I've said this before ... We live in the greatest country in the world. We live in a country where you can say you hate the president and you don't have to worry about being thrown in prison. You can keep kosher and not have to worry that someone is trying to outlaw shechita. You can earn as much or as little as you choose to. You can sit on your duff and drink beer, or start your own business. You can make your own choices. You can buy toilet paper for less than it costs to rent a house. Try doing these things in Venezuela, or Cuba, or North Korea. (Try getting a different hair cut in NK and see how well that works out for you!)
I've read so many stories of how our Rebbes and our chassidim suffered greatly for the horrible crime of "spreading religion". The Fredike Rebbe was left with permanent bodily damage from his various incarcerations, including being pushed down a flight of stairs. (And elderly man! How??? How does a human being do such a thing???) We've been burned at the stake, forced to convert, and lost so many lives, and yet here, we are allowed to practice our religion. Not only practice it, but we are protected from others trying to stop us! We have rights and freedoms that some people in other countries can only dream of! Try saying you don't like Radical Islamic Terrorists in Germany, and see how well that works out for you. Try walking down the street in Sweden at night with no male and see how well that works out for you (females).
We have incredible men and women who have dedicated their lives to protecting our freedoms. Maybe people take them for granted because they have actually had them threatened. I don't know. All I know is that by not standing with respect for our National Anthem, you are spitting on the graves of every single person who has ever put on a uniform and fought for our country! You are spitting in the faces of the families who graciously allow their loved ones to be away for extended periods of time, never knowing if they will be coming home again. You are literally spitting in the face of the Statue of Liberty, saying, I don't care that others sacrifice for me ... I only care about ME!
These ... things ... (I can't call them people, because they aren't mentchlich) ... seem to think they are entitled to say or do whatever they want while they are working. In the real world, it doesn't work like that. In the real world, if you show up at work, and decide that you are going to march around with a picket sign instead of doing your job well ... you will have plenty of free time to protest because you aren't going to be having a job for much longer. Most jobs don't let people just do whatever they, cuz it "feels" right. There are certain rules that have to be followed.
If these football things were sincere about their protest, why can't they organize one on their own time? Organize the million football player things march on Washington, complete with signs and shouts and whatever else you feel you need. But no. These spoiled overgrown babies will do it while demanding that the hand that feeds them keeps on giving them more food.
Sorry. One lesson these overgrown babies haven't learned yet is you don't bite the hand that feeds you. Americans are SICK AND TIRED OF THIS CRAP! And we aren't going to take it. I, for one, do not watch football. I don't watch any TV or movies or listen to music or read these books. I don't want the liberal lean that they have to them. I prefer to spend my time with like-minded individuals, ones who love this country and want to see it improve. You think the police are targeting black people? What is your spitting in the military's face going to do about that? Why not go into Chicago or Detroit, and sit with kids and teach them how to read? Why not work to get kids out of gangs, and help them to do well in school. Sponsor some kids to go to college, or set them up with a business so they can hire more people ... No. That won't work, because it involves actual time, effort and *GASP* money ... which the overgrown babies don't want to part with. Instead, they will be armchair quarterbacks (pun intended) by pretending to care so much that they have to "take the knee". These overgrown babies do not know what it means to take a knee. They have never had anyone present a flag to their family member, the one that covered their loved one's coffin ...
Stop thinking about your stupid ideas, get off your high horse, and do something real if you are so concerned. As for the rest of us, NFL is now headed towards No Fans Left ... and they will wonder why it happened.
As I have said so many times ... actions have consequences. You bite the hands that feeds you, that hand will no longer stretch out with food in it. I hope and pray that every single person who loves our country, who loves our military, who loves our flag, and who loves our anthem will turn the channel and do something else when football is on. Your welcome to come join me for anything else ... Let's hit Goodwill and find some jewelry jars instead! I'll teach you how to do it if you want.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Happy Reasons vs Sad Reasons
What happens when you move out of New York, and all your friends are there?
You don't see them that often. When Yossi a'h died, my friends came down for the levaya. They returned a year later for the first yartzeit. (I've told you so many times, I have amazing friends!) One comment that really struck me at the time was, "We should only come for happy occasions."
So now, when my New York friends have simchos, I do my best to travel up there. It doesn't always work out, but a lot of times it does. I've been up for a bunch of weddings, they've come down for one of my bar mitzvahs, and again when I made the 10th yartzeit. They are coming down for the hachnases Sefer Torah. I went up for one bar mitzvah (Yossi's namesake).
Once again, I had the pleasure of traveling to New York for another wedding. This one was going to be extra special, because not only is she one of my "New York" friends, she's also a member of the club. You know. The one no one wants to join. They get pulled in kicking and screaming, pounding on the door to be let out while the rest of us are trying our hardest to push that door shut and lock it tight. No more new members allowed! (And yet, somehow they keep slipping in, much to our distress.)
If you haven't figured out, I'm talking about bereaved moms. We get a special magazine called Our Tapestry, and we have a what's app group for us as well.
The wedding was going to be a time to celebrate a happy time, and also to meet in person so many women I've spoken to in cyberspace. I'd put faces to names!
So I come to the hall with my NY friends, and can't decide ... Where do I sit? NY friends or bereaved friends? I was leaning towards Our Tapestry, because I had gone out with my NY friends the night before.
I've tried to explain my crazy crazy life. If you're on What's App, you might get it. There are different channels, or groups. On one group I'm reading about politics, then another is bereavement, another is my family chat, my seminary friends, my high school friends, the group for the ladies in my community ... So many different hats to wear, and I often jump from one to another and back again. Sometimes I pray that I don't write a bereavement message to my politics group, or whatever. It can also be very draining, jumping back and forth. To put it in a Seinfeldism, World's are colliding Jerry! That's how I go through life in general, where two conflicting emotions are present at the same time.
I met a mom whom I have never met before. We sat for so long, talking about our kids, how they died, how we deal, etc. It was for at least an hour. We it depressing, a total downer? Nope! It's always very validating to know you aren't a freak and others feel like you do. So even though the topic is a depressing topic, it wasn't depressing to speak about it.
My favorite experiences last night, besides dancing with my friend to celebrate her daughter's wedding? All of them! I was thrilled to see Chaya Ted on a woman I have admired for years. From the time I was a counselor in camp Gan Yisroel, I always put her on a pedestal. Yea, she's only human, but she's always loomed larger than life in my book. When Yossi was facing his first transplant, Chaya was speaking in Richmond. I asked her to come down and give us chizuk. She came with all her usual grace and charm. I later learned that Chaya had a son who passed away. How she was able to walk into a transplant unit, and not give even a hint of discomfort? I'll never know. I can't imagine doing it, although we did go visit someone once, as their child was dying, to give them comfort and strength. Chaya has been someone who has gently tried to guide me through this black maze. She was the one I asked to speak at the 10th yartzeit. I also think she would be so surprised to know how many times I have quoted her pearls of wisdom.
