A Time To Talk - "Without words, we cannot reach understanding."

     Well, it has been some time since my last posting. For that, dear reader, I apologize. Lots have happened in recent weeks to include not just arduous Army Leadership training, but also the birth of my brand new baby boy, Towa Michael D.Y. who brings a new light into our shining and ever growing family (we are now 4, hehe).

     As you know, there has been a lot of chaos going on in Eretz Israel. It pains me to see both Jew and Palestinian suffering over there. The real victims are the civilians caught in the middle of all of this, and what is worse is that the media are fueling the fires of anti-Semitism. There is nothing that really hurts me, and my Jewish brethren more than this because we all understand that the disproportionate and completely baseless hate for the Jews is far from ending, and it is causing many of us to believe the lies that are said about us at time. We have the mass media to thank for that.
     I have been following the various threads [pages] on Facebook such as "IDF", "JSpace", and so on looking at the different news postings that they provide as well as hearing from the locals who are actually experiencing the hardships of war over there. What I see instead are a mass flood of pro-terrorist trolls posting mean and hateful things about we, the Jews. We are either pigs, sons of satan, sons of pigs, who hail from "IsraHELL", and so on. The amount of senseless hate is thick and heavy to say the least. And it weighs on us. I have been doing my part however to combat the pro-terrorists, and terrorists on the various post comments... it's like a comment war actually. I post, they post, I post, they post. But hopefully I am getting through to them, or at least to somebody out there. I can only pray that I am.

      One argument (or accusation) I see a lot is that Israel does not, nor has ever belonged to the Jewish people from many of these extreme and highly uneducated Muslims. Well, I have news for them and I am not alone on this. The Quran actually says that the land was written for us, and I can prove it (below):

Quran 5 (Al-Maeda): 19-21
  "O People of the Scripture! Now hath Our messenger come unto you to make things plain unto you after an interval (of cessation) of the messengers, lest ye should say: There came not unto us a messenger of cheer nor any warner. Now hath a messenger of cheer and a warner come unto you. Allah is Able to do all things. (19) And (remember) when Moses said unto his people: O my people! Remember Allah's favour unto you, how He placed among you prophets, and He made you kings, and gave you that (which) He gave not to any (other) of (His) creatures. (20) O my people! Go into the holy land which Allah hath ordained for you. Turn not in flight, for surely ye turn back as losers: (21)

    I have found of course that when they are faced with this text, they have very little if nothing at all to say. However, I did have one fellow tell me to read further on to verse 26, and it says we never entered the land of Israel... so I copy and pasted the whole thing. (verses continued on below)

"They said: O Moses! Lo! a giant people (dwell) therein and lo! we go not in till they go forth from thence. When they go forth from thence, then we will enter (not till then). (22) Then outspoke two of those who feared (their Lord, men) unto whom Allah had been gracious: Enter in upon them by the gate, for if ye enter by it, lo! ye will be victorious. So put your trust (in Allah) if ye are indeed believers. (23) They said: O Moses! We will never enter (the land) while they are in it. So go thou and thy Lord and fight! We will sit here. (24) He said: My Lord! I have control of none but myself and my brother, so distinguish between us and the wrong-doing folk. (25)(Their Lord) said: For this the land will surely be forbidden them for forty years that they will wander in the earth, bewildered. So grieve not over the wrongdoing folk. (26)"

   I'd post the Arabic as well, but I does NOT copy and paste at all well on this blogger. Sorry.. You  can however look for yourself online at the following Online Quran Website. But as you can see, what he said was not the case at all. In fact, this is a really small paraphrase of our Exodus story. This is what happens when the Muslims don't know their Quran, or "The Book" (Torah). What is further perplexing, and I called this man out on this, is that he was willing to change the supposed "word of G-d". If you believe with all of your heart that the Quran is the Word of G-d, then why would you manipulate it? Why would you change it? He never answered me, and then of course the hate mongering began once again by the pro-Hamas people plaguing the message boards.

    Another thing I have seen a lot as of late is the, "I don't hate Jews. I hate Zionists." argument A LOT. You know, no person said it better than Martin Luther King Jr. who said the following:

". . . You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely 'anti-Zionist.' And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of God's green earth: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews--this is God's own truth.

"Anti-semitism, the hatred of the Jewish people, has been and remains a blot on the soul of mankind. In this we are in full agreement. So know also this: anti-Zionist is inherently antisemitic, and ever will be so......."
                                                                                            -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

    His letter is actually a very beautiful thing to read, and really sums up everything that I am trying to tell people. I want them to understand that there is no difference where they are trying to find one. To be an anti-Semite started with a man by the name of Wilhelm Marr, and was created to try and "distance" himself from being racist, per se, to being merely an "anti-Semite". However, no matter how many times to try to rename a circle... a circle will forever be a circle. To be an anti-Semite is to be Anti-Jew. To be a Jew is not to be a part of a Religion, but a Nation. We are a people through and through, and no matter what the senseless hate mongering trolls (people who post infuriating comments to cause unrest) try to distance themselves from, the fact remains that this is racism as much as it is anything else.

    I want my Muslim cousins to realize what is really going on here, deep down inside. I know you are in a totalitarian country where you know only what your leaders want to know. But listen, really listen to me: When you see your fellow Muslim brothers and sisters doing things that is abhorrent and an insult to your religion that you hold so dear, stop supporting them. A person recently posted that the Quran says that they HAVE to kill all Jews. Everyone asked him where it says that. He responded, "Go look for yourself Jewish Pigs. Jew son of satan.." and so on... Let me tell you, if that is true... then why say that Islam is the religion of perfect peace? You have 2.2 billion followers in the world and yet we are still in chaos? You would think that 1/3 of the world would be in perfect harmony, yet you have Muslims killing other Muslims every day on top of non-Muslim persecution. So where is your peace?

    Certainly no Jew is dragging a Muslim body through the streets, nor a Jewish or non-Jewish one for that matter. You lost people support these guys on the motorcycles? They murdered 6 of your own people under the guise that they were "spies" only to further their propagandist agenda. What is more is that you other fellow Gazans gathered together in a mob, and beat and spit on the bodies before dragging the one above through the city. How is your religion so tranquil and peaceful then if you 1) have no respect for yourselves 2) no respect for your brethren 3) no respect for humans in general, and 4) no respect for the living or the dead. All this, and you are telling ME that your are a religion of peace? Let's be realistic here!

