My Life , My Blog

  In de koude madrugada van mei 2012, op bijna negenduizend meter hoogte, waar lucht meer een ideologe dan een zekerheid wordt, stond een jonge Israëlische alpinist op het punt een legende te worden. Nadav Ben Yehuda, amper vierentwintig jaar oud, beklom de laatste graat van de Everest. Hij hoefde nog maar driehonderd meter om het hoogste punt van de planeet te bereiken. Driehonderd meter om de geschiedenisboeken in te gaan. Driehonderd meter om een ​​droom te verwezenlijken die hij al jaren nastreefde. En toen zag hij het. Eerst de lichamen van twee alpinisten die enkele dagen eerder waren gestorven, hangend aan hetzelfde touw waarlangs hij zich voortbewoog. Toen een tweede schok: een onbeweeglijke massa in de sneeuw. Een man zonder handschoenen, zonder zuurstofmasker, trillend op de rand van de dood. Het was Aydin Irmak, een Turkse klimmer die Nadav op het basiskamp had ontmoet. Een gezicht dat daarboven nooit had mogen zijn. Anderen hadden deze man genegeerd in hun race naar roe...

  Master of the Universe, grant me the ability to be alone. May it be my custom to go outdoors each day among the trees and grass, among all growing things. And there may I be alone in prayer, to talk with my Creator, to express everything in my heart. And may all the foliage of the field awake at my coming, to send the power of their life into the words of my prayer, so that my prayer and speech are made whole through the spirit of all growing things." A Meditation by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

  “The main method of meditation as outlined by Rabbi Abraham, thus involves the contemplation of nature. A person can contemplate the greatness of the sea, marveling at the many creatures that live in it. One can gaze at a clear night sky, allowing his mind to be completely absorbed by the glory of the stars. Through such intense contemplation, one can attain a meditative state directed toward the Divine. This is seen as the level of Aseph, one of the co-authors of the Psalms, who purified his heart and mind, cleansing it of all things other than the Divine. It is regarding this state that he said, "My flesh and heart fade away," When he divorced his consciousness from everything but God, he said, "Who have I in heaven? And with You, I have no desire on earth" (Psalm 73)” Aryeh Kaplan, Meditation and the Bible Artwork - The Miracles Of Moshe (Moses) By Unknown Artist  

  Naturally, we think of the Jewish people as a conglomerate of many Jews. But the Baal Shem Tov saw the Jewish people as a single, indivisible whole. Think of a geometrical point. A point is indivisible, but not because it is too hard, too big, or too small to cut up. A point simply has no area to be divided. That’s what makes it a point. And yet, from a point you can extend infinite lines radiating in infinite dimensions. In a somewhat similar way, but far beyond, all Jews are one Jew. Which means that in any one Jew, you will find all of us—just from a different angle. So that whatever happens to any one of us instantaneously happens to the entire Jewish people. Not by some ripple effect or resonance. But because any one sample of the whole is the whole and the whole is one. And so, the Baal Shem Tov taught, when the light of any one Jewish soul breaks free, the entire nation is redeemed along with it. And accordingly, the Rebbe wrote, the ultimate exodus of our entire people is...

  If a man stands by a lit candle for twenty years, it will shine upon him for twenty years. But the moment he walks away from this candle, the light no longer shines on him. This same principle applies to our connection with the Light that we receive from the Creator. So long as we are consistent in our conscious desire and efforts to be with the Light, it will always shine upon us." Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) Artwork - Yossi Rosenstein

Het volgt een diverse groep nazi-jagers die in 1977 in  New York City  wonen en ontdekken dat talloze ontsnapte nazi-officieren samenzweren om een  ​​Vierde Rijk  in de Verenigde Staten te creëren.   Een parallel plot-element betreft de ontdekking van  Operatie Paperclip  , de operatie van de Amerikaanse overheid waarbij Duitse wetenschappers (velen van hen nazi's) naar de VS werden overgebracht. De personages in de serie zijn gebaseerd op een aantal echte  nazi-jagers  uit de afgelopen decennia, maar zijn niet bedoeld als een specifieke weergave van een van hen. Al Pacino  als Meyer Offerman / Wilhelm Zuchs, een nazi die aan arrestatie ontkwam door een Pools-Joodse  Holocaust-overlevende  genaamd Meyer Offerman te vermoorden. Zuchs stal vervolgens Offermans identiteit en onderging plastische chirurgie om meer op Offerman te lijken. Onder deze gestolen identiteit rekruteert en leidt Zuchs, die een enorm fortuin heeft verga...

  "And Elokim spoke to Moses, and said to him, "I am Hashem" There are three forms of Divine expression: 1.Elokim 2.Hashem 3.Hashem is Elokim 1)Elokim is the Divine connected with nature. The Creator of nature, and manifest within nature. 2) Hashem (the Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey) represents the Infinite, the transcendent Divine that is beyond nature. 3) Elokim is Hashem, is the unity of the two. The numeric value of Elokim is the same numeric value of the words Kli Hashem / the vessel of Hashem. ----- 1) We sense Elokim in our lives when we feel guided. When the details of our lives come together, we feel the interconnectedness of things, and we sense purpose. 2) We are aware of Hashem in our lives when we feel as if something miraculous and extraordinary has occurred to us. 3) We sense that Elokim is Hashem when we live with the recognition that every moment of life is truly a miracle, and nothing is expected or routine. ---- The Divine Names: Experientially: Elokim – Feeling Pur...

