<HTML><HEAD></HEAD>
<BODY dir=ltr>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">
<DIV> Greetings to all!</DIV>
<DIV>The following email message is from Debbie Azzarone, a member in the
NFBNJ
and a student at Vision Loss Alliance.</DIV>
<DIV>Her email message says it all!</DIV>
<DIV>Warmly,</DIV>
<DIV>Joe </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>**</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Hello Viners,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The busy days of shopping have come to an end. The cookies have been
baked,</DIV>
<DIV>and the plans have been arranged. The only thing that is left is to
enjoy</DIV>
<DIV>the wonder of the holiday season. For some it's Christmas, others it
will
be</DIV>
<DIV>Hanukkah, and for still others there are holidays being celebrated all
over</DIV>
<DIV>the world by many different cultures.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>That's what makes the world and it's people so special. I bet if you
were
to</DIV>
<DIV>study the calendar, there wouldn't be a season of the year that
isn't</DIV>
<DIV>special to people. A time that joy comes to our hearts and homes. A
time
we</DIV>
<DIV>yearn to share with our loved ones for sure, but a time we want the
world
to</DIV>
<DIV>join us in celebration of what we believe to be sacred and so
very</DIV>
<DIV>wonderous.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Fair or not, in this country at least, this particular time of year is
taken</DIV>
<DIV>over mostly by Christmas. We see the most displays of that in our shops
and</DIV>
<DIV>malls, our decorated homes and town centers, and by the gaping hole in
our</DIV>
<DIV>bank accounts, but is the meaning of Christmas or Hanukkah really
so</DIV>
<DIV>different in their essence? Are they not both the celebration of a
miracle?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It has become troubling that some would like it if we were to ignore
both
in</DIV>
<DIV>public places so as not to offend anyone.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I say bring them on! Bring them all on in their finest glory! Seek out
all</DIV>
<DIV>the reasons we mortals have to celebrate! Place an ad in the
papers
from</DIV>
<DIV>all over the world and invite each and every person to share the
stories</DIV>
<DIV>behind their joy no matter what day in the calendar they fall! Let
us</DIV>
<DIV>transfer joy to one another every minute of every day to each
other!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There is no such thing as too much love, too much joy, too much
celebrating</DIV>
<DIV>of blessings.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I have to tell you a story that happened this weekend in my town. Mind
you,</DIV>
<DIV>my town is known for its diversity, so this was quite troubling to me,
for</DIV>
<DIV>one minute that is.but once the story that started it all on Facebook
began</DIV>
<DIV>gathering more and more comments, my faith was restored.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It happens that a local luncheonette named Benny's hosts a breakfast
with</DIV>
<DIV>Santa each year. It happens to be across the street from one of the
Temples</DIV>
<DIV>in our town, of which we have many.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Santa, a local gent who does this each year, and one of his elves, who
are</DIV>
<DIV>middle school children who sign up to assist, stepped outside just as
the</DIV>
<DIV>Temple's congregants were coming out of the building. The people from
the</DIV>
<DIV>Temple and Santa and his elf began smiling and waving at each other.
Wishes</DIV>
<DIV>for a Happy Hanukkah and a Merry Christmas were being passed and
forth</DIV>
<DIV>across that street, and it was a wonderful sight to see. That is if it
was</DIV>
<DIV>something you wanted to see instead of turning it into something else,
which</DIV>
<DIV>is what one passer by decided to do and brought it to Facebook to
start</DIV>
<DIV>trouble.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It didn't work. On the contrary, it ended up being a very special
post.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It went something like this.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Poster: "I drove passed the Temple today on Saddle River Road, and saw
Santa</DIV>
<DIV>and an Elf standing across the street waving and saying Merry Christmas
to</DIV>
<DIV>children getting out of services with their families. How insensitive,
Was</DIV>
<DIV>this necessary? Why stand there and do this to children whose parents
now</DIV>
<DIV>have to explain why Santa doesn't come to their homes yet again."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I'll have you know, that poster wasn't Jewish, wasn't coming from the
Temple</DIV>
<DIV>or from the breakfast, just a person who must get pleasure from
starting</DIV>
<DIV>trouble where none exists. A person driving passed and chose to
find</DIV>
<DIV>something sinister instead of something beautiful.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Very quickly the comments started pouring in. Comments from the people
from</DIV>
<DIV>the Temple, people at the breakfast, and people who choose to see love
when</DIV>
<DIV>they see it.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The mom of the little girl who got to be one of Santa's Elves told her
mom</DIV>
<DIV>who reported what she said on FB "Santa and I went outside for a minute
and</DIV>
<DIV>were waving to everyone driving by. The people coming from the
Temple</DIV>
<DIV>started waving to us, and we waved back. They called to us Merry
Christmas,</DIV>
<DIV>and we called back Happy Hanukkah. What did we do wrong?"</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mothers and Fathers from the Temple began replying too. They said "We
waved</DIV>
<DIV>to each other. our kids loved seeing Santa, and when I see Santa in a
store,</DIV>
<DIV>or riding through town in a firetruck, you can be sure I'll be waving
again.</DIV>
<DIV>What is wrong with you? This was just lovely."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The comments continued, increasing in the pleasure of the act that
took</DIV>
<DIV>place, and all the personal stories of people sharing holiday
celebrations</DIV>
<DIV>with friends of another faith, and how they look forward to doing that
each</DIV>
<DIV>year in each other's homes.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If you've ever been on Facebook, you would imagine that the comments
can
get</DIV>
<DIV>ugly.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>They didn't.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>You can imagine that there will be a 50/50 split of reactions with
people</DIV>
<DIV>insisting their way of looking at this is the only correct way.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There wasn't.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Between the comments and the replies there had to be close to 100
responses</DIV>
<DIV>delighting in knowing that the Jews of our Town and the Christians in
our</DIV>
<DIV>town have mutual respect for each other, and only wish to share their
joy</DIV>
<DIV>and learn about each other.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The thread gave me goosebumps, and a whole lot of pride in my town, for
at</DIV>
<DIV>that one moment on a Saturday afternoon, the people involved
demonstrated
to</DIV>
<DIV>each other the true meaning of the holidays. The passing of joy and
love
to</DIV>
<DIV>one another.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Invitations to strangers who may be alone for their respective holidays
were</DIV>
<DIV>offered by some on that FB thread. It was a beautiful thing.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A post that was meant to divide did the exact opposite. Our love for
each</DIV>
<DIV>other was glorified.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>That, my friends, is the miracle of Christmas and Hanukkah.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The candles and lights of both holidays bring light to darkness, and
if</DIV>
<DIV>there's one thing we can count on and be sure of, light will always
overcome</DIV>
<DIV>the darkness.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Let yours shine!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>From all of us at the Blind Vine, we wish you the happiest of holidays,
the</DIV>
<DIV>joys of sharing, and the peace we all pray for.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it
back</DIV>
<DIV>to you when you have forgotten the words." -Unknown</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We care. We share. We grow. We make a difference<BR>Joe Ruffalo,
President
<BR>National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey <BR>973 743
0075<BR>nfbnj1@verizon.net<BR><A
href="http://www.nfbnj.org">www.nfbnj.org</A></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">Raising
Expectations To Live The Life You Want!</DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000"> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">Your
old
car keys can be keys to literacy for the blind.<BR>Donate your unwanted
vehicle
to us by clicking <BR>www.carshelpingtheblind.org <BR>or call 855 659
9314<BR></DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri";
FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt tahoma">
<DIV><FONT size=3 face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>