GIVE OF YOURSELF TO ANOTHER WHO NEEDS YOU

To have an attitude of sharing, sharing what you have with others. If you have lots of stuff, to share it with those who do not, if you know something others do not, to share this information you have with another to better their lives, yes, if we eat from the Tree of Knowledge we can no longer stay in The Garden of Eden, so is it actually better if we do not know? To "know" is the verb of the noun of Knowledge, to give someone information, knowledge, that would better not worsen their lives.

To share what you have, if you have enough food for two, to keep one plate and give the second plate to someone else. If you have two coins, give one away and keep one for yourself.

The Law is to give 10% of your income away to the poor. And to leave the fallen grapes on the ground in the vineyard for the poor to pick them up and receive them. To keep 1/10 of your farmland field for the poor so they have this land where food is grown just for them.

If what you have is money coming in, to donate this money as charity instead of hoarding it all to yourself. Not to live your life as a greedy miser who gives nothing he has to anyone. If you receive more than you need, to give this excess to someone who has received nothing. When you are counting your coins, to give some away.

Picking a good cause and donating to this cause.

Giving away what you have to someone who does not have it, and doing this anonymously to not receive a reward for yourself, to show someone compassion and not to do it with selfish intent, to give away more than 10%, to give of yourself to another who would benefit.

To give understanding, compassion, unconditional love, and loving-kindness, in addition to more than the 10% to someone who could grow like a green plant and then be of a benefit to the world.

To plant a seed, water it, and then harvest the food, to then have lots of food with lots of love.

THE DON'TS OF GOSSIPING AND SLANDERING

To keep your positive focus, intentions and centeredness, it is imperative to bite your tongue and not to allow yourself the evil intention to gossip about others or to slander them in writing on paper in print.

Not to do damage like Miriam the Prophetess when she spoke ill to everyone indiscriminately about her brother Moses, instead of going directly to Moses about her problem with him, she went to others and talked of her problem with him, this is called "gossiping." The result of her unholy actions was that G-D struck her dead with the illness of leprosy.

It was a family concern that Miriam had with Moses. Moses left his wife Tzipporah high and dry to be a single Mom, and this distressed Miriam because Tzipporah was Miriam's sister-in-law. But instead of going to Moses with her concern for the welfare and future of Tzipporah and Moses's role as Father of Tzipporah's child, Miriam went to outside sources to complain about Moses and to ruin his reputation.

Lesson to be learned: Do not go to anyone on the outside if you are having a problem with another individual, especially if that person is family, instead go directly to that person who you have the problem with only, and talk to him/her about your concerns. This is the only way the problem can be solved. Introducing a third person into the problem, whether or not it is kept "confidential" will not solve the problem. Being forthright and direct, bold and honest in your dealings with others is of extreme importance. Problems could be imagined and created where there originally were no problems if a third person is introduced into the situation.

To solve your problems with other people, give them the respect of letting them know you care about your relationship with them and want to improve the relationship so there would not be a problem, do not talk to other people about them, do no gossiping or slandering of them behind their backs.

MOTHER NATURE IS THE SHEKINAH

Who really is this entity that is given the name "Mother Nature"? This feminine name that was given to our lands, seas, and skies, is yes, indeed a Mother of sorts, She has her origins in what we use is the name of G-D as SHEKINAH, Who is the female version of G-D.

G-D as Shekinah containing characteristics of both the feminine and the masculine, so She was given this female name of Shekinah to represent the feminine aspects of G-D, Her job in the world as a "Mother" of nature, The Creator as a "Mother" with a womb from which everything in the world came forth as Her creation, Her children, the creations of G-D.

So, as a "Mother Nature" or specifically as a Mother of Nature, Who instead we will call "The Shekinah," our G-D as a Mother is present in all natural surroundings, She is there with us as we walk on a beach of a lake, as we see live fish swimming in this lake as being "nature," the living animals that use the lake as its home, are Her children.

