Reflections On A Broken Soul
Showing posts with label Mercy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mercy. Show all posts
August 7, 2016
June 26, 2016
Hamsa Most Gorgeous
Chamsa in Arabic or Hamesh in Hebrew is actually five (or 5 fingers as in a hand).
The Hamsa serves as an amulet to nullify the evil eye (Ayin Harah).
A Hamsa is frequently decorated with an eye, ornate etchings, beads, and gems.
This Hamsa that I found in New Jersey by an Israeli artist is actually one of the largest (almost 2 feet) and one of the most beautiful.
It is made of lacquer over oil paint on wood, and I think weighs about 5-6 pounds.
Each finger is a different and vibrant color, and it has poetry about the hand in life you are dealt and handling life the best you can.
It has a big happy and peaceful face with rosy cheeks and a heart on its forehead.
It is such a magnificent piece that I actually saw it in the window of a fine art store while almost driving by it in a car.
Awesome, beautiful, and G-d should bestow it with the powerful energy to help protect us from all evil and illness, defend us from any bad judgements and dangers, and shower us with his infinite mercy and blessings all the days of our lives. ;-)
(Source Photo: Dori Sobin)
June 16, 2016
Setbacks Lead To Comebacks
My wife, Danielle Blumenthal, sent me this beautiful quote from Joel Osteen's book called, "It's Your time."
"For every setback, G-d has prearranged a comeback.
For every failure, G-d has prearranged mercy.
For every disappointment, G-d has prearranged restoration.
For every unfair thing, G-d has prearranged vindication....
It's easy to get discouraged, lose your enthusiasm, or even be tempted to just settle where you are.
But if we're going to see G-d's best, when you get knocked down, you don't stay down. You get back up again.You have to know that every time adversity comes against you, it's a setup for a comeback."
Often we look at some people, and think that they have everything.
But no one does--life is a bunch of trade-offs.
Some are blessed with family and friends, others with health and longevity, and still others with peace or prosperity, but no one has it all.
And if you think they do, then you don't really know them and their circumstances.
In life, everyone has weaknesses, setbacks and failures...it's how we learn, it's how we grow.
Understanding that setbacks doesn't necessarily mean "game over" and that as long as there is life, there is hope, can give us the courage to go on, and the strength to get up when it seems like we are down for the count, and to make a comeback to live and thrive yet another day. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 28, 2016
613 Synagogue
May 25, 2016
(Re)Kashering The Kitchen
Yesterday, I posted that I would show you today how it is personally affecting us.
So one of the things that we are doing is (re)kashering our kitchen.
New and separate dishes and cooking utensils for meat and dairy meals.
We got these beautiful French Perle Lenox in gorgeous lilac and ice blue (of course, no one better actually use one and break it).
Being more a part of the synagogue and community now, we are hoping to host more people for Shabbat etc.
There are other small (and large) ways that we are coming back to more of our traditions, but we are far from perfect.
Sort of a blend of the secular world, the religious one, and just being ourselves.
But that is our road, and we strive to do better in all aspects of our lives and pray for G-d's mercy and blessings all along the way and at the destination. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 24, 2016
This House Is For The Birds
We all need to live somewhere.
Too many people in shelters and on the streets.
Started giving money to some of the homeless on the way to the Metro.
My friend's father used to say, "If they ask then they need it."
Perhaps what's needed is a little more kindness, TLC, and compassion for all G-d's loving creatures.
While it's nice to look up to aspire and climb the next rung of life, it's as important to look down and remember from where you came and where you can still go again. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
January 5, 2016
Warning 613
This morning, on the Washington, D.C. Metro, see the time showing (above upper right).
The whole family is seeing this, as I got a note from my daughter just a few minutes ago looking at online classes at Lynda.com and one of the classes had 613 views.
Even to me (normally a critical thinker and healthy skeptic), it seems beyond regular explanations for the frequency and locations that we are seeing these signs.
Also, last night I had a scary dream about what seemed like the end of times--it was almost like The Walking Dead, with people running to the countryside amidst chaos and destruction all around them.