Of course, the whole day I kept talking to my NY friends about Zissy. Zissy and I are soul sisters. We are two peas in a pod who found each other the cutest way. She had recently lost her beloved son Motty a'h. This was before what's app, before Our Tapestry. It was a time when us bereaved moms were finding each other. My user name on Facebook was ... Wait for it ... Inmemoryofyossi ... Yea, I use it everywhere, but so many people have found me because of it. Zissy was one of those people, and we totally clicked right from the beginning. Of course I dragged her around to meet all my NY friends. (Worlds totally colliding in a great way!)
Next up, another person I have admired from a far. I see a woman hug Shoshana, and I'm like, You're M.C. Millman! Of course, she has no idea who I am, cuz she's never seen me before. I had Zissy on one side, so I asked her to sit on the other. I showed her how I recognized her ... Her picture had been posted to Our Tapestry. We laughed at that. We hit it off, and ended up having a great time. (Zissy called us the "Charlie Angels of Bereavement". I love it!
Now, let me explain something ... I was giving running reports to the group. You know, vital information like, Surprise! Shoshana wore purple! (She loves people, her user name is purple safta.) I was posting pictures of us as people were arriving. So a woman comes up to me, and says, You're Leah.
Um, yea, but how did you know?
Cuz you posted a picture of yourself with Shoshana. (See above)
Oh duh!!! Sometimes brilliance is not my forte and connecting the dots needs a little help. 😂
So many sweet sweet ladies! So many precious, gorgeous kids ... So many empty arms ... But we were there dressed up, with smiles on our faces and happiness in our hearts for our dear friend Shoshana.
And just what makes Shoshana so special that she can pull all these woman from all different backgrounds together? Shoshana has made it her mission to go to shiva houses. She wears her purple ... The bereaved moms may not remember her name, but they do remember the beautiful words of chizuk Shoshana gave them. How she had the strength to do it? I don't know. I went once locally, and it was so hard. I struggle to hold myself up, and here is Superwoman holding not only herself, but many of us.
I know I've said it so many times, but it truly bears repeating. I do see good that has come out of this. I've met the most incredible woman. I seen super human strength. I am love and goodness showered on others whom some have never met in person. I feel a bond to all these incredible woman who have endured what no one should have to. The pain, suffering, agmus nefesh really, cuz there aren't English words to really describe it, and yet the unconditional love and understanding ...
All I can say is that I'm truly blessed, and I pray that no one finds out first hand what I'm trying to convey.
n'eNow
You don't see them that often. When Yossi a'h died, my friends came down for the levaya. They returned a year later for the first yartzeit. (I've told you so many times, I have amazing friends!) One comment that really struck me at the time was, "We should only come for happy occasions."
So now, when my New York friends have simchos, I do my best to travel up there. It doesn't always work out, but a lot of times it does. I've been up for a bunch of weddings, they've come down for one of my bar mitzvahs, and again when I made the 10th yartzeit. They are coming down for the hachnases Sefer Torah. I went up for one bar mitzvah (Yossi's namesake).
Once again, I had the pleasure of traveling to New York for another wedding. This one was going to be extra special, because not only is she one of my "New York" friends, she's also a member of the club. You know. The one no one wants to join. They get pulled in kicking and screaming, pounding on the door to be let out while the rest of us are trying our hardest to push that door shut and lock it tight. No more new members allowed! (And yet, somehow they keep slipping in, much to our distress.)
If you haven't figured out, I'm talking about bereaved moms. We get a special magazine called Our Tapestry, and we have a what's app group for us as well.
The wedding was going to be a time to celebrate a happy time, and also to meet in person so many women I've spoken to in cyberspace. I'd put faces to names!
So I come to the hall with my NY friends, and can't decide ... Where do I sit? NY friends or bereaved friends? I was leaning towards Our Tapestry, because I had gone out with my NY friends the night before.
I've tried to explain my crazy crazy life. If you're on What's App, you might get it. There are different channels, or groups. On one group I'm reading about politics, then another is bereavement, another is my family chat, my seminary friends, my high school friends, the group for the ladies in my community ... So many different hats to wear, and I often jump from one to another and back again. Sometimes I pray that I don't write a bereavement message to my politics group, or whatever. It can also be very draining, jumping back and forth. To put it in a Seinfeldism, World's are colliding Jerry! That's how I go through life in general, where two conflicting emotions are present at the same time.
I met a mom whom I have never met before. We sat for so long, talking about our kids, how they died, how we deal, etc. It was for at least an hour. We it depressing, a total downer? Nope! It's always very validating to know you aren't a freak and others feel like you do. So even though the topic is a depressing topic, it wasn't depressing to speak about it.
My favorite experiences last night, besides dancing with my friend to celebrate her daughter's wedding? All of them! I was thrilled to see Chaya Ted on a woman I have admired for years. From the time I was a counselor in camp Gan Yisroel, I always put her on a pedestal. Yea, she's only human, but she's always loomed larger than life in my book. When Yossi was facing his first transplant, Chaya was speaking in Richmond. I asked her to come down and give us chizuk. She came with all her usual grace and charm. I later learned that Chaya had a son who passed away. How she was able to walk into a transplant unit, and not give even a hint of discomfort? I'll never know. I can't imagine doing it, although we did go visit someone once, as their child was dying, to give them comfort and strength. Chaya has been someone who has gently tried to guide me through this black maze. She was the one I asked to speak at the 10th yartzeit. I also think she would be so surprised to know how many times I have quoted her pearls of wisdom.
Of course, the whole day I kept talking to my NY friends about Zissy. Zissy and I are soul sisters. We are two peas in a pod who found each other the cutest way. She had recently lost her beloved son Motty a'h. This was before what's app, before Our Tapestry. It was a time when us bereaved moms were finding each other. My user name on Facebook was ... Wait for it ... Inmemoryofyossi ... Yea, I use it everywhere, but so many people have found me because of it. Zissy was one of those people, and we totally clicked right from the beginning. Of course I dragged her around to meet all my NY friends. (Worlds totally colliding in a great way!)
Next up, another person I have admired from a far. I see a woman hug Shoshana, and I'm like, You're M.C. Millman! Of course, she has no idea who I am, cuz she's never seen me before. I had Zissy on one side, so I asked her to sit on the other. I showed her how I recognized her ... Her picture had been posted to Our Tapestry. We laughed at that. We hit it off, and ended up having a great time. (Zissy called us the "Charlie Angels of Bereavement". I love it!
