SUPERMAN AND HIS LIMITATIONS

 

To feel satisfied. To not feel like you could have done more, accomplished more, to be happy with what you do and how much you do, and to not feel like a failure no matter how much you do.

To not feel like you have to do more than what you are already doing, to be happy with what you do and how often you do it, and how much you do. To accept human limits, to not try to be superman, to do things with ease and effortlessly, to act according to the limits of your brain and body. To do only what is humanly possible to do.

To do what you can when you can, and not to worry about not be able to do things that you cannot do. To be satisfied with your human limits, to not push yourself beyond your capabilities, to strive to improve, but not to do more than you possibly are able to do.

To do as much as you like when you like to, to keep doing things, but not to press yourself into doing too much. To share the burdens with others. To delegate responsibility so it is not all on your shoulders and only on your shoulders.

To do what you can do, when you can do it, to try to do your best at all times, to accept human limits.

INCLUDING TORAH STUDY IN ONE'S NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

To be in good fortune, to an end of misfortune, to have prosperity, to have ownership of material possessions, to be the home where the parties take place, to chuck it all for a peaceful relationship with people, to not use anyone, to not oppress anyone, to put a nix to one's yetzir harah, to extinguish evil intentions, to not put on airs, to not pretend to have more than one has, to not try to impress people, to not have to be the "life of the party" to not be at a party at all.

To be safe, stable and secure in one's home, making it a happy home, to not pretend what is not. To not be arrogant, to not be selfish, to not exert one's pride over another's, to not say you want to be of help when what you really want to do is to hurt.

To love your family and not have it to be a nest of adversity. To teach your children how to have peaceful moments with each other, not to teach them to thrive on negativity. To take a compliment and to be thankful for a positive comment, to not thrive on hurtful comments.

To show someone sincerity, to feed one's family, to not withhold what you have when you have enough for two, and are only one person.

To bring G-d and holiness into every conversation, to always talk about Torah and its teachings. To never exclude Torah from conversations. To bring righteousness and its benefits into your brainstorming, to be gentle, to show selflessness.

To try to change the world by starting with changing yourself. To have an oath with G-d, a covenant with G-d, to make a secular new year's resolution to always be peaceful and not to be argumentative, to let someone else do the talking, to be a listening ear, to not try to get nurtured at someone else's expense who is not getting enough.

When G-d is the source of your love, there is always enough love to go around. When G-d's existence is scoffed, there is no love, there is no peace.

IMPROVEMENT IN OUR THOUGHTS, DEEDS, AND ACTIONS

 

Love, honesty, truthfulness, putting down one's guard and letting love seep in, like the moisture of waters underground feeding the roots of trees, causing the trees to get stronger, to grow taller, to have fuller leaves, to stride upwards to be closer to the Heavens, climbing up trees as a child, Trees of Knowledge, taking classes in Hebrew School, classes that you will remember for a lifetime with a preparation as a child.

Having a second life, being reborn, learning Judaism as an adult, taking Hebrew school classes and studying Torah, but not as a class to complete and then not to study again, but to learn and study over and over again, to study Torah everyday, to make it as important as eating your breakfast, to learn to teach and to perform mitzvoth, to always concentrate on ways to be kinder, to show loving-kindness to your fellow, to do what the commandments tell you to do. To grow into being a person who applies chesed [loving-kindness] to his every deed, and to sprinkle like gold dust, kind words and kind deeds everywhere you go, to everyone you meet.

 

Think to yourself: What kind of a person would the Messiah be like if you were to meet him and to get to know him. And then apply these personality characteristics to your own lifestyle. What if everyone in the world acted like how we imagine the Messiah would act? We do have a mentor, anyone who lives righteously has this Messiah mentor to follow in his words and deeds. There are 613 commandments to follow, and non-Jews can follow 7 Noachide commandments, then indeed if all of us did this, and taught our children to do this, we would have a perfect world. Everyone living in this imperfect world would be perfect, just like a true Messiah, not a messiah who is false, but a real one, for everyone to act just like what the real Messiah would act like.

To know it is impossible for anyone to be perfect, but to strive for perfection, to strive to be like a Chassid is in our reach, to have these characteristics, not necessarily to be a Chassid as in a member of the Chassidic denomination of Judaism, but to assume spiritual improvements that they teach us, to know how to improve and in what direction. How can we improve? Here is an article that gives us a guide: "What Is A Chassid?" that you can read.

What Torah Study teaches us to do is to always improve in our thoughts, deeds and actions.

MOSES JUST PASSED BY!

 

Today in my dining room, I had lunch with Moses!

Just before I sat down to eat, Joel Osteen the Christian missionary, was blasting from the TV set that is in my dining hall, and he said "Jesus Just Passed By!" and that was all I heard. I was very disturbed by this lie, and it really rubbed me the wrong way, upsetting me and causing me to stop in my prayers to the one true Divine Shekinah HASHEM, so I would not mix up my prayers to Him with the other god, the false god.

On Xmas day it is warned to stop your prayers even to the true one G-d on this day so you are not tempted to change your prayers into prayers to the false Christian messiah god by temptation. The devil works in mysterious ways. So I stayed away from all prayers and today was again exposed to this missionary's jargon because Xmas just does not want to end.

When I heard the words "Jesus Just Passed By" I turned it into a Jewish experience, and changed it from being a Christian experience to being a Jewish one only.

I visualized Moses as the one who "Just Passed By!"

I envisioned Moses standing very tall and stately in my dining hall in his long red robed tunic, and carrying the 2 cement tablets in his giant strong arms and saw his long wild beard and salt/pepper gray hair unkempt as if it was windblown because he just walked off Mount Sinai into my dining hall to take the place of this missionary's god,. The presence of Moses as a passerby was more awesome than the presence of any other prophet could ever be.

Moses is the truth and Torah is the truth.

Moses loomed awesomeness and walked like a leopard across my dining hall! "Moses Just Passed By"  resounded as a truth that saved me, a truth that like no other, that put me into a state of reverence, and belief and in obedience of  Halakah, and in prayer towards the one and only true G-d: HASHEM.

