boca raton

Are you really living if you are not volunteering and/or helping others? Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – PanCAN

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The PanCAN volunteers!!

Last summer, my dear friend Paco gave me Stefan Zweig’s great 1922 short story “The Eyes of My Brother, Forever” (“Die Augen des ewigen Bruders”), and it confirmed what I have known for a long time: volunteering and helping others might be the best thing you can do not only to get out of your shell but also to live your fullest life.

This was my third year volunteering for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – PanCAN. They host the national Purple Stride event every Spring, and it is a great time! I serve as the Registration Lead volunteer, so everybody who has not registered for the event has to come to our tent. I must get up at 4 in the morning to be in Boca Raton at 5, but it is worth it. I had a blast with my sidekick Rona, whose son, like me, went to Bentley. She is a hilarious New Yorker, and I have a great time collaborating with her.

Listening to the radio, I recently learned that only 20% of the US population participates in “formal” that is, organized volunteering, as opposed to mowing your elderly neighbor’s yard. That number seems to me terribly low. Yes, you must turn off the TV and get off the couch, but it is worth it!!

So, look for volunteering options in our neighborhood: soup kitchens, food banks, or helping children with their studies. Whatever it is, it will fill your heart with joy. You are welcome.

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” — Mother Teresa

Spanish Baroque in Boca Raton

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As soon as I found out that the Boca Raton Museum of Art had an exhibit about the Spanish Baroque, I booked a visit for my classes and then went to check it out for myself.

The paintings are courtesy of the Hispanic Society of America in New York, which has organized this exhibit, and which will then travel to a couple more cities.

Splendor and Passion: Baroque Spain and Its Empire is a small but very good-quality exhibit. You are welcomed by a local artist’s interpretation of Velazquez’s Meninas, and then you enter to discover paintings by the real Velazquez, Murillo, and el Greco (whom I would put more into late Renaissance than Baroque, but I am nitpicking). If you love the chiaroscuro, if you love Baroque art, this one is for you!

The Boca Raton is a fairly small museum, with most of the collection being 20th C art. But since you are already there, you might as well check it out.

So, if you are in this suburban wasteland that is South Florida, and you need a little injection of beauty, art, and culture, head over to the Boca Raton Museum of Art. You are welcome.

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network PanCAN

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Luciano Pavarotti, Steve Jobs, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Aretha Franklin, Patrick Swayze, Joan Crawford, Dizzy Gillespie, Alex Trebek. What do these people have in common with my father?

They all died of pancreatic cancer.

My father died in 2015, so when an opportunity arose a few months ago to volunteer at the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network PanCAN, I signed up.

The purpose of PanCAN is to help folks with pancreatic cancer. We sponsor researchers and doctors, clinical studies, and then we help divulge the findings and help patients:

Our mission is to take bold action to improve the lives of everyone impacted by pancreatic cancer by advancing scientific research, building community, sharing knowledge, and advocating for patients.

PanCan Mission Statement

PanCAN’s main event is a 5k fundraising event held across the US on the 29th of April. There was a lot of preparation involved in organizing the event. I drove to the Burt Aaronson Park in Boca Raton on the Friday before the event to help set up.

I returned on Saturday to see thousands of people signed up to do the walk -and more importantly, to fundraise. The event was an enormous success. I spent all morning running around getting this, helping with that, bringing something to someone, setting it up, breaking down, cheering walkers, staffing the Photo Booth, etc. it was exhausting but extremely rewarding!

I cannot wait to start helping with next year’s walk!

Oh, if I have inspired you to donate or to explore this further, click here! Thanks!

The awesome band!

Shabbat Shalom! An evening of celebration at Temple Beth El

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When did my fascination with world religions start? I don’t really know, but I love learning about other faiths. It was a blessing to have worked with my dear friend Kamel from Egypt who taught me so much about Islam, and about Hinduism through my yoga teacher, Paritosh.

I did not knowingly have a Jewish friend until high school, and since then I have been intrigued by their culture and history. Last year I finally got to experience a Seder dinner, and last Friday I was generously invited to Shabbat services at temple Beth El in Boca Raton. What an experience!

One of our professors, Rabbi Larry Kotok, arranged for a group of students and faculty to visit Temple Beth El for Shabbat, I signed up right away. The Senior Rabbi, Dan Levin gave us a briefing before the service. It was a special service since it was Shabbat Shirah, a musical celebration of the separation of the Red Sea. Singer Elana Arian was brought in from New York to lead the celebrations and she did not disappoint.

The Temple has been recently renovated, and it is beautiful, very, very well done. It is very “homey”, beautifully carpeted, with nooks for chatting, a great bookshelf called Soaring Wisdom, a cute little gift shop, there is even a sculpture attributed to Salvador Dalí.

The whole thing was so beautiful, I must confess a couple of times during the service I was overcome with emotions. After the service, we were invited to a great BBQ dinner in the patio, we chatted with some members of the congregation before saying good-bye.

Get out in nature and walk

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Boynton Beach is a bit of no man’s land, there is not much here. If you go South, you have the more interesting Delray Beach and Boca Raton, and if you go North, you are in the Palm Beaches. East is -as the name implies- the Ocean, and if you go West, you fortunately will hit the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge which, as I’ve mentioned before, is a massive swamp.

Unfortunately, there is no forest in which to do a “shinrin-yoku” forest bath, which is just as well, because forest in Florida means jungle. Fortunately, there is a man-made trail that goes all around the swamp, it is very boring, but at least you get to walk in, or rather, along nature!

Last Saturday I went on a nice two hour walk on the trail. Since it is quite monotonous, it is easy to get into a rhythm and have a walking meditation. In winter, it is too cold for most of the Florida wildlife, so I only saw birds, plenty of interesting birds.

As I was starting my walk, I bumped into a group of my students! The seminarians from Raleigh had also decided to go on a walk! So we took the photo here before they went exploring.

Back in civilization, as soon as you exit the park there is a wonderful farm shop called Bedners. They have great produce, most of it their own – they have a huge agricultural plot behind the shop- as well as great homemade soups! So I stopped to get some groceries and soup.

If you have access to nature, any nature, go for a walk, you are welcome.