Now, let me explain something ... I was giving running reports to the group. You know, vital information like, Surprise! Shoshana wore purple! (She loves people, her user name is purple safta.) I was posting pictures of us as people were arriving. So a woman comes up to me, and says, You're Leah.
Um, yea, but how did you know?
Cuz you posted a picture of yourself with Shoshana. (See above)
Oh duh!!! Sometimes brilliance is not my forte and connecting the dots needs a little help. 😂
So many sweet sweet ladies! So many precious, gorgeous kids ... So many empty arms ... But we were there dressed up, with smiles on our faces and happiness in our hearts for our dear friend Shoshana.
And just what makes Shoshana so special that she can pull all these woman from all different backgrounds together? Shoshana has made it her mission to go to shiva houses. She wears her purple ... The bereaved moms may not remember her name, but they do remember the beautiful words of chizuk Shoshana gave them. How she had the strength to do it? I don't know. I went once locally, and it was so hard. I struggle to hold myself up, and here is Superwoman holding not only herself, but many of us.
I know I've said it so many times, but it truly bears repeating. I do see good that has come out of this. I've met the most incredible woman. I seen super human strength. I am love and goodness showered on others whom some have never met in person. I feel a bond to all these incredible woman who have endured what no one should have to. The pain, suffering, agmus nefesh really, cuz there aren't English words to really describe it, and yet the unconditional love and understanding ...
All I can say is that I'm truly blessed, and I pray that no one finds out first hand what I'm trying to convey.
n'eNow
Me & my favorite brother and one of my nieces.
Cute story ... My niece Chanie just started seminary. The principal is the same woman as when I went (not saying how many years ago!). Chanie tells me, Morah Gorewitz has been called Leah a few times, and she said she will probably do it through the whole year! ROTFL! (I totally get it ... I used to tell the kids that I taught, "I'm really bad with names. If I call you by a sibling's name, just answer to it please!")
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Chai Elul, #HurricanIrma & the Master Puppeteer
Chai Elul has come and gone. Each year is so different. One year, it will trigger me, another year it goes by with nary a beep on the radar (except for a quick acknowledgement of the day). This year, it was more like the second way. I was a little worried leading up to it, as I hate when it falls out on shabbos. 20 years ago, on Shabbos Chai Elul, my life and world was turned so totally upside down. I commented last night at the dinner table that 20 years ago this time, we were still so innocent, so naive. We lived in a world were we had this illusion that we decided everything in our lives. We picked to live in VA. We picked our house, our cars, our clothes, our friends, our food, everything. I even felt that I picked when I would have kids and the gender I wanted.
*C*O*N*T*R*O*L*
We all feel like we are in control of our lives. We pick what clothes we are going to wear. We pick what car we are going to drive, what to make for dinner, who to marry, where we will live, what profession we want to be ... we control our destiny, and it is all from the sweat of our brows that we have it, right?
That Shabbos, late morning, it came crashing down. I heard the most awful words a parent could ever hear ... "You have one very sick little boy." It was the morning Yossi was diagnosed with cancer. I was thrown into a world where kids get sick, and suffer tremendously, and all I can do is sit back and helplessly watch. One of the hardest lessons I learned in Yossi's illness was the fact that I am NOT in control of ANYTHING. Hashem gives us this illusion that we are in control. One thing that had bothered me greatly was that everything happened on Shabbos. My husband said that maybe it happened on Chai Elul (the 18th day of Elul, a significant day in Chabad) because Chai means Life, and it is showing that Yossi will survive this. (In some ways, I do feel he did, since he made it through that first transplant, and was granted an extra 2 1/2 years. The doctors didn't expect him to survive to the first transplant even.)
So here I am, thrown into this crazy, crazy world ... the one where the illness is so severe that the treatment itself is a carcinogen! (I know of other kids who survived their cancer to go on to have other cancers that were caused by the chemo they got.) One were the nurses wore double gloves and advised me not to bring my little kids because the chemo was so toxic. All I can do is sit back and watch, cuz there is nothing else for me to do.
Fast forward 20 years ... and Florida is bracing itself for one of the hugest hurricanes to ever hit it. Everyone has advice to give those in Florida (myself included). It's so easy to be an armchair quarterback, now isn't it??? Truthfully, I will give you the best information I was given. I had asked a mom, a fellow bereaved mom, a question. I wanted to know how much we controlled our destiny, and how much is pre-determined. Her answer was that EVERYTHING, every single thing was decided by Hashem except for one thing ... whether to do a mitzva or not. Eat kosher, dress tzanuah, put on tefillin, observe shabbos, that is in our power to decide. What to wear, nope. What car we drive? Nope. The house we live in, the city we live, the job we do, nope, nope, and nope. She told me, Basically, just sit back and enjoy the show.
Hashem is the Master Puppeteer, and He is pulling our strings and directing our lives. Do we have free choice? Absolutely. We can choose whether to open our mouths and spread lashon hora, or keep them shut and not. We can slip that non-kosher candy into our mouths when no one else is looking or again, not. Text on Shabbos, or unplug? That is all up to us. To serve chicken soup or split pea soup, no, not our choice.
From my experience, choosing to live like this is so totally liberating. The other day, I called one of the local Goodwills that I *LOVE* to get jars from. They have nice stuff and I am usually very happy with my purchases from there. They said they would be working on one later. When I had a few minutes much later in the day, I called. Yes, they had put a jar out. I quickly drove down to the store, and when I walked in, I saw another guy who also buys jars purchasing the jar. Was I upset? No. Was I disappointed, yeah. But you see ... the Master Puppeteer did not have my name on that jar. THAT is why I wasn't upset, because I wasn't supposed to get it. Very clearly, it had the other guy's name on it. (And, I once bought a jar he wanted, so it was sorta even, in a weird way.) I totally get that He is pulling all the strings, and we are all getting exactly what we are supposed to get. I have no issue with being happy for my other friends when they find great things. I was beyond thrilled with my friend who found an 18K gold bracelet from a $25 bag she cashed in two days later for almost a grand. Yay her!
So everyone, just take a chillax pill. Sit back, watch the show. Preferably from a far away location, if you are asking me for advice. (Been through a hurricane once and hope to never repeat it again.)
*C*O*N*T*R*O*L*
We all feel like we are in control of our lives. We pick what clothes we are going to wear. We pick what car we are going to drive, what to make for dinner, who to marry, where we will live, what profession we want to be ... we control our destiny, and it is all from the sweat of our brows that we have it, right?
