Filed under: Jewish, Judaism, Rosh Hashannah Yom Kippur High Holy Days, Torah, Yom Tov | Tags: High Holy Days, Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur, Services
Hello Blog Readers,
I was reading a blog post from Jew in the City, and found some information that I had been looking for in order to give you. Wondering where to go for The High Holy Days? Click on this website to find services. You can also contact a Chabad. Remember, all of us can make a difference.
http://nomembershiprequired.com/
Please let me know if this in any way helped you find a service.
Filed under: Books, Hashem, Jewish, Judaism, Rosh Hashannah Yom Kippur High Holy Days, Shabbat, Shabbos, Shul, Torah, Yom Tov | Tags: book, Hashem, High Holy Days, New Year, Rosh Hashannah Yom Kippur High Holy Days, Shabbat, Shabbos
Hello Blog Readers,
I was so disappointed to miss Selichot services after Shabbos this week. Simply put Selichot are special prayers for forgiveness as the month of Elul begins to close. The time period of these services usually begins the Sunday very early morning hours before Rosh Hashanah. These prayers are about committing to do better and be better in the upcoming year. I know I have been talking about self improvement all month. So, what sets the time period for selichot apart from the rest of the month of Elul? I believe the answer lies in urgency. Yes, it’s true we should use all of the days in the month of Elul to prepare for the High Holy Days but I believe that Selichot is a warning, a signal, a reminder that Rosh Hashanah. is quickly approaching and Yom Kippur is not far behind it. These prayers serve as yet another opportunity for forgiveness and personal growth.
I was sitting in Shul, Synagogue Saturday morning, listening to the rabbi speak when I realized that after midnight Selichot services would begin. My breath caught and I thought to myself, I have a problem. Depending on how you look at it these services are either very late into the night or very early in the morning. This particular service was scheduled for 1 AM. Of course, another service was scheduled later in the morning for those who would be sleeping through this service. I knew I could not be at Shul at 1AM in the morning and that I had conflicts later in the morning making it impossible for me to make it to the second service. I really didn’t want to miss this; after all, I have been writing about self improvement and digging deep in my own Teshuvah, repentance process. What was I to do? I asked a rabbi who understood there was no way for me to make it to either Selichot service. He told me that I didn’t have to be there, I told him, I know that but I really want to be there. I wanted to know what a person like me who knew she could not be at a service could do to make up for it. The idea that I didn’t have to attend these services and I would still be all right should have made me feel a lot better, but it didn’t. I felt terrible I knew that this rabbi was right but I still chose to look up the subject in a very handy and user friendly book entitled Halichos Bas Yisrael A Woman’s Guide to Jewish Observance Volume II published by Feldheim.
All week I felt as if I did something terrible by not attending these services, then yesterday I was writing something on a different subject matter, I got frustrated because the word count wasn’t exactly as it should have been. For a brief moment, I thought to myself, I failed, I can do nothing right but then, thank G-d, the knowledge that Hashem loves me and all human beings, and all the creatures He created, hit me once again, like a lightning bolt, at exactly the right time. Preparation for the High Holy Days, self improvement, and personal growth are of extreme importance. However, yesterday when I was writing and it wasn’t going the way I wanted it to, I lost sight of the fact that if I make a mistake, or a project I am working on doesn’t come out exactly they way I want it to, It doesn’t mean that I am a failure. Yes, I missed the service last week and even though I was told that I was free from the obligation, I felt it was a mistake but I am trying, I am working on my Teshuvah process and Hashem knows it. Hashem wants us to come close to Him, we should never forget the reason He wants us to come close to Him is because He loves us.
He knows that we can do better and wants us to have faith that we can. He is aware we are imperfect and loves us despite our imperfections.
May the New Year bring you all blessing upon blessing!
Filed under: Jewish, Judaism, Rosh Hashannah Yom Kippur High Holy Days, Shabbat, Shabbos, Torah | Tags: 2008, gossip, Lashon Hara, September 20, Shabbat, speech, Torah
Hello Blog Readers,
I was informed a few days ago that this coming Shabbos, September 20, 2008 is National Lashon Hara awareness Day. Simply put, Lashon Hara is gossip. It is a mitzvah, a commandment to avoid this, and there are many laws of proper speech which I will write more about at another time. I thank the person for sending me this important news and for knowing that it would be good for me to have a laugh at the same time. You will see what I mean when you click on this site below. You will see the face of a very funny and famous man. Click on the face and the video will begin to play. Let’s all be mindful and careful about the words that leave our mouths.
