My Blue Thumb

Oops! I goofed watering the plants this week. 

I got a new spray bottle from Home Depot and I put the Fantastic cleaner it in. 

Thinking about the new bottle, I accidentally picked it up to water the plants. 

I sprayed the cactus and immediately realized what I had done!

Oh sh*t! I just poisoned my cactus. So quickly, I poured water in to try to dilute it. 

I thought to myself how the plant would react and I imagined how a person would react if they drank Fantastic. 

Sure enough within a couple of days the cactus was reeling. 

But I think a person could probably recover if it wasn’t too much, so I’m hoping the cactus will too. 😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

We Impact Each Other’s Souls

Finishing Natan Sharansky’s book Fear No Evil. 

And I rarely write twice on a book or movie, but this was so impactful. 

First on our souls, Sharansky writes:

The law of attraction, interconnection, and interdependence of human souls…there is a universal gravitational pull of souls, of the bond between them and influence of one soul on the other. 

Wow, Sharansky understood the deeper meaning of the soul and how they all emanate and are pieces from G-d and they are all connected to their source and each other, and what one person says or does impacts all the others (and thereby G-d himself). 

Literally, I experienced this the other day…when I personally made amends on something I felt that I had done wrong, and I could literally feel somehow righting a wrong in the universe and G-d, Himself, smiling down on me. 

It was the best feeling I think I have ever had in my life. 

Second on fear, Sharansky writes:

My inner freedom [is] more powerful than the external bondage…[and] fear of the L-rd…is a necessary prerequisite for man’s achieving inner freedom, and is also the prerequisite for spiritual resolve, the fear of the L-rd is the only thing that can conquer human fear.

Wow again. Sharansky through his nine years of suffering and hardships in Soviet prisons and labor camps found his deep inner strength to resist the tyranny of the KGB worldly masters and overcame them with his finding his fear and faith in G-d and was able to overcome. 

These are two amazing heavenly lessons that Sharansky shares with us from enduring and overcoming his incredible worldly hardships.

I am so glad I had the opportunity to read this and am with G-d’s help continuing to quench my thirst for this type of wisdom and true enlightenment.  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

A Cool Shabbat Shalom!

A very cool Shabbat Shalom to you!

Congratulations on another week of hard work and accomplishment. 

Now it’s time for a day of spirituality, mindfulness, thanksgiving, and much needed rest and relaxation. 

Heal and rejuvenate your body, mind, and soul.

A time for Hashem, self, family, and community. 

Shabbat is a true gift from G-d. 😉

(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)

Help Victims Of Terror

I don’t usually do this, but I felt this situation truly merits your compassion and charitable giving. 

Niv Nehemia was the victim of terror in 2017 in this Israeli grocery.  He suffered “14 stab wounds to the head, chest, hands, and necks, including a cut in his esophagus.”

The article appealing for help to cover his mounting medical costs appeared in the Jerusalem Post last week: Don’t leave a hero behind.

I still remember this video from when it happened two years ago. Niv is truly a hero in fighting off his brutal attacker and in saving other store employees and shoppers!

Further, Niv and his wife, Sigal, have 5 beautiful children aged 18 to 4 1/2

If you can kindly open your heart to these victims of terror, here is the link for your donation as listed in the Jerusalem Post: https://www.jgive.com/new/en/ils/donation-targets/24591.

May Hashem give a full and speedy healing to Niv and may He bless this family and all of us with peace!  😉

The Best of Jewish Nigunim

Shlomo Carlebach was a master of Jewish Nigunim (melodies).

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!

Healing The Spine

Thought this was a really great photo to explain various ailments of the spine. 

From the top:

Normal Disc
Degenerative Disc
Bulging Disc
Herniated Disc
Thinning Disc
Disc Degeneration with Osteophyte Formation

The spinal disc was described to me as a jelly donut between the vertebrae.

The jelly can bulge in the disc or actually herniate/rupture and spill out pressing painfully against the nerve–that’s the scary red that you see!

The disc degeneration and osteophytes are also a pretty frightening looking deterioration of the disc and cartilage.

No wonder
– “31 million Americans experience low back pain at any given time…[and] back pain is the single leading cause of disability.”

– And “80 percent of adults experience lower back pain at some point in their lifetimes…[and] leading contributor to missed workdays”  

When we have our health, we don’t always realize how incredibly fortunate we are. 😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Can’t Sit, Can’t Stand

So I’ve been having this excruciating lower back pain for about a week. 

I literally cannot sit or stand without shooting pain. 

When I sit, it hurts the lower back so much to get up. 

And when I stand, all I want to do is relieve the pressure and sit down. 

I feel like the warning from G-d in the Torah where He says (Deuteronomy 28:67):

In the morning you will say ‘”If only it were evening!” and in the evening “If only it were morning!”

The only real relief so far is lying down or going in the pool. 

Planning to see the doctor to check it out and hopefully with G-d’s mercy it will be better very soon.  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal) 

It Spills Over

Sometimes the glass is not half full or half empty. 

But rather is spills over entirely. 

There is nothing, nothing left inside. 

Worse even is when the glass completely shatters.

Then there isn’t even a vessel anymore. 

All that’s left is to pick up the pieces. 

As humans, we try to fill up the water, stop the water inside from spilling out, and to save the glass.

The rest is in G-d’s hands. 

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Speedily Rebuild The Temple

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Rebuilding The Temple, Healing Our People.”

Tisha B’Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) is on Shabbat this year, so we conduct the day of mourning and fast on Sunday. The destruction of the Temple and our subsequents exiles from the Holy Land are deeply traumatic periods of Jewish history. Needless to say, this is a very sad and scary time of year. However, we are living in the time of redemption, when after 2,000 years, the Jewish people have been blessed to be returned to their biblical homeland, Israel. Next up is the rebuilding of the Temple VERY SOON, please G-d.

Let us hope and pray that we are deserving of Hashem’s blessings and mercy, and that sadness will be completely turned into joy, the world will be healed, and peace will prevail.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Cold-Press Fruits and Veggies

We starting watching this movie with Joe Cross called, “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.”

This guy weighs a ton and goes on a 60-day all juicing diet.  

He stops all the food and just carries his juicer with him everywhere making fresh fruit and vegetable cold-press. 

While obviously a little extreme, I like the idea of reducing the food intake (especially everything gluten which is death itself), and replacing it with healthy juice. 

I tried one of the super green juices and it literally tasted like eating grass. 

Uh, that’s not gonna realistically work for me. 

So I settled on Evolution’s Organic Super Fruit Greens that has a combination of orange, mango, pineapple, cucumber, spinach, romaine, and kale. 

I actually like it and am sitting here sipping on one as I write this blog post. 

I went into the fridge and threw all the carbs in the freakin garbage–good riddance!

Gotta get and stay healthy!  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)