Take Five Minutes and Feed Your Soul

As the last of my Chanukah candles are slowly dying out I think about the meaning of dedication. Chanukah is the holiday where we remember and celebrate the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem by the Hasmoneans (the Maccabees) after the Greek-Syrians defiled it.

Dedication to an ideal or an activity is something that most of us find hard to do day in and day out. It's normal to get excited about doing something the first few times and then as time goes on the excitement peters out.

It's easy to get distracted by the things that we think are important and sometimes are important - the news, politics, mundane daily activities and errands. For example, food shopping truly is important otherwise there may not be dinner on the table that night.

It's easy to know when we're hungry and didn't make it to the supermarket. Our stomachs growl, and we may get grouchy. What may not be so easy to figure out is when we are spiritually hungry. We have no physical symptoms to tip us off.

This Chanukah may be the time to dedicate just five minutes a day to feeding our spiritual side. Where will you find your five minutes? When you first wake up? On your way to bed? Or perhaps as a pick-me up in the middle of the day? Wherever you find those five minutes make sure to allow what you are learning excite you and let it impact your life.

Tonight I am rededicating myself to learning five minutes a day - away from the television, away from email and Facebook, away from distractions - to feed my soul. I hope you do too.

Happy Chanukah! Remember a little bit of light pushes away a lot of darkness.

Tisha B'Av - A Day of Mourning

Tomorrow night, (Monday, August 8th) begins Tisha B'Av - the 9th of Av. It is the Jewish day of mourning. It lasts until nightfall on Tuesday, August 9th. This is the day where we remember all the destruction that's befallen the Jewish People over the last 3000 years.

It's a tough day. We fast - not eating or drinking, don't wear leather shoes, we don't wash ourselves, we don't have marital relations, we don't even sit in proper chairs. Why?

We're mourning for the Beit HaMikdash, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. It's hard to mourn for something we've never seen, touched or generally think about... ever.

Perhaps we need to think about it this way. Having the Beit HaMikdash in existence was a representation of having a close relationship with G-d. There was a physical presence of the Almighty where we could see it. In today's world, it is very hard to see G-d, much less feel that we have a real personal relationship with Him.

Most of our lives is spent in the physical world - eating, drinking, working... This is all is fine and good - but to what end? Do we eat and drink in order to work harder? Do we work harder in order to have time to have food to put on the table? Is our life spent running in a circle?

The Beit HaMikdash represented something more. When it existed we had an easier time being in touch with our spiritual side. We ate and drank in order to be able to do Mitzvot - the Commandments. We realized that our existence was more than just going to work everyday - our existence is all about serving G-d, the King of Kings.

A short example to explain. There's a television show called The Apprentice. It began with a handful of young entrepreneurs competing with each other in order to win the opportunity to work with Donald Trump and perhaps run a small part of his company. It would be a tremendous learning experience - plus a huge plus to put on their resume.

Now while Trump would be quite an interesting fellow to work for, and no doubt would be an amazing work experience - this does not compare with working for the President. And to even clarify it even more - it would not even come close to working for the King of Kings, the Master of the Universe.

But all of this is hard to imagine.

It's easy for these special days on our calendar to come and go - not noticing the difference between one day and the next. Tomorrow night take a moment - take off your shoes, and think about Jewish history (if you don't know any - go get a book). The book we specifically read on Tisha B'Av is Eicha - Lamentations. It's a sad and short story of the destruction of the First Temple.

While Tisha B'Av is a day of sadness - we know that in the future it is supposed to be a true happy holiday. A day to celebrate.

How do we get there? How do we transform such a dark day to a day of light? V'Ahavta L'reiecha Kamocha... Loving your neighbor as yourself.

We have to love each other. The closeness to G-d that we are missing without the Beit HaMikdash has to be filled with closeness to our fellow Jews. We need each other. We need to search out our elderly who live without friends and family. We need to search out our poverty stricken (yes, there are those). We also need to search out those who are unaware of their Jewish heritage - starting with ourselves.

It's time to bring the light of the Beit HaMikdash into this world - and bring ourselves closer to our Jewish neighbors. Go say 'hello' and introduce yourself. It'll only take a minute.