http://www.ou.org/ou/event_more/national_day_of_lashon_hara_awareness
Filed under: Hashem, Jewish, Judaism, Rosh Hashannah Yom Kippur High Holy Days, Torah | Tags: Elul, High Holy Days, Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur, Torah
Hello Blog Readers,
We are still in the Hebrew month of Elul, the Seventeenth day of Elul to be exact and preparations for the New Year, Rosh Hashanah and the day of repentance Yom Kippur are well underway. If you feel you have gotten off to a slow start, or have not started at all as of yet, don’t worry. It is alright, you still have time. As I said previously in Rosh Hashanah the call to self improvement, the month of Elul is a special time for prayer. This is not to say that once the month of Elul passes, the doors of prayer are closed. The doors of prayer are never closed. Hashem, G-d, always listens. My personal interpretation is that the month of Elul is a time that G-d pays extra attention to what our prayers are. I asked you to examine, as I am examining the answers to some questions including what it is you want out of life Some of you may be thinking, that is very nice but how do I ask for what I want, and how do I know what it is that I truly desire? I. can’t give you all the answers and I will never claim to be able to but I can give you some suggestions based on my own experience.
If you have an idea of what you want, sit in a quiet room and write these things down. Don’t be concerned with how silly you think some of the things you write might be, write until you feel you can’t write anymore about what you want or think you want. Then read through your list, depending on how long the list took, you might want to leave it for awhile, before you go over it. This all depends on how tired you feel. When you read through the list, ask yourself if every goal is important. If you read something you find to be unimportant or superficial put a line through it. Read through your list a second time to make sure that everything on it is a goal you wish to accomplish.
In the case you need to ask for help knowing what you want, I suggest that when you have time you go into a room by yourself, it must be a room where you can have privacy. Once you find this place, get comfortable and begin to talk. No, you will not get a verbal answer, but this exercise may give you an answer, all the same.
When I am feeling confused I do this. The best time I find is at night when everyone is sleeping, I think, and then I start talking until the situation I am dealing with begins to become less confusing to me. I pray to G-d without asking him anything yet. I just pour out my heart, like I would with a best friend who is greatly trusted. This communication process helps me to understand myself in ways I don’t think I could otherwise. It makes me feel that Hashem is very near.
Rosh Hashanah is a time we can allow ourselves to return to Hashem and during the month of Elul Hashem is begging us to come closer to him, to return to him and to what is most important in life. Sometimes a person can’t find the words to express all that they feel. In this situation, I look up at the ceiling or sky and say “Hashem, there is so much I want to say to you but the only word I can think of is Help”. Just saying that one little word, “Help” helps me with whatever situation I am in. Again, I do not get a verbal response, and the problem may not be immediately solved, but I can feel a difference many times the instant that I do this.
Over the years, I have heard some stories of married couples renewing their wedding vows. These couples have been together for years and have barely been separated since the beginning of their married life and love each other. These couples were all already legally married. So why did they choose to renew vows? They did this act because they have deep love for each other. It was important to these couples that they express that love and commitment in front of people but most importantly in front of each other. These couples promised to be good spouses and to be better spouses than they had been over the years. Rosh Hashanah is a time that we can very effectively, through a process, recommit ourselves to Hashem, and make new commitments to him to be better people who have better relationships with him and the important people in our lives. Hashem brings himself closer to us and we help to bring ourselves closer to him during this time. This is why the month of Elul is a particularly special time for prayer. Elul is often the right time for our heartfelt prayers to be answered with a yes.
Filed under: Health, women | Tags: women, Cancer, mammograms, mammogram, Free, act of kindness
Hello Blog Readers,
I wasn’t going to post anything else so soon in the week. However, I have some information I don’t think I should wait to share with you. Remember when I wrote about an act of kindness? You can do an act of kindness just by going to
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/ and clicking on the pink window that reads Click Here to give it’s free. By doing this simple act of kindness, you will be helping women who can’t afford mammograms to get them free of charge. Please, go to this site and click as much as you can. It costs you NOTHING. It is FREE to you. It does however, make a big difference. Thank-you in advance for all your clicks.
Filed under: Jewish, Judaism, Rosh Hashannah Yom Kippur High Holy Days, Torah | Tags: Elul, G-d Hashem, Hebrew Month, New Year, Rosh Hashannah Yom Kippur High Holy Days, Self
Hello Blog Readers,
We are now in the Hebrew month of Elul, which means that I and many others are gearing up for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Repentance. Rosh Hashanah is the first day of the month of Tishrei which is next month and Yom Kippur is 10 days later, on the tenth of Tishrei. Some of you may be thinking to yourselves, Rosh Hashanah is one holiday and Yom Kippur is another holiday, both are relatively short, so why, would one need a whole month to prepare? In short Rosh Hashanah is about a new year, and a new year is a new beginning with new opportunities. Yom Kipper, again in short, is about making repentance for those things one did not do to the best of their ability, or didn’t do at all the year before. It is about repenting for the mistakes made the previous year. Any accomplishment a person achieves is made because they went through a process.
Preparation for a New Year and Repentance is the same as preparation in order to achieve any goal. One needs to go through a process to achieve the goal. Elul gives people the opportunity to prepare for both Repentance and a fresh start.