As tensions heat up between major Sunni and Shiite rivals, Saudi Arabia and Iran, and "Axis of Evil" Iran unveils a 2nd underground depot with missiles capable of carrying nukes, and ISIS continues their jihadi rampage leaving 80% of Ramadi in Iraq destroyed at a cost of $10 billion, a new Jihadi John replacement is executing British hostages in Syria, and there are escalating superpower tussles with Russia and China--it is not hard to see just some of the potential dangers in our times in terms of escalating conflict, terrorism, and war.
What is the future for us all, I do not know for certain, but all I can tell you is there appears to be warnings all about, and the question is will we heed them or not and then what is the outcome--it should be with mercy and for blessings. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
December 6, 2015
Amazing Chanukah Photo
In it, the Chanukah candles in the window defy the evil Nazi banner in front of their headquarters in Germany and foretelling of the impending Jewish genocide and world war.
On the back on the photo is written:
"Chanukah 5692 [1931]. Judea dies says the banner. Judea will live forever responds the lights."
As we are once again living in a time of brutal terrorist violence and a moral black hole in civilization, we must again turn to Hashem and the Menorah to light up the darkness of our times.
May G-d have mercy on His people and bless them in peace. ;-)
December 5, 2015
Happy 25th Anniversary!
That is when 25-years ago, I first met and went out with my lovely wife, Dossy.
I picked her up at work in mid-town, and wined and dined her at Ratner's on the Lower East Side in NYC.
We talked, laughed, and I couldn't take my eyes off her!
We ended the evening with her writing her phone number in lipstick on a little piece of paper, and she told me to call her again.
I came home in 7th heaven, and my dad asked me how it went, and smiling ear-to-ear, I said "This is the one!"
My dad said, "It's the first night of Chanukah, the holiday of miracles, so please G-d!"
I think Dossy and I went out 2 more times just that week, and the rest is beautiful history.
Thank you Hashem for mercifully granting my lovely wife and two beautiful daughters, Minna and Rebecca.
I appreciate every moment of every day with Dossy and my girls--for the precious time on Earth we have together, for caring when the chips are down, for celebrating the good times, and for putting up with me. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
November 22, 2015
I Am Doing
The lifeguard couldn't understand or fully hear the disabled man who had to repeat the question multiple times.
Then, the lifeguard responded, "I am doing well. How are you doing?"
The disabled man with a blank to sad look on his face says, "I am doing."
His response of just "doing" (not well, good, or fine) was like just going on day-to-day amidst very challenging life circumstances of illness and disability--just in a state of being, but certainly not feeling like he was thriving in his current life.
It reminded me of my own parents, survivors of the Holocaust.
After the horror and loss of the Holocaust everything, including coming to this country without a dime or a job was just a cakewalk in comparison.
For 25-years, my dad would never even go to the doctor.
He would say, "G-d is my doctor!"
Only later in life, when all his friends were sick or failing, and my mom was so sick with Parkinson's would my dad respond to people's questions of how he was, by saying simply, "Surviving!"
And then often adding, "We are part of the survivors' club."
When we're young, healthy, and vibrant, the world seems too small compared to what we think we can do and accomplish.
That's good--it gives us the thrusters in life to go as far as we can with accomplishments and progress.
As we age though, the realities of life and health come into vision and we realize that we can't lift cars with one hand (anymore) or fly lightening speed with just our cape around the globe--we're mortal.
This doesn't mean that we can't do great things for ourselves and the world at any age and with any (dis)ability, just that it many not be as simple or as easy any longer--we have to fight harder and be part of the survivor's club. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 22, 2015
Yom Kippur, When The Masks Come Off
Masks are dress-up and pretend, like the way most people behave day-in and day-out.
People imagine and feign to be what they would like to be or what they want others to believe they are.
Like when someone is gearing up for a fight, they extend their arms, raise their voices, bob up and down to make themselves appear bigger and more formidable than they really are.
It's a fake out--but perception is (often) reality.
Similarly, people may wear clothes, drive cars, or live in big fancy homes that make them look well-to-do, but really it's a great act and all bought on extensive credit (ever hear of 0% down!).
Others may dream of being seen as smart and the go-to guy for answers, the subject matter expert, or the generally wise person for advice and guidance, but are they really smarter than everyone else or do the degrees plastering the wall like wallpaper or titles like doctor, lawyer, accountant, entrepreneur, professor, and Rabbi simply often invoke credentials and an air rather than the smarts that should accompany them.
