Gd's With Us and Waiting for Our Teshuva, Repentance

This wonderful story is inspiring. It's never too late. And we really don't know what's happening in the life and heart of other people.



Here's an all time favorite of mine. I think it's the one I chose to walk down the aisle at my wedding almost half a century ago.

Shabbat Shalom and Shanah Tovah

Harvey and Irma Pre-Rosh Hashana Reminder

Yesterday I had a wonderful time in Matan, Jerusalem, preparing my soul for the spiritual aspect of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. And I have many friends who have already begun cooking and freezing food for the holiday meals.

It's difficult to believe that there are many Jews, and of course millions of others, who may not even know where they will be for the holidays. They've been forced from their homes by two catastrophic storms, Harvey and Irma.

The ramifications of Harvey on Texas have yet to be calculated, and people are fleeing their homes in Florida, as I write this.

In just two weeks it will already be Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish Year, a two day holiday, which this year is "extended" to three, since there's no break before Shabbat.

The month leading to Rosh Hashana is Elul, when we are supposed to do Teshuva, which is more than repentance. We're supposed to carefully think of our past year and how we should do better in our relationship to Gd and our fellow man.

As the many millions of people who live in the areas of the American south, who have been and are being affected by Harvey and Irma know much too well, Gd who controls the weather is most powerful.  The powers of man are ridiculously puny in comparison.

Rosh Hashanah Memories and Prayers

• What is Rosh Hashanah for you?
• What are your favorite and first memories of Rosh Hashanah?

My very first memories of, what must have been, Rosh Hashanah were of being in a great big tent with my father. The tent was set up, according to my memory, in a parking lot in Windsor Park, the garden apartment complex just west of Bell Park Gardens, Bayside, New York, where we lived from the time I was an infant until the summer I was thirteen. I had to have been either two or three years old at the time. I remember that these were Jewish Prayers, and my father stood me on the folding chair. My guess is that I was stood on the chair to hear/see the shofar blowing on Rosh Hashanah. 

In subsequent years, we went to the newly built Oakland Jewish Center, which was our synagogue until we moved to Great Neck. As I've always understood it, that tent was erected before there was a building by those who founded the shul. In the ten years or so we were members, it expanded a couple of times. In its heydays of the late 1950's and early 1960's it was popular and constantly growing. Later on the the membership began to decline, and it finally closed its doors the summer of 2013. The remaining members joined the Little Neck Jewish Center a few miles to the east. Davka, in the final years we were in Bayside, OJC had a tent in its parking lot for the "Junior Congregation" to pray in on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In those days, our Conservative shul did not permit driving on Shabbat and Jewish Holidays. Also all members lived nearby, within walking distance. Besides the seating, mixed versus separate, there were hardly any differences between the Jewish observances in Conservative and Orthodox synagogues. 

I have strong memories of the shofar being blown. It used to be the dominant sound of Rosh Hashanah for me. But in recent years, I find the prayers, when we all sing/pray together to truly stand out in my mind. 

I've photographed from this very old Rosh Hashanah Machzor- Prayerbook 

Here in my local Shiloh shul, Noam Yonatan, Ramat Shmuel, most of us join in singing/praying loudly. There is no operatic-style chazan demanding his solitary stage. Men and women, sitting separately of course, pray rather vocally, which I love. 

We pray, beg, demand of Gd that we all be inscribed in the BOOK OF LIFE. Yes, there is shouting when we reach that line. We all know how unexpectedly death can Gd for bid come to those young and old. 

And as you can see, we pray in the plural. We pray for all the Jewish people, not just for ourselves and our loved ones. That is also something I truly treasure about Judaism, the plural in our prayers. 

May Gd accept our prayers and forgive our sins.

שנה טובה

גמר חתימה טובה

SHANAH TOVAH

GMAR CHATIMA TOVAH

Yom Kippur Trumps Fashion Events

Not just the legendary Sandy Koufax considers Yom Kippur more important than a high status job appearance.

But Koufax’s decision instantly transformed him into an icon for Jewish sports fans. Even now, a half-century later and despite the fact that he wasn’t actually too observant, Koufax remains one of the American athletes most closely associated with his faith. (TIME)

I was surprised to find two articles in the International New York Times which were summarized in Algemeiner:Top Jewish Fashion Industry Figures Skip Milan Fashion Opening Over Conflict With Yom Kippur. A positive who's who in fashion missed Yom kippur and also Rosh Hashana designer grand openings.

