Here's another Buxbaum

Julie Buxbaum is also a story teller.

Just more of the mainstream type.

Sorry we missed ya just a post ago.

Julie is bright (Penn and Harvard-educated).  She's likely a very good writer.  And, judging by their covers, her books look like the type we'd want to read.

We don't watch Oprah, but they look like they'd be Oprah books. 

We're quite sure that with the Harvard and Penn connections we'd do well at the Jewish geography game.  Thus the Whole Phamily gets stronger and smaller all at the same time.

Now if the Whole Phamily could only employ good writers...

Buxbaum the Storyteller

There are variations:  Buxbaum, Buckspan, Buchman, Buchweitz...we are only guessing that the meaning for "buch" is the word book.  Perhaps families with this surname were involved with production or selling of books.

If this is the case, then Yitzhak Buxbaum's name is very fitting.  He is a teller of sacred Jewish tales.  A master storyteller or maggid, Reb Yitzhak is a unique soul and brings the stories from the alter heim (Eastern European towns where so many of us originate from) into the 21st century.  His site is the Jewish Spirit Journal, a gateway to mysticism, spirituality and Kabbalah.

Maybe he can weave a story of the Whole Phamily and tell us exactly what we're doing here.

Jah Levi was Kid Goldstein growing up? Return!

We have just come across the reggae artist Jah Levi.  He is a spiritual healer.  According to his bio, he is a spiritual leader in two churches:  Essene and the Peruvian Soga del Alma.  We're not sure what it means to be a card-carrying member of the Native American church, but he's got one.  He is an herbalist and acupuncturist.   His music is entrancing.  We aren't too educated in reggae music, but Bob Marley's One Love sounds good to us.

And his father was folklorist Kenneth Goldstein (a historian on Adirondack music...full disclosure:  the Whole Phamily has deep roots to the ADKs...yes, we are all connected).

So give it up, Mr. Levi...we believe that you're connected deep, deep, deep.  We believe you have healing powers.  We believe you create great music. 

Not a smidge mention of the Jewish factor other than your father's last name.

Hmm....

Time to come on home!

Raz Hartman had a vision.  You can visualize it, too.  It starts with being in the Sinai desert, nothing at all on the horizon.  Then you see one little speck.  That speck turns out to be a person.  But it's not just one person, it's 10 people.  They get closer.  Not 10 people, it's 100 people.  As the mass gets closer, you realize it's not 100 but 1,000 people.  No, it's not just 1,000, it's more like tens of thousands.  Then you realize it's hundreds of thousands of people, all the Nation of Israel and they are all dancing and singing in the desert, walking closer toward you.  And you realize that the music is coming from the center of this mass of people.

This music is coming from the tribe of Levi.

This vision inspired a song called Shuva which is for sale CD Baby.  You can listen to just this one sample which is Track #7  (this one little track does not do justice).  This is the star song of the CD and it is not available to listen fully online.  The liner notes are important, as well.

Simply put:  Shuva means return.

In the meantime, we have a hankering to get back to the woods.  Frolicking around in Paul Smith's isn't too far away...