    A friend of mine recently sent me a message, and I would like to share the full posting here, if you don't mind. I took a screenshot and blotted out his name for his protection, and well, you know I am Mordechai, heh:

    You can see that I made my point very very clear here, and I never received a response... because there is none to give really. If we look at the big picture here and understand that the battle is between THREE Abramic Faiths- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Two of the three are offshoots of Judaism.. with Islam being a really bad carbon copy of its predecessors. If you look at the three books Torah, New Testament, and Quran they all say Israel is for the Jews. No question about it. So who are the Islamic extremists, and far leftist Christians really arguing with? You can't argue with a book, you'd get put in a straight jacket for that. SO obviously since you cannot argue with an inanimate object, you have only G-d to argue with. And since Christianity and Islam both claim their books are divinely inspired by G-d, they have a real problem on their hands since G-d says Israel belongs to the Jews. Who is really occupying who then? If Israel belongs to the Jewish people, and the Muslims know that but refuse to honor it then it is really the extremist Muslims who are occupying territory they know full well belongs to their Jewish cousins.
    With that being the case, then you have to understand my Palestinian cousins, sons of Ishmael, sons of Avraham- You are in violation of your Quran by supporting the homegrown terrorists that you harbor, and give money to, and provide human shields for, and feed.

    I really want to reach out to my Muslim cousins who really do not understand. I want to educate them in our beautiful Torah which has not changed since the time G-d gave it to us 3,700 years ago. I want them to see the full picture, and really understand what is going on. My best friend is a Muslim, and I love him to death. I desperately want to educate him, and I know he knows already. In fact, he in no way supports these lunatics that are trying and have tried over the many hundreds and hundreds of years to eradicate us Jews form the face of the earth. He always tells me, "they're crazy man..", and I have to agree. He is not the only Muslim I have met who have said the same thing. I have a dear friend from Iraq who, through him, I learned so much more about what is really going on in extreme Islamic indoctrination. But he is a proud free thinker, and now a proud citizen of the USA. He and his family support Israel and their existence... and he is a Muslim. Knowing this, I have hope. I have hope that the people of Gaza will question their so-called "leaders", and start thinking for themselves. Maybe someday they will come to understand what is really going on. They see the lying daily in the appropriately names "Pallywood" where people fake injuries, death, stage gory scenes, and so on to pull at the heartstrings of the international audience. They know that the same coffin, with the same body, has been carted around for days. They know that the tragic bodies of the death are being constantly moved and staged elsewhere to manipulate the media.
    They know it as much as the corrupt media knows it.


    It is time to say enough is enough.
    Enough of abusing of the dead.
    Enough of the inhumanity.
    Enough of the abuse.
    Enough of the lies.
    Enough of the hate.
    Enough of the killing. Just say it:




If you really think this is all about land, think about it. It was never about land. Look at the Hamas charter which commits itself to the destruction of Israel. Look at the people taht voted Hamas into power. It was never about land. It never has been. This is Antri-Semitism, this is Racism, this is Anti-Jew. We should call it exactly how it is, and stop beating around the bush. Let's stop being politically correct. The Nazi's only played a small part in the mass Jewish migration. We never fully left Israel, but the majority remained in diaspora. We still do today. I think the Russians played a far larger part in Jews fleeing back to their homeleand. But remember that extremist Islam supported and continue to support these kinds of people. They did not expect the Jews to survive, yet we did. Our oppressors or persecutors throughout history tried and tried to subdue, abuse, rape, and force us into submission and when that all failed they tried to eradicate us- And failed. We beat them all. We will continue to beat them all.

    If you think for one moment that the Jewish people are not beinf protected and guided by G-d, then I ask you to look back at history. Tell me, really honestly tell me, could such a small people have survived like we did and maintain to autonomy like we did? No. Absolutely not. But we did. We beat them all, and will continue to defy the laws of history. Why? Because HaShem is with us.

       Have a wonderful night, and be well.

                 -Mordechai

Long Time, No See!

Good afternoon Reader,

    First: I wish to apologize for my recent extended absence. I have been ridiculously busy preparing for an upcoming Army Training Event that I am participating in, as well as adjusting to a new schedule at work (I can be shomer shabbos again!).

   As of late I have been teaching myself conversational Hebrew via Pimsleur's Hebrew which is a fantastic program for Hebrew by the way! I really do enjoy it, and my Hebrew is coming along swimmingly. It's also made my reading Hebrew smoother as I am recognizing words again, and understanding tenses far better than I did (I didn't have a steady grasp before).

   I hope you all had a fantastic Rosh HaShonnah, Yom Kippur, and are having a beautiful Sukkot! I went downtown to a public Sukkah and met some acquaintances of mine, and got my mitzvah in for for today. If you have a chance, I implore everyone to seek a Sukkah out, or make one. Go to one, pray the blessings, shake the lulav, eat, learn, celebrate, and be happy! This is a happy time for us. Monday is the start of Simcha Torah so go to your Synagogue and celebrate and rejoice in our Torah!

   I am currently working on a couple of projects that I find very essential. Not just for my own betterment of  creating a firm foundation in Torah, but for you as well.

   I do have a couple of topics to touch on soon. I am hoping to get to at least one of them by next Tuesday, but I leave for my Army Leadership Course next Thursday, and I have a lot yet to do. I'll be gone for two weeks, and I hope everything will be as successful as I believe it will be. HaShem will watch over me, of that I am sure.

   I will end it here now. I am sorry for the short, and largely unimportant post. I just wanted to make sure taht my readers knew that I was still around, and keeping you all in mind.

CHAG SAMEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Tapestry of Jewry - How Beautiful our Torah is.

Hello dear reader,

    I have done it again. Got caught up in the week, and now I'm posting Friday afternoon a post that many wont read until Sunday or Monday. I apologize for the late post. I am doing my best to keep to a schedule, but I am frantically trying to get things accomplished at home, and at work before my wife and child come home from their 6 month long trip in Japan visiting family and being Japanese.

    I wanted to talk about the beauty of Torah today. The special quality it holds for not just us Jews, but for the world. However, it is my firm and deep belief that Torah speaks to our Jewish souls with such purity and personable clarity that few others can experience. This is not a belief of fanaticism, but of honesty. When I study our Torah, my heart sings, and my soul overflows with great intense emotion. I find myself getting caught up in whatever I am reading, and tears begin to well at the corners of my eyes. There is something about our Holy Texts that somehow cuts through me, as if something deep within me is consuming all that is before my eyes even at points where I have to re-read something when I do not understand fully what is before me. Somehow, I am certain, my neshama knows.

The Shema, learn more about it!

    There are many things contained within the Torah that I enjoy greatly, but I always find I have a very special connection with The Shema. The Shema can be easily found in Deut 6:4-9. It goes without saying that I have had many a nightmare growing up that has magically been thwarted when in my dream I recite The Shema. I have provided the beautiful Hebrew compliments of Chabad.org, which is actually a scanned image right from my siddur (prayer book) called Tehillat HaShem (now you understand the name of my blog!).

English Translation

    There is something about it that has always wanted me to say it as many times as I can throughout the day. When I'm sad, frustrated, or depressed, even scared in fact- I recite these words (In Hebrew of course).

