Tag Archives: Fight

Not by Chariots or Horses

Posted on by Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “Not by Chariots or Horses.”
As I watched through the window of the synagogue, the people practicing their boxing, I remembered when I was young and learning to fight. It took an enormous amount of training, hard work, and practice, and still at the end of the day, the realization always that we are but the foot soldiers for G-d. We must be the best prepared in every way that we can (“Never again!”); however, it is G-d who not only leads us, but also fights for us. In the Prophets (Joshua 6), we learn that Hashem literally brought down the walls of the great city of Jericho simply by having Joshua and the Israelites march around it, blow the Shofar, and yell a great shout. So too may G-d continue to fight for us against the enemies in our time and speedily complete the final redemption.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Strong and Knowledgeable

Posted on by Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

If you know your own strength and what you can do…

Then you also know what you can’t do.

While our dreams and imagination can be “the sky’s the limit,”

The reality is we are human and we have to learn, grow, and make progress incrementally.

Still it’s a fight every day to get stronger as people and as souls. 😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

No Talking To A Terrorist

Posted on by Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “No Talking To A Terrorist.”

The fact of the matter is that when a terrorist who hates you and wants to kill you talks, they are telling you that homicidal action is soon forthcoming. It starts with words of disdain, loathing, threats, and hostility, but make no mistake, that those words end in terror and death. Terrorists, like the radical Iranian mullahs are not someone you can sit down with for tea, have a nice conversation, and work out a meaningful or binding diplomatic agreement. Unfortunately, the only thing that a murderous, racist terrorist understands is a punch in the nose! Accordingly, no amount of talking with Iran is going to lead to them ceasing their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction to use against the Jewish State and the United States. In their own very distorted “religious” minds, the irrational Iranian mullahs hate us and want us dead, period. To them, we are the scorned infidels, and they are the holy jihadists on a mission of murder. As much as we want peace with all our neighbors, in this case, a military response is not only necessary, but required.

The Jewish people have learned very well the hard and painful lessons from tyrannical madmen who have sought to destroy us over the centuries. The Holocaust is seared into our present-day consciousness like the tattooed numbers were into their victim’s flesh. We have learned to never let our guard down, to expect the unexpected, and to fight like hell when we have to. I am confident that with G-d’s help, Israel and the United States will not wait until it’s too late or stand by for a genocide to happen again! What Iran “says,” it means, but what Israel “does,” it expertly succeeds at.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

You Got To Make It!

Posted on by Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

I liked this sticky note over this nice ladies desk:

You do not find the happy life.

You make it!

Too many people seem to wait for miracles, like manna from Heaven to give them what they need or want. 

They don’t realize that G-d has gifts us what we need (including strength and determination) to work towards these things ourselves. 

We are not the Israelites stuck in the barren desert for 40 years that we need it to rain manna. 

Of course, it’s nice every once in a while when a miracle shows up and we are given an extra hand (or maybe even a full arm). 

But day-to-day, we have to at least try to be self-reliant–as well as work with others–to work towards our goals and fulfill our missions in life. 

You got to make it happen if you want it bad enough.  😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Let Freedom Ring

Posted on by Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

I saw this van with all this messaging about “Communist China.” 

Guy from the truck asks me:

Do you know what CCP is?

Not having heard that acronym, I started to mumble something about communism, and before I could finish, he goes:

It stands for Chinese Communist Party. 

He continued:

That’s dictatorship. Do you know what that is?

I responded:

Of course, and the people want to be free.

He goes:

Yes, freedom! We want freedom. 

It’s hard to believe that a generation ago the Cold War ended, but here we are still with people battling Communism and repression of basic rights. 

How lucky we are in America, Israel, and other western countries to live in freedom and have basic human rights. 

People around the world fight and die trying to earn their freedom, and we wake up with it every day, and it’s just there for us. 

It’s an incredible blessing to be free to think, speak, worship, and live how we choose.

We have to safeguard freedom and even fight for it: to have it, to keep it; and we should use it wisely to do and grow good in the world.  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

We Are All Disabled

Posted on by Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “We Are All Disabled.”

And what happens to us after creation? Life happens, and people suffer from the happenstance and the often harsh “nurture” of this world. Whether from disease, accidents, or hurt inflicted on us from others — intentional or not — we all have “disabilities” and as difficult as it is to live with it, there is no shame in it!

Disabilities are an opportunity, however painful and humiliating for us to learn and grow and for others to be able to demonstrate love, compassion, and kindness to us…There is no running or hiding from disability, it is part of our mortal world. But from the scars and suffering of life, we must create healing. From disability, it is our job to turn it into ability, capability, and mobility!

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)