I like this definition of family:
Family means NOBODY gets left behind.
We take care of each other.
No matter what.
My father used to say:
Blood is thicker than water.
It’s not just from the battlefield that we make sure to bring everyone home.
Home is where the heart is. 😉
(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)
So I learned that this is called a Van de Graaff Generator.
It generates very high voltage electricity.
The guy setting it up asks me:
Do you have a pacemaker?
I respond in the negative and ask what’s the danger zone on this thing.
He says:
You probably wouldn’t want to get within 10 feet of this!
Good to know. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
(Please note that blog is not to be taken as medical advice.)
People may all sort of look alike.
But they are not all the same.
It’s NOT a matter of race, religion, color, sexual orientation, etc. that is important.
But rather it’s what is inside people’s hearts.
Some hearts are pure in intent (even if not in every deed).
Others are sullied with hate and abuse of others just because they can.
But why hurt others when you can help them?
People are not all the same.
Inside they are different.
Luckily G-d looks at the inside; the outside is just the packaging. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
And Even In Hiding
By Yaakov Shwekey & Kobi Peretz
Even though I am walking through the valley of the shadow of death
I fear no evil
Because you are with me
Even behind the difficult things you are going through
I stand…I stand…I stand
Even in the place which is hidden, within that which is hidden
Surely, the blessed Hashem is found there too
My heart and soul are uplifted by this beautiful song. 😉
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Purim in Israel, Chabad Style.”
We had the privilege to be in Israel for Purim night. We are going down Ben Yehudah Street in Tel Aviv looking for a synagogue for Megillah reading. Out of nowhere comes this Rabbi in Purim costume dashing down the sidewalk on roller skates. He pulls up in front of me and asks me to join them at the Chabad shul (#770 of course). Who can say no when Chabad is not only so cool and inviting, but also always helping to keep our minds focused on doing another mitzvah and towards the ultimate coming of Mashiach.
Over and over, I find you just gotta love everything about Chabad–they understand faith, ritual, and people’s hearts and for that and their acceptance of all Jews, I truly appreciate them. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Being a heart alone in this world is very lonely, indeed.
Chasing another heart, so that we can pair together makes two less lonely hearts.
Two hearts that beat as one making beautiful music together.
When the hearts are in harmony, we sway and are uplifted flying away into the heavens.
And when the music is discordant, we are forced to retune and to grow wings that we never even knew we had.
Hearts that complement each other, help us face the questions we often fear to ask ourselves.
When these hearts meet, they touch so gently, and like silk they dance a perfect dance.
What is meaningless alone is all of a sudden meaningful with another.
What is too painful to bear by oneself is manageable when shared between two.
And what is joyful is magnified in sweetness when there is someone else to enjoy it with.
One heart chases another until they embrace that long blissful embrace. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Some people are so cold and emotionally distant.
They go around with a stone face.
No emotion seems to seep in or out.
The face doesn’t betray the heart in any way.
You say something or do something, and they just sort of stare at you.
No words, no outward response.
Just a stone face like a poker face.
You don’t know what’s behind it.
But worse yet is a heart of stone–nothing impacts the inside just like the outside.
Are some people this way because they have been so hurt in the past that they become hardened like a turtle’s shell to protect from the outside world.
…Ain’t gonna let nothing hurt me again.
Or are they great at using their poker face to fool, manipulate, and get what they are after.
Perhaps the worst possibility is that they are simply a real psychopath–someone without conscience or empathy.
Yes, that is scary because the unthinkable becomes thinkable.
For most of us, reading verbal and non-verbal cues is critical to understanding other people.
Hiding those cues can mean that the stone face is going to shatter someone’s world and that won’t be a pretty face at all. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So I had a little procedure this week.
I hate going to the hospital–who doesn’t?
But I figured better to take care of something before it gets worse.
I think of it like taking the car into the mechanic for a tuneup every once in a while.
This analogy stuck with me years ago, when the orthopedist told me I needed to get a hip replacement and started to describe it as having a flat tire that needed to be repaired.
Leading up the the procedure, someone sent me this funny cartoon:
This really hit a nerve too because even the best medicine these days reminds me of the truly horrible medicine not so long ago.
Ah, have some liquor, bite on this piece of wood, and now we’ll saw your leg off!
I remember my father never even liked to go to the doctor, and he had total faith that G-d was his doctor–I think he actually managed to avoid the doctor for literally something like 30-years.
He also used to joke that many doctors were butchers, and he didn’t want to get caught under their knife.
So that’s certainly some apprehension going in to this.
The other thing that was interesting-sad that I saw this week when I went for an MRI was someone taking a homeless person into the radiology center for a scan.
But when the lady asked for insurance the person didn’t have any, so the lady asks for “proof of homelessness.”
I was flabbergasted at this as the guy was obviously homeless and literally was wearing tattered clothes.
They wouldn’t do the scan until the person escorting him would come back with this proof.
I felt so bad for him and thought to myself is this what the healthcare system and care for the poverty-striken in this country has come to?
While I am so truly grateful for the miraculous care that I received this week, I am equally saddened at the care that others don’t get that need it, and pray that we as a “caring society” will do better.
Anyway, I want to express my gratitude to the doctor, the hospital, my wonderful family who stood by me, and most of all to G-d for seeing me through the procedure this week and for watching over me always. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
When I am for myself
And you are not with me
What am I when I am separate?
For I am a Jew
I do not go alone
Just with you, my friend, hand in hand
One nation, one song
Come my brother and give me your hand
And we will rejoice and dance together
As one person, with one heart
I don’t want want to be alone,
Just forever brothers sitting together
To be a family
Is the secret of joy
For everything is better together
And we sing
All Israel are friends
We won’t give up on anyone
If we can successfully love
And sing ‘how pleasant..’
The Moshiach will come soon
andyblumenthal