That Shabbos, late morning, it came crashing down. I heard the most awful words a parent could ever hear ... "You have one very sick little boy." It was the morning Yossi was diagnosed with cancer. I was thrown into a world where kids get sick, and suffer tremendously, and all I can do is sit back and helplessly watch. One of the hardest lessons I learned in Yossi's illness was the fact that I am NOT in control of ANYTHING. Hashem gives us this illusion that we are in control. One thing that had bothered me greatly was that everything happened on Shabbos. My husband said that maybe it happened on Chai Elul (the 18th day of Elul, a significant day in Chabad) because Chai means Life, and it is showing that Yossi will survive this. (In some ways, I do feel he did, since he made it through that first transplant, and was granted an extra 2 1/2 years. The doctors didn't expect him to survive to the first transplant even.)
So here I am, thrown into this crazy, crazy world ... the one where the illness is so severe that the treatment itself is a carcinogen! (I know of other kids who survived their cancer to go on to have other cancers that were caused by the chemo they got.) One were the nurses wore double gloves and advised me not to bring my little kids because the chemo was so toxic. All I can do is sit back and watch, cuz there is nothing else for me to do.
Fast forward 20 years ... and Florida is bracing itself for one of the hugest hurricanes to ever hit it. Everyone has advice to give those in Florida (myself included). It's so easy to be an armchair quarterback, now isn't it??? Truthfully, I will give you the best information I was given. I had asked a mom, a fellow bereaved mom, a question. I wanted to know how much we controlled our destiny, and how much is pre-determined. Her answer was that EVERYTHING, every single thing was decided by Hashem except for one thing ... whether to do a mitzva or not. Eat kosher, dress tzanuah, put on tefillin, observe shabbos, that is in our power to decide. What to wear, nope. What car we drive? Nope. The house we live in, the city we live, the job we do, nope, nope, and nope. She told me, Basically, just sit back and enjoy the show.
Hashem is the Master Puppeteer, and He is pulling our strings and directing our lives. Do we have free choice? Absolutely. We can choose whether to open our mouths and spread lashon hora, or keep them shut and not. We can slip that non-kosher candy into our mouths when no one else is looking or again, not. Text on Shabbos, or unplug? That is all up to us. To serve chicken soup or split pea soup, no, not our choice.
From my experience, choosing to live like this is so totally liberating. The other day, I called one of the local Goodwills that I *LOVE* to get jars from. They have nice stuff and I am usually very happy with my purchases from there. They said they would be working on one later. When I had a few minutes much later in the day, I called. Yes, they had put a jar out. I quickly drove down to the store, and when I walked in, I saw another guy who also buys jars purchasing the jar. Was I upset? No. Was I disappointed, yeah. But you see ... the Master Puppeteer did not have my name on that jar. THAT is why I wasn't upset, because I wasn't supposed to get it. Very clearly, it had the other guy's name on it. (And, I once bought a jar he wanted, so it was sorta even, in a weird way.) I totally get that He is pulling all the strings, and we are all getting exactly what we are supposed to get. I have no issue with being happy for my other friends when they find great things. I was beyond thrilled with my friend who found an 18K gold bracelet from a $25 bag she cashed in two days later for almost a grand. Yay her!
So everyone, just take a chillax pill. Sit back, watch the show. Preferably from a far away location, if you are asking me for advice. (Been through a hurricane once and hope to never repeat it again.)
On a side note ... it's not too late to donate to Yossi's sefer Torah!
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Which side again is the one full of love and tolerance???
Yes, I know. I haven't posted in a while. I've had people ask me to write, but I have been hesitant to. The reason is simple ... words are being used against people in so many ways. They are being twisted and manipulated so that the writer is demonized. But at this point, I can no longer hold my tongue.
There are so many things. Confederate monuments, antifa, nazis, Free Speech, and especially, Hurricane Harvey.
So here we go. I can't remember if I actually published the post I wrote about the Confederate flag ... I don't think I did. I grew up on the Far Left Coast in California. The Civil War was so foreign to me in history. I didn't pay much attention to it, after all, it happened sooooooo many years ago, right? Fast forward many years, and I find myself in Virginia, Confederate headquarters. I had driven down Monument Blvd so many times. The hotel where my mother-in-law worked had a HUGE picture of the hotel when it was bombed out from the Civil War. I read about the Daughters of Confederate Soldiers (wait ... didn't that war happen too long ago for their to be daughters still alive??) ... and all I could think of was ... What in the world is up with these people and their fixation on the Civil War??!! It happened, it's over, move on. Then slowly, as time went by, I was exposed to a lot of Civil War history. I had never liked history, but this stuff was interesting. I starting taking the kids around to various war sites, and learning history in a way that made it come alive. The real turning point for me was when I took the kids to Tredegar Iron Works and OH BOY! Were my eyes totally opened. It showed me how my liberal public school education in elementary school was total and complete garbage! When liberals teach history, they do it with an agenda, not to convey facts and lessons that can be learned from it. It blew my mind that the economic reasons for keeping slaves ... and the DEMOCRATS were the ones in favor of it! It was the REPUBLICANS who actually freed the slaves (and were the ones to vote for civil rights but let's not jump ahead here). I had learned it BACKWARDS! I started to appreciate what the war meant to the people here, and why it was still important to them. These Confederate statues that are all over are not monuments to slave owners ... they are monuments to freedom fighters. They are monuments to people who were willing to fight and even give up their lives for what they believed in. If anyone thinks that any person is 100% good and pure, then you are just a moron. It's not possible, only Hashem is perfect. What is going on now is that people are taking today's standards, and applying them to these men. How unfair! Would anyone want to be judged by standards that are not common now? What if 100 years from now everyone has to shave their heads, and the generations look back at us and say how horrible we are for not shaving our heads. (OK, dumb example, but I want to get to my real point.)
Enter the nazis and antifa (I won't capitalize either one of them!). I don't know exactly what happened, because I wasn't there. But I have come to learn that Free Speech is ONLY free if people are allowed to say things you personally disagree with. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that those horrible, vile, disgusting Westboro Baptist "Church" are allowed to say the most horrific things, at funerals of the very soldiers who fought for their right to say those things .. well then, if the nazis and KKK have a permit and they want to march and say vile things, they can. I don't have to agree with them. I don't have to want them to show up at my front door. As long as they aren't saying, Let's go kill Inmemoryofyossi (or anyone specific), then their speech IS protected speech. Is it hateful? Yes. But it IS allowed. We all know you can't scream "FIRE" (or "WOLF" if you go to a movie with Nancy Pelosi) in a crowded movie theater. The reason is that it will endanger people. That is not protected speech. So I agree with nazis, KKK, and white supremacists? I don't even have to answer it, because if you have read my blog or know me at all, you will know how I feel about them. Can they say it? Yes.
Now we come to antifa ... "Anti" fascists ... who are using fascist tactics to get what they want. Ironic, no? Too bad they don't see that! Typical liberal thought process ...