    It is sad when I meet others who do not feel they really need to recite these words that G-d commands us to speak throughout our day, wrap them on our bodies (tefillin), and mark them on our doorposts and gates (mezuzah). I really think people should seek to reconnect to these words. I cannot fully explain to you why I feel this way, but if there is little you, the reader, want to do at least learn The Shema.

    You well know that we live in strange times. Israel could come against Iran at any time in a preemptive strike to stop them from furthering their nuclear developments for wartime use. We, the Jewish People, need to be aware that we are not among friends no matter where we are. It pains my heart to say this as a proud American. I have great love for the country I live in. Great pride, and belief in what we do as the leading example of "the free world". But I understand that us Jews who remain in diaspora must be vigilant at all times. 
    I'm not saying that we should expect the revisiting of pogroms into the "modern world", but we must remember that anything can happen at any time. Our Prophets tell us that the whole world is going to come against us before the arrival of The Messiah. Eventually, this is exactly what is going to happen and we can see it happening more and more with each passing week, with every new news report, with new false criminal accusations lodged against Israel by the highly anti-Semitic regimes and political figureheads that shroud themselves in the guise of peace-loving leaders who turn a constant blind eye to the human-trafficing, and genocide issues that plague large parts of Africa, Vietnam, North Korea, Libya, Syria, and the like. Israel defends itself (rightfully so), and the whole team comes down on our heads. Why is this?

    I want you to think about the questions I am going to pose for you: Does the majority speak louder than our meager population? We are few in number, maybe perhaps 16-20 million people. We could be wiped out in the blink of an eye. Because we are so few, does that make us wrong? Let's look at the demographics of Muslims and Christians. The Christians make up easily 1.8 billion people with Muslims closing in quickly. Islam is the fastest growing religion to date. Is it the case that because there are so many of them vs. so little of us that they are more correct than we the Jewish people?

    Have you ever read through Deut 4? I quote Deut 4:2 often when it comes to the fact taht we are commanded to never change G-d's Word. Even if the other two monotheistic religions commit that very sin, and one accuses us (Speaking about Islam) of corrupting it over time. If only these people really understood our fear and devoutness to holding to G-d's Word. And those who do not, stop being part of the Jewish people. Archaeology and proven Judaism time and time again on this matter. The Cairo Giniza when discovered, proved to be the most valuable find in the world for Jewry because it showed us how truly pure we have remained.

    When we explore Deut 4 we are told a number of things, and I will bullet point them accordingly:

• Verse 2, Do not change G-d's Word.
• Verse 11-12, and 15, G-d has no image, only a voice. No body, no face, no hands, no feet. Just a voice.
• Verse 16-19, and 23, Do not worship any image be it man, woman, animal, insect, or celestial body. Do not do it.

    But when we reach Verse 25, we reach a prophecy. One of the most important prophecies to arise:

    Moses tells us that we are destined to be few in number, and that we will go into diaspora. We're in it now. And this is why The Shema is oh so important to us. It reminds us of our duties to our children, and children's children, and so forth. G-d promises that He will not be far off from us. This is reiterated by our Prophets time and time again, to just call out to G-d, and He will be with us.

    Look at Verse 28 from Deut Chapter 4, and notice how it says "wood and stone". Does anything cross your mind when you think of worship wood and stone? It's easy really, this prophesied the rise of "The Cross", and "The Kaaba". Christianity, and Islam. Right there, at the very middle of our Torah, we are already told that this was going to happen.

     Look further in Deut, go to Chapter 7 and you will find something special:

Deut 7: 6-9

    We knew already that we are the fewest. It is a fact of the 21st Century. We are not numerous in comparison to the rest of the nations. And when people ask us, "how can you think you're right when you are so small?", just point them to Deuteronomy. The answer is there. We are few, but we are righteous. We are the Treasure of HaShem, and His precious First Born. We are the Priests of the World, and We are The Suffering Servant. This was always going to be the case until the time of The Messiah.

    The Prophet Ezekiel is clear in Chapter 38 what is going to happen. The world is going to come against us, but we will be safe. For those of you who are worried, and afraid of another Holocaust: To be honest, you should be in some ways. However, it is clear that when the time comes for the whole of the world to come against us, we will be safe. And in that time when all will know who we really are, the Prophet Zachariah tells us very clearly what is going to happen:

Zachariah 8:23

     Notice how it does not say, "that is an Ishmaelite", or "that is an edomitte". Edom by the way is what we call now Rome, and modern Christians. It has no reference to the Nazarene's who went off the path. It doesn't refer to us as believing in Jesus and the christian trinity, nor does it refer to as as following Islam the prophet Mohammed. No. It speaks of The Jew. It speaks of a people who have remained true, and pure. Who have maintained their commitment to the preservation of The Word of G-d, the whole of The Torah.

    I want you to really think about these words. And think about The Shema. G-d commands us to say it for a reason. G-d is one. No other before or after. He is our G-d. We should love Him with all of our heart, soul, and might. Inscribe His words in our hearts, on our gates, doorposts, wear them between our eyes, bind them on our arms, and wear them as tzittzit. He told us what to do so that we would not stray off the path.

    We, the Jewish people, are in danger I think. You know it, and I know it. Eventually the world is going to come against us. Our bomb shelter is in our Torah. I plead with you, if you are Jewish, to turn to it for guidance and reassurance if you do not already do so.

    I want to speak to the Non-Jewish reader for a moment here:

        I don't write to insult you. especially if you're a Christian or a Muslim. I seek only to educate you as purely as I can by only showing you what is G-d's opinion on the matter. Not the opinion of a Rabbi, or some guy on the street. I show you Torah so that you can know what it is that G-d has said. Islam claims that The Torah became corrupted over time, but let's really think about this. Who decides where the corruption started or where it ended? Who is the authority? I have read the paltry claims that do little to prove the validity of the accusations made against us. And when more and more archaeological finds are revealed proving us further and further how right we are, where and when do you decide the perversion, the corruption started? The Koran states that  the book between the hands of Jesus being the Torah, and their New testament are true and accurate, but we have finds that are around Jesus' time that show zero corruption. Do you understand the problem here? And where exactly does the corruption of The New Testament start for Islam? The New Testament is equally as guilty as The Koran for having almost no uniformity. But The Torah has always been pure, and uniform. So when is it all going to end?  To tell you the truth, Zachariah says it will end in the End of Days. In that time Christian and Muslim are going to come to us after realizing their folly. Is Zachariah, the Prophet of G-d wrong? Or did G-d change His mind? Think about that.

    I know that I may be preaching to the choir here, but the words have to be said. Especially for those Jews out there that hide themselves from the world for fear of ridicule. No longer feel ashamed of being Jewish, dear reader. Embrace it. Take a stand, and let the world know who we are.