Elul is a special time for self improvement. The month of Elul can seem daunting to anyone; there are countless classes, books, and articles on the subject. If you are looking for these things during this time of year, they can be found everywhere. As human beings, we can’t read every single book, or attend every single class as we can only be in one place at one time. However, we as human beings can and are expected to do our best. Although, the call for self improvement may seem the most frightening of all goals because it involves, we humans looking deep into ourselves, the goal is worth having and worth achieving. If you speak to someone who has just accomplished a goal, such as graduating from school, you will notice that the person is not just happy and satisfied because the school is at an end, the person is happy and satisfied because of the work they did in order to achieve that graduation. The work is the process. It is the process that makes a person feel that they have done something important. If a person wouldn’t graduate without a lot of preparation, why would a person go into Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur without preparation?
The call to self improvement may be loud and difficult, but in my opinion, answering the call is one of the deepest expressions of love for yourself, for those around you and for G-d. Many people would make the excuse that they are too busy and don’t have enough time for self improvement. The month of Elul gives a person that time. A time to evaluate yourself and decide what it is you really want for yourself out of life. Finding this out allows you to know yourself better. Personally, when I feel I know myself better, I feel closer to G-d. In my opinion, this process improves my relationship with G-d and from my personal experience; self improvement makes me a happier person.
What do you want out of life? What areas of life would you like to improve? What parts of yourself would you like to change for the better? What did you do last year that you want to do better this year? What are your goals for your new opportunity for a new beginning? I ask that you examine the answers to these questions as I am examining them. Once you have an idea ask G-d for what it is you want. If you don’t know ask that G-d help you figure it out. Remember G-d is Compassionate. HE listens to prayer, and the month of Elul is a special time for prayer.
May all of you have a meaningful Elul and a beautiful and happy New Year!
Filed under: Jewish, Shabbos, disabillity | Tags: disabillity, kindness, Saturday, Shabbat, Shul, Synagogue, women
Hello Blog Readers,
I don’t know about you, but I am afraid to ask for help on the occasions that I need it.
In short the reason is that I have a disability and feel people expect me to need help. I thank G-d that I manage very well and don’t want people to think that I am helpless. I don’t want people to think that others with disabilities are helpless just because of their situation. At times, I will be writing about disabilities. Now is not that time. I just thought I needed to give you some insight into why what many would call a simple act of kindness touched me so deeply.
As I walked to Shul, Synagogue, Saturday morning, I thought about how nice it was to be away from the pressure of the week. When I got to the door of the building, a man opened it for me, I said thank you, he said Shabbat Shalom; I returned his greeting wishing him a good Sabbath and began to walk toward the side of the women’s section closest to me.
I heard the man ask me if I needed a Siddur, a prayer book. I turned and answered yes quickly seeing that he was already removing a second Siddur from the large book case. When I got to the Women’s section door, he opened that for me too. And once again, I said thank you. He just nodded. Truth be told, I am not sure that he heard me say thank you. Instead of just handing me the Siddur, he stepped into the entrance of the women’s section. I was surprised and saw that the seat I usually sit in was taken. I turned back to him, told him I could take it from here, and took the Siddur from him. He quickly left. I found a seat and began to pray feeling so grateful for the kindnesses of G-d and the kindnesses of human beings.
Many people would say, he opened the door for you, that’s nice. And yes it was kind, but what’s the big deal? (The big deal is that he made my life easier, since it is a struggle for me to open a heavy door, and carry a heavy book a long way. But he did it without making me feel different from everybody else, or helpless.) I accepted this person’s help so happily because of the way it was offered. When he opened the Shul door for me I felt that he would do that for anyone who needed the door opened. He wished me a good Shabbos the way he would wish anyone a good Shabbos. When he entered the women’s section, my prayer book in hand, I sensed that he expected and was perfectly happy to carry my Siddur to whatever seat I found. He did this act of kindness with very few words and his expression conveyed to me that he would carry anyone’s Siddur if he found another person who needed it. There was no pity in his voice or facial expression. There was no urgency in his walk, as if he had to open the door for me and carry my Siddur because he saw that I had a disability. He was not patronizing, there was no indication that he felt obligated to help me because he thought I was helpless. I quickly took my Siddur while he was standing in the doorway of the women’s section because I did not want him to feel uncomfortable and I knew that I did have the Siddur, that I could carry it to my seat but I truly was moved.
We human beings are taught to do acts of kindness; we are taught that an act of kindness is a Mitzvah, a commandment. Most people think that opening a door for someone or helping someone carry a book or groceries is a small act of kindness. People sometimes think that a small act of kindness doesn’t do much to help the world and that they need to do big things in order to help the world at all. A small act of kindness isn’t so small and can make meaningful improvements. I am almost positive, he didn’t think much, or at all about what he did to help me once the task was done. He may not even remember opening the door for me next week, but he did and it made a big difference. It served as more evidence that there is human kindness and that is important to remember.