Which now leads to the whole point of this post ... Hurricane Harvey ... a disaster of epic proportions. Remember when the earthquake happened in Haiti, and people around the world were overflowing with aide and help? Remember the tsunami on Christmas where again, aide was showered down on them (no pun intended). When bad things happen, we usually see the good inside people come out. Everyone feels so bad, and they WANT to help. What happened in Texas is just mind-numbing! So many people who lost everything. And what do we hear from the "tolerant" Left? People on twitter saying they are happy it happened in Red state! It serves them right! They are glad the people are suffering!
Sorry. I am speechless!!!!!! These are not things normal humans think! This line of thinking is more like an animal who takes joy because they will gain from it ... and yet, these liberals are not gaining anything except watching fellow human beings suffer. And they are taking such pleasure from it. "Charitable Humans" tweets out such vile disgusting tweets that I can't even repeat them! They refuse to give help, because Texas is a Red State. I'm sorry, but I am just shocked! I didn't see the hurricane destroy ONLY the Trump supporters homes! L'havdil .. just like the nazis didn't differentiate between observant and non-observant Jews ... it didn't matter to them ... a little bit of Jewish blood makes you Jewish ... l'havdil, the same thing here ... the storm didn't pick and choose who it was going to affect. Trump voters AND Hillary voters both are affected. And the rescue workers ... they didn't ask people who they voted for before deciding if they were worth saving or not.
I've said it so many times ... Liberal tolerance is going to kill us all. I wish they would stop loving and start working on their values and morals, because they are totally and completely void of any. How anyone can wish death and destruction on ANYONE, and claim it's OK because they are a conservative is just reprehensible.
There are so many things. Confederate monuments, antifa, nazis, Free Speech, and especially, Hurricane Harvey.
So here we go. I can't remember if I actually published the post I wrote about the Confederate flag ... I don't think I did. I grew up on the Far Left Coast in California. The Civil War was so foreign to me in history. I didn't pay much attention to it, after all, it happened sooooooo many years ago, right? Fast forward many years, and I find myself in Virginia, Confederate headquarters. I had driven down Monument Blvd so many times. The hotel where my mother-in-law worked had a HUGE picture of the hotel when it was bombed out from the Civil War. I read about the Daughters of Confederate Soldiers (wait ... didn't that war happen too long ago for their to be daughters still alive??) ... and all I could think of was ... What in the world is up with these people and their fixation on the Civil War??!! It happened, it's over, move on. Then slowly, as time went by, I was exposed to a lot of Civil War history. I had never liked history, but this stuff was interesting. I starting taking the kids around to various war sites, and learning history in a way that made it come alive. The real turning point for me was when I took the kids to Tredegar Iron Works and OH BOY! Were my eyes totally opened. It showed me how my liberal public school education in elementary school was total and complete garbage! When liberals teach history, they do it with an agenda, not to convey facts and lessons that can be learned from it. It blew my mind that the economic reasons for keeping slaves ... and the DEMOCRATS were the ones in favor of it! It was the REPUBLICANS who actually freed the slaves (and were the ones to vote for civil rights but let's not jump ahead here). I had learned it BACKWARDS! I started to appreciate what the war meant to the people here, and why it was still important to them. These Confederate statues that are all over are not monuments to slave owners ... they are monuments to freedom fighters. They are monuments to people who were willing to fight and even give up their lives for what they believed in. If anyone thinks that any person is 100% good and pure, then you are just a moron. It's not possible, only Hashem is perfect. What is going on now is that people are taking today's standards, and applying them to these men. How unfair! Would anyone want to be judged by standards that are not common now? What if 100 years from now everyone has to shave their heads, and the generations look back at us and say how horrible we are for not shaving our heads. (OK, dumb example, but I want to get to my real point.)
Enter the nazis and antifa (I won't capitalize either one of them!). I don't know exactly what happened, because I wasn't there. But I have come to learn that Free Speech is ONLY free if people are allowed to say things you personally disagree with. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that those horrible, vile, disgusting Westboro Baptist "Church" are allowed to say the most horrific things, at funerals of the very soldiers who fought for their right to say those things .. well then, if the nazis and KKK have a permit and they want to march and say vile things, they can. I don't have to agree with them. I don't have to want them to show up at my front door. As long as they aren't saying, Let's go kill Inmemoryofyossi (or anyone specific), then their speech IS protected speech. Is it hateful? Yes. But it IS allowed. We all know you can't scream "FIRE" (or "WOLF" if you go to a movie with Nancy Pelosi) in a crowded movie theater. The reason is that it will endanger people. That is not protected speech. So I agree with nazis, KKK, and white supremacists? I don't even have to answer it, because if you have read my blog or know me at all, you will know how I feel about them. Can they say it? Yes.
Now we come to antifa ... "Anti" fascists ... who are using fascist tactics to get what they want. Ironic, no? Too bad they don't see that! Typical liberal thought process ...
Which now leads to the whole point of this post ... Hurricane Harvey ... a disaster of epic proportions. Remember when the earthquake happened in Haiti, and people around the world were overflowing with aide and help? Remember the tsunami on Christmas where again, aide was showered down on them (no pun intended). When bad things happen, we usually see the good inside people come out. Everyone feels so bad, and they WANT to help. What happened in Texas is just mind-numbing! So many people who lost everything. And what do we hear from the "tolerant" Left? People on twitter saying they are happy it happened in Red state! It serves them right! They are glad the people are suffering!
Sorry. I am speechless!!!!!! These are not things normal humans think! This line of thinking is more like an animal who takes joy because they will gain from it ... and yet, these liberals are not gaining anything except watching fellow human beings suffer. And they are taking such pleasure from it. "Charitable Humans" tweets out such vile disgusting tweets that I can't even repeat them! They refuse to give help, because Texas is a Red State. I'm sorry, but I am just shocked! I didn't see the hurricane destroy ONLY the Trump supporters homes! L'havdil .. just like the nazis didn't differentiate between observant and non-observant Jews ... it didn't matter to them ... a little bit of Jewish blood makes you Jewish ... l'havdil, the same thing here ... the storm didn't pick and choose who it was going to affect. Trump voters AND Hillary voters both are affected. And the rescue workers ... they didn't ask people who they voted for before deciding if they were worth saving or not.
I've said it so many times ... Liberal tolerance is going to kill us all. I wish they would stop loving and start working on their values and morals, because they are totally and completely void of any. How anyone can wish death and destruction on ANYONE, and claim it's OK because they are a conservative is just reprehensible.
Monday, July 10, 2017
Baby Charlie Gard? Only quality of life matter?
I am so hurt and upset with the comments that I am reading on various news sites about the situation of little Baby Charlie Gard...
Let me start off with, I am one of the few people around who an truly comment on this. Many of the others I have read commenting are just basing their thoughts on what they think should be done. I've literally, BTDT (Been There Done That)!
