A reception was held in honor of Tu B’shvat at the New York State Legislative Chamber in Albany this week, coordinated by Shliach to Albany’s Capital Region Rabbi Yisroel Rubin, and Speaker of the House Sheldon Silver.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from Washington attended as well.
The room was decorated with fruit displays arranged by Albany’s Maimonides – Bnos Chaya Girls High School, and Rabbi Rubin was invited to deliver the invocation opening the Assembly.
In his speech, Rabbi Rubin noted the tree-like formation of the New York State Thruway:
“A tree is poetic, beautifully dressed green in spring and summer.
But what does a tree’s bare skeleton show in the cold of winter?
The Tree’s skeleton resembles a familiar Road Map,
a trunk branching out, into big and then smaller branches,
its offshoots dividing into big, then smaller twigs.
Our 87 Thruway comes up from NYC as the trunk,
dividing at Albany into its tall Northway branch,
and the horizontal I-90 as its longest branch,
later branching off into highways, parkways and country roads,
into city streets, lanes and driveways all across our state.
A-lmighty G-d, may this distinguished Assembly enact laws to revive,
nourish, grow and bear fruit, reaching out to all on the highways and byways of this Great State.”
At the event, Assemblyman David Weprin praised the efforts of Chabad of Albany in hosting many students every Shabbos, and spoke about his visits to Chabad at UAlbany.
i like it
Great Shliach
Gives the rebbe nachas