The calendar clash between fashion week and Yom Kippur, the most important and spiritual day in the Jewish year, which began Tuesday at sundown, left a number of boldface editors and retailers missing from the front row. The international Vogue editor, Suzy Menkes, was not there. Neither was the editor in chief of InStyle magazine, Ariel Foxman, nor Jim Gold, the chief merchandising officer and president of Neiman Marcus. Also absent were Joan Burstein, the founder of the Browns boutique in London, and Carla Sozzani, the gallerist and 10 Corso Como queen, who opted out in acknowledgment of the importance of the day. NY Times

From left, the editors Ariel Foxman, Suzy Menkes and Cindi Leive.Credit From left, Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images, Jacques Brinon, via Associated Press, Earl Wilson for The New York Times

Gucci glasses were oversize
 ’70s shape combined with rhinestones
 and flowers from '50s. 
Credit:Valerio Mezzanotti 
for The New York Times

VANESSA FRIEDMAN: "Know this: I did not see the Gucci spring 2016 collection on the runway. Because of the clash with Yom Kippur, when the collection appeared on the runway (and was live streamed, for that matter), I was in a different place entirely."  NY Times

So, how accepted is it for ordinary Jews to take off for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana nowadays?

I have no doubt that it must be more difficult for someone who only observes Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana than it is for those who have made it clear from day one at a job that they observe all of the Jewish Holidays, and even must leave work early on Fridays when Shabbat begins early.

I am glad that Koufax's legendary decision is still celebrated by American Jews and baseball fans all over the world. This year was the fifty year mark, and there were many articles about it. In none of the articles was there even a hint that was religiously observant or had ever made an issue of the Jewish Holy Day besides that time.

And I am very pleased that the International New York Times, not the most Jewish-friendly publication, devoted over half a page the story of the fashions leaders and reporters who favored Yom Kippur, Jewish observance, over one of the highlights of the high fashion calendar.

Just before Yom Kippur, I read an article in the Forward about Donald Trump's expecting another Jewish grandchild from his daughter Ivanka who had converted by an Orthodox Jewish Beit Din. She makes a point of letting people know that she and her family do live as observant Jews:

Trump doesn’t often speak about her family’s religious activities, but in a candid Vogue interview in February she confided that the family keeps kosher and observes the Sabbath, even turning off their phone for 25 hours.
“I always shied away from it being a public conversation because it’s such a personal thing. We’re pretty observant, more than some, less than others. I just feel like it’s such an intimate thing for us. It’s been such a great life decision for me. I am very modern, but I’m also a very traditional person, and I think that’s an interesting juxtaposition in how I was raised as well. I really find that with Judaism, it creates an amazing blueprint for family connectivity.”

Read more: http://forward.com/the-assimilator/321463/make-trump-a-zeyde-again/#ixzz3ms69IFEE

I don't remember important/famous people being so public about keeping Shabbat and Jewish Holidays when I was growing up, and that, no doubt, is why the Sandy Koufax decision not to play in the World Series on Yom Kippur was so newsworthy then and still resonates.

It's one thing when school districts closed for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, because without the Jewish teaching staff the schools couldn't function. But here we're hearing of an "elite" not shying away from saying that Yom Kippur, and Shabbat for Ivanka Trump and family, are more important than their jobs. And for the New York Times to devote a good couple of column inches to it is sure a nice spiritual boost for the New Jewish Year of 5776.

Rosh Hashanah, Not The New Years I Grew Up With

this year's "fruit head"
"May we be a head, not a tail." 

Yesterday, on Shabbat, I was at my usual shiur nashim, Women's Torah lesson, and the young man teaching us somehow got us to talking about the differences between Rosh Hashannah, the beginning of the Jewish Year, which starts actually in a few hours, and the New Year's celebrations I grew up with.

I can't say for sure that every American family of my generation was the same or that things have remained on the same keel until now, but I don't remember the secular New Year's as a family holiday. My parents sometimes entertained on New Year's Eve, but we kids weren't invited. we had to stay in a different part of the house and go to bed even early. The next day on the news we'd see celebrations from the night before. Well into my teens I did go on New Year's Eve dates a couple of times, but the partying seemed rather mechanical to me. At least for me it was more about imitating the party spirit. I sure didn't feel like it was anything special.

Even though my family as pretty assimilated, I do remember Rosh Hashanah being celebrated with some Jewish customs. We had a traditional meal with challah, honey, chicken soup and whatever else my mother considered as proper for Rosh Hashanah. I don't remember my father ever making kiddush, but I think they did serve some sweet red kiddush wine. We also went to our local shul and heard the shofar. I probably spent more time in shul than anyone else in the family, since I always enjoyed it and felt connected to what was happening. I guess it wasn't all that great a surprise when later on I did become Torah observant.

