There is a time for everything under the heavens, a time to be born and a time to die … a time to open your mouth and a time to keep it shut! May 5th is Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, a day of tears and remembrance. The very next day, the 6th, is Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel Independence Day, a day of joy and merriment. Such is the way of the world. We have times that we are lost in grief and we have times that we are feeling high as a kite. Yet, there are people who seldom, if ever, have a chance to look on what Brian of Monty Python fame would call “The Sunny Side of Life.”

Have you ever brought a smile to someone’s face? It feels pretty good, doesn’t it?

Have you ever gotten someone to laugh so hard they were rolling in the aisles? It feels great, doesn’t it? Now, let me ask another question — have you ever hurt someone? Have you ever made someone cry? Doesn’t feel so good, does it?

And yet, without thinking, we, arguably the most intelligent beings on the planet, have an incredible habit of causing pain to others. One particular example got me in the midst of the Passover Holiday. An elderly woman I know was rushed to the hospital. As her friends and neighbors found out that she was having health difficulties, they began calling her. One took care of her beloved poodle, another took care of her mail, another came to visit her each day. Everyone was helping the hospitalized woman, putting her mind at ease and, even in the midst of her pain, she couldn’t help but smile at how her friends were rallying around her.

But then her friends began to question why the woman’s sister, who lived in the area, was not doing anything to help. They began gossiping about the sister, and it went from bad to worse. They were saying how cold she is, how she must not care about her sister at all. And, before long, one of them just had to say something to the hospitalized woman and it wasn’t pretty.

Well, there are phones in the hospital, but the woman was not up to using one just yet. So she lay there in that bed fuming. She got angrier and angrier at her sister. Then, the day came when she was able to make a call and she got no answer. Want to know why? It seems her sister had been rushed to the hospital the very same day and was going through her own medical crisis, and her friends were wondering why her sister wasn’t there to help her.

So, did all these well-meaning friends help the situation or hurt it? How much better would it have been if they simply concentrated on what they were able to do to help instead of deciding what someone else should or shouldn’t be doing? As the Talmud teaches us, “People eat and drink together, yet pierce each other with the sword of their tongues.” (Yomah, 9b)

When I was a young boy, I came home from school and saw the ugliest thing I had ever seen on my Momma’s kitchen sink. It was a huge cow’s tongue. I couldn’t believe that something that tasted so delicious could possibly be so gross. I guess it was that day that I learned that the tongue can be sweet as sugar or it can be gross as can be. It all depends on what we do with it.

Shalom, my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. We welcome you to join our warm and caring family for Shabbat and festival services. We’ll make your heart glow…who knows, you might even fall in love with Shul all over again.

By Gary Curreri

James Forbes was looking to get his wrestlers some valuable experience at the recent Irish Fair Wrestling Tournament at Chaminade Madonna High School in Hollywood.

Forbes, who along with Bob Burns has coached the Deerfield Beach BSO-PAL wrestling team for the past 11 years, brought four grapplers to the tournament and came away pleased.

“The biggest thing was to get them mat time and more experienced,” said Forbes, who won the tournament as a heavyweight in 1970 when he was a kid. “The more they wrestle, the more accomplished they are. We also wanted to keep the tradition going.”

Forbes wrestled then for tournament director Ron Schulz. There are currently 21 wrestlers in the PAL wrestling program, ranging from seventh grader to 12th graders.

“He had the only wrestling club in the county back then, and he was the head coach at BCC (Broward Community College),” Forbes said. “What I like about this tournament is that it levels the playing field.”

“It is really nice because they can gauge how they are doing against kids who are relatively the same experience,” Forbes added. “We have a kid who was academically ineligible for the high school season, so he only got in four matches last year. Now, he gets some more.”

Deerfield Beach’s Andrew Torres, 16, fell in the 220-lb. final to Seahorse Wrestling Club’s Carlos Osterling, a sophomore at Cypress Bay High School. It was a solid performance for Torres, who has been wrestling for two years.

“It is not like any other sport,” Torres said. “It’s just different. It requires a lot more of you and the payoff is a lot better than most sports. People think you are not on the mat that long because it is only six minutes, but it is the hardest six minutes you will ever have in your life … This is six minutes straight, nonstop. This is my first time wrestling this tournament so I was happy with how I did.”

Deerfield Beach’s Ryan Sills, 16, lost his semifinal match to Seahorse Wrestling Club’s Grant Bussenbarrick, a junior at Cypress Bay; however, he was happy with the experience.

