Guided Tour

Saturday, Sept. 3, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Historic Butler House

380 E. Hillsboro Blvd.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Guided tours of the Historic Butler House. New Alice B Gift Shop now open. Tours conducted every Saturday. Visit www.deerfieldbeachhistoricalsociety.com.

Presentation about Zika

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Deerfield Beach Percy White Library

837 E. Hillsboro Blvd

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Spokesperson from Florida Dept. of Health in Broward County will discuss Zika, the mosquito-borne disease that has affected parts of Florida. For more information, call 954-357-7680.

Open House Meet and Greet

Thursday, Sept. 8, 6 p.m.

First Christian Day School

1860 NE 39 St.

Pompano Beach, FL 33064

Tour preschool and meet early childhood professionals. The preschool is for ages 2, 3 & 4. Free 3-hour Florida VPK and After School care. Also new program: Mom’s Morning Out for 2 year olds. For information, call 954-942-2549.

Friends of the DB Arboretum meets

Thursday, Sept. 8, 7 p.m.

Deerfield Beach Arboretum

Constitution Park

2841 W. Hillsboro Blvd.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

Speaker, Ira Wechterman, president of the Friends of Deerfield Island Park, will talk about this natural nature preserve — what it is now and what it will become. Plant giveaway. Light refreshments will be served. Meeting is free and open to the public. For information, call 954-480-4495 or visit www.treezoo.com.

Sisterhood of Temple Beth Israel meets

Thursday, Sept. 8, 11:30 a.m.

Temple Beth Israel

201 S. Military Tr.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

Ron Masloff discusses High Holy Days in the first meeting of the season. Mini lunch will be served. For information, call 954-428-6265.

Super Circuit Fitness program registration

Wednesday, Sept 10, 8:15 to 9:15 a.m.

Pioneer Park

222 NE 2 Ave.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Cardio and strength/endurance fitness training program. Every Saturday. Registration $9 per single class/$64 for 8 classes. Register today at any City of Deerfield Beach community centers or visit www.deerfield-beach.com/registration. For information, call 954-480-4361.

Save the Date: Woman’s Club meets

Tuesday, Sept. 13, 1 p.m.

Woman’s Club

910 E. Hillsboro Blvd.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Program features talk on caregiving by author Chris Maclellan. Light refreshments will be served. Guests are welcome. For more information, call 954-421-4700 or visit our website at www.dbwc.org.

1st Annual Jr. Anglers Day

Saturday, Sept. 17, 8 a.m. to noon

International Fishing Pier

200 NE 21 Ave.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Youth fishing event includes fishing clinics/exhibitors, goody bags, arts and crafts, face painting and balloon art. Free for children ages 5-13. Register now at www.dfb.city/registration or by visiting any community center. Parking on barrier island is on a first come, first serve basis and is metered parking. Complimentary shuttle service will be available at the Oveta McKeithen Recreational Complex (445 SW 2 Street) to the International Fishing Pier. This shuttle service will run continuously from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more information, call the Community Events and Outreach Division at 954-480-4429 or visit www.dfb.city/jranglersday.

Zonta Seeks vendors

The Zonta Club of Greater Deerfield Beach are inviting all crafters of handmade creations, fine arts, jewelry, holiday gift items, pottery and other artisans, as well as orchid sellers, to join them from. at their annual Festi-Fall, to be held on Saturday, Sept. 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, at the St. Ambrose Catholic Church, 360 S. Federal Hwy., in Deerfield Beach. The vendor space is 8 x 8 and costs $40 per space, two spaces for $75. They are expecting a good crowd. Visit www.zontadeerfieldbeach.org or contact Sandy Manning at 561-392-2223 or bosanboc@bellsouth.net for more information.

What’s Happening at BaCA in September

• RE-Produce Art Exhibit

Thursday, Sept. 1 to Thursday, Sept. 29

Kick off the season with curator Lisa Rockford, and “RE-Produce,” a juried exhibition seeking artworks that utilize found objects and unexpected debris materials and transform them into works of splendor. Opening Reception Thursday, Sept. 8, 6 to 9 p.m. Free.

• Craft Brew & Arts Festival

Old Town Untapped, Pompano

Friday, Sept. 2, 6 to 10 p.m.

A night filled with free craft beer samples from Pompano’s own breweries, live music, food trucks, art and more! Free. 1st Friday of the each month. For more information, call 954-786-7824.

• Fresh Air with Byrd

Wednesday, Sept. 7, 7 to 8 p.m.

Bi-monthly writing workshop for all levels of writers and performers. Classes can be taken sequentially or individually. Artists who participate in this workshop also receive a ticket into the all-arts open mic night at Bailey Contemporary Arts (BaCA), happening on the same night. Tickets: $15. Space is limited. Register on website.

• Lyrics Lab Wednesday, Sept. 7, 8 to 11 p.m.Bring your latest work — poems, verses, songs, lyrics and beats and share in our intimate space, accompanied by live music. Tickets: $10. For more information, call 954-284-0141.

BaCA is located at 41 NE 1 St., Pompano Beach, FL 33060. For more events, visit www.baileyarts.org.