Even parents may pose for loving pictures with their children, seem to dote on them, and act the helicopter parents, but still when it comes to their own busy schedules, they have no real time or attention left for the little ones--because the parents put themselves first.
It happens all the time, every which way, the authority figure who really abuses their authority rather than lives up to it.
People are human, weak, fallible--and the show is often a lot better than the characters behind it.
But that doesn't mean we stop trying to be inside what we know we really should be--more loving, caring, giving, and good people.
This is the essence of Yom Kippur to me, the Day of Atonement--the day when we shed all our phony masks--and instead we bear out our sins, bend our heads with shame, are sorry for what we have done wrong, and commit to doing better in the future.
Yom Kippur is the day when all the masks are off--we cannot hide from G-d Almighty, the all seeing and all knowing.
On Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgement we are inscribed, and on Yom Kippur the book is sealed.
In Judgement, we may enter the court of heaven with heads still held up high, with the same act that we try to show every day, but on Yom Kippur we leave the court with our heads down and our hands humbly clasped, the sentence meted out for who we really are--based not on pretense, but on our underlying behavior.
A mask covers what is, when the mask is off we are left with who we are--naked before our maker, where all is revealed, and we must account for our actions--good, bad, or even just plain indifferent. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 27, 2015
Blogging On Percocet
They definitely gave me a little too much Percocet this morning and on an empty stomach too...so I'm still feeling a little nauseous and loopy.
I had my first physical therapy this morning and there is another planned for this afternoon.
It was really hard to walk and every little step was in pain...I asked the nurse half jokingly whether it was okay to curse as we went down the hall with the walker.
While I realize that I still have quite a way to go, I am glad to be starting the process of getting back on my feet again.
I am grateful to G-d for all his mercy, for my family and friends,(especially Dossy here with me and my very understanding daughters who put up with my kvetching through all this), and the superior surgical and medical care that I realize not everyone in the world has so readily available.
Thank you to everyone for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. ;-)
May 5, 2015
Freak Accidents, Illnesses, And Events
Poof...dead at age 47!
Unfortunately, we hear all the time about these type of tragic occurrences to people.
And of course tragedy knows no bounds--so while sh*t happens everyday to people from all walks of life, we tend to pay more attention when it's someone we know and love or when it's splashed wildly in the news about fabulously successful people we admire and follow.
- Entertainer, Michael Jackson (50) dead from drug intoxication after suffering cardiac arrest.
- Actor, Robin Williams (63) dead by hanging suicide.
- Singer, John Lennon (40) shot in the back by someone he had autographed an album for.
- Martial Artist, Bruce Lee (33) died on a movie set from a cerebral edema.
- Model, Marilyn Monroe (33) dead by drug overdose.
- President, John F. Kennedy (46) dead by assassination.
Whether by a plane crash or car accident, drowning or fire, poison or electrocution, a criminal or animal attack, terrorism, war, or natural disaster, a heart attack, stroke, or cancer, through suicide, punishment, or mercy killing...regardless of the probabilities and statistics, many people never make it all the way to "a ripe old age."
We feel bad, shake our heads, say a few words of sympathy perhaps, when we hear of these lives cut short.
But like the TV shows, Six Feet Under (HBO) or 1000 Ways To Die (Spike)--there are a near endless number of horrible ways to go--and they can take you at literally any time.
While we can't stop living and just sit around worrying all the time about all the bad things that can happen, we do need to remember that anything can happen at any time (and these things are not so freakish after all)--no one is beyond the Angel of Death, no one should be arrogant, and we should make the most of every single moment that G-d lovingly grants to us. ;-)
(Source Photo: here with attribution to Military Health)
April 26, 2015
The Best Cut
Recently, I went to the Surgeon about my other hip to read my MRI...
After having read the report myself before the appointment, I was convinced I was heading under the knife again with the pain I was experiencing, challenges getting around, and the verbiage in the report like:
"Significant..."
"Advanced."
Anyway, my daughter came along because I wasn't sure I was going to easily get parking in this place...always a challenge there.
Waiting for the doctor, I asked G-d for a miracle, since after all the hospitalizations this last year, I literally thought that another one at this time could very well kill me.
Low and behold, the doctor comes in and as if G-d is directing his speech for the next 40 minutes or so, he does everything to dissuade me from having the surgery this month, even though he was the one at the last appointment that had already booked me on his surgical calendar.