How this Christian missionary's words worked to do the exact opposite of his intent, because for me, "Moses, Not Jesus, Just Passed By!"

HO HO HO AND A MERRY XMAS BUT ON EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR

Being able to laugh, and to laugh again, louder and more gregariously, grinning, beaming with happiness, jumping up and down, no expectations, not a care in the world, no responsibilities, no car gas tank to keep full in the icy winter months so that the gas will not freeze, not stabbing a Thanksgiving turkey early in the morning so it is eatable in the afternoon by a full family of people, all who must be fed.

Not celebrating Xmas, so free free free! Can laugh because I am not expecting anything and no one is expecting anything from me!

Foods shopped, cooked, dishes cleaned, feasting in a kosher way on a holiday that I do not celebrate and ho ho ho, laughing all the way! Like a red-nosed reindeer. Santa Claus sliding down my chimney, not only on Xmas but everyday of the year, but I never see him because he does not exist!

Santa Claus is a myth, imagine that! Why then did they tell me he was real? In the same way they tried to force a Christian messiah down my throat? Why did they not tell me he was not real? In the same way Santa was not real? Lots of lies and merry singing carols to hide all the deceit.

Having forgiveness about being lied to and lied about, Xmas is just another day like any day, and this is exactly why it is a day to be joyous!

WHEN SOMEONE SAYS "MERRY XMAS" TO A JEW

Xmas time for me is a perfect time to "come out" as a Jew. For me, when someone says to me "Merry Xmas!" I retort to them with an "I am Jewish." and they then have to rethink a different perspective and to have a good reason to say "Happy Chanukah" to me as that is the correct holiday greeting exclamation to say to me. I then reply with a "Thank you!"

In a household where there is even as little as one Jew who lives there, this makes the household a "Jewish Household."

I feel very proud on Xmas to be a Jew and to stand apart from the deliriousness and mania of "Merry Xmas." My day on today, on Xmas is much like any other day of the year, a day to produce, a day to work (unless it is a Saturday), a day to stand out and "come out" as a Jew, a day to think Jewish thoughts, a day to keep my faith, a day to pray to the Almighty one G-d, a day to keep the peace.

I had a Catholic grandmother who went all out to celebrate Xmas: she baked, cooked, wrapped gifts, went to church, watched the midnight mass in Rome on the TV set, etc. My father who was Jewish saw Xmas as the perfect time to keep the peace in our family, he used this occasion to show respect to my grandmother's beliefs and not once tried to change them. My Grandmother was proud as pudding to have a Jewish son-in-law knowing full well that he was Chosen, unlike any other person who was a Christian in our family, and he gave her respect and not once tried to interfere with her beliefs. She in turn, gave him respect and never attempted a Christian conversion attack to change my Dad's religion. My Dad stayed Jewish all his life and was buried as a Jew, never faltering from his beliefs in a one G-d, an Almighty G-d, an Elohim.

In our family, we the Jews are uplifted and respected more than anyone else in the family and are given the throne of honor as the Christians believe it is the Jews who are Chosen by G-d to do the 613 Mitzvoth here on Earth to accomplish the peace in the world and it is we who have the innate born ability to do this goodness. It is in our genetics and our DNA well developed from our ancestry. It is we who using an interfaith family unit as our practice grounds where we can do the most good, starting inside a family and spreading our righteousness from this inside to all on the outside as well.

"Merry Xmas!" and "Happy Chanukah!" exist together and one does not cancel out the other.

MAY ALL YOUR DESIRES COME TRUE

Respecting another, giving him the benefit of the doubt, seeing his righteousness, not looking for the bad in someone, not picking at faults, not being critical, seeing a spark of the Divine in everyone's eyes, causing someone to laugh and to smile, extending warmth instead of suspicion.

Helping and aiding someone to accomplish his goals, complimenting someone's work and encouraging him to increase his productivity, giving out rewards, saying the word "yes" instead of saying the word "no."

Using your abilities to trust someone and letting him know you trust him, nod in approval instead of suspecting folly, notice everything that is beautiful instead of seeing ugliness. Not thinking that someone is ugly simply because he does not look the same way as you do.

Counting on the Biblical scriptures to all come true and to heal your life and the lives around you. To be amazed when a scripture prophesy validates and happens to save your life, to know that there is an upper hand, a higher power, and that anything you experience as a regression by an oppressor will heal and that your enemies will vanish and you will never see them again, like grass they will wither, and you will peacefully live in your land and live to see happiness in all that you do, and to be a success in all that you dream.

May all your desires come true.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MY GOD IS DIFFERENT THAN YOUR GOD

Interfaith family, broken rules, marrying out of one's religion, a family of non-unification, different religions in one family unit, different gods, different practices, different beliefs, friction, battles, wars.

The Crusaders fighting the Maccabees over the breakfast table in the morning, throwing cereal and eggs around the table, trying to decide ethics for all when all ethics go by different rules, my rules are not your rules, a different set of ethical commandments, not like the other.

Arguing whether it was Moses or Jesus, Old Testament or Torah, beliefs in different Bibles. Scoffing and condemning, leaving all religions and creating one's own religion, agnostics, atheists, all because one married out of his religion to a spouse of a different religion.

Trying to keep the peace, having my lights burning brightly for 8 days, can still see the light, will not be marrying out of  my religion, no husbands of different faiths, not making the same mistake my father made, not playing with the fires of falsehood.

Wearing a medallion around my neck that says Israel on one side and showing Israel's official seal on the other side. Not at family parties, instead at a drawing board, drawing up architectural plans of peace on Earth, really meaning it. Not as an inclusion or exclusion of a family member into a mish-mash of different family traditions, but as a follower of one G-d, one Faith, not in crazy confusion.

Chanukah lights burned brighter than other lights this year, finding warmth outside of a family of broken covenants, different religious practices, warmth that is coming directly from G-d.

A sun that burns, but not burning too hot to touch, instead burning with the warmth of the love of G-d, where a human's imperfect mortal love is lacking.