“It was my first tournament since regionals and I fell short of state,” said Sills, a sophomore at Deerfield Beach High School. “My success has been quantified at a level that I don’t think could have been reached without Coach James Forbes and Coach Bob Burns. You get what you put in and I have gotten out a lot. I am definitely qualifying for state next year in high school. It is not even a goal … It’s a necessity.”

For more information on the program, contact BSO Deputy Butch Santy at 954- 778-0174.

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

With most films being marketed for middle school students with disposable incomes, I found it refreshing to be the youngest member of the audience of the Good Friday screening of Heaven Is for Real. The matinee screening was a virtual sell-out and the film ended with a round of applause. Lacking the multi-million-dollar marketing push of Transcendence (which bombed at the box office), the box office receipts have made Heaven Is for Real the certified sleeper hit of 2014.

With the exception of the film’s opening and closing shots of a young female artist painting a picture in Russia, this film is set in the flatlands of Nebraska. Minister Todd Burpo (Greg Kinnear) and his wife Sonja (Kelly Reilly) are community leaders who are working hard to maintain their home. While relaxing on a Sunday afternoon after church services, Todd breaks his leg playing baseball. After recovery, the Burpo family takes a much-needed vacation and Colton Burpo’s (Connor Corum) appendix bursts.

As Sonja arranges for community prayers and Todd gets into an argument with God in the hospital chapel, Colton recovers. As the family returns to a routine life of financial strife, Colton starts talking about visiting Heaven and meeting Jesus. While most people dismiss Colton’s words as hallucination, Todd listens attentively. Colton begins talking about meeting deceased family members who passed away before he was born.

The television commercials fulfill the cheesy expectations that a title like Heaven Is for Real would bring. Yet, these cheesy scenes occur within the first 1/3 of the movie, which makes the viewer wonder — “What is going to happen next?”

The answer is a satisfying confluence between pragmatism and faith. Writer/director Randall Wallace excels with this form of visual storytelling. Wallace was Oscar-nominated for his screenplay of Braveheart and directed The Man in the Iron Mask, We Were Soldiers and Secretariat. Heaven Is for Real is Wallace’s most quiet movie, yet with an intense visual clarity.

Connor Corum will steal hearts. Kinnear and Reilly provide understated, but sincere, performances. Ten years ago, Reilly gave a noteworthy performance in Mrs. Henderson Presents … Since then, she has been working steadily in supporting roles (most notably as Jude Law’s longsuffering wife in Sherlock Holmes movies). Tonight, she takes center stage as a bipolar doctor in Black Box on ABC. Reilly is one of many reasons to see this lifeaffirming movie.

It is hard to imagine what that first Easter morning was really like, how remarkable, how stunning but we do know fear was pervasive. There is certainly no desire to revisit the brutality that led up to the resurrection. And, we cannot produce a great earthquake or angelic bolts of lightning.

Fear of God refers to reverence for God which is a good thing. Fear can prevent us from doing things that are harmful. We know God can use fear for good purpose. It’s no accident the men guarding the tomb were incapacitated by fear.

In the early hours of Easter morning, fear persists not only among those who love Jesus but also among those who do not.

Remember, even after being told by the angel of the Lord, “Don’t be afraid,” the women, each named Mary, left with fear and joy. They were still quivering, which is mild compared to the men guarding the tomb. They were so frightened they fainted …

Fear is a natural response to a great earthquake and bolts of lightning, but fear among those who loved Jesus was widespread not only because of what happened that day. It was all the things they cumulatively experienced. It was everything they brought to the moment.

The same can be true for me and you …

Fear is not something we can touch to feel. In most cases, at least in moderation, fear is subtle and stealthy. You cannot taste it or smell it, you cannot see it or hear it, but fear is real.

Does fear have a prevalent place in your life today? I hope not, but we all live with a little fear don’t we? What do you fear today? What is it that gets in the way, prevents you from loving and worshipping, and serving the Lord and living life to the fullest?

Whatever it is, whatever you fear — poor physical health, a financial challenge, a relationship that’s on the rocks, what the future holds for a child or a grandchild, a parent or grandparent, a friend — put your fear in the context of the resurrection, put it in the context of what Jesus accomplishes through the resurrection and your fear will assuredly disappear …

The 28th chapter of Matthew’s gospel tells us the first message Jesus speaks after the resurrection is “Do not be afraid.” This is a message that transcends time and place and resonates through centuries of human existence.

“Have no fear!”

Immediately after the resurrection, Jesus is speaking to his followers. They are reeling from what’s happened and he knows it. Have we ever been reeling? They are overwhelmed and confused. Have we ever been overwhelmed and confused? They are frightened. Have we ever been frightened? Of course we have …

Jesus says, have “No Fear! I am alive. I am here and through your faith in me you are free for eternity.”