                                                            We are The Jewish People
                                                            We are The People of Israel
                                                            And Jerusalem is our Capitol!



Be Well, and Shabbat Shalom,

King David's Family Tree - The Importance of Genealogy

Hello dear reader,

      I apologize for the delay in posts this week but this has been one of those weeks that has kept me preoccupied with other tasks outside the blogging world. However, I hope I can make up for the silence with an important post concerning family, and genealogies in our Holy Torah.
      The first question that comes to mind is: Why is genealogy important? Tracking families, and tribes in Judaism is important from a number of reasons. I've a couple points:

1. Genealogy reflects a consistent line that shows the absence of break in Jewish history.
2. Genealogy can reflect a point in time of Jewish Observance. This is particularly important because it tracks back to point 1 due to the fact that 3,000,000 people received the Word of HaShem on Mt. Sinai at the same time. All received The Torah.
3. When looking at Genealogical lines [tracing your family tree], you build another unique connection to Torah, Your People, and G-d. This is without a doubt true.

• Point to be made concerning Jewishness and lineage is that you fall under your tribe via your fathers line, but you're only Jewish through your mothers line:  Deuteronomy 7:1–5, Leviticus 24:10, Ezra 10:2–3 as well as Numbers 1:18 (below)

Numbers 1:18

      By looking at these three simple points you can see how profound they really are. Judaism is not just a simple personal connection and observance of G-d and His Torah, but the multitude of connections, observances, and relationships that our ancestors shared in, something common and unique only to our people. In fact, our The Tanach in inundated with genealogies. I admit they can be boring to read if you're just reading them. But when you study them, all the more profound they become. It is this very reason I wanted to share this special information on the genealogy of King David and his lineage concerning the person we refer to as The Messiah-

      We well know that The Messiah is to come out of "the rod of Jesse", through King David, and his son King Solomon. Where this is stated is in Isaiah 11 concerning the Davidic line, and that this person will sit on the Throne of David which is shown to be an everlasting throne unto only the House of David as per 2 Samuel 23. Furthermore we know that a King could not only just rise from David, but also only through King Solomon who built the First Temple 2 Samuel 7. However, there is one very important stipulation: None can rise out of the line of Jeconiah was a very wicked King. So wicked in fact that his name was contracted to Coniah removing the essential and divine part of his name "Je" which is "Ye" in Hebrew (Jeremiah 22, 36, 37.) The divine curse was pronounced upon him that was to last forever, that none of his descendants would ever again sit on the throne.

      Now that we have established the firm foundation blocks for this study, let us examine the genealogies of Jesus of Nazareth:

      What I have done is compiled the list of names according to Luke, and I wanted to make a couple notes where we see a very specific problems:

1. Neri does not exist.
2. Shealtiel is the son of Jeconiah
3. Zerubbabel is the grandson of Jeconiah, and was never King. Though he was righteous in G-d's eyes, G-d's curse on Jeconiah was a curse to last forever as stated in the above citings. Zerubbabel was only ever a Governor, but never King. No King would ever come from Jeconiah.
4. What is further interesting is that the father of Zerubbabel is omitted entirely, his name being Padaiah.
5. Do you see the name Nathan in slot 2? Nathan is not even of the special Davidic covenant as we had shown earlier. Only the King would rise out of the line of the one who builds the first Temple- That person being King Solomon. It could never be Nathan.
6. To pick up from point 5, these names do not come from Nathan either. Only King Solomon.

I went as far as going through 1 Chronicles 3 to record the lines on a spread sheet for you pleasure:

      I have gone through a recorded the lines in their birth order as provided by the texts, and marked in red the start of the cursed lineage. As you can see, Luke's genealogy not at all jives with the Torah on this subject.
      What is further surprising is Luke's attempt at manipulating the tests by removing names, and then even going as far as renaming Jeconiah to Neri in an attempt to hide the simple fact that it is a cursed line. This is why he also omitted Pedaiah, because then any regular person not versed in Chronicles would not have a clue as to what Luke was trying to do. I only learned this through simple study of the lineages because of a particular verse that I will bring to light later.

We will now examine Matthew's genealogy:

At this point we can see that we have 4 names omitted being Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah, Jeconiah's father Jehoiakim, and Pedaiah (again).

      Furthermore, yet again we see the cursed lineage repeated yet again. At least they are consistent in affirming that Jesus based solely upon the family tree could never be the person we refer to in this day as The Messiah. The Messiah is going to be a King, a powerful leader of Israel who will build the third and final Temple, hopefully in our day. When revisiting Jeremiah 22, 36, 37. it is clear that both of these highly doctored family trees are completely useless anyhow.

     Some people say Jesus was adopted by Joseph and thus fell under his line (does not exist anywhere in the N.T.), you can see that it is a cursed lineage. And, of course we can see why they wanted a virgin birth (never once prophesied, but instead completely fabricated) from Mary so that if Jesus was begot by Joseph we would have that immediate problem of the cursed lineage. However, by examining Mary's lineage (Luke and Matthew both assert it is through Joseph that Jesus is royal, not Mary- But Christian tradition says Mary concerning Luke's genealogy), we can see that it is *not* a Kingly line since hers comes from Nathan, and then bleeds right into the cursed lineage anyhow. You cannot cut it any other way. Both lines are completely disqualified.

So why the interest in genealogical trees? Simply examine The Christians New Testament and you will see:

Titus 3:9, "But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies, and arguements, and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitables and useless."

1 Timothy 1:4, "Nor to pay attentions to myths and endless genealogies, which give ride to mere speculations [questions] rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith."


      When you  read these as well as a number of other verses during the building of the Church you can understand why they would say these things. If a Christian convert from Roman polytheism, or some other origin were to talk to a Jew to spread their word, and the Jew were to say, "Wait a minute. Simple examine this. Can't you see that it's wrong? Can you not see that Jesus is entirely disqualified?", this would create great problems for the new Christians. So what Paul had to do was build the framework to cause people to distrust the Jews who were righteous in their adherence to the Torah and its contents.