THE OLDER YOU GET THE STRONGER YOU GET

Walking, daily exercise, moving the muscles, stretching the legs, shrugging the shoulders, tapping the foot, rotating the ankles, walking faster than is comfortable, moving the arms as you walk, a commitment to stay in shape, lifting heavy objects, lifting hand weights, climbing stairs, avoiding elevators, massaging your knees, raining down warm shower water on the joints, tensing up and then relaxing, taking yoga classes, feeling the needs of your body, resting and action, one then the other, deep breathing, shallow relaxed breathing, increasing the pulse rate, keeping up with those who are younger, not allowing yourself to feel old, not giving in, not giving up.

The older you get the stronger you get. Not giving in, not giving up. The meaning of good health with the rewards of longevity.

TRYING TO CHANGE THE WORLD

In the course of conversation, talking, schmoozing, chit chatting, saying stuff, another phone call, a way to show you agree, statements to make, neutral statements, inflammatory statements, things to say to show you feel the same way, things not to say, thinking before you speak, swallowing insulting words, not spitting up vehemence, conversing to unite two into one, speech that fosters independence, linking me to you, giving me space, privacy, private territory, a closed gate, keeping secrets, not wanting to divulge personal information, having a fence around yourself, a protective encampment, guarding your riches, guarding your privacy, being in the public eye, not looking at the evil eye, having a hamsa in the palm of one's hand, averting one's eyes, not challenging, not demanding, letting someone know how you feel, but knowing that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks.

Trying to change the world starts with the acceptance that you cannot change it, but you can change your reaction to it.

The name Joel or Y'o-el in Hebrew means To Be Agreeable.

10 TEVET FASTING AND ITS GLORIOUSNESS

Fasting, but not fast, instead doing it slowly, a steady climb upwards, avoiding temptations, avoiding foods and drinks, not anointing today with lotions, wearing sackcloth, getting into a mood of solemnity, wanting today to be hungry, desiring mournfulness, reaching out to fellow Jewish landsmen, depleting strengths, weakening the body to bring thoughtfulness to the brain, tasting nothing pleasing, feasting stopped, gluttony ceased, body dehydrating, feeling like crying, crying because we once had a Temple in Jerusalem, and we do not have it anymore.

Studying how we can replace sacrifices with acts of lovingkindness, how the blood had to stop flowing, blood as a life source, a gift of oxen blood to G-d, to sacrifice a lamb on an altar, the lambs who were being worshiped by the Egyptians as gods, lambs who were fed before the Hebrew slaves were fed, lambs who were so cute and gentle that the Egyptians used them to take the place of G-d, and then tried to force the Hebrew slaves to worship them too, so instead became sacrificial gifts to the one and only true G-d, and nutritious meat to feed the Kohayne and Levite Priests.

It is not about saving the lamb from extinction, it is about treating one's fellow human neighbor as a friend, loving your neighbor, and so we do not destroy the mosque that stands now where the 1st and 2nd Temples were standing.

Having morals, having dignity, having a code of ethics, saying "Shalom" as a greeting that means peace and saying it again and again as hello and good bye.

THE LOVE OF A WARM AND BRIGHTLY LIGHTED CHANUKAH

Chanukah, the holiness of this holiday that is supposed to be a secular time, but its light and warmth change the secular into religious Jewish holiness. Gift giving, Chanukah menorahs shining brightly in windows, family get-togethers, laughing and singing, chanting blessings, going to worship services at Shuls, thinking good thoughts as brightly as the menorah is shining.

Fiery passionate gatherings, Chanukah Maccabee warriors fighting and winning peace. Swords flying, bows bending and arrows shooting, horses and chariots beating hoofs into the ground, a battle that was won with one candle lighting the way, one light that lasted for eight days when it was supposed to last for only one.

Reading The Apocalypse about the Crusaders and how they took a loss, how the Jews won the battles and with fewer but braver fighters. We won because we truly had something worth fighting for--we were fighting for peace and the right to practice religious Judaism.

Judaism with jelly donuts, and latkes flying off frying pans in kosher kitchens, not a speck of pork to be found anywhere. Clean foods, pure foods, kosher foods, pure righteous people.

Dreidels spinning, kids laughing, licking the sweetness of melting chocolate gelt. Families bonding together, to keep families going, to continue family love and Judaism in the family generation after generation.

Chanukah, Chanukah, we feel your warmth and love, let it continue all year round!  

AVOIDING TEMPTATIONS OF IDOLS AND IMPURITIES

Staying away from the wicked, brushing it off, slapping it like a mosquito, changing negative thoughts to good thoughts, changing the language we are thinking from English to Hebrew, taking our inner thoughts and changing them to Hebrew chants, chasing away ghosts who beckon us to befriend them, looking to our ancestors as mentors, doing what our parents did when they did the right thing, and not doing as they did when they were rebellious.

A child should not be punished for his/her parents' sins. Overcoming the times when we bit into a cheeseburger, a changed life, a life of pure kosher beef. Pork not existing as a bad omen anymore, it is not in the kitchen.

Avoiding all bad omens, thinking only beautiful thoughts like an abundance of chesed which makes one a Chassid.

Learning our lessons and internalizing them, internalizing them into our minds, hearts and bodies, always studying Torah as we see its influence on everything in our lives and use it to change evil into good. Not making the same mistakes over and over again, but following the commandments and overcoming the evils the Prophets faced too, that we too face everyday.

Praying so hard we are like Hannah who they saw as a drunk, but who instead was in the closest relationship with G-d that was possible for a mortal.

Using our skills to keep the peace in our families where adversity thrives, and to stand apart from the temptations of worshipping idols and eating non-kosher foods. Having the ability to go back, to again pray to the only One true G-d, using that springboard to stay on track, to improve, to dash our impure ways into the waters to be washed and to come up pure again.

Standing apart from the impure, trying to make pure what is impure, not having impurities take hold, take effect, instead leading a religious Jewish life.

