.
I wonder if I should start putting my money under a mattress?
Europeans scramble to save banks
The Bailout
I have a friend, she and her family and friends live in the outskirts of Israel. The no man's land. Hardly any Arabs and hardly any Jews. There they make do for themselves. Building their own house, figuring out a piping system for themselves, scratching and saving and working odd jobs to afford a generator, etc etc. Sometimes I wonder, is that the direction we are headed...?
Sunday, October 5, 2008
An Outrage
.
How can we let this happen? A grown man socking a young girl. This is outrageous. But unfortunately, this seems to be a growing crisis in the black community. Everyone is calling for that man to be hunted down. I don't really know what the police will care to do.
However, positive messages are equally important as negative messages are. I think those girls -the one who defended the other girls who got cut in line AND and young girl who came to the first girl's aid when she got socked- should get a positive message. A virtual highfive, a mcdonalds certificate, money, something. Something to encourage BW to help and protect each other.
(hat tip= What About Our Daughters)
Note to self: I called Hyde Park's LAPD @ 213-485-4164, but they said nothing is set up for the victim and info on them is confidential. I'm not really a "professional" activist so not sure how to proceed...
How can we let this happen? A grown man socking a young girl. This is outrageous. But unfortunately, this seems to be a growing crisis in the black community. Everyone is calling for that man to be hunted down. I don't really know what the police will care to do.
However, positive messages are equally important as negative messages are. I think those girls -the one who defended the other girls who got cut in line AND and young girl who came to the first girl's aid when she got socked- should get a positive message. A virtual highfive, a mcdonalds certificate, money, something. Something to encourage BW to help and protect each other.
(hat tip= What About Our Daughters)
Note to self: I called Hyde Park's LAPD @ 213-485-4164, but they said nothing is set up for the victim and info on them is confidential. I'm not really a "professional" activist so not sure how to proceed...
Friday, October 3, 2008
Repost: A Letter to my Brother
(this is an old email I once sent my brother that I thought y'all might enjoy. Nice and light. Perfect for a pre-weekend post)
Sun and Sunshine
Imagine a sun. In its full majestic glory, radiance and brilliance it stands in its place. Up close its a great ball of gas and raging fire constantly aflamed! Its powerful heat consumes anything that dare touch it.
Surrounding the sun are rays of sunshine shooting in every direction. They too have their own brilliance and radiance. They bring life, light and clarity to everything and every place within its reach!
How about that for the imagination?
********************************************************************************
Ray of Sunshine
Imagine now, if you please, one ray. It extends from its source, the sun, and onto the farthest recesses. It seems almost to go on forever. Let us say the point closest to the sun is point A and the point farthest is point B. Let us further say that there is a point right on the center of that ray and that is point C. Let us use point C as our focus and circle over to point B.
From the point of view of point B, point C has its own glory and brilliance -much more so than point B. Comparatively, point C is almost like the sun itself!
This reminds me of a documentary I watched about a baby bear cub. A jackal, i think, was passing by and saw the baby bear cub. The jackal began to eye the cub and wonder whether there is more room in his belly for an extra side dish of sweet baby bear cub. The cub, realizing this, stood on its hind legs and raised its arms into the air-just as it remembered its mother do- opened its mouth and let out a tremendously wimpy roar!
To the cub's rejoicing, the Jackal was petrified and scurried off at top speed! What the baby bear cub didn't realize was that right behind it stood its mother bear standing on its own hind legs, sizing up the jackal to see whether she herself had room in her belly for a sweet jackal delicacy!
Anyway, back to the ray. To point B on the ray, point C is right in line of the sun, its source. Therefore its brilliance is compounded even more so by virtue of the sun's own brilliance.
Circling around to point A we see its point of view. To point A, point C still has some of its brilliance and glory however much of its majesty is highly diminished. Nevertheless, comparative to point B, point C has maintained much of its resemblance to its source the sun.
**********************************************************************************
Arrays of Rays
If you will permit us to delve further, imagine that each of the rays of the sun is a different dimension. Each ray represented its own complete plane, its own complete world or universe. One not like the other. However, by virtue of their powerful source, the sun, they are all interconnected and function in perfect harmony.
I hope you're still there!!!
********************************************************************************
Physical vs Non-Physical Dimensions
In the physical world, there exist such a thing as time and distance. Someone can be far from you and to come close, they must arrive by some means whether it is by car, train, plane, etc., to be physically close- and that takes time.