Tisha B'Av and the 3 Weeks - Aish.com
The Three Weeks and Tisha B'Av - Destruction & Renewal - Chabad.org

Working Together to be Great

Things have been a bit busy around here, baby etc. but to kick off being back - I'm reprinting an article I wrote back in 2003 for the university paper in honor of Shavuot. Shavuot starts *tonight*, Tuesday, and ends Thursday evening. Here are a couple links for more information.

Shavuot with Aish.com
Shavuot with Chabad.org

June 8, 2003

3,300 years ago G-d decided to civilize the world that He had created, and gave the Torah to the Jews who He had just taken out of Egypt. This past weekend Jews around the world celebrated this holiday called Shavuot. Two major events happened that day way back then. The first as we know was the giving of the Torah, aka the Five Books of Moses, to the Jews. Second was the event of the Jews as individuals becoming a nation.

On the mountain of Sinai that day G-d put on an amazing sound and light show, surpassing any pyrotechnic party put on today and gave the Jews the Torah. There was no intermediary. G-d talked to all the people all at once and gave us the rules how to live a good life. We know ten of these rules from the famous 10 Commandments movie. What you will notice if you take a look at them is that the first five have to do with your relationship with G-d. I am the One who took you out of Egypt to be your G-d, don't make idols and have false gods, don't use G-ds name in vain, and keep the Sabbath holy. These are some of the rules to having a relationship with G-d Almighty (not Bruce).

If you look at numbers six to ten on those Commandments you see that they have to do with your relationship to your fellow wo/man. Honor your parents, don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't be a false witness, and don't be jealous of what your neighbors got. The second half of the Commandments are just as important as the first half. You cannot be a complete person if you only keep the first half of the Commandments dealing with you and G-d and do not treat other people well. On that same note, you cannot be a complete person if you keep G-d out of your life.

The second main event of that day was that the Jews became a Nation. Before that the Jews had been individuals with the same belief system, but at this point G-d formalized the relationship and created the Jewish People. The Torah is what binds the Jewish People together whether the Jew is observant, or not observant, white, black, or from any part of the world.

Now that we have spent so much time on the Jews receiving the Torah and becoming a nation, there are a couple more points to be made relating to the receiving of the Torah. The first is that Judaism does not believe that a person needs to be Jewish to go to Heaven. All a person needs to do is follow 7 rules called the Noahide Laws, since everyone is a descendent of Noah. They are: don't murder, don't steal, don't worship false gods, don't be sexually immoral, don't eat a limb of an animal before it is killed, don't curse G-d, and set up a system of justice.

So now that it is 3300 years later what can be learned from all of this? There are two main points to keep in mind. The first is to be a complete person we need to include G-d in our lives and be involved in making other peoples lives better. It cannot be one or the other.

The second point comes from the idea that a person on their own can do great things. When G-d took the Jews out of Egypt and made them a nation, He was saying that it was more important to work as a group. As a group and working together even greater things can be accomplished.

Connect yourself with a group with a goal worth reaching. Reach farther that you could have as an individual. Be great.

Baby Girl!

You may have noticed that I have been AWOL in my writing. This is because I was blessed at the end of last month to have given birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl. I hope to be back writing soon. In the meantime, everyone out there should have a good nights sleep for me.

Sweet Cucumber Salad

I've heard the Jewish holidays summed up in about nine words:

They tried to kill us. We won. Let's eat!

Of course this isn't true for all the holidays, but it is true that food is a major part of all our holidays (except Yom Kippur, but we do eat beforehand). So I figure that it makes sense to include recipes every so often on this blog. I'm still a beginner, so please do not expect brilliant, or complicated recipes - I just want them to taste good.

I usually make this cucumber salad for Shabbat. It generally needs to sit for 24 hours before it tastes its best. But if you have less time, cut the cucumber into as thin slices as possible.

Sweet Cucumber Salad
* 1 cucumber - slice into thin slices
* 1/8 vidalia onion - slice into thin slices
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 cup + 3 teaspoons sugar
* 4 3/4 teaspoons white vinegar

Mix and refrigerate

** Important note - "teaspoon" here means those white, plastic disposable teaspoons.

I'm taking suggestions and ideas for recipes to post here - please try to make them as specific as possible ie. give measurements (not, "to taste" - I don't know how to figure those sort of things.) If you have any to contribute feel free to post them.

Shabbat Shalom!!!

The Natural Miracles of Chanukah

There are two miracles that we are celebrating on Chanukah. The first is the victory of the Jews (the few) against the Syrian-Greeks (the many). The second miracle is that the oil flame that was supposed to only last one day lasted eight days.