  "Animals do not gaze at the stars, and angels are confined to the realm of the spirit, but Man is G‑d’s bridge between heaven and earth. Our bodies are formed from the dust; our souls are of the essence of G‑d. We alone can look at a physical world and see spiritual life and beauty. We who are beyond both heaven and earth, form and matter, spirit and body— we alone can fuse the two." The Lubavitcher Rebbe Artwork - Joyful Spirit THE Rebbe

  Our Torah tells you that you must not fear. Even if an army is charging towards you, you must not fear. For there is no danger worse than fear. But you are only human. Do you truly have control over the dread and panic pounding in your heart? Yes. Not directly, but through the power of your mind. If you will choose not to dwell on those things that instil panic and dread, those emotions will wither and fade. And the choice is yours. What do you want to speak about? What do you want to think about? For the thoughts of your mind are the mother and the father of the emotions of your heart. Rabbi Tzvi Freeman Artwork - Jewish-Chilean artist Mauricio Avayu

  #OnThisDay 16 December 1942, the Plonsk ghetto was liquidated and the last of the Jews of Plonsk were sent to Auschwitz. This transport contained young people, professionals, those considered “privileged” by the Judenrat, as well as 340 children from the children’s home in the Plonsk ghetto. Recounting the ghetto’s liquidation, Shoshana Szydlo-Kahane recalls:“At 4 am, we all stood in the square fully dressed, with our packages in our arms… we were placed in rows, and between 5-6 am we left in a long line towards the train station. The non-Jews watching us bowed their heads and crossed themselves. Immediately, the Germans began screaming, and then there was pushing accompanied by whips. We were barbarically forced into an ordinary passenger train… we used our elbows to get in faster, faster, without thinking of anyone else, so we could avoid the blows. After we were inside, they closed the doors. In the car in which I sat with my family were Franka Kirsztejn, her sister and her m...

  "They translate it as “The Bible,” or “The Law,” but that’s not what the word means. Torah means “instructions.” Whatever piece of Torah you learn, you must find the instructions it is giving you. Instructions to you, here, now." Rabbi Tzvi Freeman Artwork - Writing The Torah Scroll By Albert Benaroya

  Laat de lichten van Chanoeka een periode van vrede  .... en geluk en een betere wereld voor de hele mensheid inluiden. Ik wens iedereen een seizoen vol licht, liefde en gekoesterde momenten. 

You may consider yourself a single person, but there are many characters playing their own script inside you, each capable of detaching itself from the others. Intellect will blast off on its own journey happily detached from emotion. Emotion will burn itself up in a fire that never comes to action. Your arms and legs can go through mindless, heartless, meaningless actions day in and out. And the soul can fly high, oblivious to anything that concerns your down-to-earth life. But when you eat your meal mindfully, do business with a conscience, treat a cranky child with loving patience—in all these things a harmony of parts is achieved. All of you becomes one. Rabbi Tzvi Freeman  

  How to unmask a blessing in disguise: Stare it in the face and say, “I know you are not just a lousy day or bad luck. I know you are a good friend—even if for the life of me I cannot determine how. I know there is only one Source of All Things, and nothing can convince me that evil descends from Above. Evil descends from the constraints of my perception. You are no more than a blessing in disguise.” This blessing, if truly a great one, will not surrender its cover easily. You will need to hold your ground like a mountain against the sea. You will need a composure that demonstrates you meant every word you said. You need to surprise yourself with your own resolve. And then you can turn over a world. A world that once distorted every blessing that squeezed through its gates will open wide. And the blessings that have already entered will sigh a breath of relief as one by one they discard their scary costumes. Rabbi Tzvi Freeman

  People are afraid of joy. They are afraid they’ll get out of hand and lose control. These people haven’t experienced real joy—the joy that comes from doing a mitzvah (commandment/precept) with all your heart. Where there is that joy, the Divine Presence can enter. Where there is that joy, there are no pits to fall into, and all obstacles evaporate into thin air. The great Kabbalist, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, said that the gates of wisdom and divine inspiration were opened to him only as a reward for his joy in fulfilling a mitzvah. Rabbi Tzvi Freeman

  "Humility is not an inferiority complex. It's doing the right thing and not being dependent on the opinion of others." Rabbi Noah Weinberg Artwork - Yosst Rosenstein

  Chanukah 1932 ″It was on a Friday afternoon right before Shabbat that this photo was taken. My grandmother realized that this was a historic photo, and she wrote on the back of the photo that ‘their flag wishes to see the death of Judah, but Judah will always survive, and our light will outlast their flag.’ My grandfather, the rabbi of the Kiel community, was making many speeches, both to Jews and Germans. To the Germans he warned that the road they were embarking on was not good for Jews or Germans, and to the Jews he warned that something terrible was brewing, and they would do well to leave Germany. My grandfather fled Germany in 1933, and moved to Israel. His community came to the train station to see him off, and before departed he urged his people to flee Germany while there’s still time.” – Yehudah Mansbuch Written on the back of the photo: “Chanukah, 5692. ‘Judea dies’, thus says the banner. ‘Judea will live forever’, thus respond the lights”. Today, both the Posner famil...

  “These words that I command you today should be upon your heart.” (Deut. 6:6.) “Every day, the words of the Torah must be new to you.” (Sifri, Rashi.) Tradition is not life. Tradition preserves life. But it does not give life. Goals are not life. Goals inspire life. But they are not life. Life is here in this moment now. To be alive, every moment must be a moment that never happened before. Which means that Torah must not be about tradition. It cannot be grounded on a memory of the past. Those are important, truly vital. But a Torah life cannot be built upon them. Real life, Torah life, is about who you are now, where the core of your soul lies at this very moment. For if it is not about the moment now, then it is not your life. And if it is not your life, then what is? Rabbi Tzvi Freeman