In the non-physical dimensions there is no such thing as distance and therefore no such thing as time. This is the world of concepts, thoughts, ideals, emotions, spirits, etc. There, in order for one entity to be close to another it simply resembles the desired other.
When you see two kids come together physically to play, that is called a "budding" relationship. As they become more and more friendly with one another and naturally want to come closer, they begin to think alike and have same ideas about things, they even begin to dress alike. They are beginning to resemble one another. This is a non-physical dimensional closeness. A spiritual closeness.
Spiritual closeness almost always succeeds physical closeness for humans. Why? Humans are not purely physical beings. We have an element of spirituality in us. Therefore, to be content, satisfied, at ease, we want to arrive at a desired physical plane as well as a desired spiritual plane.
the end
**********************************************************************************
Have a great weekend!
Sun and Sunshine
Imagine a sun. In its full majestic glory, radiance and brilliance it stands in its place. Up close its a great ball of gas and raging fire constantly aflamed! Its powerful heat consumes anything that dare touch it.
Surrounding the sun are rays of sunshine shooting in every direction. They too have their own brilliance and radiance. They bring life, light and clarity to everything and every place within its reach!
How about that for the imagination?
********************************************************************************
Ray of Sunshine
Imagine now, if you please, one ray. It extends from its source, the sun, and onto the farthest recesses. It seems almost to go on forever. Let us say the point closest to the sun is point A and the point farthest is point B. Let us further say that there is a point right on the center of that ray and that is point C. Let us use point C as our focus and circle over to point B.
From the point of view of point B, point C has its own glory and brilliance -much more so than point B. Comparatively, point C is almost like the sun itself!
This reminds me of a documentary I watched about a baby bear cub. A jackal, i think, was passing by and saw the baby bear cub. The jackal began to eye the cub and wonder whether there is more room in his belly for an extra side dish of sweet baby bear cub. The cub, realizing this, stood on its hind legs and raised its arms into the air-just as it remembered its mother do- opened its mouth and let out a tremendously wimpy roar!
To the cub's rejoicing, the Jackal was petrified and scurried off at top speed! What the baby bear cub didn't realize was that right behind it stood its mother bear standing on its own hind legs, sizing up the jackal to see whether she herself had room in her belly for a sweet jackal delicacy!
Anyway, back to the ray. To point B on the ray, point C is right in line of the sun, its source. Therefore its brilliance is compounded even more so by virtue of the sun's own brilliance.
Circling around to point A we see its point of view. To point A, point C still has some of its brilliance and glory however much of its majesty is highly diminished. Nevertheless, comparative to point B, point C has maintained much of its resemblance to its source the sun.
**********************************************************************************
Arrays of Rays
If you will permit us to delve further, imagine that each of the rays of the sun is a different dimension. Each ray represented its own complete plane, its own complete world or universe. One not like the other. However, by virtue of their powerful source, the sun, they are all interconnected and function in perfect harmony.
I hope you're still there!!!
********************************************************************************
Physical vs Non-Physical Dimensions
In the physical world, there exist such a thing as time and distance. Someone can be far from you and to come close, they must arrive by some means whether it is by car, train, plane, etc., to be physically close- and that takes time.
In the non-physical dimensions there is no such thing as distance and therefore no such thing as time. This is the world of concepts, thoughts, ideals, emotions, spirits, etc. There, in order for one entity to be close to another it simply resembles the desired other.
When you see two kids come together physically to play, that is called a "budding" relationship. As they become more and more friendly with one another and naturally want to come closer, they begin to think alike and have same ideas about things, they even begin to dress alike. They are beginning to resemble one another. This is a non-physical dimensional closeness. A spiritual closeness.
Spiritual closeness almost always succeeds physical closeness for humans. Why? Humans are not purely physical beings. We have an element of spirituality in us. Therefore, to be content, satisfied, at ease, we want to arrive at a desired physical plane as well as a desired spiritual plane.
the end
**********************************************************************************
Have a great weekend!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Kabbalistic Tangents and the "N" Word
I don't profess to know kabbalah in the slightest, but from the little bit that I have gleened from various sources, its very interesting the amount that is already proliferated throughout various societies. Somehow societies seem to just pick up on things in the air simply because it feels or sounds right --but its so inline with kabbalah! For example:
THE COLOR RED
One major similarity is how kabbalah talks about the color red. Red is the color that represents Gevurah - strength, restrain, harshness. And, its interesting that in many countries, the color red is used for STOP signs (restrain), poisonous notices(strength), or other alarming things (harshness).