 

LIVING A LIFE IN LOVE WITH A MEZUZAH

Kissing a mezuzah, sparks of holiness flying off an object of mitzvah, like electric lights, flickers of holy flames, mezuzot lighting up in gloriousness, shining cases of gold, silver, or bronze, seeing every doorpost rescued as a safe door to enter, a safe room to occupy, a safe place to sleep, a safe room, a safe place, a protection against evil.

Passing through a doorway where a fence encircles it, a fence where no evil can penetrate, a fence around The Torah, a symbolic fence around a room.

G-d is in that room with you, He is everywhere and even more so in a room protected by a mezuzah. Catching a glimpse of its golden case, kissing one's hand to place the kiss on the case, always respectful of Jewish ritual objects, always nearer to G-d when we interact with them.

A holy way to enter or exit a space, being inside a holy place, having only holy places all around you.

A kiss that means you love it, that you love being in love. That you love being in love with G-d. That you love being protected. That we steer clear of evil, brush it off, do not associate with it, we are kissing the good, kissing the righteous, always in love, always in love with the good.

Goodness everywhere, mezuzot everywhere, love everywhere, G-d everywhere, protection everywhere. Living a life in love with a mezuzah!

GRASPING ONTO TREES FOR SPIRITUAL STRENGTH

Reach up high and grasp the tops of the trees and come all the way down to touch your toes, the roots of the trees, sway your body and arms and hands back and forth like a tree in the wind, think about your Rabbi's sermons and remember them, scoop up your arms and flicker your fingers spreading around the gold dust of these memories of these sermons, tossing the words into the air around you and spreading holy words this way all throughout the sky, as a tree spreads its seeds.

Bend your body down, bow it, bow it again, use your body like a tree to bow to praise G-d. Be as strong as a tree, as sturdy as a tree, and as stable as a tree grounded in a network of roots, sip your water and hydrate your branches, balance like a scale of justice, a blessing that moves and blows around as truth, as we stretch out our ideas as mighty arms like heavy wooden branches.

The arms of the Almighty G-d, as G-d moves around like a wandering tribe, as the heart of Jewish life, as we build our lives, our commitment to Judaism. Dig deeply, deeper than the tree roots go down, for we are attached to a life source, we need to recover it, it is fundamental to who we are as Jews.

Winter weather sets in and we sleep, hibernating, as the trees sleep, we sleep too. On the seventh day G-d rested.

Teach us O merciful One, show us how to fulfill all that is in Your Torah.

CARETAKING AN OLDER PARENT

Crabbiness, not enough coffee, drinking more and more cups, hoping pains go away, flexing one's legs to TV yoga programs, trying to pray without a religion, not praying for anyone else but expecting everyone to pray for you, taking but never giving, expecting everyone to give to you but you are not even thankful, striking out at your loved ones, feeling miserable and trying to make them feel miserable too, pretending that the world is rosy but screaming inside and screaming at your family, using people for your gains and never developing a truly loving relationship from the heart.

Pains in your body constantly gnawing at your brain, trying to keep up a sharp brain but all it does is register the effects of your nerves, your pains, nerves alive tingling with every wince, as you walk but are hobbling, and cannot even stand up. Sitting in upholstered chairs because you cannot stand.

Crying out to everyone for help and getting nasty when someone cannot help you. Hiding in your misery, a conscience full of guilt as you abuse those around you with words from the gutter, constant abuse of your family, destroying the brains of your children.

There is a better way.  

OVERCOMING OLD AGE

Not old, but wise in years, a senior citizen, a glorious end of a journey, looking towards a second lifetime, seeing angels in your mind's eye, an elder, a person who lived to a grand old age, a grandparent, a successful end to a path of gainful living, a time to retire, a time to relax, an easy chair in one's living room, playing cards, playing chess and Bingo.

Snoozing in an afternoon nap with a cup of tea at three. Putting up one's feet, exercising for better blood circulation. A large private library, always something to read, not carrying heavy books, a book bag, a paperback, a trip to the neighborhood library in the afternoon.

Aches and pains, flexing knees, lifting light weights, watching yoga on TV. A hard time getting out of bed, wishing to sleep in, stretching one's muscles, pain radiating from the knees. Shoulders stiff and sore, getting professional massages, sitting in a spa, water splashing on sore body parts, warm water, frothy water, water that soothes, water that takes away all pains.

Knowing a lot. Having book knowledge, having street knowledge, clever, smart, sharp in one's brain or hazy in memory, trying to hold on to hope, trying to have good days, following the sun and avoiding a dark attitude. Trying to smile when your lips are sagging. Lines forming on one's face, lines of age, lines of experience.

Worked for a living wearing many different hats. Collecting a pension, getting social security, avoiding trips to the doctor, eating an apple a day instead. Taking one's vitamins, not wanting another pill.

Was a good life, many good memories, many good friendships, been to many funerals, gave birth to many children. Grandchildren sitting on your lap, knitting scarves for the family, cooking for just one. Glad you had a long life, wanting an even longer life, good times ahead, every moment is precious.

Old age, a time to rejoice, a time to celebrate, a time to live some more and more again. A clock that never stops ticking. A long past with a short future, to make happiness out of every minute.

THE PASSIONATE FIRES OF CHANUKAH

What is the light of Chanukah? What does this fire represent? Chanukah means "to start something new."

The fires of Chanukah are hot, passionate, spiritual, we fight evil, overcome darkness, make everything pure. The fires put an end to coldness, melts ice, ends frigidity. Puts an end to a difficult life, turns an obstacle into a support. Brings love where there is hatred. Puts us in a place where we live forever as the flame lights the way to eternal life

Bringing purity to the world, risking lives to lighten darkness as Jacob fought the angel and the Maccabees fought the Crusaders and won, bringing selflessness to every situation, pushing back armies which desecrate Torah, pushing back the forces of darkness, making the way to lighten the path for the Mashiach to come, nine flames that ended all bad things.

We have this power to elevate the Torah, to push back the darkness, lighten the paths to peace, fight the Goliaths, change evil with lightness, end a dark exile, support Torah, inherit victory and an ability to fight wickedness, to face all challenges, to bring light to 2,000 universes.