The last two weeks of Yossi's a'h life were very hard, not only on him, but on all of us. For some asinine reason which I have never been able to get an explanation for, the doctors and nurses kept pushing us to kill him. Oh, excuse me, turn off the medication that was keeping him alive. Why? I have no idea why! They didn't need the room, as there were several empty rooms on the BMT unit. As religious Jews, we made it very clear we weren't killing him. But that didn't stop them from repeatedly asking us to. One nurse, who we really liked, recommend we turn it off while she was on with him, so it would happen when someone we knew and trusted was with him. That was a full two weeks before it actually happened.
The week before Yossi died, I had a world wide prayer vigil at the same time. You have to realize that was in 2001, when the internet was still in its infancy. There were no "blogs" or social media. It spread from word of mouth. I don't remember how many people actually did it, but I do know it was world wide. It was an amazing thing. Even the stuffy doctor who I couldn't stand came into the room to pray for him. (My husband said, "You know things are bad when the doctor is praying.") You have to also understand that as a parent, I believed with all my heart and soul that he was going to make a turn around. I went so far as to tell the stuffy doctor, You watch! Twenty years from now you will be discussing the great miracle that happened here! Before the prayer vigil, I had explained to the doctor that every second Yossi was alive, people were doing good deeds. They were praying for him. He was accruing so many mitzvos. Why deny him that? Who are we to decide when it's time to stop? I was so desperate for him to live that I was even willing to take him as a vegetable. I begged Hashem, just let him live! The refrain that my social worker from Chai Lifeline said all the time, where there is life, there is hope. Once you are dead, that's it. No more chances.
The night Yossi died, we were advised by our rabbi to speak with two doctor friends to get their opinions. One was a top heart doctor, who also happened to love him. After hearing the report of the nurse, he cried to me, saying, "I've never seen anyone come back from a multi-system shutdown". The second doctor, a pediatric heart doctor told me that the amount of medication they were giving him was barely keeping him alive. Not only that, the amount would actually hurt a healthy adult, it was such a high dosage. So with these two thoughts, we spoke with our rabbi. The rabbi asked me, "Why are you holding out?"
I answered him, "Because what if we shut off the medication today, and Hashem wanted to make a miracle on Tuesday? It will be too late then."
Do you understand? A parent will grasp at anything, anything in the world to save their child. Why should ANYONE say that baby Charlie has a bad quality of life and therefore doesn't need life support? Why doesn't the desperate wishes of the parents not mean anything? Why should someone who is going to go home to their own children and in a few months or years FORGET about him, but his parents will never, ever forget him; or get over his death? Why should his parents be haunted by the thoughts of, IF ONLY WE HAD DONE IT ... Maybe he would have lived???
In the end, Yossi died. Yossi had Graft Vs. Host Disease, an aspergillus infection, and four major organs had shut down. His heart was barely getting blood to his extremities. AND yet ... if I could have had just one more day ... or one more hour ... I would have done it that way all over again. Another little boy on the BMT unit died the week after Yossi with the same things, GVHD, infection, multi-system shutdown ... and the parents immediately pulled the plug and went home to mourn their child. I don't question why they did it; I just know for me, I couldn't live with myself if I did that. It is one of the few things that I have complete peace about ... I know for a fact that I did everything humanly possible to save him .. Ultimately it was Hashem who decided that he wasn't meant to live. Not some doctor or nurse who recommend we do it.
If you are lucky enough to have never lost a child, then you can not understand the depth of the despair. The pain. I've tried before to explain, but it is about as helpful as trying to explain colors to a person who has never seen ... or sound to a person who has never heard. It can't be done. You can't go there, so don't even try. I *KNOW* what these parents are feeling. I know the desperation they have for their child to live. For some group of doctors and a judge to decide his fate is beyond deplorable. They are taking a toxic situation and making it even worse for these poor parents.
At the end of the day, the world will go on, and we will soon forget about little baby Charlie. But his parents never will. And they will remember how the doctors and judge and clueless people thought their precious son would be better off dead because he wasn't have a great quality of life. And I promise you, THAT hurt will go away with time.
(On a side note ... the medication that I got special FDA approval for Yossi to use the week he died ... Another teenage boy had a similar issue after Yossi passed away, and I helped them get the medication that saved their child's life. And after that I heard about child in Atlanta who also benefited from the same medication. It has become standard treatment in the BMT unit. So you never know when these experimental medications will help someone else.)
Let me start off with, I am one of the few people around who an truly comment on this. Many of the others I have read commenting are just basing their thoughts on what they think should be done. I've literally, BTDT (Been There Done That)!
The last two weeks of Yossi's a'h life were very hard, not only on him, but on all of us. For some asinine reason which I have never been able to get an explanation for, the doctors and nurses kept pushing us to kill him. Oh, excuse me, turn off the medication that was keeping him alive. Why? I have no idea why! They didn't need the room, as there were several empty rooms on the BMT unit. As religious Jews, we made it very clear we weren't killing him. But that didn't stop them from repeatedly asking us to. One nurse, who we really liked, recommend we turn it off while she was on with him, so it would happen when someone we knew and trusted was with him. That was a full two weeks before it actually happened.
The week before Yossi died, I had a world wide prayer vigil at the same time. You have to realize that was in 2001, when the internet was still in its infancy. There were no "blogs" or social media. It spread from word of mouth. I don't remember how many people actually did it, but I do know it was world wide. It was an amazing thing. Even the stuffy doctor who I couldn't stand came into the room to pray for him. (My husband said, "You know things are bad when the doctor is praying.") You have to also understand that as a parent, I believed with all my heart and soul that he was going to make a turn around. I went so far as to tell the stuffy doctor, You watch! Twenty years from now you will be discussing the great miracle that happened here! Before the prayer vigil, I had explained to the doctor that every second Yossi was alive, people were doing good deeds. They were praying for him. He was accruing so many mitzvos. Why deny him that? Who are we to decide when it's time to stop? I was so desperate for him to live that I was even willing to take him as a vegetable. I begged Hashem, just let him live! The refrain that my social worker from Chai Lifeline said all the time, where there is life, there is hope. Once you are dead, that's it. No more chances.
The night Yossi died, we were advised by our rabbi to speak with two doctor friends to get their opinions. One was a top heart doctor, who also happened to love him. After hearing the report of the nurse, he cried to me, saying, "I've never seen anyone come back from a multi-system shutdown". The second doctor, a pediatric heart doctor told me that the amount of medication they were giving him was barely keeping him alive. Not only that, the amount would actually hurt a healthy adult, it was such a high dosage. So with these two thoughts, we spoke with our rabbi. The rabbi asked me, "Why are you holding out?"
