Like Abraham, we are tested to do "what is right and just," and history is our witness.
For "we are dust and will return to dust," but our souls will rise to heaven and be reunited with our everlasting, loving Father.
(Also, please remember to listen to the Jewish music video as you read the poetry.)
Mutual and Eternal Love
Concrete Faith in a Flimsy Sukkah
Can Love Be Blind?
This book is about finding and connecting with G-d. As the prophet Jeremiah states (29:13), "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." This is my personal journey back to G-d and Judaism. It provides my life reflections, dreams, prayers, and hopes to strengthen my faith and trust in G-d by exploring a variety of the precious gems of Judaism and the Torah, reflecting on the diversity and strength of our people and culture, and longing for our nation and beautiful State of Israel and the completion of the final Redemption and bringing of the Mashiach. Please G-d, may it serve as inspiration for your journey as well.
Announcing My First Book: On Judaism and Life
And the seventh (bent over at the top) is separate for Shabbat.
Even nature reminds us to keep G-d's commandments. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
7th For Shabbat
Tisha B'Av - Destruction of The Temple
Alone, in the quiet.
There is pain, suffering, and loss.
Anxiety and depression.
But wait, there is also faith.
Never Truly Alone
An Army That Sings and Dances
David Slays Goliath
Circumcision reminds me of Abraham, our forefather, who was tested and told to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, to G-d. It is truly counter-intuitive for a parent to hurt or sacrifice their child. Yet, this is exactly how G-d tested Abraham before the angel of G-d told him not to raise his hand to Isaac, and instead Abraham then offered to G-d a ram that was caught in the thicket. However, when it comes to circumcision, we are also tested and actually are commanded to surgically remove the male child’s foreskin and as the baby cries out, every parent, no matter how faithful and religiously devoted, winces and feels deeply inside for their child’s pain, even if it is only momentary and soothed by a sip of kosher Kedem Concord Grape wine.The rite of the circumcision is an incredible transcendental religious experience, where our very faith is tested and we go against our own physical instincts to protect the child, no matter what, and instead we submit ourselves to G-d Almighty, the Master of the Universe to perform the circumcision, because He told us to. Whether there are medical benefits or not, G-d commands, and we obey. We are His people, and his thoughts and plans are infinitely greater than ours. At the circumcision, in an act of complete faith, we graciously give over our male children and ourselves—in body, mind, and soul to G-d. We renounce our desires, our gratification, our very instincts, and put ourselves in G-d’s merciful hands. In that moment of selfless giving, we fulfill our covenant of generations with G-d and we affirm our holiness as individuals and as a nation.
Why I Cry At Circumcisions
So much to be grateful for to G-d Almighty
Thank you for another week! ;-)
Spring Flowers for Shabbat
Blue Surf.
Sun and Sky.
Palm Trees.
Boardwalk.
Relaxing! ;-)
(Credit The Beautiful Creation: G-d Almighty)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Simply Marvelous!
It's just an illusion of choice.
Your fate is in G-d's hands. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Stairs With Stripes
What happened to genuine faith in G-d, belief in the holy Torah, our duty to abide by the 613 commandments, and generally doing right in this world by our fellow man and before G-d Almighty? Maybe I’m being too literal here but being a “good Jew” has got to mean something important. We are keeping alive the tradition of our parents, grandparents and great grandparents, spanning back thousands of years to our Forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to G-d delivering us from Egyptian servitude, and His giving to us the Torah on Mount Sinai, and to His bringing us to Israel, the Land of Milk and Honey, and keeping us from being wiped away by one great empire after another. Being a Jew means being part of an important important and yes, “chosen” for a special mission of being a “light unto the nations” and that means action on our part: thinking, saying, and doing what’s right all the time!We are tested daily to do what’s right, even when it’s not convenient, easy, enjoyable, or popular. What is a Jew? We need to really ask ourselves that question. It’s not trivial and neither should the answer be. Our lives in this world and the next are depending on how we live up to the high bar that is set for us each and every day of our lives that Hashem mercifully grants to us.
Teaching Our Children To Be Good Jews
Butterfly.
Spreading its wings.
Flying gently.
Colorful.
Healing.
Happy.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Beautiful Purim Butterfly
All the greedy and corrupt power players at the table with their fancy suits, money, gold, and properties around the globe.
And their game is sustained up on the bent backs of the simple people with nothing (not even clothing).
But a Seeing Eye (and a Hearing Ear) in Heaven is watching the evil perpetrated.
Eventually, faith tells us that the game will be over and the simple hard-working people will be fully restored and the corrupt will suffer their just desserts. ;-)
(Source Photo: Facebook)
Stand Up!
While anti-Semitism and persecution for being Jews is horrible and should never happen, in a sort of obscene and ironic way, it ends up making us stronger as Jews. In short, testing our faith, ends up solidifying our faith!No one likes adversity, suffering, or persecution, and G-d only knows that we as Jews have known our deeply painful share. Yet whether from Egyptian slavery to the Inquisition, the Holocaust, and more, it’s our test as Jews to survive, and to learn and grow from it our faith in Hashem.
Overcoming The Inquisitor
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Beautiful Shabbat Flowers
Clearly, the mobile sanctuary and later the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and now our synagogues are “Houses of G-d,” where we go to pray, learn Torah, and worship Him, and where He resides among us. Sure, G-d is everywhere, but the synagogue/Temple is a unique, special, and spiritual place where we as community dedicate ourselves to G-d and worship Him. It should go without saying that the synagogue is not a place for petty politics, protests, or other antics.
As Jews, we are supposed to make a “Kiddush Hashem” (sanctification of G-d’s name) and not Chillul Hashem (desecration of G-d), and so my hope and prayer is that people in this synagogue and in every synagogue, can “let go” and instead “let G-d.”
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal, Image for Illustration Only)
Synagogue Politics