Yes, Jesus speaks to the fear that saturates the first Easter like a heavy mist in the air, but he also speaks to the fear that saturates the landscape of our lives today. Recognize fear is part of the landscape of life. God recognizes it. God sees it. God knows it and Jesus is the answer to it …

Christ’s first message on Easter morning is everlasting. Accept him into your heart. Celebrate Easter every day of the year and live with no fear!

Dennis Andrews is a minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach), located five blocks south of Hillsboro on A1A. See more at www.communitych.org or on Facebook. Worship gatherings are Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11 a.m.

By Gary Curreri

Pompano Beach High School’s Erin Sundook said the five seniors on the softball team are hoping to go out with a bang.

Sundook, 18, of Pompano Beach, along with fellow seniors Sabrina Akrouk, Marissa Lamberti, Noelle McGuire and Stephanie Obando have started and played for the Tornadoes since their freshman season.

“This is our last year and we want to leave with a bang,” said Sundook, the team’s leading hitter and star catcher. “We always hit that roadblock in American Heritage-Plantation in the regional semifinals. Our ultimate goal is to knock that roadblock down. We have been doing really good and have just four losses on the season and that is amazing.”

Sundook, who is committed to attend Miami Dade College next season, has played softball since she was 8 and said it has always been her goal to play in college. For now, she will settle on taking out American Heritage- Plantation in the playoffs.

Sundook said this could be the best team they have had since she’s been at the school. “The senior class is huge,” Sundook said. “We have five seniors who have started all four years on varsity and we have been so close and we all know how to play together. I think we are molding well and fitting together and I think our pitcher (Jessica Abramson), who is only a junior, has stepped up great this year. She didn’t get much playing time last year and, this year, she has just proven herself tremendously.”

“There is one thing about this team that we do not give up,” Sundook said. “Sometimes, things don’t go our way, but if you don’t stop fighting, you won’t find success. Our offense has to be on to beat Heritage.”

Pompano High coach John McGuire took over the head coaching job last month and has guided the Tornadoes (14- 5) to a 7-1 record. The team was 7-4 when he took over. McGuire has been with the program for four years and his daughter, Noelle, is the starting second baseman for the team.

“The girls all get along,” McGuire said. “There is no animosity. I keep it a little light and they have fun, but they work hard. They go to the baseball team’s games together. There is good team unity.”

There are six travel programs represented on the team and McGuire said there are probably 4 or 5 girls that have played rec softball together since they were young. The team opens District 15-5A play on April 14 at Archbishop McCarthy. Pompano Beach lost earlier in the season to American Heritage- Plantation, 9-0, and said they are still searching for not only their first win over the team, but its first run.

Since 2010, the Tornadoes are 0-10 against American Heritage-Plantation and have been outscored 81-4. The last time Pompano Beach scored against the Patriots was Feb. 22, 2010 in a 7-4 loss. It scored four runs in the sixth inning in that contest, but, since that time, the Tornadoes have been blanked 74-0. “It is going to take an error free, whole team effort,” McGuire said. “We are going to sock the giant sooner or later. They all want to do it. In four years, it has always been a battle and they are getting closer and closer every year. I tell them we are going to get there.”

“We haven’t crossed the plate against them in four years,” added McGuire, who is 7-0 since taking over as head coach a month ago. “I think they are sensing urgency, especially the seniors. Last year, we lost two seniors in our pitcher (Danielle Conboy) and shortstop (Gina Daigle). That was the best core we’ve had. Some of our girls this year have really stepped up.” McGuire said Abramson is one of them going 8-4 on the mound this season for the Tornadoes. McGuire’s daughter, Noelle, is headed to Lake Sumter State College in Florida, while first baseman Sabrina Akrouk is also still being looked at by several colleges.

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

For veterans working on their second decade covering the 19th Annual Palm Beach International Film Festival (PBIFF), there was a positive vibe this year. While not quite the glory days when Louise Fletcher, Robert Davi and Malcolm McDowell visited, there was a sense that those glory days are on the horizon. It also helped that they showcased some fine films.

Life Inside and Out took the Best Feature Film award. It is a domestic drama written by Maggie Bird. Bird also co-stars with her son Finneas O’Connor, who play the fictional mother and sullen son. Both Bird and O’Connor were in attendance for the closing ceremony at the Cinemark last Thursday night.

The best documentary went to Faberge: A Life of its Own. Created during the times of the Russian Tsars, these “Easter Eggs” tell a fascinating story involving international intrigue. The film also documents the commercial opportunities that these golden eggs created.

