Yisroel Finman formerly Ivan's Page

How much were you at the House of Love and Prayer?

Lived There

What year(s) were you at the House?

a:6:{i:0;s:4:"1969";i:1;s:4:"1970";i:2;s:4:"1973";i:3;s:4:"1974";i:4;s:4:"1975";i:5;s:4:"1976";}

How did you meet Shlomo?

Shlomo gave a concert in my high school in Newark NJ. Pretty bizarre (or hashgacha protis, depending on one's point of view) since the school was a predominately black inner city school.

What is your Jewish and/or spiritual practice today?

Heavy Shlomo person, tempered by influence of close relationships with Rabbi Shloime Twerski and with the the Bobover Rebbe.
Deeply spiritual, halachik w/o being stupid.

Where do you live now?

Boca Raton, Florida--go figure!

Please tell us a little about your life today.

Currently an independent rabbi after having had pulpits in Rosedale, NY and Key West, Fl. I have a small kashruth certification agency, Chai Kosher (ChaiKosher.com) and still operate JewishKeyWest.com, a tourist and wedding info site. Have five grown children, three married. Have three grandchildren. Remarried four years ago to the former HLP resident, Judy Fabish. We reconnected after twenty five years via Frumster.com. We left Key West because her children needed a more conventional Jewish environment.
In Boca Raton, we are members of the Boca Raton Synagogue and are building a Shlomo community which is fully integrate within the general synagogue community. Our Shlomo minyan has about twenty regular families in attendance on Shabbos after its' first year of existence. This year I was invited by the shul's rabbis to give a 12 week class entitled Holy Brother--The Shlomo Carlebach Experience.
Am now beginning a Likkutei MaHaRan study group at the shul. It seems so strange to be accepted as normal after all these years of fighting the establishment.
Am presently working with a neighbor in creating a Jewish Spiritual Center in Boca Raton.

What would you like to get from this social network?

a:4:{i:0;s:43:"Share my stories about the House and Shlomo";i:1;s:20:"Read others' stories";i:2;s:26:"Reconnect with old friends";i:3;s:5:"Other";}

If you answered "Other," above:

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