 
      I want to make the point that I'm not here trying to change peoples [Christians] minds. By I feel it is important for you to understand and know the truth of things. Most importantly, I am trying to speak to those Jewish Christians out there who just do not know. I didn't know, and I had to study. It is your responsibility to study, and seek out the truth of things. Our Sages of blessed memory teach us that the answers to all things are contained within the Torah which was written so that even an uneducated person could read and understand. There is so much truth in that.
      The Torah is amazing in its firm framework, and contingency plans. G-d literally sets up all of the defenses against anything that might lead His People astray. He shows us genealogies because of their importance in understanding family purity, as well as understanding blessings and curses upon a given line. He makes these points so that if anyone comes along and says contrary to His Holy Torah, we know then that whatever the person is trying to peddle is absolute falsehood.
      G-d does not change His mind. If He says a King will never rise out of your line forever, He means it. He does not make exceptions to that rule. If He did, He would have for Zerubbabel who was righteous in His eyes, but he could never be King. And none of the line of Jeconiah ever was for that matter. No, it had to go through Zedekiah and his line instead.
      But by having this important information at hand. Having read it, and understanding the truth of the matter you are now bound to act upon the truth. Blind faith is not righteous. Simply hoping and believing that maybe, just maybe, the Christian New Testament is correct and holy. However, having this information you should know, as I came to discover very quickly, it is not. It never will be, nor can it ever be. G-d is clear that you should never change His Torah. Do not add to, nor diminish- We have spoken of this before in the past. And what you have above is a direct violation of that very important commandment.


      I again apologize for the lack of posts this week, and I promise that I will be better next week. I have a bit of new research I am doing that I think will be very interesting and enlightening. I hope that through this post I was able to impart crucial information effectively, and clearly.

I hope you have a fantastic Shabbat, and I will see you Monday!

The Tough Decisions - You can make them.

      Hello dear reader,

      As you know Shabbat is coming in just a few short hours. I wanted to write a little earlier today but I did not have a topic at hand that I thought was Shabbat appropriate. However, as usual HaShem always provides me with a wonderful topic to touch upon. I firmly believe it is Him at work when ever I find myself talking with someone during a given day that provides me with the insight I need to begin my little blogs. Today I want to touch upon the tough decisions we as Jews in the modern world have to make. A very very dear friend of mine whom is like a brother to me called me this afternoon and shot me a question concerning my position on circumcision. I know we had talked about circumcision in the past because it was an issue for him while he was making an honest effort in becoming more observant as a Jew. Some events had transpired which caused him to go off the derech again, but it warms my heart that what I do to bring Torah to my friends, and family acts as a kind of pillar to him. I sincerely hope that in time through the proper baby steps, he becomes Torah observant. But returning to his question, he has a rather secular and agnostic view of circumcision and feels like the rest of the secular world that it came about because of hygienic needs, and practices. However, that is just simply not the case.
      So let's talk about the importance of circumcision, and then move on into the hard choices for observance. We will start from the beginning and inception of  circumcision and then explore further how truly vital the practice is to us as a people.

      What Torah says on Circumcision:

GENESIS 17 9-14

      So Genesis is pretty clear about the importance of circumcision as we can see. But exactly HOW important? Why must we commit ourselves to removing a physical part of ourselves? It is always the case that men are obligated to observe time sensitive commandments such as praying shachrit, mincha, and maariv, as well as wrapping teffilin, donning the tallit as well as the tzittzit just to name a few.This has always been the case that we as Jewish males are bound to these visual and physical observances because of how they cause us to be mindful of the passage of time. Why?  We as males lose track of time very quickly, you see it when we play our computer games, study, read, play D&D, hang out with friends, run into arcades, casinos, as well as get lost in our xbox, and PS3 (PS3 is better btw). We are notorious for these allowing ourselves to get lost in types of things. Because of this, G-d has provided us with reminders that time is not as plentiful in a given day as we might think, or believe. Circumcision is no different. Circumcision represents an eternal covenant that G-d made with our Jewish people saying that we would never disappear. Let us backtrack just a couple of verses previous to the ones cited:

Genesis 17: 6-7

      G-d here tells Avraham Avinu  that He will make us a great people, that we will be numbered, and that our everlasting existence as the Jewish people is an everlasting promising. How does He want us to signify that promise that we will be His People, and He will be our G-d? Circumcision. My last post concerning divestment touched on the subject of understanding that it is easy for us to remove G-d's Laws from us through iniquity. I also explained that it is easy to regain our garments of righteousness through prayerful repentance and charity as promised. Understanding my previous posting and establishing it as a foundation for this subject concerning the commandment of circumcision, can we falter in this requirement if we are already circumcised? No of course not! We cannot grow the foreskin back. Therefore we are in perpetual completion of our obligation in this matter. That being the case, why does it really matter in terms of time dependent Torah obligations? It is my personal understanding that when we as males tend to our hygienic needs we of course have no choice but to look at the area affected by the circumcision. With that being the case, we can see before our eyes the permanent covenant engraved on ours bodies knowing full well that His promise to us is equally permanent. Baruch HaShem!
      I would like to make one side note, and pose a question: Why is it that the child to be circumcised must be circumcised on the 8th day? Our Sages of blessed memory teach us that G-d completed the world on the 6th day, and rested on the 7th (at the exact moment the 6th day ended and the 7th day started). But it is on the 8th day that HaShem began His improvements on His creations. That is why the number 8 for us is rather important because it stands for improving ones self. On the 8th day we are moved into a state of perpetual improvement. When the Torah says "You shall circumcise..." in Hebrew is וּנְמַלְתֶּם which has the same meaning as  וּמַלְתֶּם which means "You [plural] shall circumcise" in the plural future passive form. This is telling our children, and children's children that they have no choice in the matter. (haha, sorry guys)

      Now that we have a basic understanding of the initial event that was the inception for the practice. G-d told us to do this in order to act as a physical sign of His eternal promise. We can move a couple of books further and in Leviticus 12:3  we are told once again that circumcision must occur, "And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.". While this is a small blip concerning our obligation to the circumcision of the foreskin, why is it so important?
      Let me ask you. Did Avraham Avinu have a Torah scroll? Did our early Jewish people before Mt. Sinai have a Torah scroll? The answer is no. While we were in captivity in Egypt it is safe to say without any doubt that the practice probably became a minority. Many had adopted the pagan practices of their Egyptians captors, hence why G-d had to reiterate the importance of this very commandment. So it goes without saying, this practice is very important to G-d. Allow me one final moment to show you just how vital this simple act is, for this we will explore Ezekiel. Allow me to point out that this is messianic:

Ezekiel 44:7-9

      This passage concerns the third and final temple that we hope is built in our days. When it is rebuilt G-d is very very clear that you must be circumcised. To be circumcised of the heart is a subject I plant o touch on in a later post, but for now we will stay on the subject of the physical circumcision. G-d says IT MUST happen. Notice how it states "...in the heart and the flesh"? It means that even IF you are circumcised of the heart, you must ALSO have the physical circumcision. No matter how you may like to paint it, you have to get it done.
      However Christianity has a completely different view on this, just to paint you a small picture let's see what the Christian New Testament's stance is on the matter:

      I have provided for you just 5 of a plethora of verses from the Christian Bible on their stance of circumcision. You can see the common theme here, and that is that circumcision has no value. Paul is very clear on his stance that circumcision has no value, and people who cease in the practice. What is interesting is that we have from our Torah the simple fact that circumcision is vital, important, HOLY, and EVERLASTING, but Paul seeks to abolish the practice altogether.
    Now I suppose you are wondering why 1 out of the 5 citations I have provided is in bold. Let's read it together: "Again I declare to ever man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law[Torah]."- Allow me to make a few points here:

1. Paul insists that we have a choice in the matter of circumcision. I have a feeling he forgot about the fact that G-d tells us we have no choice in the matter.
2. Paul also appears to forget that we are circumcised at 8 days old.
3. Paul attempts to state that our commitment to the Torah is hinged on circumcision. Exactly where in the Torah does it state this? No where. Paul made it up. But you should not be surprised. He does this most of the time.
4. If we travel to Galations 5:2 Paul states that Jesus has no value to those who are circumcised!
5. Although Paul claims to have been a student of R. Gamliel (a blatant lie), and a Pharisee (-eye roll-) it goes without saying that he completely forgot what the Prophet Ezekiel was telling the Jewish People, a and the world. So much for being a learned Jew. He continuously makes these kind of mistakes time and time again showing us that he was never a Pharisee and a student of R. Gamliel.

      I am going to go just one more step further to show you just how "knowledgeable" and "frum" the writers of the New testament were. Examining Acts 15:1 (I will provide simply the snippet) "according to the custom taught by Moses...", I will ask you this: Are they correct in calling it a custom as taught by Moses? The simple answer is no. The reason being is that first of all, it is a commandment. The second thing to touch on is that Moses did not simply teach all 3,000,000 Jews at Mt. Sinai. No, in fact the 3,000,000,000 all received the revelation of G-d's Torah from Mt. Sinai at the same time, and heard the commandments from G-d Himself. By simply examining the New Testament we can see just how truly they "loved" our Torah. No longer was it G-d fire breathed and given to millions of people at once. No. Now it is merely a custom from Moses to the people of Israel. No longer given to Avraham Avinu (Abraham) as a lasting commandment. Just a custom from Moses.

      To end this point I want to talk just lightly on the kind of weight your decision carries when you complete a commandment you are apprehensive about. Our Sages of blessed memory teach us in Pikrei Avoth, Perek (chapter) 2, Mishna 16 that for those who make the difficult decisions in following our Torah, greater is their reward in the world to come. This the theme in Pikrei Avoth concerning the rewards for doing what is righteous and holy in G-d's eyes even when it is difficult. I was circumcised as a baby like many children. Is it counted to me in the world to come having not made the decision myself? No, of course not. But for you dear reader, if you are lacking in the obligation and you make that conscious decision to uphold this vital and important commandment (I'm assuming you are male here. Females, you are except.), you are rewarded. And if you do not want to get circumcised for various reasons but do it anyway then even greater is your reward in the World to Come. Do you understand now? Take heed of these teachings, and understand the very importance and weight that the circumcision carries. Get it done. And who knows, you may seek to become a mohel and do circumcisions for others. Great pay, and you always get to keep the tip! (Ba-dum-ting)

      Shabbat is coming quickly, and I have dishes to do and shabbat meal to make though simple it may be. Ask my best friend and his wife over, and just enjoy the shabbat evening. Tomorrow I will go to schul at Shaarie Torah and kiss our Torah. I wish you all good health and a peaceful Shabbat.


      Shabbat Shalom,

Freedom - Divesting ourselves the weight of living in the past.

Hello cherished reader,

      Well, this is a very late post on my part. I hadspent the weekend in the field with my Army Hospital Company and my beloved 4th Platoon (Operating Room shout out). We had a very successful weekend of firearms training, and I played range safety, and ZERO-er the bulk of the time. By ZERO-er I mean a person who provides an expert eye when helping a soldier set up their iron sights on their rifles. I always have a great sense of pride when I zero a soldier, and they in turn go and qualify with fantastic scores moments later. It tells me that what I am doing, and what information I am passing on is effective.

      At the end of the wonderful weekend, I went and had a wonderful time with my Aunt and Uncle at their home after they picked me up form my Unit. We had a splendid talk concerning dialogue, and divestment. We explored Rashi a little bit together which was exciting, and compared Hebrew linguistic commentary with the commentaries of their Christian books, and had a great time of it. I will share what I had learned, and what I was able to pass on to them through my precious Torah...while I listen to my Matisyahu playlist.

      The first point of order would be something that touches on probably one of the most important Commandments that have been given to us:

Deut. 4:2

      Now that we have established the base line to operate from which is "Do not add to, or take away from", or in simpler terms, "Do not change G-d's Word", we can now touch on the first bit of order concerning Adam and Eve. Actually, Eve is the person of interest for this moment. Let us begin.

In Genesis 3:1 we have the following direct translation of the serpent talking to Eve:

"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field that HaShem G-d had made. He said to the woman, "Did, perhaps, G-d say: "You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?" "

       I would like to introduce you to the oldest "bait and hook" trick in the book. Did you notice anything odd about the way the serpent worded is question? When we want to enter into any dialogue that could get someone thinking I believe it may be safe to assume that we would never something like, "Didn't G-d say that you can't eat of any of the trees here?". Why do you suppose that is? I would say that it is because it puts the listener on the defensive just a touch, and generally when people go on the defensive they tend to recall information a bit better, especially concerning laws. However, the serpent attempted to create small dialogue thus creating an atmosphere that does not seem threatening. So instead going on the attack, and challenging Eve he chose instead to engage her, bring her into dialogue where she might think that she is the person that the serpent is seeking counsel from by using the word perhaps. I had never really thought about it until recently, and Rashi explains to usage of "perhaps" in the dialogue as follows:

  אַף כִּי-אָמַר   "Did [G-d] say..."    This means,  שֶׁמָּא  אָמַר לָכֶם  - Perhaps He said to you, "You shall not eat of any [tree] ect.?" - Even though he [the serpent] saw them eating from other fruits. He [the serpent] increased words upon her [Eve] i.e., he asked broader questions than were appropriate to the situation, - so that she would answer him, and he would come to speak of that tree [The Tree of knowledge of Good and Bad]

      So here we see that the serpent is trying to pull Eve into a conversation, and eventually lead her into talking about the true tree in question. She responds with the following answer:

"Of the fruit of any tree if the garden we may eat. Of the fruit of the tree which is in the center of the garden G-d has said: You shall not eat of it and you shall not touch it, lest you die."