No, we cannot worship a tree as an idol, instead of the Shekinah, calling a tree a symbol of Mother Nature. Instead we can view this tree as being the source of the wood that is used to create a Torah scroll, its function being holy in this way. We do not call the lands, seas, and skies a fictitious "Mother Nature." Instead when we are present in natural surroundings, it is the Shekinah Who is present. We see Her as G-D everywhere.

She created all the trees and all the lakes, all the blue skies, Shekinah, our female Mother G-D is real, She is present in all nature, She is The Creator of nature. We can see Her in everything, not just solely in a tree.

When two Jewish people meet and converse, when two Jews correspond and connect, it is then that the Shekinah becomes present. She is a force that unites the Jewish people, whatever their denomination: Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform.

It is The Shekinah Who appears with Her loving arms in a warm cozy hug around two Jews as they relate. This hugging of these Jews in Her gentle arms brings Her love into the relationship, as The Shekinah She appears as the holiness of the love that is felt between two Jews.

Mother Nature, yes, is really The Shekinah, and The Shekinah is the G-D of all people of all religions, the female aspect of The Lord.

A HEBREW MOTHER EMAH AND A FATHER AV

 

Having a relationship in your life to a Hebrew Mother, as we say in the Hebrew language, the Hebrew transliteration of the word Mother being EMAH.

To have EMAH floating in and out of your mind, like waves of water on a beach, Emah, Emah, Emah, using the long E sound same as in the name Elizabeth and Emanuel, having an Emah with her husband your Father Emanuel and given a name at birth Elizabeth that begins like Emah and Emanuel with a long E sound.

The letter "E" that begins Emah ends with Mah. as in English we say our Mothers are our Mahs. This M sound in Emah that is the sound a baby makes when suckling "M" Milk from her "M"other's breasts and the Milk being yummy as we say MMMMMMMmmmmm... good!

Sitting on a couch in the living room with a large window across from your Emah who is sitting in a blue upholstered chair across from you in a front room that used to have a window facing east, but this window was destroyed. There is no more eastern contact from any religion in this room as the G-D in that room died with the passing of Av, the husband of EMAH, the Hebrew word for Father being Av. Av also being the month on the lunar calendar of when our Father Av died, having the yarzeit date of Av 13.

But as his daughter like a ghost in the night, Elizabeth travels from room to room in that house, a  house that used to have no easterly direction, but now does, softly padding her bare feet on the living room carpet, showering in the shower in the basement very early in the morning, hygienically swishing tastefully with Listerine, listening to boom-box music in the basement bedroom, being again in that house with her Hebrew Mother Emah, suckling on "M"ilk but not "M"ixing it with "M"eat.

Being in constant "M"editation, whispering to oneself the Hebrew word for Mother which is EMAH over and over in your mind as a "M"antra, sitting up restfully and respectfully in an upright position on the living room couch in a living room across from her EMAH sitting in a chair feeling the warmth of sunshine from the window, being in total calm, as EMAH flows like warm water turning into warm Milk, a baby who was born with a full head of beautiful black curly hair, unmatched, suckling this EMAH Mother's Milk and getting Stronger and Stronger with every Swallow.

A Hebrew EMAH who nurtured her child Elizabeth to be the best person she could possibly be, a child "E"lizabeth, the daughter of "E"mah and "E"manuel, who grew up into womanhood after receiving The Priestly Blessing from a Rabbi, and she then became BATYAH, The Daughter of G-D.

THE HOLINESS OF PREDICTABILITY IN A WORLD OF CHANGES

To have a consistency in your life, having contact at the same times with the same people, to have people who give you a consistency of care, to be in the same places at the same times on the same days.

To have a life of predictability, to not have an exposure to an upset in life of not having what you need when you need it. To not be hungry without an option to eat, to not be thirsty without an option to drink. To not depend on someone for encouragement in your life's endeavors and then to not receive this flow of consistency that you count on.