One of my earliest, if not the earliest Jewish themed memory is going with my father to Rosh Hashana prayers in a big tent in a parking lot of the Windsor Park garden apartments just west of Bell Park Gardens, Bayside, NY, where we lived when I was a child. I can still picture myself standing on the brown folding chair to see better. That was most probably the forerunner of the Oakland Jewish Center, before it had a proper building. Our section of Bayside was full of young Jewish families who, although may not have been all that religiously observant, but they wanted a synagogue that would be sufficiently traditional in which they'd feel comfortably Jewish. OJC was affiliated with United Synagogue Conservative Judaism.

Jewish Holidays, including Rosh Hashanah always have family friendly aspects, special food and child friendly prayers like the Shofar, ram's horn, which is blown in a specific way. Purim, Passover, Succot, Simchat Torah and Shavuot also are celebrated in a family inclusive fashion.

The season of the Jewish New Year begins a month before Rosh Hashanah, when we are supposed to begin repenting and thinking of what we did wrong in our observance of Judaism and behavior towards others, and how to do it better. Jewish News Year's resolutions are in the spiritual realm, not focusing just on things like "lose weight" and "get a better job."

Rosh Hashanah is a holiday for the entire Jewish Nation, and may this next year, 5776 be an absolutely wonderful one for all of us.

Good Health, Blessings, Joyous Events and Geula Shleimah, Complete Redemption!

Magic in Judaism, Transformation

Judaism offers something few if any other religion does. It's the opportunity to do magic, to transform ourselves aka תשובה Teshuva, Repentance. 

תשובה Teshuva, Repentance can actually be done any time, but this is the season when we are all reminded that Gd makes a special accounting of our sins and mitzvot, the Gd given Torah Commandments. By Rosh Hashanah, 5776, which is just over a week, we should be on our way to complete repentance. Ten days later on Yom Kippur, Gd makes His decisions for every single one of us.

Chabad

Maimonides on Repentance"What constitutes complete repentance? He who is confronted by the identical situation wherein he previously sinned and it lies within his power to commit the sin again, but he nevertheless does not succumb because he wishes to repent, and not because he is too fearful or weak [to repeat the sin]. How so? If he had relations with a woman forbidden to him and he is subsequently alone with her, still in the throes of his passion for her, and his virility is unabated, and [they are] in the same place where they previously sinned; if he abstains and does not sin, this is a true penitent" (Mishneh Torah, "Laws of Teshuva," 2:1). (Jewish Virtual Library)

Teshuva can also be described as a transformation, because Gd permits and accepts us as a new person, cleansed of sin. We can resume our life transformed into a better person, a better Jew.

שתהיה שנה יותר טובה! May 5775 be a Better Year

fruit head, 5774

G-d willing the new year, 5775, which is starting in just a few hours will be a better year than 5774 was. As a much needed buffer between the two, I'm really looking forward to our rare three day holiday, two days of Rosh Hashannah immediately followed by Shabbat. That means three days without the news, no telephones, television, computers, internet etc. For news junkies, bloggers, pundits etc, this can be pure suffering, like a drug addict going "cold turkey," but just like I don't suffer "caffeine headaches" when fasting, I don't miss the lack of news on Shabbat and Jewish Holidays.

It's not the food that comforts me and takes my mind off of "boredom." I just love to get into the Holiday spirit, the routine of Jewish Traditions, hosting and being hosted, being mesmerized by the sounds of the Prayers floating up to my front-row Ezrat Nashim, Women's Gallery seat. I let the sounds of the shofar enter my body and soul shaking me to my core. I know that G-d is in charge. He is our true ruler, not the politicians, Supreme Court Justices nor government clerks.



In all honesty, I'm terribly troubled by many things happening in the State of Israel. I'm definitely not happy with the lack of true Jewish values and standards. Democracy isn't a Jewish value. It's the rule of a "privileged mob," which does sound very much like an oxymoron. How could the "privileged" be a mob? But this is the case here in Israel.

We have a "Supreme Court" staffed by appointed "self-appointed" justices who consider themselves above the law. They define/interpret the law according to their beliefs. They aren't elected by the people; they elect their successors to perpetuate their Leftist foreign (non-Jewish) ideology. Their "fellow travelers" control the universities and media. Over the decades even before the establishment of the State of Israel they have been systematically controlling and brainwashing the State of Israel and its citizens.

The Israeli Left has declared Israel as a "democratic state" rather than a Jewish state and have made the establishment of an additional Arab state "Palestine" sic as a primary aim. Although they control crucial aspects of the country, they are actually a minority of the population.

