Mar 16
Order is the structure for the house of G-d. Order is your infrastructure for a productive life.
ABCDEFG. That is order. DFGACEB. What is that?
The structure of the Mishkan was made out of beams. In Hebrew the word for beams is קרש, Keresh. You will notice that those three letters follow each other in the Hebrew Aleph-Bet. (Like abc) Order is the structure for the house of G-d.
If you switch the letters around and introduce chaos, you land up with שקר, which means a lie. A lie is unsustainable. Disorder is unsustainable.
If you bring order into your life you will have provided the very beams for a sturdy house. If you bring chaos into your house you have a house teetering on destruction.
Your choice.
Mar 15
Recently I finished reading a couple of Holocaust stories. Stories of courage and hope. Stories with characters who rose above the pettiness of humanity as I know it.
A mere 67 years ago, people couldn't afford to be petty. They couldn't afford to quibble over whether this dress matched that top. They couldn't afford to worry if they had to write down all of their assets. (Yes all of their assets, not some of their assets.) They focused on life itself.
Humanity at that time was focused on survival. They were focused on something so precious as life itself.
Let us focus on something greater than our petty little losses. Let us focus on something greater than our petty little quibbles. Let us focus on making this world a better place. A more loving place. A haven for future generations.
Let us bring light with one good idea at a time. Let us bring light with one good word at a time. Let us bring light with one good action at a time.
Stop the pettiness. Bring light.
(Bring a smile to someones face today, that is light.)
Mar 10
WYSI not WYG (For the less tech savvy amongst us -- "What you see is not what you get")
Life frequently throws curve balls at us. Just as we think things hunky dory, a wrench comes hurtling our way. We get dealt a difficult lot. Our threshold is pushed to its limit. Life is tough.
My Purim message is ... "What you see is NOT what you get!" Things in life are not as they appear to be. You frequently expect one result and an entirely different result shows up.
A dark cloud hung over the heads of the Jewish people for a year. They were faced with the threat of annihilation. Haman (the evil character in the story) had managed to secure an edict of wiping the Jews off the face of planet Earth. (Even something Hitler never managed to do.)
WYSI not WYG
In a small period of time the situation was reversed. Haman and his sons were hung, the enemies of the Jews were killed and the joyous festival of Purim was set up.
My wife wanted to have a natural delivery. Deep into her labor the midwife told us that she must have an emergency Caesar. My knee jerk reaction was one of apprehension. I really did not want her to have to go through a Caesarian. WYSINUG! Turns out after going through the Caesar, the umbilical cord was wrapped around the babys neck. The Caesar averted an almost tragic outcome.
Next time you are dealt a curveball, just remember WYSI NOT WYG. Things are frequently not as they appear to be.
Has your banker closed your credit facility? Have you just been laid off? Are your kids following the path of the straight and narrow?
Open yourself to life's possibilities. In G-d we trust. Do you?!
Mar 8
After a few days of just dealing with the baby, I finally got a chance to peep my head out of the water and write this post.
With great thanks to the "One Above", on the 9th day of Adar we named our beautiful little daughter, Rivka Shaina.
Joy is greater than sorrow, and happiness prevails over sadness.
After having received all of the Mazel Tovs and good wishes from people I have come to the realization that people enjoy sharing in peoples Simchas. (It definitely beats sharing in their difficult times) Hence I would like to share with you the meaning behind our little bubeles name, Rivka Shaina.
Facts first. Explanation to follow.
Facts:
Name: Rivka Shaina.
* Rivka Shaina was born on the 7th day of Adar --- Moshe Rabbeinu was born on the 7th day of Adar.
* Rivka Shaina was named on the 9th day of Adar --- The Friediker Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneerson, landed on the shores of America on the 9th day of Adar.
* Rivka Shaina was born in the month of Adar --- Adar is a festive month, highlighted by the holiday of Purim.
* Rivka Holtzberg, was murdered recently Al Kiddush Hashem in Mumbai whilst serving as an emissary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Principle:
Our matriarch Rivka was a rose amongst the thorns. She brought light to a dark place. Our Rivka born on ז' אדר, named on ט' אדר, in the month of Adar. May she, please G-d, only bring light into the world.
Explanation:
Matriarch Rivka:
She was born into the house of Betuel. Her brother was none other than "Laban the Trickster". Upon her it is said, Rivka is the "Rose amongst the thorns." Her family was a thorny family and she was the rose amongst them. Her job was to bring light unto thorny places, thorny environments, and thorny people.
Moshe Rabbeinu:
(A) Led the Jewish people out of Egypt.
(B) Gave the Jewish nation the Torah.
(C) A Gematria.
(A) Egypt was a thorny situation for the Jewish people. They were enslaved for 210 years, anxiously awaiting their redemption. Moshe led them out of the darkness and freed the people from their tough lot.
