Saw this on a bus in Florida.
It’s an important message.
Take Action. Stop Child Abuse.
Children are innocent!
The adults who commit the abuse and trafficking are animals.
If you see something, say something to the authorities.
You may just be saving a child’s life.
Protect our children…they are our future. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Ignorance Isn’t Bliss.”
It’s Passover, and we celebrate our deliverance from Egyptian slavery, yet this is a slavery that was foretold by Hashem, and as you could say, like with many bad things that happen in this world (e.g. Coronavirus), we knew it was coming!
To me it’s not about being afraid, but rather it’s about being prepared. It’s great to be an optimist, but it’s important to be practical, especially when it comes to saving lives. Yes, we need to have faith in G-d and believe that ultimately everything is according to His word and plan for the world, but at the same time, we need to be responsible and do our part to protect ourselves and the future from terrible things that we have a relatively high-level of confidence will happen. There is no mitzvah to wait and be caught off guard, rather there is a commandment to save life (“Pikuach Nefesh”), and for this we need to “face up to facts” (including our known vulnerabilities, threats, and our capabilities to address them) and actually be very well prepared.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Even with Coronavirus and the associated lockdowns and social distancing, the grass still needs to be mowed.
These two are doing the work but also look like they could be playing some bumper cars too!
So it is: Life goes on; the world is not (yet) ending.
Unfortunately, there are people suffering and dying.
And we need to help them and try and save their lives.
Also, not forget their families and those out of work.
But as far as the world is concerned, the grass still keeps growing.
The living will go on living as best they can. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “It wasn’t a Final Solution.”
My Uncle Freddie reached high up to the tippy-top of a tall bookcase in his small, but cozy room, and pulled down an old book. It had accumulated years of dust, and we had to wipe it off. The book, published by the Germans themselves, was one that I was familiar with having seen my own mother with a similar one documenting what happened to her family in the Holocaust. It had lists and lists of Jews that had been deported by the Nazis from my uncle’s city as well as where they sent them for liquidation.
Hope you appreciate this true story of survival amidst the horrors and death of the Holocaust.
(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)
To help the children… Religion is not just “teaching” Torah; it is also doing the right thing!
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
A few references:
Letter from SAR (January 2018)
Investigation Launches 40 Years Late(r) (January 2018)
Enabler/Facilitator Believed to be Still at the School (April 2018)
The Rabbi In The Bath House and More (June 2015)
Parole Violation Hearing (July 2009)
His Preferred Prey was Adolescent Boys (May 2006)
Case of Cantor Stanley Rosenfeld (August 2000)
(Source Video: Andy and Dossy Blumenthal)
I like this saying by life coach Iyanla Vanzant”
“When you see crazy coming, cross the street!”
I remember learning similarly from experts that the first lesson in self defense is always:
“If you can run, run!”
That doesn’t mean your not strong or courageous.
It’s just common sense to try to avoid trouble if you can.
When people seriously fight, both usually can end up with a black eye or worse.
And there are truly a lot of crazies out there.
Peace is always desired.
But strength (and preparedness) is always required.
This makes sense as well in the larger context of the USA upgrading it’s nuke arsenal and other weapons systems and platforms to deter enemy aggression.
Thus, peace through strength and of course, prayer! 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
With the crisis of Hurricane Harvey and the rains still battering Houston…
It was so amazing to read this morning about the doctors who are going all out to help people in need there.
Doctors staying in the hospital for days to cover their patients stuck there and requiring care and treatment.
And others that are wading through the waters at there own risk to get there to treat the sick.
One doctor mentioned was Adi Diab M.D. who trekked 3 miles through a foot of water to get Anderson Cancer Center “to attend to a patient undergoing an experimental cancer treatment.”
He did this so as not to interfere with the patients scheduled treatment for the re-engineering of immune cells to fight a tumor.
I’ll tell you, there really are some truly amazing people out there–whether doctors and nurses, firefighters and emergency responders, law enforcement and military personnel.