I answered him, "Because what if we shut off the medication today, and Hashem wanted to make a miracle on Tuesday? It will be too late then."
Do you understand? A parent will grasp at anything, anything in the world to save their child. Why should ANYONE say that baby Charlie has a bad quality of life and therefore doesn't need life support? Why doesn't the desperate wishes of the parents not mean anything? Why should someone who is going to go home to their own children and in a few months or years FORGET about him, but his parents will never, ever forget him; or get over his death? Why should his parents be haunted by the thoughts of, IF ONLY WE HAD DONE IT ... Maybe he would have lived???
In the end, Yossi died. Yossi had Graft Vs. Host Disease, an aspergillus infection, and four major organs had shut down. His heart was barely getting blood to his extremities. AND yet ... if I could have had just one more day ... or one more hour ... I would have done it that way all over again. Another little boy on the BMT unit died the week after Yossi with the same things, GVHD, infection, multi-system shutdown ... and the parents immediately pulled the plug and went home to mourn their child. I don't question why they did it; I just know for me, I couldn't live with myself if I did that. It is one of the few things that I have complete peace about ... I know for a fact that I did everything humanly possible to save him .. Ultimately it was Hashem who decided that he wasn't meant to live. Not some doctor or nurse who recommend we do it.
If you are lucky enough to have never lost a child, then you can not understand the depth of the despair. The pain. I've tried before to explain, but it is about as helpful as trying to explain colors to a person who has never seen ... or sound to a person who has never heard. It can't be done. You can't go there, so don't even try. I *KNOW* what these parents are feeling. I know the desperation they have for their child to live. For some group of doctors and a judge to decide his fate is beyond deplorable. They are taking a toxic situation and making it even worse for these poor parents.
At the end of the day, the world will go on, and we will soon forget about little baby Charlie. But his parents never will. And they will remember how the doctors and judge and clueless people thought their precious son would be better off dead because he wasn't have a great quality of life. And I promise you, THAT hurt will go away with time.
(On a side note ... the medication that I got special FDA approval for Yossi to use the week he died ... Another teenage boy had a similar issue after Yossi passed away, and I helped them get the medication that saved their child's life. And after that I heard about child in Atlanta who also benefited from the same medication. It has become standard treatment in the BMT unit. So you never know when these experimental medications will help someone else.)
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Breaking through another barrier
If you read the post about why I started shooting http://jewwithanattitude.blogspot.com/2015/09/why-i-carry-gun.html , you my remember that I grew up with parents who told me, "Guns kill people". We had no guns in our house. My poor brother never played cowboys and Indians cuz he had no guns. Guns are BAD, BAD, BAD. I never let my kids have guns until I did the proper research, blah blah blah, read the whole post above.
So why am I bringing this up? Because my mom is here for a visit, and I asked her, "Hey, do you want to go to the range????" She was so scared. No, she didn't want to go. I've asked her before, and it was always the same thing. This time I explained that I have a great instructor, Dave Van Bruen from T.A.C. Solutions. I met him several years ago at a gun show. His business card intrigued me. It said, "Can you survive 3 seconds". So I started using him from time to time to help with my shooting skills. So this time when I asked my mom if she wanted to go, I said we would bring along a shooting instructor. Shockingly, she said yes!
Today was the big day. I showed her my revolver, and taught her the basic safety rules (Keep your finger off the trigger, don't point it at anything you don't plan to destroy, consider the gun loaded at all times even when it's not, etc.) I let her try to pull the trigger, but my Ruger has a very heavy trigger pull, so she wasn't even able to do that. On the way to the range, she told me her stomach was in knots. I kept trying to reassure her, this is not big deal. When we got to the range, Dave sat with us and spoke to her for a while, listening to her fears, and addressing each one. Her biggest fear was that the gun was going to shoot her. There was a tragedy a few years in AZ where a young 9 year old girl killed her shooting instructor. Dave explained she was using a machine gun, not a semi-automatic. The gun continues to pump out bullets, and it tends to pull upwards as it does it. She was a little girl and it was obviously too much for her, which is how the tragedy happened. He explained that the gun she was going to use (a Ruger .22) was a nice heavy gun, and would only fire ONE time for each trigger pull. He went over the safety rules with her again, and then it was off to our lanes. Dave is such a patient man. He put my mom in a chair so she was comfortable. He had this special foam block that has a cut outs to rest the gun on. (It's really for long guns.) He showed her how to load it, and then he gave her the gun. She fired it off, and hit the target. She was so shocked when it fired; I saw her flinch. He put another round in the magazine for her, and she did it a second time. She was too scared to have more than one round in at a time.
She was SOOO PROUD of herself, as well she should be. You will notice how her trigger finger is NOT on the trigger? Way to go Mom, that's perfect!
She fired more, and I meanwhile worked on several things. First, I tried out a Sig Sauer p938. I was also using my little Sig Sauer p238. The first one takes 9mm and the second takes .380. I was toying with the idea of moving to that one. (Truthfully, I am very happy with the Sig p238, and I think I'm gonna stick with it for now.)
I wanted to work on changing magazines while in a defensive situation, but that didn't go over too well. I did it once or twice, and then gave up for now.
Meanwhile, Mom moved to a standing position ...
Dave and I worked on placement for my gun while I am carrying it. So we put my belly band on, and emptied the gun, and played around with where it is most comfortable. We also realized I really need to work on pulling the gun out to a defense stance and shooting within 3 seconds. Did I mention I had to aim and fire two shots in that time??? Well, we worked on it. I filled up the center of the target, so for the last few rounds, I was aiming for the 7.
Overall, I am very happy with my groupings. I am happy with the work we did, as well as the homework Dave gave me to do. My mom left the range not only losing her fear of guns, but she actually ended up enjoying herself so much that she wants to go the range with my brother next week when she visits him! She did a complete turn around on this issue. All I can say is, if my mom shot a gun, ANYONE CAN!
I guess you can see how happy I was to see her shoot!
Dave grabbed a shot of us, you can see I was about to fire in this one, or maybe I was firing? IDK.
End result? Two happy ladies! Thanks Dave, and happy shooting everyone. Stay safe!
So why am I bringing this up? Because my mom is here for a visit, and I asked her, "Hey, do you want to go to the range????" She was so scared. No, she didn't want to go. I've asked her before, and it was always the same thing. This time I explained that I have a great instructor, Dave Van Bruen from T.A.C. Solutions. I met him several years ago at a gun show. His business card intrigued me. It said, "Can you survive 3 seconds". So I started using him from time to time to help with my shooting skills. So this time when I asked my mom if she wanted to go, I said we would bring along a shooting instructor. Shockingly, she said yes!