The sun will shine for us brightly, and evil will end, darkness will diminish, music will fill the air and the whole world will be singing praises and we will all be laughing and all our lives will be elevated to the ultimate position of holiness: to sing, sing, sing and never die.

Everywhere, everyone. The door is open. Chanukah will never end.

SHAKARIT PRAYER PETITION

Baruch Atah Adonai... chanting it, blinking my eyes to Your rhythm, feeling a strong meditative holy state all throughout my physical body and nerves, singing, imploring G-d to touch me with His love, as I touch the Torah as if it is my birthed baby, cradling it on my lap, carrying it under my arms everywhere, loving it, absorbing it into my soul, protected by its knowledge, it guiding me in all my affairs.

Hashkivenu Adonai! You helped me as I asked You to do. You have provided for me in my hours of need, You have made my life easier, You have risen me and sent me on a journey aloft of Earthly cares, I depend on You only, only Your love, for it is truer than any other love. Your love is not tainted, it is not adverse, it is not the love of a cursed one, it is the love I need, and the love that will send me up above the clouds, adrift of all thundering rain, softly setting me on a throne seated next to You, I seek You, Adonai, I want You, I will never forsake You.

 

GOATS AS TEACHERS

Being a goat. How can we act like a goat and be like one and why should we act like a goat and mentor ourselves after goats? What is so great about a goat, anyway?

A goat first and foremost is a kosher animal, a good animal approved as a Godly animal because it is kosher and was sacrificed in the temples as gifts to G-d. This automatically makes them "good" animals. Why a goat, though? What characteristics do goats have that we as humans should mimic from them?

Goats are firm, unwavering, brave, and stubborn animals that remain in one spot and it takes a lot of force to move them out of their stance, away from their chosen spot where they stand. They are non-moving, do not change their minds at a whim, keep firm in their beliefs, uphold their boundaries, guard their territory, cannot be swayed or tempted out of their chosen spots.

But they eat garbage, if garbage is in their environment, so we need to keep a goat in a clean place. Give a goat, as you also give yourself, a clean garbage-free place to stand, to maintain your beliefs without a falter, to uphold your Faith, like a goat, never moving, never changing, never faltering, always stable, sure-footed, grounded, like a goat.

Yes, we can learn from nature, nature is our greatest teacher, goats are our teachers, feel like a goat, be a goat.

TORAH AS A MANTRA

Changing your inner voice, what is it that you are saying to yourself? Your inner private running conversation can be a talk with G-d. Do you have a word to say, a word to yourself in your own private thoughts? Does something keep running through your head, words you do not choose, but just stuff that comes up as random thoughts? You have an ultimate power to choose what you think. To choose the words and thoughts that run through your head.

Time to control those random thoughts, to take charge of every passing thought that goes through your mind. To choose the words. To choose what language you want the words to be said in. To even put the words of your thoughts to music. To say a script, to be your own actor in your private solitary moments.

To choose only holy words, words of the Hebrew language, to go further and have blessings recited on the tip of your tongue for every moment, to take those random thoughts and to instead choose what you think, choose the words that are in your head, choose the language and then put it all to music. Singing tropes to your chosen words, purify your mind with these thoughts, this music, tap your foot to your song, feel it in your gut, in your inner most soulful moments, anytime you choose.

Take charge and use your moments and passing thoughts to think about something that can help you, words that do not control you, but you have control of them. Like a dream with an outcome that you have thought out ahead of time, a reasoned response that is already in your book, make it the book of The Torah.

Think Torah, breathe Torah, live in its stories, take its words to yourself as mantra. Step to its beauty and surround yourself with its issues. Try to correct the mistakes that are happening in your own life, as the Prophets tried to do in their lives, live up to a higher existence, transcend to a higher plane.

Change the world this way, change your world and the way you perceive it. If we all did this, we would have Paradise on Earth.

WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN

It's about everything that goes up must come down. Riding up and down on Jacob's Ladder, going up above to feel G-d's love and saturating my spirit with His goodness, having it engulf my soul and heart, carrying this goodness and righteousness back down with me, to Earth, to offer it as a gift to my loved ones in my actions, my deeds and my words. Getting this blast of lightness, this good feeling, this joy, to share it with those at the bottom of the ladder, in need of what is at the top. A ladder that slides up and down, gravity pulling all soaring heights back to Earth, to bring what is in the Heavens down to Earth so people here can experience this Paradise on Earth, being souls given bodies to perform mitzvoth actions, actions to improve their conditions, and the conditions of others, to donate to charity, to show kindness, compassion, and understanding to the bereaved, to celebrate a couple's wedding, to take the time to petition G-d in prayer and to chant t'filah, to come in union and in the flow within the direction of all things, to add to the total, to be the one to give the most, to keep within what was found on the top rung of the ladder, to always have some to share as the moon always emits light, even if it is only a sliver, a new moon, enough light to share with everyone, reflecting on all things good.

MITZVOTH TO CONNECT WITH GOD THE ALMIGHTY

What is mitzvoth? Getting up off a chair and doing it, performing a sacred duty, doing what Torah wants you to do, there are mitzvoth responsibilities and not, what are the rules, what should I do, what is a mitzvah? Blowing a shofar is a mitzvah. Chanting Torah is a mitzvah, there are things to do and not to do. There are general rules and operating principles. We have 14 general rules. It is a mitzvah to listen to a Rabbi. How are we able to find out what G-d wants us to do. There are 613 mitzvoth that are possible to perform. G-d created the world and He created human beings in order to perform the 613 mitzvoth. This is our mission, this is our purpose in life as G-d created us to do. We have abilities: to see, to hear, to reason, we need to use our skills, to use our 248 limbs to do these mitzvoth. When we do a mitzvah we have brought holiness into this world. There are daily mitzvoth, annual mitzvoth, there are mitzvoth we can do all the time. This is the way to get up Jacob's Ladder, to do actions to glorify G-d. Put on tefillin, wear a tallit, when there is something we should not do, don't do it.