Lion Ark took the Best Documentary Audience Award, a film that screened at last year’s Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival. This film, about saving lions from circuses in Bolivia, features a triumphant conclusion after much danger and politics.

On the box office horizon, Nicholas Cage is making a critical return with Joe. Unlike the action hero roles that have paid his bills for the past two decades, Cage returns to a complex role that he used to be known for. Joe is an ex-convict with a bad attitude, who is given a chance for salvation when he meets a bullied boy in the south.

In two weeks, The German Doctor opens at area art house movie theaters. Winner of nine Sur Awards (Argentine’s Oscar), this film is about a doctor who befriends a family in Argentina. Unknown to the family, this doctor is actually a dangerous criminal who is being pursued by Israeli agents.

It has been 10 years since The Passion of Christ broke box office records for best foreign language film (a box office record that still stands). Since then, director Mel Gibson’s career has floundered but the film did tap a marketplace that had been ignored by Hollywood executives,– ticket-buying Christians. This week’s box office results will prove to be an interesting commentary for Easter Sunday.

Happy Easter!

This week, I Googled “skin deep.” I came up with a ton of hits, but the first was for a line of cosmetics. What do we use cosmetics for? We use them to make ourselves look better. We use them to cover up various real or perceived flaws on our face and elsewhere. I think we all deal with skin conditions over the course of our lifetimes as sometimes we are quite thick skinned and sometimes we are quite thin skinned.

Sometimes, we are so sure that we are right that we stubbornly refuse to even consider for even a split second that we might in some way be in the wrong. And, other times, we are so sensitive that no matter what someone may say to us or how they might look at us, we view it as a sleight.

And on those occasions, where we find out that what we perceived as an insult was in no way, shape or form meant as one, or when we find that we were wrong and someone else was right, apologies and admissions of error do not come so easily. In fact, we will often try to cover up the error of our ways.

But imagine if each time you said something bad about someone, that an icky, pussy growth appeared on your face, or your hands, or somewhere else so apparent that anyone seeing you would notice it immediately. What would you try to do?

Well, not too long ago a woman, who suffered her third fall, as she continued to insist she did not need the walker that had been prescribed for her, was re-admitted to a local health center. Only, this time, I was informed by staff that, unlike the other times, she was not coming out of her room. She refused to go to therapy and she turned down all the activities that were available at the center. I went to her room to see her and when I got a look at her face and saw the giant shiner, the big black eye on her face, I figured it had happened during the fall. And do you know why she refused to go out of her room? That’s right, she didn’t want anyone to see her like that.

One of the staff offered to put some cosmetics on to cover it up as much as possible, but I am not so sure that that was the wisest thing to do for this particular woman. I think this woman needed to let others see her shiner and I think, when they asked her what happened, she should use it to teach others the error of her ways … that she should admit that she got it because she was too darned stubborn to listen. And, I think, in doing so, she might not only have helped convince someone else to use a walker, but she would constantly be programming her own thought patterns to use it in the future.

On this Pesach, this Festival of Freedom, I hope that each time you hear yourself complaining about something that someone else does or says that you don’t like, instead of immediately trying to change them, go home, stand in front of the mirror and take a good long look at yourself and, then, go about admitting your own faults and begin the work of freeing yourself from those very faults that you so plainly see in others.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. We welcome you to join our warm and caring family for Shabbat and festival services. We’ll make your heart glow…who knows, you might even fall in love with Shul all over again.

April 12^th concluded the last leg in the near 2 Million dollar Quest for the Crest Sailfish Series. In pursuit of the esteemed burgundy jacket, teams have been competing since December to claim the title of world’s best. With a total of 92 points, Doing it All/Team Hardway landed that honor at the awards ceremony for the Final Sail championship tournament. They fish out of a 35 foot ST Contender as opposed to their competitors with much larger sport fishing type of boats. Triple 300 mercury out boards, custom Blue Water folding tower.

They fished four seasons, averaging 8 tournaments per season. They placed in the top 10 % with each tournament.

Daryl Deka – Owns a Landscaping Company (Palm Beach Broward Landscaping)

Mark Lamb – Owns a Roofing Company (Storm Roofing Inc)

Rick Burton – Owns a Roofing Company (Native Roofng Inc)

Jimmy Dalrymple – Tarpon Guide Islamorada

Billy Vanderhorn – Sign Company

Alex Burgess – Fishing Charters

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

The announcement that Mickey Rooney passed away last Sunday showcases the cultural impact of the Palm Beach International Film Festival (PBIFF) to our local community. Rooney was honored at the 2008 PBIFF and his career represents the golden age of Hollywood. From the Andy Hardy and My Friend Flicka movies to the original Night at the Museum and The Muppets, Rooney’s name is known by young and old.