To have ten Jews regularly attending Jewish morning worship minyans, to not have a lack of ten so to be able always to have enough members to recite The Kaddish for your deceased loved ones.

To have this unfortunate circumstance of losing a loved one to death, but to have this predictability of being able to pray to G-D for them with the love of the other Jews in your minyan that provide you with care and concern.

To therefore feel the love of the Jewish religion as your wounds are dressed, as you wear a tefillin around your left arm like a bandage and so to be able to go on, to continue living, without those loved ones who were important in your life but who are now deceased.

To see the same trees in your yard, but to see the leaves turning colors from green to gold as the autumn months represent this change to us that there is change in our lives, a topsy turnover to our routines, that green turns colors but becomes gold. That these changes we have in our lives, like the losing of a loved one to death, is like green becoming gold. The loss of our loved ones is hurtful to our emotions and is an upset to our routine, and we all must someday face this as a change in our lives.

But if what we can do is see the changes in our lives as becoming golden leaves, to use harmful experiences as a way to get closer to The Lord, to ask Him to help us, and to have the support of our Jewish landsmen too, so we can get through these changes and come out stronger and happier as a result of the care and concern, the love, we get from our love for The Lord.

To love Him and feel His love returned, as green becomes gold, a change from the greenness of badness turns into the goldenness of goodness.

LACKING NOTHING

To be in worship and understanding of the Psalm 23 written by King David: "Adonai is my shepherd; I lack nothing."

How to be "happy with one's lot." To not look over your white picket fence, thinking it is gray and not white, and to observe your neighbor's lawn and compare it with yours, to then think your neighbor's grass is greener than yours is.

To have a song that sings with others, not in competition with others, thereby losing your intentions, focus, and purpose. To sing to be one in a group, not as the loudest, but instead as the sweetest.

At the end of this song, to lack nothing, to not lack in silence or soundlessness, to enjoy the peace of sounds or no sounds, to feel music in the dance of your step without the intrusion of noise they tell you instead is music.

To remember during the day, the peace of the night. To carry with you in memory your dreams, your peace, your deep sleep you had the night before.

To be appreciative of beauty, to see beauty even in the presence of ugliness, to therefore be able to never be in a state of lack, to lack nothing.

UNDERSTANDING A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

To follow The Torah, to honor and respect both your Mother and Father, or Father and Mother, as both sequentially in the two orders are listed as Commandments in The Torah.

To have parents to respect, as the path to be able to honor and respect a higher power, an authority, as G-d The Almighty Himself. To follow the teachings of The Torah as you follow the teachings of your Mother and Father. To have an established family "plan" and to fit into your family like a glove. To have your parents as your Matriarchs and Patriarchs. To love your brothers and sisters like Joseph The Prophet loved his brethren Benjamin, his younger brother. To have this sibling who had the same Mother as you and the same Father. A sibling whose body make-up of DNA and genetics are so similar to yours, to have this "twin" in your life who understands you and has many of the same issues as you. To nurture this twin in your life as you nurture yourself.

To not get lost in a world of imagery. To do as The Torah instructs us "to not create sculpture or images in the likeness of the seas, skies, or lands." To therefore not have an image of The G-d Almighty Himself, to instead of being bound to an image, to use your imagination and to "see" G-D as an entity in all things, all material and all spiritual. To not know what G-D looks like, so to be able to see Him everywhere. To use your imagination, to contrive, to visualize, to memorize, to try to figure out the impossible.

To have keenness of perception, as your G-D follows you everywhere, as you lead G-D everywhere that you go, as your G-D is not in a sculpture that you have left at home, not in a pocket of your pants that are in the laundry, instead not to be dependent on an idol as a physical entity to represent your G-D Who you worship. Having G-D instead as the song on your lips Who you can pray to and petition His help to you whenever and wherever you are or will be going.

