A Sorrowful Sea ....

 ~ Be like the Ocean waves breaking against the Obstacles .....
 Seeking the Strength to Start again  ~
 
Happy is she whose transgression is forgiven, whose Sin is Pardoned.
Happy is she in whom Ha'Shem ascribes no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no trickery.
When I kept silence, my bones decayed through my groaning all the day long.
For day and night Your hand is heavy upon me .....
My freshness waned as in the droughts of summer.

I acknowledged my sin to You, and my guilt have I not hid, 
I said ..... 'I will make confession concerning my transgressions to Ha'Shem and You, 
You forgave the iniquity of my sin, forever.
For this let every pious person pray to You at the time that You may be found, 
Surely, when the great waters overflow, they will not reach her.
You are a shelter for me, You are my hiding-place, You will preserve me from distress, 
With songs of deliverance You will surround me.

'I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go,
 I will give counsel, My eye is on you.'
Do not be like a horse, or like a mule, which have no understanding,
Whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, that they will not come near you.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked,  but she that trusts in Ha'Shem,  Mercy surrounds her.
Rejoice with Ha'Shem and exult, You righteous, and cause all those of upright hearts to Shout for joy,
All that are straight-hearted.

Sukkot in the Synagogue ....

“When a person comes to dwell in the shade of the Sukkah, which is the shade of Emuna, the Divine Presence spreads Her wings over him from above” ~  The Zohar~

This week we celebrate Sukkot ~ one of the three festivals on which we Jews were commanded to make pilgrimage to Ha'Shems Holy Temple in Y'rushalayim.   The Chag lasts seven days.   The Hebrew word Sukkōt is the plural of Sukkah, "booth or tabernacle",  really a kind of 'hut' which is a walled structure covered with Skhakh (plant material such as leafy tree overgrowth or palm leaves).  The Sukkah is intended as a reminiscence of the type of fragile dwellings in which our ancestors dwelt during their 40 years of travel in the desert following the Exodus from slavery in Egypt. Throughout the holiday, meals are eaten inside the Sukkah and it is a mitzvah to sleep there as well.

The first message of Sukkot is that nature and the outside world - the smells and sights and sounds of the universe - are as central to Judaism as anything that goes on inside our heads.  Ha'Shem, Master of the Universe has created it all for our succour & pleasure.  The second message tells us that possessions mean nothing.  The third message of Sukkot is that our Saftey ~ from the weather to wild animals ~  is in the hand of Ha'Shem and the presence in our lives of the Shekinah,  not in the absence of danger.  And finally the fourth message of Sukkot is that in addition to the natural world's centrality, and human being's ultimate vulnerability, Ha'shems  focal point for favour in our lives is the Land of Israel. His Homeland for His Precious People,  Israel.  Our Birthright. Our Gift as an everlasting possession.

"And Ha'Shem spoke to Moshe saying .... Speak to the Children of Israel and tell them, the 15th day of this seventh month shall be the Festival of Sukkot ~ seven days for Ha'Shem ... On the first day, it is a holy occasion,  you shall not perform any work of labour.  For seven days, you shall present a fire offering to Ha'Shem ... On the eighth day, it shall be a holy occasion for you, and you shall bring a fire offering to Ha'Shem. It is a day of]detention.  You shall not perform any work of labour. These are G-d's appointed holy days that you shall designate them as holy occasions, on which to offer up a fire offering to Ha'Shem, burnt offering and meal offering, sacrifice and libations, the requirement of each day on its day,  apart from Ha'Shems Shabbat, and apart from your gifts, and apart from all your vows, and apart from all your donations that you give to Ha'Shem.   On the first day, you shall take for yourself a fruit of the citron tree (etrog), a palm frond (lulav), myrtle branches (hadas) and willows (aravah). You shall rejoice before Ha'Shem,  your G-d for seven days.  During these seven days each year, you shall celebrate to G-d. It is an eternal law for all generations that you celebrate in the seventh month. During these seven days you must live in thatched huts. All Israelites must live in thatched huts. This is so that your future generations will know that I caused Israel to live in huts when I brought them out of Egypt. I am Ha'Shem your G-d.  And Moshe told B'nei Yisroel these laws of Ha'Shems appointed Holy days.   ~ Vayikra  23:33-44 ~

 Three times a year you shall appear before Ha'Shem, your G-d, in the place that He will choose, on the Festival of Matzah, the Festival of Shavuot and the Festival of Sukkot.  ~ Devarim 16:16 ~

And those who suffered shall increase their joy in Ha'Shem, and the impoverished people shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.   ~ Isaiah 29.19 ~ 

 And Sukkot leads to the Joyous festivals of Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah  which shall be celebrated following this Shabbat.    Sunday is Hoshanah Rabah then Shemini Atzeret which begins the davening for rain,  officially launching the Mediterranean rainy season.   And Simchat Torah is Simply our Joy in Torah.  And Torah Living.  The focal point of Simchat Torah is the hakafot procession, in which we march, sing and dance with the Torah scrolls around the Bimah in the Synagogue.  The hakafot are done twice, on the night and morning of Simchat Torah, and Everyone receives an aliyah on Simchat Torah, even the children, B"H!

