7th Annual Ranse Classic Volleyball Tournament

Friday, Nov. 4 through Sunday, Nov. 6

On Deerfield beach

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Benefiting Ranse Jones Stroke Awareness Fund. For information and schedule of events, visit www.ranseclassic.com.

Barefoot Mailman Send Off BBQ

Saturday, Nov. 5, noon to 3 p.m.

Dixie Divers

455 S Federal Hwy.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Original statue from 1973 will be sunk as an artificial reef. Take a picture next to the statue before it makes the underwater journey. Complimentary food and drinks. Hang out with “Scuba Nation.” For information, call 954-420-0009.

7th Annual Boca Raton Wine & Food Festival

Saturday, Nov. 5, 6 to 10 p.m.

Sanborn Square

72 N. Federal Hwy.

Boca Raton, FL 33432

Chefs from the tri-county area converge upon the festival grounds for the Grand Tasting event bringing their tasty tidbits with them for guests to enjoy. There will also be a special area inside for the 3rd Annual Craft Brew Battle. There will be an opportunity to shop, mingle and splurge. For more information, visit www.bocaratonwineandfoodfestival.com.

Honor Our Troops Classic Car Show

Saturday, Nov. 5, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Pompano Citi Centre

1955 N. Federal Hwy.

Pompano Beach, FL 33062

Antique, classic, vintage, custom and hot rod vehicles will be parked throughout the open-air mall. Kids can enjoy arts & crafts, or ride the carousel for only $1. Free admission. Car show visitors are encouraged to donate $1 to the William “Bill” Kling VA Clinic and, in return, will receive an American flag key chain. For information, visit www.PompanoCitiCentre.com.

Movie Night at the Library

Saturday, Nov. 5, 2 p.m.

Percy White Library

837 E. Hillsboro Blvd.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Showing Star Trek: First Contact. Free event. Sponsored by the Friends of Percy White Library. For information, call 954-357-7680.

Annual PEO Tag Sale

Saturday, Nov. 5, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Grace Community Church

600 W. Camino Real

Boca Raton, FL 33486

Buy Clothing, household items & more.

Lighthouse Tour

Sunday Nov. 6, 8:30, 9:15, 10 & 11 a.m.

Alsdorf Park

2974 N.E. 14 St.

Pompano Beach, FL 33062

Tour the Hillsboro Lighthouse. Transportation is by boat. Arrive at dock 10-20 mins. before departure to register. Parking is on east side of street in city (pay) parking lot. 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.

Walk for Parkinson’s Disease

Sunday, Nov. 6, 8:30-11:30 a.m.,

FAU Football stadium

FAU Blvd.

Boca Raton, FL 33431

Walk starts at 10 a.m. Celebration of movement features a family-friendly walk course and Movement Pavilion, featuring activities like Yoga, Tai Chi, Zumba, dance, balance and boxing. The aim is to encourage people to stay active and move for better health. For more information, visit www.movingdaybocaraton.org.

Broward Women’s Chorus rehearsals

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 10 a.m.

Ft. Lauderdale UU Church

3970 NW 21st Ave.

Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309

All women singers welcome. Rehearsals held every Wednesday. For more information, call 954-677-3190, email info@bwcchoralgroup.org or visit www.bwcchoralgroup.org.

Friends of Deerfield Beach Arboretum meet

Thursday, Nov. 10, 7 p.m.

Deerfield Beach Arboretum

Constitution Park

2841 W. Hillsboro Blvd.

Deerfield Beach FL 33442

Speaker is Mel Nass. Learn all about grapes-varieties best for making wine, juice, raisins and to eat. Plant giveaway, light refreshments will be served. Meeting is free and open to the public. For more information call, 954-480-4495 or visit www.treezoo.com

Worth the drive: Ft. Lauderdale Intl. Boat Show

Thursday, Nov. 3 through

Sunday, Nov. 6, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Monday, Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tickets are $28 per day for adults ($46 for two-day ticket), ages 6 to 15 $12 and under 6 is free. Prime time preview on Nov. 3 is $45. For VIP packages, email marketing@showmanagement.com. For more information, including the site-map, visit www.FLIBS.com.

Save the Date: Christmas Boutique

Saturday, Nov. 12, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 13, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church

2700 NE 36 St.

Lighthouse Point, FL 33064

Handmade decorations, crafts, knitted and crocheted items, baked and special raffles. Refreshments available for purchase. For more information, call 954-943-9154.

Just a few decades ago, there lived a great symphony conductor, an Italian maestro named Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957), who led concerts all over the world. He was one of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th Century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory. Toscanini had a biographer who would interview him periodically over the years as a part of a major book he was writing on his life.

The following is a story I heard about Toscanini: One evening, the biographer called Toscanini and told him that he would be in town the next night and asked if could come to the house to interview him. Toscanini answered that he could not because he would be doing something special that would require absolute concentration; he could not be interrupted.

“Maestro,” the biographer said, “if I may ask, what are you doing that is so special?”

Toscanini replied, “There is a concert being played overseas. I used to be the conductor of that symphony orchestra but I could not be there this year. So I’m going to listen to it on a shortwave radio and hear how the other conductor leads the orchestra. I don’t want any interruptions whatsoever.”

“Maestro, it would be my greatest pleasure to watch how you listen to a concert played by an orchestra that you used to lead and I promise I won’t say anything. I will sit on the other side of the room, quietly,” said the biographer

“You promise to be perfectly quiet?” Toscanini asked, to which the biographer replied that he would.

Toscanini answered, “Then you can come.”

The next night, the biographer came and sat quietly while Toscanini listened to the concert, which lasted almost an hour.