(B) The purpose of the Torah is to bring light to the world. In Hebrew the word for world is עולם, which shares a common root of העלם, meaning concealment. In Hebrew the word תורה shares a common root with אור. So Moshe gave us the Torah to bring light into a concealed world.
(C) משה -- is the numerical value of 345. שיינא -- is the numerical value of 371. 371-345 is 26, which the numerical value of Hashem's name.
The Friediker Rebbe came to America on ט'אדר:
(A) Judaism in America was undergoing a grave situation. Assimilation was on the rise, religious observance was going out the door. Rabbi Y.Y. Schneerson's emphasized reaching out to lost Jews. With that the tide of assimilation was stemmed. (At least to a degree.) He brought light to a dark period.
(B) The Friediker Rebbe had three daughters. The youngest one's name was Shaina.
Adar:
In the month of Adar we celebrate the festive holiday of Purim. Purim was a time when dark clouds loomed over the heads of the Jewish people. The situation was completely reversed and the Jewish nation was saved. Light was brought to a dark situation. A festive holiday was born. A rose was born amongst the thorns.
Rivka Holtzberg:
Left the comfort of her home to bring light to a place swarming with idol worship. In a place teeming with spirituality but deprived of all G-dliness, she gave her life to spread the word of G-d and bring her people back to their fold.
Shaina:
Boruch Hashem, she is just a beautiful little girl, so we just decided to call her Shaina.
There are a bunch of other reasons, probably greatest of which is the divine providence given to parents whilst naming their child. If you come up with any other nice one, give a shout in the comments. Some Gematriot would be nice.
I would like to thank everyone once again for all of their warm wishes. I have attached pictures.
Mar 2
I am a little olive. They squeeze me for my oil. They use my oil to make light.
Imagine yourself as a little olive, living a peaceful life on the olive tree. You receive ample sunshine, sufficient rain, and all other ingredients necessary for you to grow. Your every need is taken care of. You don't have a worry in the world.
All of a sudden you are plucked from the tree and squeezed. You are squeezed so hard that you think the end is nigh. No longer can you bask in the warm desert sun. No longer can you soak in the raindrops' nutrients. Your life has come to an abrupt end. Or so you think.
Once squeezed you now take the form of olive oil. You are poured into a Chanukah candle and used to bring light into the world. Your status has now changed, drastically. You have gone from being a receiver, to being a giver. You have left the world of taking for the world of giving. You no longer take nutrients, but rather give light. You realize that this is the beginning.
Shira, my dear wife, went into labor at 2 o'clock this morning. After a full day of 'arduous squeezing' at 19:20 we were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. A beautiful soul with which to bring light to the world.
When stretched to your limit, realize, that from there may come the greatest light.
I would like to extend a hearty thanks for all of the warm Mazel Tov wishes! May we only share simchas.
Mar 1
Where will you be sorely missed? If you just pick up and leave, what will people miss about you?
A parents' love is always missed. The absence of an affectionate touch is always felt. Deeply.
I have a very close friend who lost their father, some time ago, in the middle of Sukkot. On Yom Tov, a couple of days later, when all of the children went under their Fathers' Tallis he no longer had a father to whom he could go under his Tallis. I remember him breaking out in tears.
A fathers' embrace was gone. A loving touch had departed. A part of his experience had been torn from his heart.
Going under his fathers' tallis was an event which created a bond that when absent, was missed.
In my family we have the custom to get blessings from my Father every Friday night. I remember the first time that I left home to go to over night camp. I missed that blessing. (I remember calling home before Shabbos to receive it.)
Every portion after the birth of Moshe Rabbeinu mentions his name, with the exclusion of one. This one, Parshas Tetzaveh. Moshes' name is mysteriously missing from the weeks' Torah portion.
Moshe was a pivotal and key character in the Torah. When he goes unmentioned he is sorely missed.
Where are you Moshe? Where are you Father? Where are my Brachos?
What do you do that will make you sorely missed? To whom do you give your affection? Whos life do you touch?
Post Script: I sent this to a friend of mine, who related the untimely passing of his cousin. A child is sorely missed - http://is.gd/lk7A.
Feb 27
"Enjoy life"
"Live it to its fullest!"
"If you can't enjoy it than what is it worth?!"
"Live in the moment"
"If I can't go eat out at Pie Works, life is not worth living." (I hope nobody thinks that :-) If you do, please call your local Rabbi, lol.)
Those are all quotes urging us on to take advantage of life and enjoy every moment. Don't worry about the future, it's the present that counts. Live it up, baby!
"Rapidly did grow the seedlings of the diligent to become cedars for the
beams of our house." Many years before his children were in need of cedar wood ... Father Yaakov planted seeds which would provide for his offsprings' need. (Hey, that rhymes) He planted seeds which grew into cedar trees with which his children built the Mishkan.
