A Mizmor of Asaph!

A Mizmorim regarding the wars against Yisrael in the days of Yehoshafat, when the nations plotted against Yisrael!

O Ha'Shem, keep not Thou silent, hold not Thy peace, and be not still, Ha'Shem,
For, lo, Thine enemies are in uproar, and they that hate Thee have lifted up their head.
They plot deviously against Your nation, and conspire against Thy treasured ones,
They say, "Come, let us sever them from nationhood, that the name of Yisrael may be no more in remembrance.”

For they conspire with a unanimous heart,  Against Thee do they make a covenant ....
the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,  Moab and the Hagrites,
Geval and Ammon, and Amalek,  Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre. 
Assyria, too,  joined with them, and became the strength of the sons of Lot,  Selah!

Do to them as to Midian, as to Sisera and Yavin at the brook of Kishon, who were destroyed at Ein Dor, and were as dung for the earth.
Make their nobles like Orev and Ze'ev,  All their princes like Zevach and Tzalmuna, who said, "Let us inherit the dwellings of Ha'Shem for ourselves.”
O Ha'Shem, my G*d, make them like the whirling dust, as straw before the wind.
As the fire that burneth the forest, and as the flame that setteth the mountains ablaze,
So pursue them with Thy tempest, and affright them with Thy storm.
Fill their faces with shame, that they will seek Your Name, Ha'Shem.
Let them be ashamed and affrighted for ever,  Let them be disgraced and perish,
That they may know that it is Thou alone whose name is Ha'Shem,  Most High over all the earth.

Love Light !!

For Nathaniel ......

~ Love Light ~

I have seen the Moonlight

A Soft, Silver Shining light

Incomparably beautiful

I have Seen the Sunlight

A Strong,  Yellow glowing ray 

 which fills every Heart with Joy

But the Only light I need

is the One which fills a Room where you are

A Light stronger than the Sunlight

and more beautiful than the Moonlight

 

The light of your Soul.  My Soul.  Our Ohr!

A Tale for Tu B'Shvat !!!

A Childrens tale ... Chanan and His Violin!

Once upon a time there lived a poor melamed, a Hebrew teacher, in a small village in Poland. He had his daily troubles with the hardheaded farmer boys who were his students. For they would rather roam the countryside than learn the alef-bet, the difference between the daledresh, or the hei and the chet.

All through the summer, the melamed had plenty of time for himself. The Jewish farmers needed their children to help in the fields, and his pupils would anyway prefer mowing corn or loading hay to learning how to read and write Hebrew. That was summer. But now it was winter, and a heavy layer of snow covered every inch of the ground upon which the poor melamed walked. Yet this was his day off. For it was Tu B’Shevat, the fifteenth day of the month of Shevat.

You know that this day is the New Year of the tree world. Our melamed, too, thought of the meaning of Tu B’Shevat as he left the village and walked towards a nearby forest. He knew very little about trees and nature in general, for he had hardly ever left his study and his beloved books. Thus, you will not be surprised to hear that the learned man was wondering in what manner the trees celebrated their Rosh Hashanah. Were they budding and putting on their coat of green, or was there any other form of celebrating the New Year of which he did not know?

When he reached the forest, he was deeply disappointed to find the trees and bushes covered with thick coats of crystal-white snow. “Who knows,” he pondered, “perhaps they were tallitot (prayer shawls) and kittels (white robes), like pious Jews on their High Holidays!” Just then a strong wind blew through the treetops, and the sounds of the swaying branches sounded like the whispering of devout prayers. Our melamed stood quietly amidst the noise of the windy forest, as fervent melodies passed through his head.

Again he asked himself: What kind of New Year do the trees celebrate? Don’t they look as if they were dead?

Suddenly, the entire scene became transformed. The melamed was able to see through the glittering, sparkling snow, as if the bark was made of pure, transparent glass. From the marrow of each little branch, tender sprouts pushed closer to the surface; yet they were careful not to go too far. It was still too cold for them to face the harshness of the world beyond the casing of the branches. But within, life was stirring, and the beginnings of new, strong branches were marking time until the Master of the trees and bushes would bring them.

The melamed eagerly drank in the full beauty of this tender spectacle. His strained eyes had never looked beyond the bark of the oaks and birches and poplars that lined the streets of his village. He had never dreamt of life and sprouting twigs deep within the trunks of those impersonal trees. Now he saw and understood that they, too, were individuals, each one in his own right and own way of life, each one with his proper soul and living spirit. The New Year of Trees was no longer meaningless to him.