G'mar Chatimah Tova!!

It is Erev Yom Ha'Kippurim & time is advancing rapidly, so G'mar Chatimah Tovah Le Kulam!!

We shall ascribe holiness to this day.
For it is awesome and terrible.
Your kingship is exalted upon it.
Your throne is established in mercy.
You are enthroned upon it in truth.
In truth You are the judge,
The exhorter, the all ~ knowing,  the witness,
He who inscribes and seals,
Remembering all that is forgotten.
You open the book of remembrance
Which proclaims itself,
And the seal of each person is there.
The great shofar is sounded,
A still small voice is heard.
The angels are dismayed,
They are seized by fear and trembling
As they proclaim ...  Behold the Day of Judgment!

For all the hosts of heaven are brought for judgment.
They shall not be guiltless in Your eyes
And all creatures shall parade before You as a troop.
As a shepherd herds his flock,
Causing his sheep to pass beneath his staff,
So do You cause to pass, count, and record,
Visiting the souls of all living,
Decreeing the length of their days,
Inscribing their judgment.
On Rosh Ha'Shanah it is inscribed,
And on Yom Kippur it is sealed.

How many shall pass away and how many shall be born,
Who shall live and who shall die,
Who shall reach the end of his days and who shall not,
Who shall perish by water and who by fire,
Who by sword and who by wild beast,
Who by famine and who by thirst,
Who by earthquake and who by plague,
Who by strangulation and who by stoning,
Who shall have rest and who shall wander,
Who shall be at peace and who shall be pursued,
Who shall be at rest and who shall be tormented,
Who shall be exalted and who shall be brought low,
Who shall become rich and who shall be impoverished.
But T'shuva, Tzedaka,  Tefillos and Righteousness avert the severe decree.

"For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you, from All your sins shall ye be clean before Ha'Shem".  ~ Vayikra 16:30 ~

Peridot ....

Return, O Israel, to Ha'Shem your G*d,
For you have fallen in your iniquity.
Take words with you
And return to Ha'Shem.
Say to Him
"Forgive all guilt
And accept what is good,
Instead of bulls we will pay
The offering of our lips.
Asshur shall not save us,
No more will we ride on steeds,
Nor ever again will we call
Our handiwork our g*d,
Since in You alone orphans find mercy!"

I will heal their affliction,
Generously will I take them back in love,
For My anger has turned away from them.

I will be to Israel like dew,
She shall blossom like the lily,
It shall strike it's root like the Lebanon.
It's boughs shall spread out far,
It's beauty shall be like the olive tree's.
It's fragrance like that of Lebanon.
They who sit in it's shade shall return,
They shall be revived like corn,
They shall blossom like the vine,
It's scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim shall say ....
"What more have I do do with idols?
When I respond and look to Him,
I become like a verdant cypress"
From Me your fruit is found.

He who is wise will consider these words.
He who is prudent will take note of them,
Be discerning & know them.
For the paths of Ha'Shem are smooth,
And the righteous shall walk in them,
And the rebellious stumble on them.

Eikev .....

My lesson will drip like rain, my speech will distil as the dew,  like storm showers on vegetation and like raindrops on grass. 
~ D'varim 32:1 ~ 

So says Ha'Shem .... 
 On the day that I will have cleansed you from all your iniquities,  

I will cause the cities to be settled, and the ruins shall be built up. 

And the desolate land shall be worked, instead of its lying desolate in the sight of all that pass by. 

 And they shall say .....

 'This land that was desolate has become like Gan Edhen, 

and the cities that were destroyed and desolate and pulled down have become settled as fortified cities.' 

 And the nations that are left round about you shall know that I, Ha'Shem, 

have built up the ruined places and have planted the desolate ones,  

I, Ha'Shem, have spoken,  and I will perform it.
 ~ Yechezkel 36.33-36 ~

  For so says Ha'Shem .... 

"Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, 

Prosperity like a stream, 

The wealth of nations like a wadi in flood, 

And you shall drink of it.

You shall be carried on shoulders , and on knees you shall be dandled.   

As a mother comforts her son So I will comfort you, 

You shall find comfort in Y'rushalayim. 