THE NUMBER FOUR
Another similarity is how God's ineffable name (well, one of them anyway) is written with four letters. At the same time, many foundational things are also listed in fours: DNA is divided into four parts (adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine); The four elements are known throughout various societies-fire, water, wind, dust; the four blood types; four seasons (? that may be a stretch.)
THE WORD "NIGEY"
Now this is a difficult one. When I first learned about this word, it sounded too much like another "n" word that I knew from back in America. Nigey means the children who are born from spilled seed -whether its from a man with another man's wife, or some other "illegal" means (simply not being married is not one of those "illegal" means), they always produce children -physical or not. The children can be just spirits with no particular purpose in the world and so, with nothing else to do, they latch on to the father and 'encourage' him to continue this lifestyle so as to produce more children like them (when the man tries to mend his ways, he gets bombarded with depression, possibly compulsiveness, or other psychological worries).
Some may refer to these as subhumans. But I wonder, if some people -in an attempt to degrade others- try to convince themselves that a group is subhuman. And I wonder, if just by whatever's in the air, they come up with the "n" word that is very much similar to Nigey? I totally don't agree with them and I know that they use it as a ploy for their own minds- to justify their maltreatment of others.
But I do fear when others begin to use it on their own selves. Even if its in an attempt to show how ineffective that word is at hurting them, I still find it disturbing to place such a "crown" upon one's head.
Could those two n-words be related? Can they be one and the same? Can calling oneself such an "n" word subconsciously lead a society towards a world of sexual promiscuity, gang rape, baby daddys, etc?
At any rate, its all quite interesting to me the things that I read compared to how society just seem to 'know' things. Sooner or later, we will all be on the same page with whatever the absolute truth is.
THE COLOR RED
One major similarity is how kabbalah talks about the color red. Red is the color that represents Gevurah - strength, restrain, harshness. And, its interesting that in many countries, the color red is used for STOP signs (restrain), poisonous notices(strength), or other alarming things (harshness).
THE NUMBER FOUR
Another similarity is how God's ineffable name (well, one of them anyway) is written with four letters. At the same time, many foundational things are also listed in fours: DNA is divided into four parts (adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine); The four elements are known throughout various societies-fire, water, wind, dust; the four blood types; four seasons (? that may be a stretch.)
THE WORD "NIGEY"
Now this is a difficult one. When I first learned about this word, it sounded too much like another "n" word that I knew from back in America. Nigey means the children who are born from spilled seed -whether its from a man with another man's wife, or some other "illegal" means (simply not being married is not one of those "illegal" means), they always produce children -physical or not. The children can be just spirits with no particular purpose in the world and so, with nothing else to do, they latch on to the father and 'encourage' him to continue this lifestyle so as to produce more children like them (when the man tries to mend his ways, he gets bombarded with depression, possibly compulsiveness, or other psychological worries).
Some may refer to these as subhumans. But I wonder, if some people -in an attempt to degrade others- try to convince themselves that a group is subhuman. And I wonder, if just by whatever's in the air, they come up with the "n" word that is very much similar to Nigey? I totally don't agree with them and I know that they use it as a ploy for their own minds- to justify their maltreatment of others.
But I do fear when others begin to use it on their own selves. Even if its in an attempt to show how ineffective that word is at hurting them, I still find it disturbing to place such a "crown" upon one's head.
Could those two n-words be related? Can they be one and the same? Can calling oneself such an "n" word subconsciously lead a society towards a world of sexual promiscuity, gang rape, baby daddys, etc?
At any rate, its all quite interesting to me the things that I read compared to how society just seem to 'know' things. Sooner or later, we will all be on the same page with whatever the absolute truth is.
OMG! Rosh HaShanah is Around the Corner
.
With all the excitement going on here, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, is just around the corner!
There are several "new years" in the Jewish calendar. The month of Shvat is the new year for trees; Nisan (April, Mayish) is the new year for the Jewish people (they finally left Egypt and became a people); Elul is new year for tithe; and of course, is Tishrei (September-ish) where Rosh Hashanah falls. Its the new year for the creation of man.
