The Road Sage

July 31

And who says America has no natural beauty?

Utah,

Sunrise over the salt flats in Utah

Nevada

and California.

After an early wake up Wednesday morning we started the drive to Salt Lake City. It was a beautiful drive which for awhile followed the mighty Colorado River. There was no shortage of surreal views to keep us busy on the way.Upon arriving in S.L the Roadsages got stuck into cooking up a storm before the “fast” day of Tisha B’av on which we don’t eat or drink for 24 hours. On the menu was some mozzarella sticks, ravioli and some great home cooked quiche from the Zippels-Chabad representatives in Utah. After staying overnight in the Chabad House there was no let up. Following an interview with KSL the NBC affiliate (interview posted) and visiting a prison we were back in Chabad for a nice video presentation. We put on tefillin with some of the locals and had a bite at the end of the “fast” before getting some shut-eye before a 3 o’clock wake up call!

The Chabad House in Salt Lake City on the 9th of Av

Special thanks to the Chabad representatives in Utah Rabbi and Rebbetzin Zippel for their warm hospitality and for going out of there way to accommodate us and make us feel comfortable.

Later in the day we were in contact with Rabbi Wilhelm at the Chabad of the University of Colorado. He was having a pizza night, a group of students coming over and said that we should come by do some mitzvot and grab some food before we continue on the road. Both ideas sounded enticing.  Sure enough there was a nice crowd. We were able to don tefillin with a lot of the students, grab some food and get advice from them as to camping areas, best routes and the propensity of the police in Utah to hand out speeding tickets.

Thank you to Rabbi and Rebbetzin Wilhelm for their hospitality.

On the way to Salt Lake City for the 9th of Av. Enjoying some beautiful scenery as we drive.

July 28

The journey continued in Boulder, CO.

After finding lodging for the night we knew it would be a good day when the lady at the front desk was Jewish so we gave her candles for shabbat for her and her family. She then dispensed with some great advice as to where the best spots were to meet people. Now for those who may not know Boulder is a growing city of which young families make up a large percentage of the demographic. However the city was once a hotbed during the 60’s and 70’s for the hippie movement and people looking for spirituality. This would probably have to do with the beautiful mountains and scenery that ring the city which is very conducive for those so inclined. Upon heading towards Pearl St. we realized that the 60’s and 70’s may not be dead for a large percentage of the crowd. We met a man dressed in a tree trying to impress upon us the beauty of the symbiotic connection between man and nature. This message was taken to heart and told him about our message the Jewish message, one of spreading goodness and kindness. He was suitably impressed. Next a young guy ran over asking to put on tefillin. He was backpacking from home in California and had stopped in Salt Lake City on the way to Boulder. What a small world it is when he told us that he had spent time with the Chabad Rabbi there which incidentally was our next stop. W e had quite a long discussion about Judaism and life and made a commitment to try and get more in touch with Judaism. The rest of the afternoon we spent meeting people from all walks of life donning tefillin giving out Shabbat candles and having discussions with people as per Judaism’s opinion on anything from substances to Divine Providence.

Thanks to Rabbi Scheiner at the Chabad for the logistical help and Mazel tov on their recent birth to a baby girl!

July 26

We left Wisconsin Dells after our wonderful Shabbat and started to head to Mt. Rushmore.

Our first stop on the way was Rochester, Minnesota where we spent the night, near the Mayo Clinic, where we got some sleep. The next morning we hit the road again for nine hours. Along the way we saw the Missouri River and decided it would give us the opportunity to kosher our pot.

The road continued for a few more hours until finally we came to the mountainous terrain and our ascent to Mt. Rushmore began, or to our camp site we were going to stay the night before. The next morning we continued our ascent further up the mountains, but not before we got some tefillin going.

We came to Mt. Rushmore did some more Mitzvos up on top and then we had to continue our journey.

Next stop Boulder, CO!

“A mentch tracht un G-t lacht” which loosely translated means “man makes plans and g-d laughs”.

After leaving Chicago en route to Minneapolis for Shabbat a friend called saying that maybe it would be a good idea to make a pit stop in Wisconsin Dells. Wis Dells is a tourist area with skiing in the winter and more water parks per square mile than anywhere else in the world for summer.

The word out was that there were a lot of Israelis who worked on the main shopping strip. Our first person we met wasn’t Jewish although he said he had seen some Jewish people in the area and that around the back of one of the alleyways there was, as he referred to it a club with writing on the outside which he could not understand. Continuing down the strip we walked into a store that sold t-shirts and thought the odds were good that there were some Jewish workers when we saw a mezuzah affixed to the doorpost. Sure enough Amos comes running over and says Shalom. Upon asking if he would like to put on tefillin he replied in the affirmative and took us into the back of the store where he proudly showed us a picture of the Lubavitcher Rebbe on the wall. He then proceeded to give us the names and stores of where we could find other Israelis to meet.

While walking further we met Shloimi a religious person who was the owner of many stores in the Wis Dells area. He came over with a big smile asking if we could stay for Shabbat. He was concerned there would not be a minyan and being as it was an auspicious Shabbat in the Jewish calendar three young rabbis would be just the right fix. As he said in his own inimitable style, “you guys will take care of the spiritual side and I will take care of the physical”. He took us to an apartment block which he owned right next to the small synagogue the locals had there and showed us to our beautiful guest room. The rest of the afternoon we spent looking for and meeting people on the strip. The synagogue there is a Chabad synagogue under the auspices of the Matusof family who are shluchim in Madison. Looking around the synagogue Friday night there were 9 people besides for us which made the start of Shabbat really exciting for us. What happened after services though was truly amazing. You see Shloime, his amazing wife and family every week prepare a huge meal for all the families and workers in the area. We had a beautiful evening of song, discussions and great food deep into the night with the Maleh family, Itzik, Ophir, Amos and the rest of the crew. The next day by lunch was no different. In the evening we had a class on pirkei avot again over food by the house.

After Shabbat the family took us into the store where their beautiful children made us all t-shirts and we applied the words “Road Sage” on the back.

A thank you to the Matusof family Chabad shluchim in Madison. And a special heartfelt thank you must be given to the Fedida family. Both Shloimi Fedida and his wife, who is a true “yiddisher” mother, warm, welcoming and with a seemingly endless supply of food.

We came as strangers and left as family.

July 23

We’re heading out of Chicago and we wanted to give a big thank you to Rabbi & Mrs. Benhiyoun and Benje Casper for their hospitality and help during our time in Chicago.

Shabat Shalom …..

Though I am not Jewish, I just wish to tell you that it was enjoyable meeting the three of you yesterday at our firehouse in Canton , Ohio …

For anyone that does get a chance to see the vehicle pull up ….. these guys are wonderful. Full of energy and quick to laugh and have a good time with any and all that are around. They were just driving by and saw us out front of our station talking and pulled in to talk and spread their vision of their trip. We were very impressed with what they were doing and listened to what they said of their trip thus far. Fascinating individuals with wonderful personalities.

Any religion out there can learn from these men in their journey. You do not have to believe as they do to see the passion and the credit to their religion that they are. I wish all religions were full of people like these men …..

I hope that you enjoy your trip and have a safe journey on your trek to the Pacific Ocean … I, for one, will be following your journey online and am glad you stopped to say hello to the guys at our firehouse.

“Mully”….. Canton Fire, Station #9 ‘The Rock’
Canton, Ohio