This year, Rick McKay’s Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age, was shown and he was honored with a Visionary Award. Eleven years ago, McKay screened his work-in-progress, Broadway: The Golden Age, at the fest. With Fay Wray as his trusty consort, McKay earned his first festival award then. That film is on regular rotation on PBS fundraising drives.

Broadway: The Golden Age is a great documentary that should be shown in all performing arts schools, for the people who were interviewed are now considered legends of the Great White Way, including Marlon Brando, Ethel Merman and Kim Hunter. With his nonfussy camera work creating an intimate experience between subject and interviewer, McKay conducted some great interviews with Bea Arthur, Carol Burnett and Gwen Verdon. This film reminded us about forgotten heroes like John Raitt, who was the original voice in the first Rogers & Hammerstein musicals. Raitt is best known today as Bonnie Raitt’s daddy.

Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age covers the next generation of Broadway. It is the late seventies and mid eighties, a dark time on the Great White Way. Theaters are closing and buildings are going into disrepair. In these days of economic malaise, performers either bond or find new careers in film or television.

Meet Bob Fosse. With an Oscar for his direction of Cabaret and an Emmy for the television special Liza with a Z, Fosse went on to garner the Tony Award for Pippin, which made Ben Vereen a star and featured Irene Ryan’s (Beverly Hillbillies’ granny) last performance. Pippin was not a success, but Fosse decided to think out of the box and directed his own television commercial featuring 30 seconds of the show. At the end of the commercial, the announcer said, “If you want to see the rest of the … show, come to the Mayfair Theater on Broadway.” The rest is legend.

Robert Morse (who was also honored at PBIFF with a Lifetime Achievement Award Monday night), Robert Redford, Dick Van Dyke and Chita Rivera share some great backstage stories about productions that succeed and opening nights that bombed. The cast of Ain’t Misbehavin’ share stories about racism and hailing a taxi that become comedic in their absurdity. Of course, the only way to end Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age is with a grand finalé. The story about the longevity of A Chorus Line certainly qualifies as a graceful exit.

PBIFF is also about the future. Tonight, the closing night of the fest, Jason Priestly (known for Beverly Hills 90210) makes his directorial debut at the Cinemark Palace in Boca Raton with Cas & Dylan, showing at 7 p.m. (www.pbifilmfest.org).

Last but not least, kudos to Jeremy Emerman, Deerfield Beach High School graduate and son of Randi Emerman PBIFF president and CEO. That teenager who I used to work the red carpet with a decade ago, has become the camera man for some of the biggest blockbusters of recent history, including The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Easter is coming very soon and many people will be pouring into churches to celebrate. What are we actually celebrating? Do we make it all about the Easter bunny and the candy? Don’t get me wrong. I like candy, probably a little too much. As a matter of fact, I even think that Easter candy is better than Halloween candy. Easter candy is the absolute best candy of all time, in my humble opinion, but it is not about the candy. God loves you so much that He sent His son.

John 3:16-17

16 For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.

17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. NLT

God gave us all the wonderful gift of His son Jesus. Jesus did some amazing miracles while He was on the earth but, to me, the most amazing thing He did was the way He lived His life. Jesus lived a life without sin! Whenever I think about that, I cannot help but think “WOW.” I did not even make it through yesterday, let alone for my whole life. Jesus came and lived a sinless life.

Then He went to the cross to pay for my sins and your sins. Jesus deserved righteousness, but He took our place so His righteousness could be ours. Jesus took what I deserved so I could have what He deserved.

2 Corinthians 5:21

21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. KJV

God loves us so much that He sent His son. The son loves us so much that He came. Jesus loves us so much that He suffered the pain of the cross to pay for our sins. We all know that the story does not end there because the Easter story is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The week before Easter is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Passion Week and, on Sunday, Jesus came because He had to finish what He started. We all may go through times where we feel unloved or feel like no one cares about us, but my prayer is that you will always remember how much God the Father loves you. Jesus had a hard time dealing with the fact that, in order for Him to go and pay for our sins, He would have to be separated from His father. Jesus did that for us so we would never have to experience being away and separated from God the Father. The Bible encourages us by telling us that God will never leave us or abandon us. I want to thank you, God, for the fact that you love us all so much that you gave your son. Have a great Easter.

Tony Guadagnino is the pastor at Christian Love Fellowship Church. 801 SE 10 St., Deerfield Beach, FL, 33441.www.CLFministries.org