They run into danger and disaster zones when everyone else is running out.
Is it professionalism, dedication, duty, or an angelic calling to help people and the nation in need.
This is our nation at its best–united!!!–and helping our neighbors, saving lives, and putting others before self.
“Houston there is a problem”, and as unbelievably horrible and unfortunate as it is, perhaps it is also a critical reminder of what’s really important and a healing to our great nation. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
With all the devastation going on around Houston and the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Harvey…
I thought it would be nice to just take a moment to reflect.
First, the pain and suffering of the people affected.
I couldn’t believe last night when I saw this image of residents in a assisted nursing facility sitting up to the necks in flood waters.
Or this morning, when I saw a photo in the Wall Street Journal of a firefighter holding a mother with her baby daughter lying on her, rescuing them through the waters.
With over 3,000 rescues performed for people stranded in attics, rooftops, in cars, and all over the city and surroundings, I also think it’s important to recognize all the firefighters and other emergency workers who put their lives on the line to help others.
The Houston area is expected to get 50 inches of rain in under a week, which is what their usual annual rainfall is.
So there is massive flooding and damage from Harvey as well as 250,000 people without power.
My prayers go out to the people impacted and gratitude to the people who help them.
(Source Photo: here with attribution to Huffington Post)
So I was surprised when a great friend wrote to me the other day about Hitler.
And he said that some people say that he won!
He wanted to destroy the Jews and he did manage to kill 6,000,000 of us!
He wanted to conquer Europe (and the world) and he sparked a world war that killed between 50 million and 80 million people, spread fascism, and Germany still today remains the economic powerhouse of Europe.
But killing people, spreading evil, and causing world war is not the sign of a winner by any means–quite the contrary!
And I replied to my friend:
Hitler and the Nazis are gone, dead, and destroyed, and we are here–what a miracle that from the ashes and depths of the Holocaust, the Israelites were redeemed after 2,000 years of exile–and just as the prophecy foretold, Israel was reborn, lives and thrives!
The sick hatred, evil, and fascist values of Hitler and his Third Reich Germany are gone into the dustbin of history and moreover, their very mention or memory evokes disdain and contempt as being the antiChrist and archetype of evil in the world.
Over the weekend, I watched the movie, The Zookeepers Wife and it was terrific.
While the Nazi’s perpetrated every conceivable evil on mankind, the righteous among the nations still managed to stand up in the face of evil and save innocent lives, and even when it put their own lives and that of their loved ones in jeopardy–that is true goodness!
The movie showed not only the Zookeeper and his wife who saved over 300 Jews during the Holocaust, but their young son yelled out after the miserable Nazi and said, “Hitler is kaput” or Hitler is finished!
Yes, Hitler and his evil cohorts are destroyed, but in every generation, there are new threats of evil and hate that arise, and to those, we still must bravely and with steadfast determination and strength confront–and those must be made kaput as well. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I saw this sign hanging prominently in a large local Baltimore hospital here (and it comes from the Talmud):
“He who saves one life…It is as if he saves a whole world.”
For doctors, nurses, and other medical practitioners, what greater purpose or joy in life than to save other human lives!
Each person is truly a whole world unto themselves…their thoughts, feelings, and their contributions!
Who knows what one single act of kindness or generosity from someone can have–what impacts down the line to one or even billions of others.
Today, I have a friend that is undergoing a major operation in this hospital.
My thoughts and prayers are with him.
This is his third hospitalization in the last few weeks and it’s time for the doctors–with G-d’s help–to save his life.
I actually had something similar to this friend many years ago, but the technology wasn’t there yet to diagnose it, and I had to have emergency surgery where they went in “exploratory” to find out what the heck was going on.
And thank G-d that they did–they literally saved my life at the time or I wouldn’t be writing to you all today.
I feel so grateful to G-d for his mercy to us and for giving us modern medicine and technology and all the wonderful people who work tirelessly to help all the sick people and to help save their very lives.
I am wishing the best of luck to my friend to come through this with a full and merciful healing. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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