So today the miracle unfolded...
First, the doctor read my MRI, but then quickly flipped the screen to an MRI of another patient--a 76 year old--and he showed me the unbelievable progression of the osteoarthritis from near onset to ultimately the complete collapse of the joint over about 9 years time for this lady...the last MRI looked like complete and utter bone devastation--I had never seen anything like it!
Next he opened his drawer and took out a horror basket of used replacement joints parts that he had removed from patients that needed revision--he showed me the wear and breakage and described in horrible detail how he often has to dig these out of the bones of his patients and how each revision--which everyone will need after about 10-15 years or sooner if they become symptomatic--becomes more complicated and dangerous in terms of infection, blood clots, and recovery.
Then he told how in the field so many replacement surgeries do not go well and that he sees 3-5 patients a week who come to him because they are UN-happy with the replacements their doctors did.
This went on and on, and bottom line...he said, "I love to do the surgeries--I really do--but wait as long as you can before getting it [on the other hip], since while it can provide for short term improvements, each revision is worse, and at your age you could need three--on each side."
Needless-to-say, from this whole thing, I was in utter shock and some disbelief as I had been told these prosthetics can last 20-25 years with the newer models, and I was not aware of what the revisions really entailed in later years or the challenges they brought.
As he continued to describe the risks in painful vivid details (note, I was his last appointment of the day and he was talking his time here), my eyes were literally welling up in tears.
I looked over at my daughter and she was sitting mouth agape shaking her head at what he was saying. I was deeply sorry that she had to sit through this (what we had thought was a simple MRI reading and confirmation of the upcoming procedure date).
I left the doctor's office, of course, canceling the surgery--still in severe pain and with trouble walking--however, "scared straight" to make the best of this for now, but also afraid of what lies ahead.
I have to have faith that the L-rd who made the miracle to hold off on the surgery for now will continue to guide and protect me through this illness that today has no cure.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
April 11, 2015
Disabled, Can You Imagine?
Weller has suffered for 10 years with primary progressive multiple sclerosis.
He describes losing everything...from "incalculable personal pleasures" to being "totally helpless."
And what's more, you have to save your chips in asking others for things, because "you'd be asking the whole day."
"Say goodbye to any sense of personal space, too"--in needing everything, you're essentially left like an open book to everyone around you.
Here, I can't help thinking about those moments of personal indignity--in caring for our own bodies--that even that someone else must be there for.
Then, there is the just sitting around and endless thinking..."There isn't much else to do."
I remember learning about some medieval torture methods and one involved lying a person down in the space cleaved into the stone face of the dungeon and there a person would essentially rot--not being able to move, sit or stand up, or even roll over.
How long could a person last like that before completely losing their mind?
While Weller says that he used to imagine being paralyzed as feeling like being "encased in stone," but now he see it more that your limbs just ignore you, to me whether you are paralyzed in your own body or embedded in medieval stone, the challenges physically and mentally are as scary as anything that can be imagined.
How do you keep your sanity, let alone any hope?
Weller says, you live in the past, "happiness isn't is, but was, [and] you try not to contemplate the future too much."
G-d should have infinite mercy on his creations and lift up the fallen, cure the sick, and release the innocent that are imprisoned...please, please, please let it be. Amen.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
February 28, 2015
Who Will Help?
This is an awesome video that has gone viral.
A social experiment with hidden camera filming of a homeless child freezing on the streets of Manhattan...
See the people just walking on by--completely ignoring or plain unaffected by the suffering taking place literally right next to them.
Where is the compassion of the people?
Many are just rushing by, chatting away, and/or carrying fancy filled bags from nearby shopping excursions.
The bystanders walk past and practically over this boy's shivering body lying in ragged shirt, without a coat, and lying half inside a big black garbage bag on the street.
I imagined G-d looking down on this extreme callousness of his creations ignoring the suffering of this boy and being quite upset.
Perhaps, there are unfortunately so many people now homeless , hungry, and begging in the streets that our minds and hearts have simply learned to "tune it out."
The ending is really amazing...when the one person who comes over to care for the poor boy is a black homeless man--who ends up taking off his own coat and gives it to the child.