Today was the big day. I showed her my revolver, and taught her the basic safety rules (Keep your finger off the trigger, don't point it at anything you don't plan to destroy, consider the gun loaded at all times even when it's not, etc.) I let her try to pull the trigger, but my Ruger has a very heavy trigger pull, so she wasn't even able to do that. On the way to the range, she told me her stomach was in knots. I kept trying to reassure her, this is not big deal. When we got to the range, Dave sat with us and spoke to her for a while, listening to her fears, and addressing each one. Her biggest fear was that the gun was going to shoot her. There was a tragedy a few years in AZ where a young 9 year old girl killed her shooting instructor. Dave explained she was using a machine gun, not a semi-automatic. The gun continues to pump out bullets, and it tends to pull upwards as it does it. She was a little girl and it was obviously too much for her, which is how the tragedy happened. He explained that the gun she was going to use (a Ruger .22) was a nice heavy gun, and would only fire ONE time for each trigger pull. He went over the safety rules with her again, and then it was off to our lanes. Dave is such a patient man. He put my mom in a chair so she was comfortable. He had this special foam block that has a cut outs to rest the gun on. (It's really for long guns.) He showed her how to load it, and then he gave her the gun. She fired it off, and hit the target. She was so shocked when it fired; I saw her flinch. He put another round in the magazine for her, and she did it a second time. She was too scared to have more than one round in at a time.
She fired more, and I meanwhile worked on several things. First, I tried out a Sig Sauer p938. I was also using my little Sig Sauer p238. The first one takes 9mm and the second takes .380. I was toying with the idea of moving to that one. (Truthfully, I am very happy with the Sig p238, and I think I'm gonna stick with it for now.)
Meanwhile, Mom moved to a standing position ...
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
So CLOSE, and yet SO FAR!
I've been struggling. Emotionally, this has been a huge, huge roller-coaster of feelings, from excitement to immense, profound grief, to happiness and heartbreak.
I am talking about the Sefer Campaign. Right now I am at $44,000 in pledges and donations. Yes, it is amazing. People can't believe how fast I was able to raise that much money. I just respond with, "People loved Yossi a'h, and that is why they are willing to give". And yes, with the goal almost in sight, the donations have completely stopped. I've spoken to people, and they say, "Yes, I'll give", and then for whatever reason, they don't manage to follow through.
The last few weeks have been excruciating for me. I can say that almost every single day, without fail, I've been in tears, begging Hashem to see this through. I did a segulah for Rabbi Menacham Mendel of Riminov, and completed it the first time. (He promised to help anyone who lights a candle for him 40 nights in a row.) In general, I am not a patient person. The thought of waiting two years to actually see this totally to fruition is very painful for such an impatient person. (I want things, and I don't even want them yesterday, I want them last week, or last year!)
Some people are scared to commit to a monthly donation. That is fine. Please just give me a one time donation. Just give, PLEASE!
I've spoken about tzedakah many, many times on my blog. One of the good things that came out of this whole situation is that I feel a special closeness with Hashem. I literally have found that I have a personal relationship with Him. I feel like I can talk to Him like a child talking to their Father, asking and telling what I need. Years ago, I used to be scared to give too much tzedakah. I like to hang little inspirational quotes around my house ... This is one of them that has been on the wall for years now:
I can say with all my heart and soul, that this is 100% true. So many times I have seen in my life where I pledged money I didn't have. Lo and behold! The money magically appears in my life. A few years ago I pledged $500 for Ushi to Bike 4 Chai. Money I didn't have, but I knew would get. That very day I found a jar with enough gold in it to cover my pledge. I pledged a the next year for Shauly, and again, I found ONE item that was more than DOUBLE my pledge. Hashem pays His debts, without fail every single time.
Rabbi Gordon z'l in the Tanya said, that when times are tight, that is DAVKA the time to give tzedakah. It seems counter intuitive to give MORE when you have less. And yet, that is exactly what the Alter Rebbe advises us. The reason is that tzedakah does not come for your yearly allotment of earrings. So if you give away some, Hashem has to repay you. And like I said, Hashem ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS repays His bills right away.
If you haven't made a donation yet, please take one minute and do it. It will help to give me menuchas hanefesh, comfort to my soul. Please help me complete this campaign NOW and may we all merit to see Yossi WITH Moshiach in Yerushalayim.
http://inmemoryofyossi.com/sefertorah
There are still many donation opportunities available. No donation is too small or too big. Feel free to share this on social media. I would love to see the total by Yossi's 29th birthday on Chof Zayin Nissan, which this year falls on April 23rd.
Wishing you all a kosher and freilichen pesach! ~ Leah
I am talking about the Sefer Campaign. Right now I am at $44,000 in pledges and donations. Yes, it is amazing. People can't believe how fast I was able to raise that much money. I just respond with, "People loved Yossi a'h, and that is why they are willing to give". And yes, with the goal almost in sight, the donations have completely stopped. I've spoken to people, and they say, "Yes, I'll give", and then for whatever reason, they don't manage to follow through.
The last few weeks have been excruciating for me. I can say that almost every single day, without fail, I've been in tears, begging Hashem to see this through. I did a segulah for Rabbi Menacham Mendel of Riminov, and completed it the first time. (He promised to help anyone who lights a candle for him 40 nights in a row.) In general, I am not a patient person. The thought of waiting two years to actually see this totally to fruition is very painful for such an impatient person. (I want things, and I don't even want them yesterday, I want them last week, or last year!)
Some people are scared to commit to a monthly donation. That is fine. Please just give me a one time donation. Just give, PLEASE!
I've spoken about tzedakah many, many times on my blog. One of the good things that came out of this whole situation is that I feel a special closeness with Hashem. I literally have found that I have a personal relationship with Him. I feel like I can talk to Him like a child talking to their Father, asking and telling what I need. Years ago, I used to be scared to give too much tzedakah. I like to hang little inspirational quotes around my house ... This is one of them that has been on the wall for years now:
Rabbi Gordon z'l in the Tanya said, that when times are tight, that is DAVKA the time to give tzedakah. It seems counter intuitive to give MORE when you have less. And yet, that is exactly what the Alter Rebbe advises us. The reason is that tzedakah does not come for your yearly allotment of earrings. So if you give away some, Hashem has to repay you. And like I said, Hashem ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS repays His bills right away.
If you haven't made a donation yet, please take one minute and do it. It will help to give me menuchas hanefesh, comfort to my soul. Please help me complete this campaign NOW and may we all merit to see Yossi WITH Moshiach in Yerushalayim.
http://inmemoryofyossi.com/sefertorah
There are still many donation opportunities available. No donation is too small or too big. Feel free to share this on social media. I would love to see the total by Yossi's 29th birthday on Chof Zayin Nissan, which this year falls on April 23rd.
Wishing you all a kosher and freilichen pesach! ~ Leah
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