I must admit - I did not vote for Netanyahu, because he is not fully observant (an acquaintance of mine is a close friend of his wife, and she told me that he does try to observe Shabbat, but he is not yet really observant, and I do not want to vote for a non-observant person). However, I think that overall he is a good Prime Minister, he knows the job and he's doing a good job under the given circumstances, and it seems like G-d is behind him as well, for whatever reason. And as to all the claims against him by the left and the super-leftist media - I won't have an opinion, until things are clarified in court. The media gives him an unfair field-trial - when we do not know all the facts. I'm not suggesting he is righteous, but I'm not sure he is so corrupt as they try to make of him. Time will tell and we will all be wiser then.
Yesterday was a wonderful day, with great beautiful spring weather, and a festive atmosphere all around. I voted for the first time in my new neighborhood. Voting in Israel takes place mostly in schools, and I was impressed by the schools I saw in this neighborhood (I saw two of them, because I wasn't sure in which one I'm supposed to vote). A lot of light, colors, motivational messages on the walls, works of art by the students. So different than the urban school I went to for the second half of my school years (the first half was gorgeous, but it wasn't in a city).
After voting, I took a walk in Nahal Tzofim (The Tzofim Wadi) below the neighborhood of Ramat Eshkol. They made it into a park now, with a bicycle trail. There were not that many people there. The few whom I did see were all ultra-orthodox, Hassidish man, each on his own, each walking around alone in a different part of the park, between the trees, talking to G-d. In Hasidism it is called "Hitbodedut" - talking to G-d alone, in your own language, in your own words, usually in nature. From time to time you could hear a cry "Oy, Tate!" (Oh, Daddy!), when they call G-d and turn to Him as a father. I wish I had the courage to do that, but I do my own Hitbodedut at home, silently, spontaneously, every day. Thankfully, thanks to my ceiling window, I can also look to the skies while doing so. I spill my heart to Him, talk to Him like the best, most loyal, most faithful friend. He is a person's best friend - the only fully trusted friend from whom we do not have to hide anything.
When I saw those Hassidish guys, it reminded me of a popular TV drama in Israel (I do not have TV at home, but I watched it online for work - long story...): Shtisel. This TV series is about a Haredi family in Jerusalem. To watch it, I need subtitles, because half of it is not even in Hebrew, it's in Yiddish! The actors are completely secular, but with some of them, it is hard to believe that they are not Haredi-born. To train themselves for the job, they had to live for a few good weeks in the ultra-orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem, to learn how to behave, how to say the blessings, how to talk, how to walk, how to speak Yiddish with the proper pronunciation, etc. The father in the show, Shulem Shtisel (Dova'le Glickman), used to be a very popular comedian when I was a little girl, so it's quite astonishing to see him playing a serious Haredi man. And he does such a good job at it!! And to think that in real life he is a super secular. Unbelievable. In short, yesterday I felt I was witnessing a scene from Shtisel, and it was very nice! You can see a trailer for the show here: https://vimeo.com/105325576
This coming Shabbat in synagogues, after reading the weekly Torah Portion, we will read a part from the Prophets. Because this is the Shabbat just before Passover, a Shabbat we call Shabbat HaGadol ("The Great Shabbat"), there is a special part of the Prophets: Malachi 3: 4-24. One of my favorite verses in the whole Bible is there. It is a verse that ten years ago, when I was living in Tel Aviv but yearning to move to Jerusalem - when I was traveling in the morning to Jerusalem a few times - I saw this verse sprayed on one of the closed doors of one of the shops on King George street: "שובו אליי ואשובה אליכם" - return to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. Wow, what a powerful sentence. Back then, this verse gave me power to keep praying to move to Jerusalem - to find work and a place to live here, and I did manage to do that. I remember the hope and inspiration that I got from these words, and the motivation it gave me to keep praying.
Another favorite verse is there as well - when G-d tells us that we can test Him with only one thing: if we give tithes, He will open the treasures of heaven for us. "Bring the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now with this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour unto you a blessing with no ending". I love this, and I found it is true on my own flesh, in my own life! When I moved to Jerusalem, I didn't have a regular job, and my income was very very small, sometimes less than my rent. But I started giving tithes to the poor - trusting G-d to take care of me - and slowly, gradually, my situation got better - I found a stable job, with a salary that is enough to pay the rent and more, and to do other things that I want. Baruch HaShem! It is so good to be Jewish!
I love hearing stories of faith, and I love to tell of my own stories of faith. Such stories give us so much strength, hope and inspiration. They show us the way. In our lives we all face times of hunger, different kinds of hunger, different things we're missing - and faith is the only remedy, the only solution. I'm trying to post messages of hope and inspiration in my Facebook page, "Jewish Inspiration". Make sure you give it a Like and follow us daily: https://www.facebook.com/JewishInspiration5773/
12.4.19:
I wasn't near a big screen when the first Israeli spaceship, Bereshit ("In the beginning" or "Genesis"), made history and landed on the moon (landed, just not in one piece 😅) . I was walking the long walk home from the city center to my new neighborhood, but I was listening to the live news from the event on my smartphone as I was walking home. I was so impressed with the vision of the young people who decided to start this project, and even more impressed with everyone's reactions to the 'failure': instead of lamenting and crying and feeling sad or disappointed, or worst - trying to find people to blame, everyone took it with a positive spirit and decided to emphasize the achievement part of it and to look for the future, saying: 'if we failed now, we will succeed next time'. The big donor for the project was present and already promised to undertake the next project of an Israeli spaceship. Such a positive spirit, of vision, of looking forward, of daring, of getting up after falling. Such a healthy, dynamic spirit!
The last time we had a connection with the spaceship was when it was 150 meters above the surface of the moon. Shortly before crashing, the spaceship managed to take two 'selfie' pictures of itself approaching the moon. On the spaceship there was a tiny sign in Hebrew: "עם ישראל חי" (The Nation of Israel is Alive), together with an English scripture: "Small Country, Big Dreams". So moving!
As I was walking and listening to the broadcast, I looked up to the sky, trying to find the shattered pieces of the spaceship Bereshit 😅 I didn't see them, but the moon was so beautiful!
One spiritual message we can learn from the spaceship Bereshit (except for the fact that it is OK to fail as long as you know to get up and try again) is the following: Each of us have a moon in our lives to which we are striving - a big, distant goal we want to reach. In order to do that, we have to keep our eyes on the goal, and keep moving, mentally and otherwise, in its direction. The spaceship Bereshit didn't go to the moon in one direct line. Rather, it had to get closer and closer, in orbits that were closer and closer to the moon, until eventually it crossed a critical point and was pulled by the moon's energy to its inner orbit. Similarly, if we invest spiritual effort (prayer, yearning, etc.) in trying to achieve our goals, in many cases we will reach a critical point in which reality will pull us in the desired direction. Not always - after all, G-d doesn't work for us and He is not obliged to give us all we want (some of the things we want are not even good for us) - but in many cases it would help take us in the desired direction. The important thing is to keep pushing forward, to do our own spiritual effort, let go of the past so that it won't pull us in the wrong direction, and hopefully we will be attracted by the inner orbit of our own personal moon. Letting go of the past can be very hard to do. It's like trying to disconnect from planet Earth, with its huge gravitational field, and breaking free from it. It's hard, but it's possible... It must be possible! Keep our eyes on our moon.
Thank you, and Shabbat Shalom!
R.
No comments:
Post a Comment