That's where the big conflict here is beginning to bubble and come to a head. Most Israelis are not happy with the present state of affairs, the fact that the Left dominates so many powerful government bodies.

With G-d's Help, at some point soon there will be a major change for the good in the State of Israel.

Yesterday when it was announced that the ringleaders of the kidnap-murder of the three teenage boys, Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Sha'ar and Naftali Frenkel, the families expressed satisfaction that the Arab terrorists wouldn't have opportunities to bask in fame, smiling and smirking for the cameras in court and then being released in exchange for other victims. Their deaths were a bittersweet relief. Since the boys can't be brought back to life, at least their murderers are dead.

True Teshuva, repentance and change take a very long time. We can't expect instant improvement. We each have a role to play, and our first target for Teshuva must be ourselves. May we have the strength and wisdom, wisdom, strength and good health to do everything in our power to make things better including ourselves, G-d willing.

שתהיה שנה יותר טובה! May 5775 be a Better Year

Rosh Hashannah Torah Reading, Akeidat Yitzchak, The "Sacrifice" sic of Isaac, Another Look

Last Shabbat I attended a women's class, שיעור נשים Shiur Nashim, led by Rachel Sella, a neighbor of mine.  Unfortunately I got there a bit late and missed the beginning.  They were discussing Akeidat Yitzchak, which is translated as  The "Sacrifice" sic of Isaac.  My mind went spinning, inspired.  The following thoughts are my own though Rachel sent me on this track, she didn't say what I'm now writing.

I personally don't like that translation. Isaac lived; he didn't die.  The story of the עקידה Akeida aka עקידת יצחק or  "Sacrifice" sic of Isaac, Bereishit, Genesis 22 is what is read on Rosh Hashanah.

ז  וַיֹּאמֶר יִצְחָק אֶל-אַבְרָהָם אָבִיו, וַיֹּאמֶר אָבִי, וַיֹּאמֶר, הִנֶּנִּי בְנִי; וַיֹּאמֶר, הִנֵּה הָאֵשׁ וְהָעֵצִים, וְאַיֵּה הַשֶּׂה, לְעֹלָה.	7 And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said: 'My father.' And he said: 'Here am I, my son.' And he said: 'Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?'
ח  וַיֹּאמֶר, אַבְרָהָם, אֱלֹהִים יִרְאֶה-לּוֹ הַשֶּׂה לְעֹלָה, בְּנִי; וַיֵּלְכוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם, יַחְדָּו.	8 And Abraham said: 'God will provide* Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.' So they went both of them together.
ט  וַיָּבֹאוּ, אֶל-הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אָמַר-לוֹ הָאֱלֹהִים, וַיִּבֶן שָׁם אַבְרָהָם אֶת-הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, וַיַּעֲרֹךְ אֶת-הָעֵצִים; וַיַּעֲקֹד, אֶת-יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ, וַיָּשֶׂם אֹתוֹ עַל-הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, מִמַּעַל לָעֵצִים.	9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
י  וַיִּשְׁלַח אַבְרָהָם אֶת-יָדוֹ, וַיִּקַּח אֶת-הַמַּאֲכֶלֶת, לִשְׁחֹט, אֶת-בְּנוֹ.	10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
יא  וַיִּקְרָא אֵלָיו מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה, מִן-הַשָּׁמַיִם, וַיֹּאמֶר, אַבְרָהָם אַבְרָהָם; וַיֹּאמֶר, הִנֵּנִי.	11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said: 'Abraham, Abraham.' And he said: 'Here am I.'
יב  וַיֹּאמֶר, אַל-תִּשְׁלַח יָדְךָ אֶל-הַנַּעַר, וְאַל-תַּעַשׂ לוֹ, מְאוּמָה:  כִּי עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי, כִּי-יְרֵא אֱלֹהִים אַתָּה, וְלֹא חָשַׂכְתָּ אֶת-בִּנְךָ אֶת-יְחִידְךָ, מִמֶּנִּי.	12 And he said: 'Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him; for now I know that thou art a God-fearing man, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me.'
יג  וַיִּשָּׂא אַבְרָהָם אֶת-עֵינָיו, וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה-אַיִל, אַחַר, נֶאֱחַז בַּסְּבַךְ בְּקַרְנָיו; וַיֵּלֶךְ אַבְרָהָם וַיִּקַּח אֶת-הָאַיִל, וַיַּעֲלֵהוּ לְעֹלָה תַּחַת בְּנוֹ.	13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son.
יד  וַיִּקְרָא אַבְרָהָם שֵׁם-הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא, יְהוָה יִרְאֶה, אֲשֶׁר יֵאָמֵר הַיּוֹם, בְּהַר יְהוָה יֵרָאֶה.	14 And Abraham called the name of that place Adonai-jireh; as it is said to this day: 'In the mount where the LORD is seen.'

