Okay, I'm going to try this again. Last night I wrote one of the longest blogs so far, and then after I previewed it and tried to go back to it - it disappeared. Poof! Just like that. And it was so well written, too - lots of news and some witty remarks. I'm not usually so humble.

BREAKING NEWS!! I just heard that Laya, the Grunberger's 2nd oldest daughter, is a kallah! She's here in Israel as a madricha (mentor/dorm counselor?) at Eyhat, a women's program at Aish. The family needs some good news right now! Under normal circumstances the wedding would probably be here in Israel, but since hardly any in the family can travel right now, I would assume the wedding will be in St. Louis. I'm so happy for her, and for the family!9

Here's an update that Rabbi Grunberger sent out yesterday morning, so the information may be a little old by now:

Again, I thank everyone for their tefilos and efforts to create zechusim for Rafael Dovid and Tehilla. The achdus, tefilos, learning, and mitzvos in their merit is absolutely working, bli a"h.

Tehilla had her jaw surgery today and the Doctor feels very positive and optimistic. They didn't need to wire her jaw as originally thought. At this point her leg fracture, jaw fractures, and head injuries are healing. They hope to wean her off the respirator tomorrow and hopefully she'll respond in the best way that can be expected. We daven for a COMPLETE recovery and that she'll have no limitations or consequences from the injuries. The Doctors have no way of saying for sure but are very optimistic based on the xrays and CT scan, B"H. The tefilos will make the difference.

Rafael Dovid has been stable for the last 48 hours. They now hope to start weaning him off the different medications. Today they started giving him little doses of nutrition. He's still in very critical condition but it's like an official turning point for the better, B"H. The next 3 days will be very telling and as he continues to respond positively with stability, they will wean him off the respirator as well. As the swelling around the brain subsides, they will then try to assess the impact of the injury. Here too, it's all in HaShem's Hands and we daven that he will come through with no deficits, limitations, or handicaps but with a refuah shelaima.

Elisha is BE"H coming home tomorrow morning. He's in good spirits. He has a broken thumb and clavicle along with his impressive gash on his left forehead. Visitors are allowed to speak with him between innings during the playoffs. He'll be coaching Pujols after school hours and wants to retire LaRoussa and take over. (may this be the only affect of his head injury). He's turning 12 in a few days and will continue all his various extra learning projects to make siyumim during the year and for his Bar Mitzvah.

Chaim (Eliyahu Chaim- age 9) is healing. He's confined to a wheel chair for a while and then back to crutches. His fracture should be healed in 6 weeks, be"H. He has memorized 121 mitzvos (Sefer Madah, Ahava and Zemanim) which we reviewed today. The plan is for him to hopefully return to school tomorrow for at least part of the day.

Aviva (15) returned to school today for a few hours. She's doing well.

We deeply appreciate HaShem's kindness in answering the outcry of the many tefilos around the world. The chapters of the "master plan" can play out in any number of ways. We thank HaShem and continue to daven that this chapter and the chapters to follow will be filled with joy, yeshuos, nechamos, and clearly evident of the Yad HaShem in every detail that goes on around us.

With deep appreciation to HaShem and to everyone,

Elazar Grunberger

How's that for emuna?

I've been trying to download for the last hour (with David's help) to download a whole bunch of pictures from Succos, with no success. I just spoke with Rivki to get some help, since she has gorgeous pictures of Succos on her blog (see my link - Inspirations from the oOly Land). I'm going to end here and see if I can download the pictures separately.