      But what did G-d say ACTUALLY? Most of you know this story already, but I figured we could take a trip down memory lane for a moment. In Genesis 2: 16-17 G-d tells Adam the following after placing him in the The Garden of Eden:

Genesis 2:16-17

      Now what I have done for you is pointed out that Adam was the one to whom G-d was speaking. This is very important to understand because it was from Adam that Eve got her information. As a result, due to her negligence and lack of attentiveness she added a new commandment. What was the commandment she added? "...and you shall not touch it". Because of this simple slip she had made we will find that it became very easy for the serpent to trick her, as Rashi explains:

You will not surely die - He [the serpent] pushed her until she touched [the tree] - He [the serpent] said to her - "Just as there is no death through touching it, so there is no death through eating."Bereshis Rabbah 19:3

      By having the events explained we can see very easily why it took hardly any effort to escalate Eve from touching to eating. Already as far as she was concerned, had violated a commandment and saw no truth in it [the warning from G-d] although she had believed that the commandment against even touching the tree was in fact a real one rather than an addition she had made to what G-d had already conveyed to Adam. Therefore it was easy for her to be pushed into escalation from one violation to another. And of course Adam saw Eve still alive and offering him the fruit [from The Tree], and he ate from it as she had. So let us move into the point of interest that happens immediately after. What we have is that Adam and Even realize they are naked, let is delve into this event and see what the Torah has to reveal to us:

Genesis 3:7 Rashi's Torah pq 32

      Rashi points out a very interesting point of interest in this passage, and that is "...and they realized that they were naked.". It goes without saying that this is a truly strange passage because they were always naked since their inception and planting in the garden. What exactly about their nakedness did they realize? Furthermore, why the use of fig leaves? Wait a minute... fig leaves? Did anyone notice that out of all of the fruit bearing trees of the Garden of Eden, this is the only time a specific genus of tree is mentioned?

These people own this picture, not me. :) 

      Rashi explains with the following:

A FIG LEAF - That is the species of tree from which they ate. By the very thing through which they came to ruin, they were corrected. But the other trees prevented them from taking their leaves. And  why was the name of the tree not publicized? Fir the Holy One, blessed is He, does not desire to perturb and creature. He therefore did not state explicitly the species of the tree for which they sinned so that [people] should not humiliate it, and say "This is the one through which the world was stricken." - This is found in Midrash R' Tanchuma.

      So Rashi, and the Midrash shows us that this was the way for G-d to show us by which their sin was committed while preventing hate and disgust to plague a tree that is a creation of G-d for no creation of G-d such as this tree should be despised. It was not the fault of the Tree, but the fault of Adam and Eve.

      Now if we backtrack a little bit we still have the question of the nakedness to deal with, and if we explore Rashi a little further we will have this query answered:

"...and they realized that they were naked..." - Even a blind man realizes that he is naked. But what is meant by "and they realized that they were naked"? There was one commandment in their hand, i.e., G-d held them responsible for one commandment, not to eat from the tree  and they became naked of it. i.e., they had divested themselves of the commandment by breaking it.

      What we are being shown is is that Adam and Eve were now divested of the one responsibility that they were given and therefore were "naked". So the question then arises, why the sewing of leaves into garments to cover themselves? Was it to cover their nakedness, or their nakedness? The answer is really simple if you think of it. Imagine if you would a curious child who is captivated by a beautiful and priceless blue Chinese vase that is a family heirloom. The child has been told to never touch it due to its great worth and fragility. However, the temptation overcame the child and he took the vase from its placement and tested the weight carefully in his hands. The child became careless and it slipped from their hands.One of the first things a child would do (admit it, you've done something like what is coming next) is search for the super glue, and vainly work to putting the pieces back together.

      Now look at what Adam and Eve did. They broke a vase [Ate from The Tree], and attempted to piece it back together [By sewing the broken 'pieces' back together], and wear them as vestments. They thought through their child-like behavior that they could mend what they had broken. What is even more profound is that they had reacted in such a way. This shows you how spiritually in tune they were. They understood that they had lost something they could not easily retrieve.

      We know that G-d enters into dialogue with them, asking where they were (though He knew anyway), and had asked what they had done (though He had seen it). Why the entrance into dialogue? Have you noticed a common theme between this story, and Cain and Abel? G-d seeks to enter into dialogue in order to give those who had committed offenses to repent. To perform teshuvah. Instead Eve blames the serpent, and Adam... actually Adam takes the blame game further by blaming G-d by saying, "The woman who you gave to be with me - She gave me of the Tree and I ate.". The sheer audacity of Adam to blame G-d for his stumbling was certainly not lost on Him.

     By this lesson, what can we learn? As you can see through their simple stumbling it is easy to remove the commandments G-d has given to us through sin, and rather than seeking G-d out and asking for forgiveness with the fullness of their hearts bearing full regret. They instead sought to lay blame and not take ownership for their missteps.
     G-d seeks to enter into dialogue with you in order to give you a chance to admit and repent your failings in His eyes. To say that G-d seeks to mete our judgement and vengeance against sinners as a hobby to pass the time, you're mistaken. For one, the dude is eternal. Last I checked eternal means He has a LOT of time. I'm sure He'd rather play Assassin's Creed or something rather than punishing people. He does not seek to punish. He seeks to be merciful and forgiving. However, a responsible parent [like G-d] cannot just dole outs hall passes like confetti to everyone. A responsible parent makes sure you understand what you did wrong, this way you can learn form the mistake and go the way of righteousness. G-d shows us the standard through Torah. It is up to you and I to learn from it. Learn form the stories, the laws, and the Prophets.
      Do you dear reader, really think they the Jewish people were stiff-necked hard-nosed stubborn people the whole time? Our Sages of blessed memory teach us that G-d gives us this side of Jewish history for a reason. By seeing our ancestors backsliding, we can then learn from them. The concept of history being cyclical is a very old and Jewish concept, meaning that bad history is doomed to repeat at one level of intensity or another. Be it a small event, or something global. Regardless of how small or great the affect may be on a given populace, the simple lesson of learning from our mistakes should not be lost on us. We see more mistakes rather than great achievements and glorification in our Torah so that we might learn from previous sins.
      A great Rabbi by the name of Rabbi Ken Spiro who I think still teaches history in Jerusalem likes to say the following, "History is the testing ground of ideas.". I have always found this to be very profound. We can see how various people have tested various things and know what works and what does not work. Through the diaspora of the Jewish people we can see that not following and studying the Torah does not work.

      So back to the main topic at hand: Freedom - Divesting ourselves the weight of living in the past.
Many of us, myself included, look back constantly at the things we have done and wonder, "can I ever get out of this?", "can I really move forward.", and my favorite, "How did I get so far?". We as human beings are really good at living in the past rather than learning from it. And I have another teaching for later concerning the problems of looking back. However, this post is more about getting out, divesting the garments of sin and regret, and donning new garments of holiness. By repenting, by praying teshuvah we can find that replacing the tattered rags of iniquity with the white garments of the upright is in fact a very easy thing to do. No where does G-d say in all of our great Torah that your stumbling's are too great for Him.He just tells us to reach out to Him, and He will be your G-d. His mercies and forgiveness's are endless, and forever. If you truly want them, they are yours for the taking. And as soon as you ask for them, then your sins will be forgotten, never to be remembered. I will do another teaching dedicated to this later as well.