It's no secret that Yitzchak (Isaac) wasn't sacrificed, killed and I also can't stand when people refer to him as a young boy when he was a grown man in his thirties.  Of course to Abraham, his younger son was a "lad;" I refer to my youngest child who is about to celebrate his thirtieth birthday as my "baby."  But Isaac was a grown man and he was the one G-d was testing.  He asked the crucial question, and Abraham gave him the answer we must learn to accept:

ח  וַיֹּאמֶר, אַבְרָהָם, אֱלֹהִים יִרְאֶה-לּוֹ הַשֶּׂה לְעֹלָה, בְּנִי; וַיֵּלְכוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם, יַחְדָּו.

8 And Abraham said: 'God will provide* Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.' So they went both of them together.

*bad translation, יִרְאֶה means "to show," as in the Torah Portion לך לך

א  וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ.

1 Now the LORD said unto Abram: 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee.

The entire  אַבְרָהָם Abraham story is about showing and seeing.  The Hebrew root of the word is ראה and those very same letters can be found in Abraham's name. 

This is the story of Isaac's acceptance of G-d and that G-d would show him how to lead and what to do.  Isaac bound himself to G-d taking on the dynastic responsibility.  I also saw this scene as parallel to when King David begged G-d to allow him to build a proper "house" for G-d.  G-d's reply was that He would do something even better for David.  David's son would build the house, the Beit Hamikdash, Holy Temple, and that would establish David's dynasty.

The Place, המקום HaMakom,  was the very same place, הר מורי'ה Har Moriah, today known as Har Habayit The Temple Mount.

Catriel Sugarman

Shannah Tovah U'Mutzlachat

May you Have a Good and Successful Year

And May We Be Speedily Redeemed and The Temple be Built

As The Rosh Hashannah Deadline Approaches...

One of my favorite bloggers, the Bima Ima, has been keeping to a Teshuva, repentance, introspection program you can follow from this chart.  I did one post based on it over a week ago and promised to post more.  So here follows...

 

17 Awaken- Consider this the Scarlett O'Hara lesson that as long as G-d as given us a very special gift, the tool of Teshuva, repentance.  "It's not over till it's over"  "Yogi" Berra.   Just because it looks like all is lost doesn't mean that we can't change and win.

18 Pray- Living here in Shiloh where Chana successfully prayed for a son to lead the Jewish people out of its leaderless anarchy, I feel very connected to G-d, more than ever before.

19 Ask G-d if it's possible.  Don't just make demands.  There is never a guarantee that G-d will grant everything we request.

20 Judge others favorable, as you would wish to be judged.  We don't know everything going on with people, so it's not wise to be harsh.

21 Change is our responsibility. We shouldn't only make demands on others.  If we succeed in changing, our perspectives of others will change in accordance.

22 Dare yourself to do something you've always feared.  That really resonates with me.  Why am I so terrified of trying to market my writing?  Why do I work at such a low-paying job when I do have many other marketable talents?

23 Love yourself, another very hard one.  Many of us were raised to be hyper-critical of ourselves.

24 End negative habits.  That's so easy to write and difficult to do.

Hachanut shel Ruti

25 Begin each day thanking G-d for giving us the chance to start afresh.

I hope to find the time to finish this before Rosh Hashannah.  If not, then I will, bli neder, finish afterwards.

Jewish Year, 5774, We Start the Year by Eating on the Fast of Gedalia

Rosh Hashanah fruit head

The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashannah starts in just a week.  It's a two day Jewish Holiday even in Israel.  It's actually the only such Holiday on the Jewish Calendar.  Jews in chutz l'Aretz, Outside the Holyland, also celebrate Succot, Shmini Atzeret-Simchat, beginning and end of Passover and Shavuot as two-day Holidays.  For us in Israel, they are one-day holidays, so we need fewer festive meals (and generous calories.)

My husband and I have been married for forty-three years.  The first year we were married coincided on the Jewish Calendar and days of the week just like this year. Two and a half months later, less than a month before Rosh Hashannah we docked at Haifa Port and began our lives as Israelis.  I'll never forget my shock and disappointment at discovering that my very first Jewish Holiday as a Jewish wife would be a "three day Rosh Hashannah."

"...but I thought that there weren't three day yoniffs in Israel!!"  I complained bitterly.

We had no family to invite us, to support system. I had hardly even cooked Shabbat meals in the two months we were married, especially since we had arrived.  I had minimal kitchen equipment in our newly renovated ancient Old City Jerusalem apartment and was still trying to figure out shopping logistics. 

