H a p p y P a s s o v e r! continued from page 28 Retirement Planning Investment Management Financial Counseling Kenneth M. Bernard, CFA, President Your trusted partner for all f inancial issues. 28411 Northwestern Highway t4VJUFt4PVUIöFME .* Office: t www.CFSOBSE-XFBMUIDPN 1987860 “ Do you know someone in Chicagoland with Real Estate needs? I know where they’re coming from. Call Me! J AMIE R OTH MBA, JD, SFR Licensed Broker in Illinois 1741 2 nd Street, Highland Park, IL 60035 847.219.6400 www.JamieRoth.com Jamie.Roth@cbexchange.com “ If your property is listed with a real estate broker, please disregard. It is not our intention to solicit the offerings of other real estate brokers. We are happy to work with them and cooperate fully. ©2016 Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Operated by a subsidiary of NRT LLC. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker Logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage are independent contractor sales associates and are not employees of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. 2071470 J O I N U S M AY 7, 2016 Featuring Hank Winchester WDIV Consumer Investigative Reporter As Spring Bash Emcee All ticket levels include admission, open bar, dinner and curbside valet ( F O F S B M t 7 * 1 t 1 S F N J F S For more information, contac t Katie: kkoch@goaffirmations.org Table and sponsorship information at www.goaffirmations.org/sponsors 8 / J O F . J M F | Fe r n d a l e | . * S P O N | S w w O w R . g S o a H f f I i r P m a P t i A o n C s . K o r A g / G c a E sinoroyale 2085120 30 April 21 • 2016 kosher] with for his conversion, and I offered. We are now learning Mishnah.” Sarah spent six months studying with Rachel Freedland, a Jewish law con- version tutor and mentor for the beit din. “Both Sarah and David were very motivated,” she said. “Their desire to convert came from a place of wanting to truly be part of the Jewish people and be connected to HaShem as Jews. There was no ulterior motive and that is what made it so special.” Last fall, on a single day, the Barneses experienced two life changes. “Our conversion took place on Oct. 18, 2015 — on the morning of our wedding,” David said of the ceremony officiated by Kostelitz at Dovid Ben Nuchim. On Dec. 3, 2015, their daughter, Chana Elisheva, was born Jewish. FAMILY VIEWS “Even though my parents are still prac- ticing, committed Christians, they have always encouraged me, as long as I am honest with myself, to seek what I believe to be true and right,” David said. “My parents have been very under- standing and supportive. “We still have discussions, compar- ing and contrasting the fundamentals of Judaism and Christianity, and I think they find it quite interesting. Additionally, my parents are under- standing of our needs regarding kosher and our inability to come to family events if they fall on Shabbos, etc.” Sarah, too, said her family has been very supportive. The Barneses have also found encouragement from another type of family. “The warmth, support and friend- ships we have made at Akiva are incomparable to anything Sarah and I had known before,” said David, a middle school and high school science teacher since 2005. “Over the years at Akiva, I have had the opportunity to learn with incred- ible rabbis and teachers. Through them, I fell in love with the Torah, with Halachah, with the values of Judaism.” Sarah, a para-pro in Akiva’s Early Childhood Center since 2013, said, “Working with preschoolers was really a great way to learn the fundamentals of Judaism. I learned brachot [bless- ings], parshah [weekly Torah portion] and chagim [holidays] right along with the kids. I also really enjoyed being part of the excitement every week look- ing forward to Shabbat, making challah and singing and dancing at the Shabbat assembly with the kids.” The couple feels very included and welcomed in their new commu- nity, with David expressing immense gratitude “to all who have invited us for Shabbos and yom tov [holiday] meals, even before, let alone during, our conversion process.” The Barneses will be a part of the second Passover seder at the Lowys’ this year. For the first seder, they are invited to the Oak Park home of Sarah and Daniel Mizrahi. “We are very, very close with them,” said Sarah Mizrahi, an Akiva co-worker, whose children are Akiva students. “They were at our seder last year.” Clearly, this year will be more meaningful. David noted another change for this year. Prior to Passover, food prohibited for possession on the holiday may be stored away but is required to be sold temporarily to a non-Jew. “Ironically, I have bought the chametz [leavened goods] from Rabbi [Yechiel] Morris at Young Israel of Southfield for the last few years,” David said. “Not this year!” The Barnes’ first-time Passover preparation actually began in October. “Right after our conversion, our friends threw us a ‘kosher kitchen shower,” Sarah said. “They made sure I had a set of Pesach cookware, a hand blender and some mixing bowls.” David calls the changes that took place in their lives since last Passover “amazing, humbling and overwhelming in the most wonderful way. “We are so grateful to HaShem for blessing us with our daughter, Chana, and for everything — the timing and the willingness of the rabbis to work with us on our conversion. “Rabbi Aaron Leib, elementary and middle school principal at Akiva, who has been a close friend and men- tor over the last six-plus years, suggest- ed that I view the conversion process as being like the training period that one goes through before a big sporting event or competition,” David said. “It takes discipline and, though there is great joy in the learning and prepar- ing, the true fulfillment is on game day, when it counts. “It is so true. There is no way to describe life before and after the con- version. “Regarding Pesach, there is a combi- nation of excitement and anticipation coupled with the natural anxiety of the preparation, especially for our first,” he said. “This Pesach, I cannot wait to remem- ber and celebrate the fact that I, my wife and my daughter, along with the entire Jewish nation, were taken out of Mitzrayim [Egypt]. And that not only were we delivered from Mitzraim, from slavery, but brought out for the very pur- pose, the privilege and the obligation to obey the mitzvot. It makes all the prepa- ration very worth it.” *