The mitzvah of blowing a shofar, a ram's horn, slick and shiny, firm in our grip and tight on our lips, a trumpet of nature, a call of the wild, curving and turning, spitting out a breath to ease out a strong sound, polishing it afterwards, covering it in a velvet casing. A beautiful bright blue velvet casing, soft to the touch, gentle and smooth, caressing it and carrying it, blown on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a delight to the ears, a real mitzvah.

Wearing Tefillin, a mitzvah. Thick firm tough leather straps, polished shiny on one side, cut into straight straps firmly with one stroke of a knife, no jaggedness, dark brownish-black straps, dark leather  boxes, holiness inside the box, script written of the Shema, centeredness, focused-ness, purposefulness, a leather box on your upper arm and on your forehead. Transmitters like electronic phones from Earth to the Heavens, to communicate with G-d.

Wearing Tallit, a mitzvah. Buying the perfect tallit or handcrafting it, finding the right colors: all white or white with blue stripes, swinging it over your shoulders from the right to the left, over the head, leaving it on your head for a moment to say the tallit blessing, covering your face and having privacy, kissing its neckline, just between you and G-d, safe and secure in this tent, and then swung over the neck and gently laid in place on your upper body. A tallit, a garment of gloriousness, a garment  of prayer, a vestment of the Priests'. Tzitzit on its ends, dangling, dripping like honey from the cloth, the knots all counted and in place.

Mitzvoth are sacred actions to connect with G-d the Almighty.

 

WHAT IS JACOB'S LADDER?

What is Jacob's Ladder? It is the connection between Paradise (or Heaven) and Earth. It is evidence that miracles appear on Earth and that angels visit us on Earth from Heaven as messengers from G-d to speak to us in the name of G-d as they did with Jacob. This connection is made through prayer and t'filah, to have an intimate relationship connecting with G-d who is above.

To do on Earth as it is done in Paradise, the Ladder brought a connection of the joys of Paradise to Earth, the connection was made possible by praying and by working an honest hard living as Jacob did for Laban, then having the material means to be married (as Jacob was to Laban's daughters Rachel and Leah). This is a ticket to eternal life, you will reach Paradise when you die just like Jacob did when he retired from his work with Laban and he then reached The Holy Land.

The Jacob's Ladder represents our reward, which is Paradise on Earth, which is the ability to feel the joys of success after being gainfully employed, saving and investing our money, and passing our wealth down as an inheritance to our children.

Whose money was it? Was Jacob's money that he earned from his father-in-law Laban, Laban's money or Jacob's money? Laban had the righteous attitude that "what is mine is yours and what is yours is yours." Even though Laban tried to swindle and cheat Jacob, he paid him his earnings and they made a pact that Jacob would keep Laban's daughters as his wives and keep the money he earned as Laban's employee. "What is mine is yours."

Laban was a righteous employer and also a good father, although he sold off his daughters to be wives of Jacob's in exchange for Jacob's labor. This was recognized as a transgression against the rights of women and now the Torah has a commandment against this marrying of sisters and against taking more than one wife, and this became Jewish Law.

The Jacob's Ladder is about climbing to the top of a ladder of righteousness, working hard for a living, climbing rung by rung, being promoted in a business from worker to supervisor, and supporting a wife and children, and also being an employee of a family business. If we are in a family business as was Jacob, one needs to respect your employer as a business superior and, if he is your father-in-law as was Jacob's, respect him in his role as the father of your wife and grandfather of your children as well as being your boss. We must give our employer this respect and work hard for him, even though he as a mortal is imperfect as was Laban imperfect as he wanted to cheat Jacob.

We must focus and pray to G-d for this ability to be a good employee and to work hard in our life even if we are working for someone who is like Laban. We give tzeddakah before davening and these are our earnings from our job, and we pray to continue our careers to continue giving our money to charity and to support ourselves and our children. This is all inspired by the angels, inspired by prayer. We become one with G-d and bond with G-d, and then come down the ladder into the world of action, a world on Earth.

Climb the ladder of success, the Jacob's Ladder, and then you like Jacob will reach The Holy Land and be greeted by angels when you die. Grow old, retire and then enjoy the rewards of your employment that will be the inheritance of your many children and grandchildren.

 

THE PEACEFUL MOMENTS OF THE SILENCE OF THE LETTER SHIN

One dog barks, and then they all bark, each dog blindly following the barking of the other dogs, and not being sure even why they are barking, they bark for no reason except to follow the other dogs and do not know why.

The true leader of the pack does not bark just because the other dogs bark. Silence is golden. If you have silence all around you, you have peace. Silence is peace. Others whisper gossip and slander, but for you the blessing is that it is all silence, and the impurity of their words do not enter into your sphere. Silence gives you a chance to think your own original thoughts without the influx of someone else's words interfering with your own words and thought patterns.

Playing your own music in a crowd of strangers, walking to the beat of your own drum. Thinking thoughts that belong to you, and you alone, not hearing confusion others create, but instead hearing the wisdom of your own words, the thoughts of your own head, blocking out unwelcome thoughts, not hearing the private conversations of others, keeping to your own rhythm even though their songs are sung, it is only your own song that you can hear and those you choose are singing your song with you. Silence is not emptiness, it is the void that exists that welcomes you to quietly fill it or to accept its none-ness.

Silence and not responding, not responding as a method to stopping a confrontation, the battle is never fought, the warriors lose their fight because no one wins, therefore there are no warriors, only peacemakers, no one fought, no one battled, no one challenged another. The battle stopped before it started. No opinions were disrespected because no opinions were voiced. Silence became the key to keeping the peace, and after the peaceful silence we are able to then lay our heads down and dream in sleep, a dream in silence becomes the sound we hear at night, and dreaming is a soundless sound.

Silence is golden, silver, and bronze--nothing else is as peaceful. Ssssssssshhhhhhhhh...the sound of the "shin" Hebrew letter representing the Shekinah form of God is the sound of silence, the soft whispering sound of peace.