A sudden gust of wind sprayed millions of fine snow-stars into the crisp air, and the melamed’s eyes were closed as by a curtain. when he was able to see again, the wondrous scene had disappeared. Only the slender fir trees swayed back and forth, and their naked branches seemed to shake with mockery.  Yet the man who returned home to the village was no longer the same poor melamed. Poor were only the clothes that covered his thin body. Poor was only the little hut that served him as a shelter. Yet deep within him budded spirited life, the blossoms of a hopeful future.

What did it matter that his students were hardheaded farm boys? He realized that deep within them lay seeds of knowledge and much learning. He knew that he had only to supply the warmth of loving understanding to lure the sprouts out of their hiding, so that they would blossom and show the fruits of their harvest. They, too, would yet become good Torah students some day!

Kehot Publication Society ~ A Bedtime Story for my Child!

Tears, Tehillim, Tefillos, Techinnah .....

"Be very careful if you make a woman cry .... Ha'Shem counts her tears. Every tear a woman sheds is equivalent of a man’s sacrifices in life"
 ~  Tractate Baba Mezi'a 59a ~

Tears.

Usually a sign of weakness. Of unchecked emotion. Some would say they reflect a lack of control.

It's no secret that a man's biggest nightmare is to be caught crying. Men don't cry. Not real men at least.

Controlling emotion has been seen since time immemorial as a sign of strength.

Tears.

So real. So human. So normal.   They express sincerity at times. Compassion at others.

A gentle person cries. A sensitive person cries.

Tears express genuineness.

When it hurts we cry.

When we are touched we cry.

In pain and in joy we cry.

On a wedding day we cry.

When a baby is born we cry.

When a loved one passes on we cry.

In real moments we cry.

Tears, then, express the realest and truest part of us. They reflect our core that is usually concealed and rarely revealed.

To cry, then, is not a sign of weakness. But, perhaps to build walls around our emotion is.

It is strange that we have the capacity to cry, to expel water from our eyes when we are sad. It seems to serve no real purpose .... although science can explain the physiological “why”,  and mental health experts can explain the psychological “why”.  That still leaves the real question of “why” tears ..... just why were we created with that capacity?

It seems a mysterious part of what it means to be human to shed tears.  And yet, Torah, Tanakh & Talmud are replete with references to tears.  It seems less mysterious for Jews ... or so thinks this Jewish girl anyways.   Tears are somehow connected to the waters of Shamayim & their separation with the Sad Seas below,  Raindrops above and the earth in between.

Rabbi Eleazar said ..... "Since the destruction of the Temple, the gates of tefilah are locked, for it is written, Also when I cry out, he shutteth out my tefilah. Yet though the gates of tefilah are locked, the gates of tears are not, for it is written, Hear my tefilah, Ha'Shem, and give ear unto my cry, hold not thy peace at my tears."  ~ Talmud Tractate Baba Mezi'a ~

“A child’s tear rends the heavens to reach Ha'Shem” .... An old Yiddish Proverb oft repeated to me in childhood.

So tears penetrate  the "Gate of Tears" that gets you through to Ha'Shem, to the one who provides justice & respite for the afflicted, whether they be personal tears or those of Klal Yisrael ... Hashem does not forget a Jewish tear!

That is the purpose of tears in life!

And, I know in life too, there is no such a thing as coincidence If something has happened it's for a reason. Perhaps simple, perhaps not. Just unknown ... to me that is. It is not unknown to Ha'Shem. How could it be??

Hashem doesn't just do things or allow things without reason. Hashem decides and plans for each person what is best for them, on an individual level as he is persuaded .... not a blade of grass sways in the wind, or a wave breaks on a rocky shore, but that Ha'shem has decreed it first. He knows each wisp of wind, as he knows each of us he has created, intimately. And perhaps the reason I don't see the reason, or the hand of Ha'Shem at work is because what I really need is to work on myself to become closer and closer to Hashem. So, each Yisurim that I pass through is to bring me closer to Ha'Shem himself. It is to improve my Bitachon & Emuna in Him.

Hashem is full of Chesed and Rachamim for every Jew in the World. It is knowing this & trusting this, allied with tears that open the gate to Ha'Shem's mercy.

 

That is the purpose of Tears I think!!

And I wanted to write on this today because it has obsessed my heart recently,  not just recently,  forever really .....  I am a girl!!!