All these decades later, I still feel panic when the calendar repeats the quirk.  Easy years are those when my freezer is empty and I can precook and freeze food.  But this year the freezer is too full making it rather complicated to plan a menu that will stay fresh for three days.

The third day of the Jewish Year is supposed to be a very important fast day, Tzom Gedalia, the Fast of Gedalia. 

Tzom Gedaliah (Fast of Gedaliah) is an annual fast day instituted by the Jewish Sages to commemorate the assassination of Gedaliah Ben Achikam, the Governor of Israel during the days of Nebuchadnetzar King of Babylonia. As a result of Gedaliah's death the final vestiges of Judean autonomy after the Babylonian conquest were destroyed, many thousands of Jews were slain, and the remaining Jews were driven into final exile.

Shabbat is the third day of the year, and it's forbidden to fast on Shabbat, except for Yom Kippur, the only day holier than Shabbat.  And since the tenth day of the year is Yom Kippur, an exact week after Tzom Gedalia, this week we fast on Shabbat.

This year Tzom Gedalia will be observed on Sunday.  Tzom Gedalia is one of the "minor" fast days, those when we only fast during daylight, unlike Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av which last twenty-five hours, like Shabbat.  But the Fast of Gedalia is considered a very serious fast, since the death of Gedalia is connected to the end of Jewish sovereignty in Biblical Times.

There is another aspect of the Fast of Gedaliah that relates to the Era of the Redemption. This fast was instituted because the tragic assassination of Gedaliah extinguished the last embers of Jewish sovereignty in Eretz Yisrael after the destruction of the First Beis Hamikdash.

Rosh Hashanah fruit head

Considering the state of our Israeli Government today, how our politicians kowtow to foreign ideals and leaders which endanger the continued existence of the state, I think that we should make every effort to properly commemorate the Fast of Gedalia by talking about it on the Shabbat immediately following Rosh Hashannah and fasting the following day.

That Hidden Camera...

Eagle Eye Hidden Camera

Frequently at work I come across women, teenage girls or women dressing young girls in what they presume are hidden places in the store.  I can't just ignore it. So I warn them:

"You should be aware of the fact that there are cameras all over here, and people are watching.  You're not in a private place.  We do have dressing rooms for trying on clothes."

Sometimes it stops them, and sometimes it doesn't.  But I wouldn't feel right without saying something to warn them.

I've been meaning to blog about this for the longest time.  We're in the Month of Ellul, the month of Teshuva, Repentance, when we're supposed to be extra mindful of the fact that G-d observes every act we do and every thought we think. G-d has His "security camera" observing us every second.

This morning I saw that the OU sent out an article by Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb in which he mentions this as his Parshat Shavua and Ellul message.

The Shulchan Aruch, the Jewish code of law, opens with a statement recognizing that a person's behavior, when he is alone at home, is very different from his behavior when he appears before a great king. And it urges the religious person to be aware that he is always in the presence of the great King of Kings, the all-knowing God.
But it is not only from a spiritual perspective that it is wrong to act demeaningly in private. There is a practical aspect as well to the importance of behaving properly even in secret. There always is the very real possibility that our secrets will be "leaked" and that things we were sure would never be known will become embarrassingly exposed.
I know of no place where this is conveyed more cogently than in these words of caution, to be found in Ecclesiastes (10:20):
Don't revile a king, even in your intimate thoughts.
Don't revile a rich man, even in your bedchamber;
For a bird of the air may carry the utterance,
And a winged creature may report the word.
Indeed, as our Sages say (Berachot 8b), the walls have ears.
...
But many times, we go too far and indeed split our personalities between the Dr. Jekylls of our external visible behavior and the Mr. Hydes of our inner sancta. How well advised we would be to set as an objective for ourselves the words of the Daily Prayer Book:
"A person should always be God-fearing,
privately and publicly,
acknowledging the truth and speaking it in his heart."

Only G-d sees what we really are.  G-d sees through everything.  We can't hide our faces, actions and thoughts from G-d.  That's why when we hear that someone has died we say, "Baruch Dayan Ha'emet," "Blessed is the True Judge."

It doesn't matter what costume or uniform we have worn throughout our lives. G-d sees the truth, the אמת emet.  For the longest time, I've seen the word אמת truth as אמות amute, I will die.  That is the final, ultimate truth.  Someday we will all die, whether we want to or feel ready to or wished we had died sooner.

And on that day, the day we die, G-d will make His final judgment about how we lived our lives.  Will we be rewarded or punished?