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

How to function when one is in physical pain? Got a headache, a blister on your heel, a hangnail or a sliver in your finger, a paper cut on your hand? Any pain at all?

Trick to keeping a positive attitude when one is in pain, is this possible? There are people who wake up with physical pain everyday, and have to force a smile and relate to people who have no pain and just aren't in a person's realm who are suffering pain. We simply cannot expect a person who is in pain to always be thinking positively, it is not a reality, it is something we can expect that s/he will be miserable and unable to relate in the same way to another person as one can if one is not in any pain at all.

How to determine what to say to a person who is in constant pain? Should we bring up their pain in conversation, or simply ignore it so that person does not center and focus on the pain. What can we offer to a person who is in constant pain? A gift will not take the pain away, we can pray but there might still be constant pain after prayers.

The best way to know what to do for a person who is in constant physical pain is to empathize, use the opportunity of trying to understand someone's pain by actualizing it when you too are in pain in someday someway. Feel it. Feel the pain and feel it in depth. If you get a momentary headache or other body ache, see how it makes you feel. Feel how it can bring down your mood, and cause you to feel bad even when there is nothing else to cause a bad feeling, just your constant pain.

Be patient with the person who is experiencing the pain, give them slack, give them the benefit of the doubt, forgive them easier and more often, you may have to forgive them every time you talk to them. They may slip up in their words and not always say the appropriate words, because pain drives them and they could be argumentative because pain controls them and they are really fighting their pain but it comes out as if it is a fight between them and you.

Be as nice to these people as you  possibly can. Realize how awful it must be to be in constant pain, and show these people loving-kindness and compassion. Think for these people when they cannot think for themselves, give them a helping hand.

This is what true love is all about, loving someone even though their physical pain drives them to withhold love for you in return. Love someone who cannot love you back. Give them all you can give them without expecting a reward or any kindness in return. Do not love them in exchange for anything back, because pain can take away the ability to return a kindness. Give and give and do not tire of giving. This is what "unconditional love" is all about. Those people be they in pain or not who receive unconditional love are the most blessed people in the world.

If you find yourself in the position of being able to give unconditional love, you may someday be lucky enough to receive it, but if not, the act of giving it should be a reward in itself.

THE GREATEST OF LOVE IN A SONG OF SONGS

Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, take me away to your precious meadows of colorful springtime flowers, a grassy free area of love in its deepest moments, take me away to love in its purest form, the love between G-d and wo/man. The love between Israel and Israelite, the love between two sisters, a family love, the love of siblings, the love between a mother and child. A love so deep and needy it hurts to feel it in its fullest at its best, but the hurt goes away as love is shared, and the love becomes a binding rope like a string of sweet licorice, keeping two who are in love together always.

A love so deep that no ocean is deeper. A love that binds with the stickiness of honey and tastes just as good. Like a bee drawn to a flower, this love is eternal and never ends, there is never a last chapter, it goes on and on like each wave repetitively beating against a sandy shore, like music to the ears of one whose silence is deafening, like silence to the ears of one who constantly hears noise.

The love of the Song of Songs, the Song of Solomon is enough to unite one to G-d in His fullest, within His greatest power, a fear and awe of G-d, as His love is so incredibly deep, as deep as His songs, as deep as this springtime song, but sung just before the first snowfall of winter.

A Song of Songs sung just for you.

 

LIFE AFTER DEATH

Reincarnation, reincarnated. A soul passed down into the body of a human, a kosher animal, a non-kosher animal, a plant, a chance to have life after death, no reasons to cry for the loss of a loved one, because you never lose him. He is never lost, he never dies, he is reborn again and again to rectify the transgressions he is guilty of, to make it all better, to do things right this time around, to have a second, a third... chance.

The World To Come? It is this world, the world we now live in, "To Come" means the world we will be in, in the future, the world our reincarnated souls will inhabit, a world we are given as another chance to make things right. Guilty of transgressions? Apologies not enough? G-d gives us the opportunity through a reincarnated soul, to do the right thing when it comes up again.

Death, not death, souls flying into the air and living again, seeds falling off flowers and assuming a soul that is passing on by, life! The plant now has a soul and is an "I" an entity with a personality, as is another human baby, a soul being breathed in, as the baby takes its first breath outside of the womb. Souls flying everywhere, the possibility of life is everywhere, we are all given a second, third, fourth chance to live, given a brand new body, and a new life, each time we die. No one dies a death without life. Death is not the absence of life, it is the state we must go through to get to a new life, a passage. Life after death? Of course.

 

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ATE NON-KOSHER FOODS

What to do is you are a Jew, a kosher food eating Jew, but just inadvertently digested some pork!!! Yikes! Screaming and jumping up and down or causing yourself to vomit may temporarily take away some of the pain, but there is a sure-fire antidote for consuming this spiritually poisonous food that can turn lemons into lemonade. What can we do?

First of all--chant aloud "Hashkivenu Adonai!" which means Help Us G-d!!! Then proceed to turn the lemons into lemonade--become a more committed religious Jew than you were before this pork eating happening.

Daven the worship services for the day, the Shakarit prayers, the Mincha, and the Ma'ariv everyday. If you do not have access to a Cantor or lay-lead services, then use audios online, or simply chant the Hebrew to yourself by yourself. Use the Hebrew language chanting every moment of your day to get in touch with the Hebrew language is getting in touch with G-d, pray to Him, recite blessings for everything you do, be thankful to G-d for everything, do mitzvoth in your actions.

Confirm in your mind that you will commit to a better job in your eating to follow Jewish Dietary Laws. If you are slacking anywhere in your diet, confirm instead to follow the rules more surely. Watch everything you put in your mouth, keep milk away from meats, eat as kosher as you can. Be alert and inspect all your foods, look for the hechsher on the packaging, eat more fresh fruits and veggies.

Go out and do an act of lovingkindness toward someone in need. Give to charity or do teshuvah in some other way. Contact a strongly Jewish friend and solidify your relationship with them even more than it has been in the past.

