Today is Tisha B’Av.
It’s a solemn day on the Jewish calendar when we commemorate so many terrible events that happened in our history.
We have to remember the lows, but also pray for G-d to bring us ever back to the highs.
Peace, health, prosperity, and happiness.
It all comes from the One Above!
May G-d have mercy on us and bestow only blessings for good times to come. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So as we have done for ages…
We pray.
We weep.
We bless.
We request.
We thank.
We only control what we say and do.
The rest is in G-d’s merciful, blessed hands. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Beautiful Shabbat is almost here again.
A time for rest and rejuvenation.
Each of us has to take care of and nourish our body, mind, and soul.
Wishing everyone a Shabbat Shalom!
Please stay safe and healthy. 😉
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Count Your Blessings.”
I just wanted to share a short reflection with everything going on in the world these days with coronavirus and the economic shutdown: I see people are scared and confused, under lockdown and feeling financial strain, and many are getting sick and dying. But I remember the words of my dear father who used to say: “Count Your Blessings!” And he was so right. There are so many things, literally every moment of every day, for us to be grateful for:
Certainly, we all face extreme difficulties or challenges at times in our lives, but things can always be so much worse, and there is still so much for us to be grateful for. Therefore, truly thank you G-d with a hundred blessings—and more—for every moment of every precious day. And we affirm that surely the L-rd who created us will continue to sustain us, and that ultimately all will be for the good.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I visited with Rabbi Levy yesterday to get my tefillin checked.
I learned that if there are questions about the legibility of the holy scrolls, they are given to a child to read to see in their innocence whether the tefillin are kosher or not.
Something felt very good and important about performing this mitzvah.
In the meantime, while mine are being checked, I have a loaner pair of teffilin to use and daven with.
Yet to be seen whether it is time for a new pair or not–like a bar mitzvah all over again. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
My son-in-law reminded me of a beautiful Jewish saying about prayer:
Even if a sharp sword rests upon a person’s neck, he should not refrain from praying for mercy.
One can still hope for mercy from the Almighty even at death’s door.
This is truly beautiful and uplifting–we can approach G-d anytime, and as long as we are alive, there is always hope.
The saving from G-d is like “the blink of an eye.” 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “The Beauty of Tefillin.”
Like the colorful coat that Jacob gave Joseph to wear, the mitzvah of tefillin that G-d gave us to wear is also filled with spiritual color and the love of Hashem. This is in no way intended as sacrilegious or as trying to change our holy mitzvot. Rather it is an artistic attempt to see the tefillin in a new way that perhaps excites and bring Jews back to this important mitzvah.
Over time, as I continued to learn and grow as a person and as a Jew, I found much of my way back to Yiddishkeit and to wearing my holy tefillin with love and Joy. To me they are forever colorful and full of spiritual energy that are uplifting to me as I pray with them on for Hashem’s everlasting mercy and blessings for all of us.
(Credit Image: Andy Blumenthal)
“When you keep the Sabbath day, the Sabbath day keeps you!”
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
With his music he could literally move one’s soul to reach for G-d Almighty in the Heavens and on Earth.
Thank you Eitan Katz for bringing this alive again.
I hope you can feel it as I do.
Hashem lives!
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Jews, The People of Thanksgiving.”
This week was Thanksgiving (חג ההודיה), but for Jews we are already called, “The People of Thanksgiving. “We are named יהודים (Yehudim) after יהודה (Yehudah), the son of Isaac and Leah because Leah said (Genesis 29:35): “הפעם אודה את יהיה.” (“This time let me thank G-d”). Also as Jews, we are not just called the People of Thanksgiving, but we are actively supposed to say 100 blessings a day thanking G-d, so in the true sense of the word, everyday is Thanksgiving Day for the Jewish people.
Jews are the People of Thanksgiving not only on Thanksgiving, but every day of the year. We are thankful for being the chosen people and for our redemption and return to the Promised Land of Israel; we are thankful for the life and opportunities that G-d has given to us; we are thankful in good times and G-d forbid, in the bad times; and we are thankful because, yes, ultimately everything from G-d is for the good.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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