The Month of Ellul and the early days of Tishrei, Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur are our "dress rehearsals" for the big show.  Every year G-d does His accounting, the subtotal of our lives, our deeds.  It's our chance, the big reminder to wipe clean our slates, get into practice, do some good spiritual housekeeping while we still have some control.

Let's remember that there's no hiding from G-d, the All Seeing and All Knowing.  Remember that the only ones we can change are ourselves.

Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach

May You Have a Peaceful and Blessed Shabbat

Ellul the Month of Change, Transition and Teshuva, Repentance

It just hit me.  We're in the midst of the Jewish Month of Ellul, the month before Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur when we're supposed to prepare.  No, I'm not talking about cooking in advance, buying new clothes (drop in where I work) and other mundane things.  Ellul is about the spirit, our religious, moral, spiritual evolution, change, teshuva, repentance, getting closer to G-d.

I should have followed the bima ima's example.

And I can't use that the excuse that I was busy or distracted by my son's wedding and prior to that my mother's death, because nobody has been busier than the Bima Ima and family with their concerns and care for Superman Sam.

Last night I admired the full moon and said to a friend. 

"From the fullness of the moon, I can see that my son and his wife got married exactly two weeks ago."

Yes, they got married on Rosh Chodesh Ellul.  Some other family members who attended the wedding came up to them to inform them that they all share the same anniversary.  Apparently, it's a very popular wedding day.  That's where my mind has been.

And now we're less than two weeks to Rosh Hashannah the beginning of the Jewish Year, when we're supposed to work hard cleaning our souls from sin.  I'm going to quickly go through the first half of the Bima Ima's list, and bli neder* (not a vow) continue more later on, G-d willing.  I don't know if I'm doing this right, but I'll give my interpretation of what these actions mean in Ellul.  I can't do justice to these as separate blog posts, because we're more than halfway through Ellul. 

1. prepare- Prepare for both the expected and the unexpected, because G-d likes to surprise us, and sometimes the surprises aren't all that pleasant.
2. act- Act, do and not say "We would if..." We have to take what we have and make the best of it.
3. bless- Bless G-d and each other.  Make even our difficulties a blessing.  See the cup as partially full, even if it's only a quarter full.
4. accept- Accept what we can't change and don't waste energies on things we can't control.  Accept the challenge and "make lemonade."
5. know- Add to knowledge; it gives us the power of understanding and can be a comfort. 
6. do- Do, don't procrastinate.  That's a hard one for me. 
7. be- Be the best you can and accept yourself.
8. believe- Believe in G-d and His rules aka Mitzvot.
9. hear- Hear even what isn't being said in words.  G-d speaks to us in many ways.
10. see-  See G-d and blessings in everything, even though it is sometimes very difficult.
11. count- Count the good G-d has given, especially when it's hard.  And calculate the time you have, so you can fit all your responsibilities in.  Plan.
12. trust- Trust that it will all work out. Sometimes it takes a long distance to see clearly.  Yesterday I was in the museum, and we saw a picture that was so beautiful.  But then as we got close up it looked ugly.
13. forgive- Forgive people. Don't waste your energies fighting, hating and being negative.  And most important, forgive yourself.  We're not all powerful and we're not G-d.
14. remember- Remember the good; use it as a foundation for a happy life. 
15. learn- Learn something new all the time.  Don't get into a rut. 
16. change- Change is a key to Judaism. That's Teshuva, Repentance the power to change, improve ourselves.  Try small doable changes, improvements.  There's the response one says to someone who did a chessed, kind act: "Tizke (or tizki in the feminine) l'mitzvot." "May you merit more mitzvoth."  The more we change ourselves to the better, the more sincere our Teshuva," the easier it becomes to do more.

*The Erev (Eve of ) Yom Kippur prayer, Kol Nidrei is to cancel vows we shouldn't have made.  Yes, it's time to really get into "Ellul mode."

Which "New Year" is Yours?

Calendar wise, I guess I'm very schizophrenic combining both the Jewish and Christian calendars.  They both frame my life, give it structure.  I write checks and make appointments on the Christian Calendar, but I celebrate only Jewish Holidays and all family birthdays are according to the Jewish Calendar.

Having been raised in a secular Jewish family in New York, I really didn't know anything but the Christian calendar.  And yes, it should be called the that, the "Cristian Calendar."  It's based on mainstream Christian belief.  We did celebrate various, though not all, Jewish holidays, which fell when they fell according to the Jewish Calendar.  As a child, I was totally oblivious to the fact that the two calendars weren't the same.

This coming week is January 1, 2013, the first day of the next year of the Christian Calendar.

