Haman believed that he had the “final solution” which had eluded all of his predecessors; he knew how to solve the “Jewish problem”, this time for real.

The Talmud relates the following story:

The Evil [Roman] Empire had prohibited Torah study. Pappus the son of Yehuda came and found Rabbi Akiva making large public gatherings and teaching Torah.

Pappus said to him, “Akiva! Aren’t you afraid of the authorities?”

Rabbi Akiva replied, “I will give you a parable.”

A fox is walking along a river. He sees the fish frantically scurrying from one place to another.

He says to them, “From whom are you running? From the nets and traps of the fishermen? Why don’t you come up to the dry land and we will live happily together, just as our forefathers did!”

The fish replied, “Is it really you whom they call the cleverest of animals? You are not clever, rather a fool! If we are afraid in the place of our vitality, how much more so in the place of our death!”

Rabbi Akiva concluded: If the life is tough as we are sitting and studying Torah, about which it is written “It is our life and the length of our days”, how much worse it will be if we cease to study Torah.

The Torah – Rabbi Akiva is saying, is to the Jew what the sea is to the fish. It is his necessary habitat, the source of his vitality; it is where he can live, breathe, thrive and be most creative. Like a fish washed up ashore, the Jewish soul deprived of Torah will struggle to find real endurable meaning on “dry land”, in an environment unsuitable for his spiritual DNA to flourish and express itself fully. He, like the fish, will flip and flop, experiment with different ideologies and lifestyles, desperately attempting to find solace for his aching soul.

Haman, therefore, understood that what he had to do was dry up the sea, sever the relationship between the Jewish people and their Torah. His goal must be to antiquate the Torah, to teach the Jews how to become “land animals”. He must invite them, in the words of the fox, to “live together with us in peace as our forefathers did”. Once the fish was out of the water, it would be vulnerable to destruction.

Rabbi Tzvi Dechter is the Director of Chabad of North Broward Beaches. New location soon. For all upcoming events please visit www.JewishLHP.com.