May G-d open our eyes to the pain of our brethren and grant us compassionate hearts to sincerely care one for each other. ;-)
February 9, 2015
Homeless in DC
People homeless and hungry stumble down the steets with their carts of worldy possessions or sit on the corners begging for someone to help them.
As these destitute and desperate souls look for some shelter, warmth, a place to rest, some clean clothes, medical care, or simply something to eat, they pass almost like ghosts throughtout the city.
Most people running (late) to the office, seem to barely extend a glance as they sidestep and shuffle past these people, who I remember one unsavory colleague calling them, "human waste."
But these are G-d creatures, down on their luck, and they could be any one of us!
Does the city and the people, the powerful of the nation, have the heart to help those in need? ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
January 29, 2015
Understanding Disability
There is a wonderful lady in the workplace...one of the nicest people.
Unfortuantely, she has a disability and it is not easy...at times, she expresses to me the pain and the challenges, but always she maintains the best attitude and is an inspiration to everyone here.
Not to compare, because thank G-d, I have been so blessed, but with the hip replacement and various complications, I have come to better understand physical pain and difficult mobility.
Sometimes, as people do, we ask, "Why?"--and often we just come to the refrain that "G-d must have his reasons"--to teach us and to grow us in some way.
Well, in speaking with this lovely women, she must have heard me really listening and understanding or seen my empathy with her, because at one point, she starts nodding and goes almost with surprise, "You really do understand."
Then she adds something about it being so odd for a manager to understand these things.
I was so humbled by what she said, but more important. I felt a light bulb go on over my head.
Why does G-d give us the challenges we face in life (physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, etc.)?
Because it helps us to truly understand and emphasize with other human beings...to be compassionate, caring, and giving (not self absorbed, narcissist, and me-me-me!)
In a sense, only by knowing the pain and suffering of others (or some elements of it--"Been there," "Experienced it," "I Know where you're coming from!"), can we substantially make that ultimate human and spiritual connection.
No, I am not saying we all have to be in horrible pain and misfortune--G-d forbid--just that the reasons for pain and suffering in life is not completely a mystery.
My father used to say, "If we didn't have suffering, we wouldn't know or appreciate how good we have it the rest of the time."
But it's also that we won't know or understand the challenges our neighbors, friends, and colleagues have--and adequately care for and about them.
G-d in his infinite wisdom has his ways to teach us--it should be with ultimate mercy, in good health and peace, and not pain and suffering--but when we oursleves are challenged, doesn't it open our eyes to see others and the world in a whole new and "better" way? ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
November 30, 2014
Shoes On the Dumpster
So I had a great new pair of sandals that I wore just 3-4 times, but they didn't fit right on me.
We wanted to give them to a poor person, but didn't want to just walk up to someone on the street and say, "Hey, do you need a pair of shoes?"
So down in Fort Lauderdale here there are plenty of needy people, and we decided to leave them prominently on a trash/recycle bin on the street where we were confident that someone in need would see them and take them.
We left the shoes at about 5:45 pm and went to the store for some errands, and literally by the time we circled back not half an hour later, the shoes were gone.
It is terrible to see people on the street in need of food, clean clothes, and just a pair of shoes.
While it was rewarding to see that someone got these shoes, the fact that they were gone so quickly shows me clearly that there is still so much more that needs to be done.
Too much poverty, too much suffering...my daughter says "Dad, we can change things!"
I hope someway we can all make a difference and help all the people that are in need--those are some mighty big shoes we need to fill, but I pray in my heart that G-d will help us all succeed. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
November 21, 2014
Homeless At Foggy Bottom
The homeless situation in Washington D.C. (as in other big cities in the U.S.) is horrible and tragic.
The homeless person here is wrapped in a blanket trying to stay warm on her wheelchair.
Further, her bucket, at her feet, for people to give is empty.
The Thanksgiving holiday is this week, but where is the thanks and where is the giving?
Interesting...halfway down the block is GW Hospital and across the street behind this lady is a gorgeous, modern, brand new GW University engineering and science building (almost completed now).
The haves, the have mores, and the have nots.
Where are all the trillions of dollars of spending going..,that we can't feed, clothe, shelter, and educate our people.
We need to do better as a society for providing care for the truly needy.
G-d is watching what we do and what we don't do.
Our test. and the test of our elected officials/leadership--will we/they stand up for those that can't?
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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