And, I'll end with a tale from the Artscroll translation of 'The Kinnos of Tisha B'Av' by Rabbi Avraham Chaim Feuer.

Rabbi Feuer (p.xiv) brings a beautiful story with Rabbi Aryeh Levin a man of rare compassion and sensitivity ......

Once a distraught, recently widowed woman came to him and cried uncontrollably. All of his efforts to console her were of no avail. Finally the widow said that she would accept consolation if he could please answer the following question. "Please tell me what happened to all of my tears? I prayed and prayed for my late husband, I recited chapter after chapter of Tehilim, and shed thousands upon thousands of tears. My very soul flowed into those tears. Were they all wasted?"

Gently, Rav Aryeh replied, "After a hundred and twenty years, when you will leave this world and ascend to the heavenly tribunal, you will see how meaningful and precious your tears were. You will discover that Hashem Himself gathered them in and counted every single teardrop and treasured it like a priceless gem. And you will discover that, whenever some harsh and evil decree was looming over the Jewish people, one of your tears came and washed the evil away, making it null and void. Even one sincere tear is a source of salvation!"

Hearing this the woman burst into a fresh flow of tears ~ not tears of sorrow and grief, but tears of courage and hope.   That is where I need to be ......

Thou has counted my wanderings, put Thou my tears into Thy bottle ... are they not in Thy book?
~ Tellihim 56.9 ~

Through Simple Eyes .....

 ~ Thru' Simple Eyes by David Dome  ~

How'd we ever come to this ?
Making complications from the simplest things.
The mighty power of the intellect,
Sabotaged by self importance is incorrect.

Yeah, the end of hate is in our reach!
Yeah, won't you think before you speak?

This ain't a saviour complex saving you,
G-d knows I'm not a paragon of virtue.
I see the world with simple eyes,
That it's better to judge fairly rather than to despise.

Yeah ! Can I see the good in everyone?
Yes ! In all of us that are reaching out to One.

Our redemption could be a day away.
So we'd better put our hearts in line today .

What's there to learn if I'm bitter inside ?
And what's so delicate that I feel I must hide?
What's there to stop me from connection to you?
It's just the yetzer hara but he's a liar too .

Oh ! The power of my soul is very real.
Oh ! To refine my middot and to learn how to feel .

Oh ! Let me see the world through simple eyes!
Oh! May our holiness bring wisdom to the wise!

Eliyahu HaNavi could come right now,
Don't use what you have learned to start a row .

Listen to & Purchase this track by David Dome Here !!!!

SHABBAT SHALOM !!

Hannah's Heart!

And Chana Davened ....

My heart exulteth in Ha'Shem, I have triumphed through Ha'Shem; I gloat over mine enemies because I rejoice with Simchah in Thy deliverance.

There is none kadosh like Ha'Shem;  for there is none besides Thee;  neither is there any Tzur like my  G*d

Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy cross thy lips; for Ha'Shem is a G*d of knowledge, and by Him actions are measured.

The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. Men once sated have hired out themselves for bread; and men that were hungry have ceased to hunger;  while the barren hath borne seven,  she that had many children is forlorn & withers in grief.

Ha'Shem deals death, and maketh alive; He bringeth down to Sheol, and raiseth up high. Hashem maketh poor and maketh rich; He bringeth low, He also lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, He lifteth up the needy from the dung-hill, to make them sit with Princes, and inherit seats of honour;  for the pillars of the earth belong to Hashem, and He hath set the world upon them.  He is shomer over the feet of His chasidim,  and the resha'im shall be silenced in darkness; for not by strength shall man prevail.

They that strive with Ha'Shem shall be broken to pieces; shattered; Out of Shamayim shall He thunder in the heavens;  Ha'Shem will judge the ends of the earth; and He will give strength unto His Melech,  and triumph to His Moshiach.

Adon Olam!

Lord of the Universe who reigned

before the birth of any thing ~

When by His will all things were made

then was His name proclaimed 'King'.

And when all things shall cease to be

He alone shall reign in Awe

He was,  He is & He shall be

Glorious Evermore.

He is One,  there is none else,

alone, unique, beyond compare,

Without beginning, without end.

His might, His rule are everywhere.

He is my G*d, the Infinite One

He is the refuge on whom I rely

my advocate, my safe retreat

my cup, my comfort when I cry.

Into his hand my soul I place

when I wake & when I sleep

Ha'Shem is with me, I shall not fear

My body & soul from harm He'll keep!