Take deep breaths, breathe in Adonai, see Him as the color blue, and be breathing in an imaginary blue color with every breath you take. Breathe out the non-kosher foods impurities after you take in the color blue, and do it by breathing out the evil as the color red. Breathe in blue and out red. Clear your system with this steady flow of pure air, stream it into your lungs and it will eventually get to your digestive tract, clearing away all the poisons of the non-kosher foods you ate.

Be determined not to allow these non-kosher foods to decrease your commitment to G-d, but instead use them to increase your faith. Yes, Hashkivenu Adonai! It is You who can help me. Help me to stay more completely kosher in the future and may this blessing also go towards any Jewish family or/and friends.  

WAITING FOR A SIGN FROM HASHEM

Waiting for G-d, waiting to see HASHEM, waiting and waiting and waiting. Everything I do is in waiting for that magic moment, not sure what is going to happen in that moment, but what I do with my life is wait for that incredible moment, a moment like no other, to happen. It is all about "What happened??!!" Is there a moment coming soon when it will happen, what is "it"? What will happen we do not know, but we wait for it. We spend our lives waiting for "it" to happen.

Shuffling feet back and forth, grimacing, crossing our legs from one side to another, tapping fingers on a keyboard or just on a desk, folding our hands in our lap, doing things while we are waiting. Looking around at the sights, even if they are the same sights we see everyday, looking for changes, looking to see something out of the ordinary. Waiting for something out of the ordinary to happen. Happen. A sign from the Heavens that G-d is in your presence. Is this something that can "happen"? Is this what we are waiting for? Does fireworks on the 4th of July Independence Day become a "happening"? What will happen next? What will bring us joy? What will we see, feel, hear, smell, or learn? Creating a happening on our own, because we did not experience a happening.

Wow! I felt it! A happening! An occurrence! I was waiting patiently, spent my whole life in waiting and it finally happened! I became aware. I became aware that I am spending my life in waiting and that became the occurrence, this realization that we wait, and wait, and wait--and the waiting itself is the result. It is all about what we do with ourselves when and while we are waiting.

I think, that while I am waiting, I will love myself, all the people around me and in my life, and that I will love, appreciate, and thank G-d for everything: my surroundings, my environment, and my ability to continue to wait, and to be patient while I wait.

Ease at last. I am in love with waiting and waiting loves me. True bliss.

 

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR

Erasing family conflicts and family adversity with love stories from the Torah, keeping goodness everywhere and living life as a celebration of the righteousness of G-d and how He is present in all places. When the stones are flying and the lightening hits to destroy, HASHEM can be found in the glistening shininess of a single raindrop that falls on your lips to moisten your mouth and ease your thirst. Yes, HASHEM is everywhere, in every raindrop, in every child's face as it is because of Him that we have reincarnation and no one ever really dies, but lives on in the bodies of the newborn.

We have life everywhere, and death cannot exist as a state to cripple us, we miss our dead ancestors but can see them in every good thing, as goodness abounds everywhere if we look for it, and goodness comes upon us even when we are not looking. Goodness is that violin screaming out of a video on YouTube that we hear, it is the crunching sound of colorful autumn leaves under our shoes, it is the sock that covers our foot so we are not barefoot and cold.

Goodness is being thankful for one friend, for someone who listens to us when we grieve, someone who bows with us to G-d, someone who feels our pains but does not let them destroy world peace, someone who sings a Hebrew song with you, someone who davens for your health and welfare, someone who knows G-d as deeply as you do, and feels all the pains you feel, but survives with you so together you both can see a new day and rejoice in it.

"Love Your Neighbor." It is that easy.

 

DEATH AND REINCARNATION

Crying, sobbing, hysterically shaking, because my Mother's death is near. Get a grip they say, remember her for the good times, do not cry, do not mourn, she will be in Heaven, she will live on in your memory, she is dying but kicking every foot, leg and arm to stay alive, to not let the Messenger Angel of Death seize her and drag her under to the netherworld, to Sheol.

The remedy? Dance sing, make merry, drink it up, sing, hum, all things good, but how can I do this when she gets older and older and closer to death!? I am getting older and older and closer to death too. My mother is a senior and I am a senior too. Keep chanting "Shalom," and resting as she writhes in pain but denies it. Feeling all her pains everyday, as she wants to discontinue our relationship, because she soon will be dead and I will not have her then. Can I get close to someone who will soon be dead?? Is it sticking oneself out on a limb, a tree branch limb that soon will break?? Making one's best friend out of a person who will die and never be on Earth again in a form for me to know. She will be here though through reincarnation, whether this is a belief of hers or not, it is my belief.

To be in solace to know that my mother will be reincarnated into the body of a new born babe. Aaaahh... now I can relax. I can truly dance now, to get to know her, to be her best friend, because she will never die, her soul will go on and on, and the world will never lose her. I will never lose her. Every face of a child whose eyes I look into, could be hers.

 

HAVA NAGILA IN YOUR HEART

My advice for this afternoon? Keep the lively dance of Hava Nagila always in your step: hum it, sing it, remember dancing in a string carrying a Torah scroll round and round, remember the joyousness of the Jewish holiday Simchot Torah all year round.

Remember the Israeli flags flowing, blowing gently in the wild winds, in a mirror-like reflection of the bright bluishness of the deep sapphire living oceans and the pure whiteness of the fluffy candy-like clouds overhead.

Yes, sing Hava Nagila, whisper it, whistle it, hum it, chant it. Swirl round and round, keep in step with other dancers, tossing off hardships upwards towards the Heavens to be resolved by G-d, raise red kosher wine glasses to a loud shout of L'Chaim! forever making merry to the holy State of Israel--the one and only--THE Promised Land.

Have a merriness in your heart, keep worrisome thoughts at bay, let nothing phase you. It is all about the rejoicing of Shalom Aleichem, a singsong in your heart and thought of joy in your mind. Living in song and walking always to a beat according to a melody on your lips vibrating and shaking away all cares like with a lulav on Sukkot.

My dearest song Hava Nagila!--O' how I love you!