The battle of the Maccabees/Hasmoneans occurred only after push came to shove. In other words, Jews are relatively easy going people. Assimilation of the Jews into Hellenistic philosophies and actions had been going on for quite a while before we see the Hasmonean uprising. Jewish males were participating in athletic games, and in the Greek tradition that means they were wearing their birthday suits. In order not to "look" Jewish there are records of these men attempting to "reverse" (I don't know how, and I'm not sure I want to) their brit milah (circumcision). But there came a breaking point.

While Antiochus Epiphanes declared most Jewish actions illegal, a few specific ones were:
* Circumcision
* Shabbat observance
* Torah study
* Keeping kosher
* Celebration of Rosh Chodesh/the new Jewish month

These five things are very basic to Judaism. These are the activities that identify us as Jews. It seems to me that once Antiochus began making these things not a matter of preference, but rather a dictate of law - Jews could no longer stand for the intrusion into their lives leading us to the battles we fought against the Greeks.

What's important to think about is that the Jews (I believe) did not necessarily expect to win. It was a lopsided fight - the few against the many. Some could argue that guerrilla warfare is effective enough to beat experienced armies. This may be true - but there are certainly no guarantees, especially when the 'few' are farmers and the 'many' are professional soldiers. When Mattityahu (Mattathius) shouted 'Me L'Shem A'lai' - 'Who is with G-d come with me!' He was making a clear declaration of purpose at the very outset of the war.

When Mattityahu and Judah (his son) began the rebellion there were no longer any prophets around to let them know that they would win. They prayed to G-d and went to battle and ultimately they were successful. Why do we count this as a miracle?

After liberating the Holy Temple/Bait HaMikdash from the Greeks, the Maccabees cleaned it out and re-dedicated it to the service of G-d. This is where we get the name Chanukah from. Chanukah means dedication. As they were cleaning they were looking for a jars of purified oil in order to light the 7 branched Menorah that was housed in the Temple. They found one small jug that would only last one day, never assuming anything different would happen. As we know, that small jug lasted eight days, enough time to allow the Maccabees to make more oil.

What I find fascinating in both these instances is that the Maccabees never expected a miracle to happen on their behalf. They went to battle with the Greeks because it was the right thing to do, I'm sure hoping to win but not necessarily expecting it. The same for lighting the menorah. There was no expectation for the oil to last more than the one day that it was supposed to.

There are times that we wish G-d would part the clouds above our heads and say "Hey! I'm here!" and tell us the right direction to go. However, this isn't an option since the end of the Prophetic Era. We don't have easy access to G-d in that way.

I think that we can sometimes relate to the miracles of Chanukah more than we can the open miracles of the Torah. We go about our lives doing the best we can, doing what we know is right. We can take away from Chanukah is that G-d is there for us even in the natural events in our lives. Perhaps not performing the open miracle of the oil burning for eight days - but definitely in the smaller, hidden miracles of the Chanukah battles, since we still count the victories of the few against the many as a miracle, albeit not an open one.

We should keep in mind that G-d is there for us at all points in our lives - when we feel close and when we don't. Chanukah can be there to remind us that while we do not always see G-d's open hand, we know that He's there in a hidden way supporting us.

Chag Sameach! Happy Chanukah!

Chanukah 5770 (Last year's article)

A few technical notes about setting up the menorah: (Check this video for help: Animated Menorah)

On the first night, the light is placed on the right side of the menorah, and each subsequent night lights are added to its left. The newly added light is always lit first and then the lighting goes from left to right.

The blessings are:

* Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light.
* Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who performed miracles for our forefathers in those days, at this time.

The next blessing is only recited on the first night, or on the first occasion that person lights a menorah during the holiday of Chanukah:

Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to read this occasion.

After lighting this is said:

We kindle these lights [to commemorate] the saving acts, miracles and wonders which You have performed for our forefathers, in those days at this time, through Your holy Kohanim. Throughout the eight days of Chanukah, these lights are sacred, and we are not permitted to make us of them, but only to look at them, in order to offer thanks and praise to Your great Name for Your miracles, for Your wonders and for Your salvation.

Chanukah Guides

It's always good to prepare for a holiday - here are two guides that you'll find useful when getting ready for Chanukah this year.

Chabad.org - Hanukkah Guide
Aish.com - Chanukah Guide

Chag Sameach!