 And you shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, 

and your bones shall bloom like grass, 

The power of Ha'Shem shall be revealed In behalf of His servants, 

But He shall rage against His foes.
~ Yeshayahu 66.12-14~

Shabbat Chazon ...

An Article I read yesterday on one of my regular website reads  The Jewish Woman Website (Chabad)   touched me. In fact touched me deeply in these preparation days for Tish B'Av that I am reproducing it herein on my blog, rather than just producing a one off link to any of my social webpages.  It will touch you too,  at least that is my hope in including it here  ..... 

"Judaism is replete with examples of the power of sight. In Jewish Law, there is a general rule that one who witnesses an act cannot be a judge regarding it. For example, if you witness a man roughly grab a wallet out of someone's hand and run away, you cannot later be a judge between these two individuals in court. Now that you have seen what looked like a robbery, you cannot objectively hear any testimony regarding what happened. You can only serve as a witness identifying the man who grabbed the wallet. This is because once we see something we are convinced of its reality - so much so that even testimony from several witnesses that the man was in fact only recovering a wallet that had been stolen from him moments before will not change the fact that your eyes saw a robbery.  

The power of sight is also reflected in the metaphors for love used throughout the Bible. When an especially close, loving relationship between G‑d and the Jewish people is spoken of, it is described as G‑d's eyes being directed towards us, or towards the Land of Israel and those who live there. The metaphor is also used to describe the deepest, most intense love between two people - expressed as gazing into one another's eyes.

The power of sight is also reflected in two "events" which coincide with one another this Shabbat.

This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Chazon. One reason is that this week's Haftorah (the selection from Prophets read after the Torah portion) relates a vision ("chazon" in Hebrew) seen by Isaiah. It's a vision of the destruction that will come to Jerusalem, and is one of the three Haftorahs of rebuke. Yet, another reason stems from the vision that is shown to each of us on this Shabbat - the vision of the rebirth that is destined to follow the destruction prophesied by Isaiah.

This is also the Shabbat that precedes the 9th of Menachem Av, (Tisha B'av) when we fast in remembrance of the destruction of both Temples. Yet this Shabbat, as we read the Torah portion, every Jew is granted a vision of the Third Temple which will be built (G‑d Willing speedily and soon) in Jerusalem.

The purpose of the vision is much deeper than merely comforting us with the promise of future redemption. In fact, that is the focus of the four Shabbats after Tisha B'Av. The point of the vision which we see on Shabbat Chazon is to inspire a change so fundamental that we will turn that vision of the Third Temple into actual physical reality.

The idea of visualization as a catalyst towards making that vision a reality is not foreign to us. From mock job interviews to "self-help" books, the "fake it so you can make it" message has permeated our culture. But as a tool for change, does it really work? Wouldn't any relaxation technique, or a good pep talk, be just as helpful before approaching a new challenge as seeing it through the eyes of one who has already achieved it? 

Yet there is a real advantage to this. When you visualize a new reality, you internalize it in a way that merely thinking or talking about it won't accomplish. It becomes something that you know, that you can relate to and understand. A good storyteller understands this, and will use words to paint a picture that the reader can see, and in some cases cannot resist seeing, himself. It's the ability to create visualization that makes the story something that remains a part of us.

This Shabbat, G‑d takes advantage, so to speak, of this very aspect of human nature: that what we see, even if only with our mind's eye, lingers with us and affects us so intensely. He shows us a vision of the future He is waiting to give us, and the vision itself becomes the tool with which we make this world ready to actualize it.

The concepts behind this are twofold; on the one hand, the vision of the future is meant to spark within us a desire and longing for seeing that future become our present reality. On the other hand, because it is something which our soul sees, the fact that it actually exists is immediately internalized and becomes a part of us. So we are simultaneously longing for something that is distant from us, and yet inspired by and at peace with something whose presence we can sense within us, something we can relate to completely.

The result is that a person is not only able to change; he is entirely unable to remain stagnant. Each of us is forced to move forward in improving our behavior, and it is simply second nature to do so. Moreover, the changes inspired by this Shabbat become permanent.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe emphasized that any and every individual can access this power for change in a tangible way by meditating this Shabbat on what our soul will see, a vision of a House which will fuse the upper and lower worlds, spiritual and physical reality, in permanent union.

The particular dynamic of this Shabbat - that we receive a Divine Inspiration in the form of this glimpse of the Temple, and the effort on our part to visualize in our minds and to meditate on what our soul is seeing, mirrors the three Temples themselves.

The First Temple was filled with a more powerful Divine light than the Second Temple. The miracles associated with it are of a much more other-worldly nature. Yet at the same time, our Sages tell us that when it was built G‑d felt a certain anger towards us. We weren't taking care of the things we needed to take care of, and we weren't really ready for the Temple and its revelations. It was eventually destroyed.