Dry Bones

The two calendars are very different, and they aren't the only calendars in the world.

To simplify:

• The Christian Calendar is solar, based on the fact that the solar year, including its four seasons,  is 365 days (and one quarter 1/4) long.  Every four years, an extra day is added to keep it on track.
• The Jewish Calendar is a lunar calendar of twelve months, which add up to less than 365 days.  So it makes up the shortfall of days by adding an extra month every few years according to a very accurate formula.

I'd say that the most crucial difference is a religious-cultural one.  I'm referring to how people of the Jewish and Christian religions celebrate their new year.

The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashannah is a very spiritual, reflective time.  It's a two day holiday of prayers and calls to wake up and repent.  The month before Rosh Hashannah is Elul, a time when we are supposed to prepare ourselves for a religious, spiritual, theological inventory of sorts.  That's what תשובה Teshuva, Repentance is all about.  And this process culminates in Yom Kippur, the final Judgement.

We need all of our faculties to do this right.  The Christian New Year is a totally different ball game.  It has evolved into mindless drunkenness and worse.  While we Jews, work hard to heighten our awareness of our sins and apologize to G-d, promising to change ourselves for the better on our New Year, a few months later, on the night of December 31, as the clock strikes midnight and it becomes January 1, people frequently are oblivious to what they are really doing.  Their senses are confused by the liquor and worse they are imbibing.  I don't understand the point of this at all.  It's not my mentality and no longer my culture.

-- Voted for Feiglin And Got Barak or The Jewish National Psychosis

Many Israeli voters are pro-Jews for Land of Israel, lots more than the numbers who voted for Ichud Le'umi, The National Union. The NU was the only political party not willing to compromise on our Jewish National Civil Rights.


Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has no pride, endangering the country to please U.S. President Obama. What's the point of restricting Jewish life?



In all honesty, what's the difference between Bibi's policies and what Tsippi Livne and Ehud Barak support?

• Why have successive Israeli Governments, whether elected as Right, Left or Center given such authority to the United States?
• Why is our government negotiating with the United States about our basic rights as an independent country?
• What is wrong with us?

Ever since I began sending out my articles, and later on blogging and getting published in a few periodicals, I'm asked the same question:

Why aren't Israelis out in the street protesting?

There seems to be a serious national psychosis, personality disorder, which affects most Jews both in Israel and the galut, abroad.

Jews are always in the forefront of all civil rights protest movements, except when Jews are the victims!

Even though successive "gestures" to our enemies have only brought us terrorism and war, we keep trying to give them more.

Patriotic Israelis who support Jewish Rights in the Land of Israel voted for the Likud, even though Bibi Netanyahu made it clear that he was pushing "Center" policies and disenfranchising the more Right wing members of the Likud, especially Moshe Feiglin.

I'm a pragmatist, maybe simplistic in my logic. I see things clearly. I look at the facts, the actions. Don't try to sway me with theory and wishfulness. It just doesn't work on me. I'm probably a bad candidate for hypnosis.

My priorities are simple.

• The Land of Israel for the People of Israel, the Jewish People!
• We can't trust anyone but ourselves and G-d Almighty!

The Jewish Month of Elul, the preparatory month before Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur, the High Holidays, begins tonight.

Chodesh Tov

May it be a good month,

A month of Tshuva (Repentance) and Blessings.

I Sang in Our Synagogue Choir On Rosh Hashannah

No, I'm not a member of a Conservative, Reconstructionist, Reform, Nouveau, Post or one of those Modern Orthodox shuls which stretch Halacha, Jewish Law, into yoga-like visions.

In our small neighborhood shul, in Ramat Shmuel, Shiloh, neighbors lead the prayers and we all join in. Yes, even the women from our perches in the balcony sing along. Our prayers aren't performances. We all participate; that's why I said that I was in the choir.

Those who lead the prayers aren't supposed to wow us into awed silence. They're supposed to enthuse us into joining. And that's what happens most of the time. Don't think of it as anarchy. Think of it as a jam session dedicated to G-d. There was nothing boring about it. If I had more space, I probably would have danced a bit. Some people clap and tap, a spiritual percussion. I like to move, since standing and sitting for long aren't comfortable.

My neighbors understand the prayers, and that adds to the spirit of the Holiday. Sometimes that can cause difficulties, as when the man reading the Torah portion about Abraham taking his only son, Issac to be sacrificed was a bereaved father, and it was hard for him to get the words out.

I have no doubt that prayers are supposed to be participatory and not a performance. Baruch Hashem, Thank G-d, it was a good way to start the year.

Gmar Chatimah Tovah
May You Be Sealed in the Book of Life