Having The Almighty G-D in your body as you choose to eat Kosher foods. Having G-D in all things material as you do not have an image of what G-D must look like.

Being surrounded by The Good Lord, because what you perform are actions of goodness as you learned these actions from The Lord Himself and so can use G-D as a Guide and Savior.

TALENTS AND A CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORLD

Instinctively knowing what is not there, but actually is there, but we cannot perceive it with our ordinary senses, to have a feeling deep down inside that what is not there soon will be. To take a guess and to have your guess be correct, right on the money, to know what people need when and to be there for them at the exact time that they need you, to fulfill others' needs and in this way also fulfilling your own.

To love luxury and to feel it wherever you are, whether inside an empty dark closet or sitting in golden sunlight on a lawn chair at the seashore with sparkling blue oceans all around you, beckoning the goodness of nature and going for a swim.

To appreciate all you have and what you do not have, to be glad others have it instead, to not worry about losses, to have everything material you need to continue a life, to have a life without worry and without sadness, to not have purposely placated anyone.

To know what you want and to go out to get it. To understand that others who do not have what you have will want what you have, to have talent extraordinaire and to always use it, to be generous to provide people with the goodness of your talents, to better their lives, to have ownership of a good heart to want the whole world to feel the happiness you possess as possessing talents that you use to make others happy too, to never deprive anyone of what they need and desire, to use your talents to help them.

To understand sadness and to be there for those who are sad, even if they are unable to tell you they need you, and pretend they do not need you. To understand this pride that keeps people from admitting their needs, and to be there for them even more than if they could tell you.

Being sure in yourself and your place, your function, and to keep contributing to the whole world with your talents, having talents that make the world a better place for someone, to be there in your life for even just one person, to be the single one in the whole world needed to help this person.

NEVER GIVING UP NEVER GIVING IN

Not giving up, to continue to try and to try some more, not taking backseat, not taking a loss as your end, continuing to pick up where you left off and to give it another try.

Suffering losses but not letting them get to you, patching the hole in your shoe and keep on walking, striving and striding, not allowing a setback to set you back.

If once you gave it a try, but your try was not successful, not to think every time you try it will be a loss. Recovering from what seems like a loss but instead can be turned into a success because you do not accept it as a loss, instead turning it into a gain.

Being gainful in all your attempts, to win not to lose, to continue to play the game, to stay in the ring and come back for another fight, to not accept a loss as the end, to turn around and make lemonade out of lemons, to be the one to never give up, never give in.

Whatever it is that causes you to take another breath, to open your air passageways and to suck in more oxygen, to have the ability to open your eyes to see a bright blue sky, to not think of doom but to use these blue skies as your everyday impetus to do whatever it is you are doing, all over again, to pick up where you left off and to succeed.

To come out on top, to take the blueness of the skies and use it to color your own individual world with its beauty, loving the brilliance of these blue skies and making them yours.

Having the wisdom and perseverance to keep on keepin' on, and therefore to win in all that you do and not ever to lose.

SOLVING PROBLEMS SO THEY NO LONGER EXIST

x + y=? What is your problem? If a problem is labeled as a problem, it exists. If a situation has ramifications to the negative it stands as a problem and must be solved. If one looks at a problem as a problem, it is a problem, it therefore exists. If a problem is not called a "problem" it will lose its significance and not be a problem at all.

To solve all your problems by saying verbally that they are not problems in actuality, have no significance in altering your life, and that these problems which are not problems, have no ability to change your life and make your life an unhappy existence.

To solve all of life's problems as you would a mathematical equation, knowing there is a solution for each math problem and to then find this solution means the problem is solved and therefore no longer exists as a problem without a solution.

To feed yourself when you are hungry, solves the problem of hunger, to drink water when you are thirsty, solves the problem of thirst.

To after sating your needs, to then have no more needs, you therefore become transformed into a state of having satisfaction, no longer being problematic, and therefore not needing anyone to help you solve your problems, because the problems no longer exist.