Diligent people think about the future of their children. They don't live careless, happy go lucky lives without paying a pittance of thought about their childrens' future needs. They don't indulge in their own vanities at the expense of their childrens' well being. They do plant seeds which will mature into full grown trees to provide for their childrens' well being.
What are we planting for our offspring?
Are we throwing out the seeds? Or are we planting seeds which will bear fruit so support our offspring in our times of need? Are we the diligent grandparents of our offspring? Or are we the thoughtless antecedents to our future?
Do we shirk our responsibilities to our childrens' future? Or do we curb our carefree life and think about someone elses' future?
As I stand on the brink of becoming a parent, what seeds am I planting?
(BTW there is a difference between forethought about the future and worrying about the future. Have forethought. Dont worry)
Feb 26
Recently I got a pair of sunglasses.
I have never driven with sunglasses, I was missing out. If you don't drive with sunglasses, you may be missing out.
South Africa, thank G-d, has a powerful sun providing warmth and copious amounts of light. Its lekker. (For my American companions, lekker = great) When you are at the beach and just chilling its great. When you sit all day in front of a computer screen and your body is crying out for Vitamin D, the sunlight is great. When you are driving in an uninhabited place that doesn't have any lamp lights and it is 12:00 at night, you pine for the sunlight. Sunlight is great.
I still love my sunglasses. I love my sunglasses that filter the light. They allow me to get just the amount of light my eyes can handle. Too much light is no good, it needs to be filtered.
"...and the Curtain shall separate for you between the Holy and the Holy of Holies."
The purpose of the Curtain was for you. If you didn't have the Curtain you would be missing out.
The Mishkan was the epicenter from which G-dliness would be exported to the rest of the world. G-dliness is great. When you are spiritually bankrupt and your soul is crying out for some G-dliness, its fantastic. When you are stuck in the rat race and need some inspiration to jump out of it, G-dliness is great. Just give me my Vitamin G-dliness is your plea.
The Curtain put a curb on the amounts of G-dliness allowed to penetrate. The Curtain was the Tabernacles' sunglasses.
I love the curtain. It filters the amount of G-dliness. It allows my soul to get just the amount I can handle. I love my sunglasses. They allow me to get just the right amount of sunlight. Don't leave home without them.
Where in your life do you need a pair of sunglasses?
Feb 25
Something is about to happen. Something big. You are anticipating it, you await it. You are sitting on pins and needles.
Now, sitting on pins and needles is not a comfortable thing. I prefer to sit on a chair with nice arm rests, good cushioning and great back support. A chair that is conducive for relaxing and reading a good book. In order for a chair to fulfill its function it needs to be transparent, it needs to make sure that it doesn't let me know that it is there. A chair that has pins and needles as its cushioning just doesn't seem to fit the bill. I wouldn't want to sit on a chair of pins and needles.
"Make for me a sanctuary and I will dwell within them." This is an invitation for the Jewish people to become contractors. To make a place which G-d will be comfortable. "Make me a chair and I will sit on it." Don't make me a chair of pins and needles. Make me a comfortable chair. Make me a transparent chair, a chair that doesn't make me aware of it. G-d invites his people to make him a place which will be transparent and thus be open to his presence.
Yeah, I am sitting on pins and needles. I suspect that my wait will be over soon. I suspect that we, the Jewish people, are nearly finished our contracting job.
(BTW my wife was due to give birth today.)
Feb 24
Frequently I analyze my work efficacy. See where I am being productive and see where I am lacking. To take a birds eye look at how I am doing in life.
I have found that there are numerous interests that one can have. The internet has made it possible to delve into all of them and to find new ones. There is virtually no limit to the extent of interesting things that one can find online. This is to the extent that I find myself getting sucked into the quagmire of interests, with no end in sight. So much information, so many engaging ideas. The time has come to say, "That is enough...thank you."
In order to build the Sanctuary in the desert, G-d called upon the people to each lend a hand. One was engendered to give that which they were able. One gave gold, and another gave bronze. One gave cedar wood, and another flax. Each person contributing. They contributed, and contributed, and contributed and cont....you get the point :-) They brought so much that Moshe had to bridle the enthusiastic giving and contributions that the nation gave. Moshe told the nation, "That is enough...thank you." We need this amount and no more.
We humans (at least I do) have a tendency to continously want more and more of a good thing. Moshe teaches us that there comes a time that we must even tell interesting ideas, "That is enough ... thank you." I appreciate your wit and humor. I appreciate your content and inspiration. However, I have reached my needs. I need no more.
What in our lives can we say, "That is enough...thank you."? What extra stuff do you allow in your life that you can say, "I dont need you, go away."?
I think that is enough...thank you. (for taking the time to read this)
http://arongrinshtein.posterous.com/thats-enough-thank-you