The First Temple was built on Divine command and assistance. The Second Temple was constructed at the orders of a human being. The level of revelation associated with it, and the accompanying miracles, were far less intense. Yet, precisely because it came to be built through human efforts and on human initiative, it had a greater impact on this world. It was larger than the first Temple, taking up more of this world in terms of space, and it lasted longer, occupying this world for a greater length of time.

The Third Temple, like the Shabbat on which we are shown its image, combines the strengths of both the first and second Temples. It combines the Divine revelation, an inspiration from Above, along with human effort, an inspiration from below, to create a permanent home for G‑dliness. Thus is the lesson and inspiration of this Shabbat. We are given a Divinely revealed vision which we must combine with human efforts to permanently alter the world we live in, and, even more challenging, ourselves".


The Original Article by Chana Kroll is published here .... Make It Real.
The Artist is Alex Levin & his website is here .... Alex Levin's (Artist)

Shiva Asar B'Tammuz ....

What shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Y'rushalayim?  What shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O maiden of Tsion?  For thy breach is great like the sea, who can heal thee?

~ Eichah 2.13 ~ 

Although today, Sunday, is the 18th of Tammuz in the Hebrew calendar,  Jews the world over fast and lament today  (because the 17th fell yesterday on Shabbat, and we don't fast on Shabbat),  to  commemorate the many calamities that have befallen our people on this ominous day.   The purpose of such fasts is, according to Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov's Book of Our Heritage, "to awaken hearts towards t'shuva through recalling our forefathers' misdeeds, misdeeds which led to calamities...".  

The 17th of Tammuz is a historically tragic day for the Jewish people and the fast actually commemorates five tragic events that occurred on this date: ~

Moshe descended Mount Sinai on this day and, upon seeing the Golden Calf broke the first set of Tablets of the Testimony ~ the luchos ~  (Shemot 32:19, Mishna Taanit 28b).

The Kohanim in the First Temple stopped offering the daily sacrifice on this day (Taanit 28b) due to the shortage of sheep during the siege and the next year 3184 (586 BCE), the walls of Jerusalem were breached after many months of siege by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces.  The destruction of the First Holy Temple by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces followed.

In Melachim II 21:7 we find that King Menashe, one of the worst of the Jewish kings and a Rasha, had an idol placed in the Holy Sanctuary of the Temple, according to tradition on this date.  The Talmud, in Masechet Taanit 28b, says that in the time of the Roman persecution, Apostomos, captain of the occupation forces, did the same thing, and publicly burned the Torah  ~ both acts considered blasphemy and desecration. These were followed by Titus and Rome breaching the walls of Jerusalem in 3760 (70 CE) and three weeks later, after the Jews put up a valiant struggle, the Romans destroyed the second Holy Temple on the 9th of Av,("Tisha B'Av").  The Jerusalem Talmud maintains that this is also the date when the Babylonians breached the walls of Jerusalem on their way to destroying the first Temple.

Pope Gregory IX ordering the confiscation of all manuscripts of the Talmud in 4999 (1239).

But, you know,  this day continued to be a dark one for Jews.  In 1391, more than 4,000 Jews were killed in Toledo and Jaen, Spain,  and in 4319 (1559) the Jewish Quarter of Prague was burned and looted.  

The Kovno ghetto was liquidated on this day in 5704 (1944) and in 5730 (1970) Libya ordered the confiscation of Jewish property.   And I have heard somewhere too that the first mass gassings of millions of Jews ~ the first event of the 'Final Solution' ~ took place on this date in 1942.

Other occurrences on this day include Noach sending out the first dove to see if the Flood waters had receded, (Bereishit 8:8) in 1650 (2100 BCE).  Moshe Rabbeinu destroying the golden calf, (Shemot 32:20, Seder Olam 6, Taanit 30b - Rashi) and then ascending back up Har Sinai for the second time where he spent the next forty days pleading for forgiveness for the sin of the golden calf, (Shemot 33:11, Rashi).  

Agonizing over these events is to help us conquer those spiritual deficiencies which brought about these tragic events to our nation. Through the process of "T'shuva" we have the power to transform this tragedy into joy.  Our Sages stated explicitly (Ta'anis 30b)  "All who mourn over (the destruction of) Jerusalem merit to see her in her joy."    We are assured that if we properly appreciate the enormity of our loss, we merit to share in the joy of seeing Jerusalem re-established in all her glory, B"H. 

Have a meaningful fast and may we all merit to see the rebuilding of the Beit Ha'Mikdash in our days!