Finally, when it ended, the biographer remarked, “Wow, wasn’t that magnificent?”

Toscanini said, “Not really.”

His biographer asked, “Why not?”

Toscanini explained, “There were supposed to be 120 musicians, including 15 violinists but only 14 of them played.”

The biographer thought he was joking. How could he know from 6000 miles away, over shortwave radio, that one of the violinists was missing? The biographer had his doubts but didn’t want to say anything and went home.

The next morning, though, he had to find out for himself, so he called the concert hall overseas, asked for the music director and inquired as to how many musicians were supposed to have been playing the night before versus how many had actually shown up. The concert hall director told him that there were supposed to have been 120 musicians, including 15 violinists, but only 14 had shown up!

The biographer was amazed. He returned to Toscanini and said, “Sir, I owe you an apology. I thought you were just making it up the other night. But please, tell me, how could you know that one violinist was missing?”

“There is a great difference between you and me,” Toscanini answered.” You’re a part of the audience and to the audience everything sounds wonderful. But I’m the conductor, and the conductor knows every note of music that has to be played. When I realized that certain notes were not being played, I knew without a doubt that one of the violists was missing. The music is perfect because of all the pieces coming together in unison.”

Are you that violinist which constantly doesn’t show up?

There are always unity events, community events, school events, city events and the list goes on … but how many of us think “if we don’t go, what does it matter?”

Think for a moment as Toscanini – if you were trying to unite your children, if you were trying to make peace amongst your children than would it matter if one did not show up? Of course it would; it would ruin the whole song!

It reminds me of the tradition of baking challah bread, which is to be eaten on Sabbath. Part of the commandment of “taking challah” (a portion of consecrated dough) it is derived from the following passages: “And it will be when you eat of the bread of the land, you should bring an offering to G-d. The first of your kneading bowl you shall donate to G-d as an offering…” (Numbers 15:19, 20)

In the details pertaining to taking off a portion of dough, the law stipulates that the flour and water have to be properly kneaded so that it is a single dough. The portion cannot be separated while the batter is still loose, leaving the necessary flour still attached to the edges of the bowl.

The flour most commonly used for bread is derived from wheat, a grain that symbolizes independence. Each granule has its own compartment separated from the rest. Independence and self-reliance are not necessarily negative traits unless they become a source of arrogance, an unhealthy ego. But we do not eat the wheat as is. It is refined and processed until it becomes flour. The external, superficial trappings of ego are crushed allowing the beneficial parts to remain.

The other main ingredient in dough is water. Water is a unifier, it binds things together, and its purpose is to bring life and nourishment to everything. Our daily bread is symbolic of the need to reach out and help people discover their own individual shining souls, the need to connect with others in order to bring them within our community.

Just as the dough is not ready for the portion of “challah dough” to be given as an offering until the flour and water are kneaded together well, a person cannot rest comfortably in their own environment and imagine that things are fine while there are others that are left outside and not included in the community.

Join our Mega Challah Bake on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at The Chabad Jewish Center, 2025 E. Sample Rd. in the Venetian Isle Shopping Center. For more info and to R.S.V.P., please visit www.JewishLHP.com.

By Emily Rosen

ERosen424@aol.com

www.emilyrosen424.com

It’s almost over, folks. While the turkeys are skittering around looking for hiding places, we know that soon — very soon — phase one of our 21st Century “long national nightmare” will be over. Thank you, God, for that. But no matter how the election turns out, our many wounds will take time and attitude adjustments, before effective healing can take place or certainly before any of the promises of national salvation can even begin to come to fruition. It will be a time for serious auxiliary leadership to emerge with a plan to bring us together.

And for all the jabs we’ve sustained and the dire attributions of the diminished power of the United States on the world scene, we can still lay claim to our “greatness.” Thankful we can be, every day, that we are not living in any of the many war ravaged countries that can no longer sustain its people. Thankful we can be, every day, that our constitution guarantees that we can witness a regime change without bloodshed (we hope). Thankful we can be, as we stare at that half empty glass, yet we are able to see its half fullness. And thankful we can be for anyone and anything that can still make us laugh – no matter what.

And thankful indeed we can be for our sense of touch when offered by a friend or loved one to soothe a painful body or heart; for water still running and available at the turn of a faucet (we are praying for you, Flint); for the sight of a wild sunflower, a palm tree, an orange grove, a full moon and our Florida sun (when it is not hiding) and its sometimes frothing, sometimes calm, but still always there, ocean; and for mountains and summits beyond Florida and sources of transportation to get to all the “beyond.” Thankful we can be for a schoolyard of screaming kids and for loving grandparents still trying to learn to text; for old photographs borne of film (what’s that?) that remind us of the good old days; and for our freedom to respond with a polite ”no, thanks” as needed. Thankful we can be for the good people who show up to help during disasters and the good people who just show up; for the people devoted to all the “cures” of body, mind and soul; the sounds of music in private places and acoustical buildings, and in outdoor venues soaring into the airways, and lifting our spirits, that in some cases, inspire our dancing feet; for poetry, good and bad; for storytellers and painters with words, and brushes, and on stages; for people who run things and make things, and repair things, and imagine new things, and offer new ideas … and for people who protect us and our things, and for the lives of people no longer here, but whose legacy make our own lives meaningful. Grateful we are, too, for the mistakes we’ve made from which we have learned many a valuable lesson, and for the freedom to make more of them without having to live in fear; for the off-button on remote controls; and for broccoli, kale, smoothies and chocolate. And, we are oh so grateful for humility, forgiveness, choice and hope.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Add your own gratitudes and keep them in mind all year.