I really love the high holiday service! The prayer melodies are so beautiful and the words are melting. My favorite part of the Rosh Hashanah service is when we ask God to "open the gates". In the sephardi synagogue I used to attend in Chicago, the Cantor /Hazan would lead the congregation in a melodic way through each gate (gates of income, gates of good health, gates of knowledge.....etc). What will be this Rosh Hashanah? I don't know. I'm not so capable to get up and go these days.
Whatever, I pray you all enjoy this day! May it be prayerful, reflective, and most importantly, Joyous. May we all be inscribed in the book of life.
With all the excitement going on here, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, is just around the corner!
There are several "new years" in the Jewish calendar. The month of Shvat is the new year for trees; Nisan (April, Mayish) is the new year for the Jewish people (they finally left Egypt and became a people); Elul is new year for tithe; and of course, is Tishrei (September-ish) where Rosh Hashanah falls. Its the new year for the creation of man.
I really love the high holiday service! The prayer melodies are so beautiful and the words are melting. My favorite part of the Rosh Hashanah service is when we ask God to "open the gates". In the sephardi synagogue I used to attend in Chicago, the Cantor /Hazan would lead the congregation in a melodic way through each gate (gates of income, gates of good health, gates of knowledge.....etc). What will be this Rosh Hashanah? I don't know. I'm not so capable to get up and go these days.
Whatever, I pray you all enjoy this day! May it be prayerful, reflective, and most importantly, Joyous. May we all be inscribed in the book of life.
Pots, Bowls, Cups and other Thoughts
.
And Other Containers
We are all familiar with our various containers. You have your basic bowl to put food in. Your basic tupperware, Your basic box for various things, plastic, metal, wood, whatever material you want.
There are also spiritual containers and vessels. These may not seem like containers at first, but they are. One example is a box called "Joy". This container enables you to have good health and even prophecy the sages say. Another example is a vessel called "Acts of Kindness" or "Charity", in proverbs it is written, "Charity saves from death"! This vessel holds life.
When God was in creation mode, He wanted to make a vessel that could hold His own attributes such as Kindness, Harshness, Harmony, Endurance, Empathy, Foundational, and Kingly. Something with the ability to draw down new life, just as the Almighty can create new life. Something that can receive and give. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, created and destroy, created and destroyed worlds after worlds until He finally created this ultimate vessel: Us!
=============================================================
I've often wondered if our emotions are tied to the spiritual world. Could our emotions be the container, so to speak, for the influencial spirits going around us? And if so, how do they manage to tweek our glands (which sends forth the hormones which enables us to react with the due emotion)?
Just like a computer that understands binary codes (01100101, etc)and has to have an interface program to help it to read /interprete the codes we feed it; so to we must have an interface program that serves as a go between for the spiritual and the physical. I wonder what that is?
And Other Containers
We are all familiar with our various containers. You have your basic bowl to put food in. Your basic tupperware, Your basic box for various things, plastic, metal, wood, whatever material you want.
There are also spiritual containers and vessels. These may not seem like containers at first, but they are. One example is a box called "Joy". This container enables you to have good health and even prophecy the sages say. Another example is a vessel called "Acts of Kindness" or "Charity", in proverbs it is written, "Charity saves from death"! This vessel holds life.
When God was in creation mode, He wanted to make a vessel that could hold His own attributes such as Kindness, Harshness, Harmony, Endurance, Empathy, Foundational, and Kingly. Something with the ability to draw down new life, just as the Almighty can create new life. Something that can receive and give. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, created and destroy, created and destroyed worlds after worlds until He finally created this ultimate vessel: Us!
=============================================================
I've often wondered if our emotions are tied to the spiritual world. Could our emotions be the container, so to speak, for the influencial spirits going around us? And if so, how do they manage to tweek our glands (which sends forth the hormones which enables us to react with the due emotion)?
Just like a computer that understands binary codes (01100101, etc)and has to have an interface program to help it to read /interprete the codes we feed it; so to we must have an interface program that serves as a go between for the spiritual and the physical. I wonder what that is?
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Ki Va Moed - Because The Time Has Come!
.
Interesting choice of song! I agree the time has indeed come!
This is beautiful!
This is Psalms 102:14
Interesting choice of song! I agree the time has indeed come!
This is beautiful!
This is Psalms 102:14
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