Rebuilding the Beit haMikdash: Musings on Tisha B'Av

Putting Jews aside for a moment, I got a whooper for you :-)

I think the Chinese got it right when they invented the yin -yang symbol to represent the forces in life.  I think there truly are these  "white" and "black" forces.   The difference i'd add is that its not a mere circle but a spiral. winding upwards and downwards in all the dimensions of life.  I do think Black people are thus because they represent the black forces and whites are thus because they represent white forces, its not strictly that way (remember there is that white dot in the black side and the black dot in the white side) but more or less like that. Hispanics, Asians, etc also fall into these two categories depending on how they think.

The whites are in the clouds.  The negative thing about that is that its all sheker /lies.  Not reality, just the imagination at work there. So imagination vs what is real is almost fuzzy.  Maybe that's why many need studies and surveys to actually verify many obvious truths.  The positive side to that is there are no limits, if you can think it up then there's a chance it can be created, why not? I think therefore I am.  The imagination is great.

The Blacks are on the ground. The earth (same place where according to a midrash, Hashem threw down truth).  The negative is that we can be quick to admit our wrongs or see ourselves negatively because truly we are filled with bad and good and without Hashem's help, we lost!  The positive side to that is because we know what's up (when we are connected to truth) and we can actualize things.  Bring it down to earth, make it real, keep it real.

Like two sides of the brain, they do very different work for the "body".  But because of bad middot /bad character traits, they hate each other because one thinks they are superior to the other.  Usually its the Whites who think this, but for the sake of sounding fair, i'll say both.

Heck, the truth is the Whites usually think they are superior and see blacks as "mules" (very physical, real actual. like chomer /donkey represents physicality) and want to ride them to actualize things (??)  and Black folks see Whites as confident because of their seemingly thorough research and thoughts. Both problematic.

Now enter the Jew.  If these people were like the two sides of the brain, then the Jew would be like the Pineal gland.  Or like a mini-brain.  The part that is suppose to bring the left and right side, the black side and the white side into unity and harmony.  The True, Blue (techeilet) Jew can do it.  But he needs his anchors, his mitzvot, his Torah, his prayers, his knowledge. These will balance him right in the middle.  Without those things, he will tend to fall back either towards the White way of thinking or the Black way of thinking (this is regardless if he's hispanic, asian, etc).

This true, blue Jew way of thinking  --if it was actualized and made into a real concrete material, i think it would be the Beit HaMikdash.  But unless the Jewish people are ready to think like this, without secret partiality towards their white idols or whatever, things are not going to change, and the beit HaMikdash won't get actualized.

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In the case of Trayvon Martin, anyone who wants to get "black" about it can see clearly that its not right that Zimmerman followed the 17 year old even when the police told him not to and that (2) he confronts the guy and (3) he shoots to kill.  Wrong is wrong, no matter how its packaged.

A White society can see this same situation and decided in their WILL what they actually want to be. From there they will use their intellect to to reason why what they want is right.  That would be as far as things go.

What will probably happen is (1) as all lights eventually reach the earth and leaves a course light in its wake (i.e. reality happens) Zimmerman will eventually be riddled with guilt.  This G-d aweful "white guilty" may insue which doesn't help anyone, but make White folks behave in self destructive manners and he will probably want to go out and hurt again. And (2) all the Zimmermans out there will feel validated in their idea that Blacks are dangerous --all the more so since they are bummed out from all the Trayvon Martin cases that occurred-- and the cycle continues.

Can the True Blue Jew step in and bring a tikkun here?

Bayit Ne'eman 101

If the Jewish people who have returned to the Land will let go of their Western ways that they picked up while in galut, what type of clothing would they begin to wear? What is practical for hard working people? For the climate and the land?

Parashat Terumah/ Exodus 25

"And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. "

This weekly portion is all about the building of the tabernacle in all its glory. But does God need a dwelling place? Isn't He everywhere?

Setting a fixed place to pray every day is beneficial. Think of it as a physical mantra instead of a verbal mantra. By entering this place, one is automatically set in a prayerful mood because that is what that place is known for. There, the divide between the physical and the spiritual becomes more translucent. Even ideas come quicker there! (but don't lose focus!) To give prayer strength, it helps to give charity first. It also helps to read His Holy Words so that one's prayers will have grace and eloquence. Prayers shouldn't be thought out, its better if said out loud because speech is..a pot! Its a container. Within speech comes answers, solutions, sustenance, etc. If we can express in words what a problem is, we are half way towards fixing it.

Nowadays, we don't have the tabernacle, and we don't have the Holy Temple; but we still have our hearts. There God can also dwell. So why not use "good material" to maintain our hearts just as the very best- gold- was used in so many items in the building of the Tabernacle.

instead of gold....

fruits!!


...and vegetables!!






A refreshing drink?


...and lots of deep healthy breathing!


Throw in some grains in there somewhere, and there you have it, your very own, high quality material, "Tabernacle" LOL!

There is a sage in the 18th century, who was said to be a genius, Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer (a.k.a. the Vilna Gaon or shortened: The Gra) predicted that the third and final Holy Temple would be rebuilt on March 16. 2010. I don't know how people can boldly make predictions like that but.... Well, there's a few weeks left so he's gotta figure something out.