By Emily Rosen

ERosen424@aol.com

www.emilyrosen424.com

Surely, you know it’s a disease. Of what proportions is unknown, as of yet. Will it show up in the genes of the next generation – and to what extent? Will human fingers mutate? This is also unknown. Some addictions, we know, pass down through heredity. So many words, so many articles, columns, books, discussions have been written on the societal “effect” of the smartphone. When do you not use it?

For me, the impact clicked when looking at the iconic over-the-top cartoon showing a car with “Just Married” emblazoned all over it. The bride, still dressed in her flowing gown, the groom in his groomsman’s attire, are leaning on the front car bumper as close to each other as strawberries and whipped cream with nary a sign of recognition of each other. Both are busy with their eyes lowered as they text (to each other?)

As with most impactful technological innovations, there is the good and the bad. It is wonderful to be able to communicate at an airport, to have the GPS lady lead you through mazes of unfamiliar miles to your destination, to be able to give a heads-up text to your significant other who is in an important meeting that can’t be interrupted, reporting that you won’t be there on time because of a flat tire. And it is great to get answers to the endless answers to questions about pure trivia from Google, like who played the lead in a 1972 movie, and to receive the myriad “alerts,” and, well, you know I could fill pages with this.

But the dislocated ability to confront people eye to eye says something important about relationships, as does the misguided need to respond to every signal. When the phone rings, why must it be answered immediately if it’s your sister and you are lunching with a friend or at a dinner party table? Yes; it’s good for emergencies, but not every “Hello. How are you doing?” is an emergency. And then, when you whip out pictures of your kids or grandkids or greats — about whom most of your surrounding companions care not a whit – is that an act of cluelessness or narcissism? The sheer discourtesy of being inattentive to your immediate surroundings speaks to misplaced priorities.

Personally, I am offended when people place their phones in plain sight in social situations – unless they declare some kind of expectation of an emergency. Perhaps, it’s my age, but it is not hard to remember a time when folks called on land phones and left messages when you weren’t home. They weren’t expecting an instantly gratifying response.

Many colleges have done serious research on the effects of slavishness to smartphones in regard to relationships. I’ve checked out several and learned of a predisposition towards feelings of rejection on the part of romantic partners when phones are used excessively. Google “smart phones and relationships.” You’ll be amazed at the abundance of scholarly interest in this.

Yes, yes, times are a-changing… but fast.

Elul, the last month of the Jewish year, is a time of paradox.

The Jewish calendar distinguishes between two qualities of time: “mundane” work days, and “holy” days, such as Shabbat and the festivals. Shabbat is a day we are not involved with all material endeavors, a day devoted to the spiritual pursuits of study and prayer. The festivals likewise transcend time, each providing its unique spiritual quality to the journeyer through calendar and life.

In this respect, the month of Elul resembles the “holy” portions of the calendar. Elul is a haven in time, a “city of refuge” from the ravages of material life, a time to audit one’s spiritual accounts and assess the year gone by, to prepare for the “Days of Awe” of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur by repenting the failings of the past and resolving for the future, to immerse oneself in Torah study, as well as prayer and charitable activities. Elul is the opportune time for all this because it is a month in which G-d relates to us in a more open and compassionate manner than He does in the other months of the year. In the terminology of Kabbalah, it is a time when G-d’s “13 attributes of mercy” illuminate His relationship with us.

And yet, unlike Shabbat and the festivals, the days of Elul are workdays. On Shabbat, the Torah commands us to cease all materially constructive work. The festivals, too, are days on which “work” is forbidden. Regarding the month of Elul, however, there are no such restrictions. The transcendent activities of Elul are conducted amidst our workday lives in the field, shop or office.

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi explains the paradox of Elul with the following metaphor: The king’s usual place is in the capital city, in the royal palace. Anyone wishing to approach the king must go through the appropriate channels in the palace bureaucracy and gain the approval of a succession of royal secretaries and ministers. He must journey to the capital and pass through the many gates, corridors and antechambers that lead to the throne room. His presentation must be meticulously prepared, and he must adhere to an exacting code of dress, speech and mannerism upon entering into the royal presence.

However, there are times when the king comes out to the fields outside the city. At such times, anyone can approach him; the king receives them all with a smiling face and a radiant countenance. The peasant behind his plow has access to the king in a manner unavailable to the highest ranking minister in the royal court when the king is in the palace.

The month of Elul, says Rabbi Schneur Zalman, is when the king is in the field.

When the farmer sees the king in his field, does he keep on plowing? Does he behave as if this were just another day in the fields? Of course not. Elul is not a month of ordinary workdays it is a time of increased Torah study, more fervent prayer, more generosity and charity. The very air is charged with holiness. We might still be in the field, but the field has become a holier place.

On the other hand, when the farmer sees the king in his field, does he run home to wash and change? Does he rush to the capitol to school himself in palace protocol? The king has come to the field, to commune with the processors of his bread in their environment and on their terms.

In the month of Elul, the essence and objective of life becomes that much more accessible. No longer do the material trappings of life conceal and distort its purpose, for the king is paying a visit. But unlike the holy days of the year, when we are lifted out of and above our workday lives, the encounter of Elul is hosted by our physical selves, within our material environment, on our workingman’s terms. — (Based on an address by the Chabad Rebbe on August 25, 1990.)

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