      I hope I was able to provide you with some insight. I know I came away form it knowing more now than I did a couple of days ago.


      Lilah tov and be well.,

The strength to overcome - Do we have what it takes?

All rights reserved by 2008 Adam Rhine, @ Hebrew Art

Hello dear reader,

My what a hot day it has been here in Portland, OR! The hottest point I believe was 95 degrees, with I would imagine anywhere between 20%-30% humidity. But it is nothing that ice cream, and a couple of cold frappuccinos can't fix!

      So today I wanted to touch upon the subject of the ability to overcome. The younger brother of mine whom I study Torah with daily is a bit of a "wet blanket" to coin an old term. Undoubtedly when a long series of events that seem to keep you down rather than allowing you even a small respite and access to upward momentum, it takes a large amount of inner strength to move forward, put a smile on your face, speak and think positive. As the eldest, I have certainly made my share of mistakes, and met more trials of error in my life to know that the strength required to be positive can either come naturally, or it is learned. I have had to train myself over the last few years on this matter, and I think it has worked well for me. A keen sense of self-awareness is key to understanding how we project ourselves and the resulting way we affect those around us. Unfortunately there is such a thing as being too positive, deluding yourself and creating false expectations to grand to be within your abilities or current situation in which you find yourself. That of course does not mean you should not have goals, and dreams. It is one thing to expect something, than it is to create goals, points to shoot for no matter how near or far in the future they may be.

      My dear Aunt and Uncle are dreamers. And L-rd knows I have such great respect for them because of this and many other fantastic attributes that HaShem has blessed them with. They have this refrigerator that is tastefully adorned with pictures from magazines ranging from Jerusalem where they would like to visit once more, a very sophisticated and professional closet for a man who dresses well (my auntie dresses very well in fine pinstriped suits, and fedoras. Haha, just kidding. She stopped going drag years ago. *snickers*), a dream car, a dream house, and a magnet I brought back from Japan which is another place they want to take a trip to. Maybe it is not so important exactly what they have on their kitchen appliance, but the fact that they have anything there at all. They are two very hardworking people who have surrounded themselves in dreams and goals, and it is the most consistent and probably my fondest memory of them that I will carry with me always. We all know how to dream. I'm a horrible day dreamer, and I tend to think too far ahead in the future as my wife constantly reminds me (She's right too. A very wise woman might I add.), but it is them who showed me how to truly dream. How to set goals. Real ones. Showed me how to be realistic.

      Needless to say it is this and many other skills that I try to impart upon my brother as he tends to always been "down in the dumps" as the adage goes. There are times when he can be a perfectly good goofball, but most times he is negative, and has gotten into the easy habit of saying the deplorable word CAN'T. I have learned over the years that I truly despise that word. I would prefer to say things like:

• Presently I am lacking in the ability to...
• It is a bit out of my spectrum for the moment...
• That is above my pay grade (My fellow military service members will giggle at this one. Hehe)
• At the present time, I lack to means.

      I am sure that if given enough time this evening I could pull more things out of this humid air to add to this list, but I'd rather move forward. If we simply examine these four phrases I think you may find that they all share something in common: They are not anchored in fatality. They instead say that while currently I am unable to do it, that does not mean I cannot do it in the future. Maybe you're looking at the "pay grade" one, a common saying in the military, and wondering "How is THAT one temporary?". Last I checked we had this really neat even the mystics of the olde ways of yore called promotion. Yep, get promoted and then you can do it. See? Things are only as permanent as you allow them to be. Sure promotions can be tough, but at least you're trying your best. If you do not make it, you can look back and still tell yourself and those around you that you gave it your best shot.

      What of bad attitudes? I'm a big believer that the body directly reflects how you feel, or allow yourself to feel. Even in the dreariest times, I try to never allow myself to look as bad as I feel. I walk upright, with fantastic posture [If I don't say so myself], a smile on my face, a clean measured high tone of voice, and allowing my face to project a sense of contentedness, and welcome. Because of that I find it easy to make new friends, even if I am naturally painfully shy. I just chalk it up to an overly nurtured sense of humility [Yeah, THAT was humble].

      This ability to hold yourself physically, and emotionally upright are skills not far off from you. G-d would never put something in your path that He knew you could never overcome. He would truly be a cruel G-d if that were the case. So allow me to skillfully touch on sin now. [Mission accomplished, I've hooked ya!]

       Sin is an awfully interesting concept. In the secular world we have come to ignore it outright because it has strong religious overtones. Instead we call it something to the tune of "unlawful infraction" or some such nonsense. When we give into the Yetzer hara, or The Evil Inclination, we don't just separate ourselves from those around us, but also from G-d, and ourselves. I have always felt that if I have done something wrong there is a strange feeling of being uncomfortable in my own skin. As a person who yearns to walk uprightly, should we stumble, there is always that feeling of embarrassment. You know, like that time you were caught doing something you shouldn't have been doing, and you wished you could just be somewhere, or someone else for that moment? Well, we can say that the same feeling applies here. Although, I am unsure if other people share this same sentiment, but if I find that I have stumbled somewhere, I know deep down I need to correct whatever it is. Once making that correction you feel fine again. Why? Because you've reconnected yourself. For a moment you were short fusing, but now the connection was made healthy and whole again. Teshuvah [prayerful repentance] as well as tzedakah [charity], these are the bandages, and medic kits for your soul.

      This is why I have had such a fundamental problem with Christianity due to these simple actions that our forever merciful L-rd G-d provided for us. I really feel that when we read our Torah, G-d is speaking to us directly through every single letter. Every single word. And what is the first thing G-d says to Cain in Genesis 4:7?

Genesis 4:7 "Why are you annoyed, and why has your countenance fallen? Is it not true that if you do good, you will be forgiven? But if you do not do good at the entrance, sin crouches; its longing is towards you, yet you will rule over it."

      Rashi goes on to expound this and points that "yet you will rule over it, if you want to, you can overcome it [sin]". Basically G-d is telling Cain, "Is it not true that if you improve your actions it will be forgiven for you?"

By having this basic understanding and very first real account of G-d's willingness to provide forgiveness, as well as the first notion that moving forward to walk in an upright manner is not outside your limits. The very first teaching we get concerning sin and mercy is right here, and yet it is so easily ignored and glossed over.

      So let's take this fact that having the strength to not just rule over our yetzer hara and rule over the challenges we find in life, but also rule over the negative thoughts, emotions, and feelings that can plague us to the core.

      I always tell my soldiers, friends and family: Forward momentum is what we should always strive for. Without movement we have no potential energy. It is no coincidence that the scientific term of potential energy has the word potential in it.


Lilah tov and be well,