There are two ways of living:
You can make mountains out of molehills or you can make miracles out of molecules... You can see life as a series of disasters to overcome or a series of miracles to behold. What is your life like? Are you surrounded by miracles or by melancholy? By fear or promise? Ultimately when the way that you see things around you changes the conditions around you seem to change as well. Sometimes it takes a frightening illness or a great setback or fear of losing a loved one to start noticing the miracles. Sometimes it just takes saying the modeh ani prayer with concentration in the morning. Sometimes we look on with curiosity and slight jealousy at those who instead of making mountains out of mole hills seem to see miracles even in the molecules. What is the truth of your world? Menachem (Mendel) Bluming taken from many sources
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Personally, I find it hard enough to remember where I put my car keys five minutes ago, let alone what I did in a previous life. But there have been very holy individuals who were aware of their past lives. One example is Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum of Ujhely, who said that he remembers his past three lives.
Previous to his current life as a Rabbi in 18th century Hungary, he said he lived in the times of the first Temple in Jerusalem in 587 BCE. He was the prophet Jeremiah, who foresaw the destruction of the Temple. For that reason Rabbi Moshe was famous for his constant yearning for the redemption and rebuilding of the third Temple. He also recalled an even earlier incarnation, when he was a witness to the debate between Moses and Korach, which took place during the Israelite sojourn in the desert, some three thousand years ago. But Rabbi Teitelbaum remembered further back, all the way to the time of the patriarchs. He said that when our forefather Jacob tended the sheep of his father-in-law Lavan, his flock numbered 600 000 sheep. They contained the souls of the future nation of Israel. Your soul and mine were there. We just don't remember. But Rabbi Moshe did. "I remember being a sheep in Jacob's flock," Rabbi Moshe told his students. "I even remember the song Jacob would sing to gather us together." And he would sing this most beautiful and haunting song, the song Jacob our forefather sang to our souls hidden in the sheep. The song is still known to this very day. Rabbi Moshe is an exception. Most of us have no conscious memory of our previous lives. But somewhere deep down, we do remember. We have a sense of what our mission is and what we need to fix. Our mission is usually found in the very area of life that we find the most challenging. Our soul knows that this is what we have to face. That's why it's so daunting. There are certain people in our lives who push our buttons. There are particular weaknesses in our character that we loath to face. And there are mitzvahs that we know we have to do but are scared to do them. These are the faint memories of our past lives. These are what we need to fix in this life. And if you're not sure that you believe in all this, listen to Jacob's song. Its heavenly melody just might arouse some hidden memory in the recesses of your soul. We may not remember exactly who we were before, but one thing we know. We each have a soul that matters, we each have a mission to accomplish, and we each have a song to sing. Menachem (Mendel) Bluming and Rabbi Moss It is heartening to see thousands and thousands unite across the country for solidarity and to insist on racial equality and respect and protection for every person. It is disheartening to watch the horrific killing of George Floyd. It is disheartening to watch the looting and desecration of synagogues and other houses of worship, the destruction of businesses and property and the violence.
So am I just an observer or is there something that I can do about it? Israel's national airline is called El Al. Do you know what the name El Al actually means? It means Onwards and Upwards. Curious name for an airline, isn't it? But just stop and think about it for a minute. The names of every other airline are pretty matter of fact - British Airways, American Airlines, Egypt Air, Air Canada. But not the Jewish one. In typical Jewish style, our airline doesn't just have a simple name stating what it is, it has a name that requires philosophical analysis. Onwards and Upwards could be the motto of Jewish faith. We never go back, and we never go down. Every life experience is a step forward, every hurdle in our path is an invitation to jump higher. There are no detours, it's all a part of the ride. There are no set-backs, only set-forwards. We don't live in the past, trying to regain some glorious moment that was. We march on into the future, trying to make a better moment that will be. Onwards and Upwards. Rabbi David Lapin, from South Africa, once shared this experience. As soon as I entered the rabbinate of South Africa, I became concerned about retaining my intellectual independence – something I am fiercely protective of – while serving as a community rabbi at the will of a synagogue’s board of directors. Therefore, I believed that I also needed to secure an independent source of income. And so I first went to work for an international commodities trading company, and later I founded the leadership consulting firm which I currently lead. There came a time when I felt I needed the opinion of someone much wiser than me, someone who had a global perspective that embraced modernity, history and the future. I decided to seek the advice of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. In 1976 I came to New York, but I had not realized that to see the Rebbe one had to make an appointment many months in advance, and at first I was turned away. Only when I wrote a letter to the Rebbe in which I made the argument that my questions impacted the larger Jewish community – and which I insisted be presented to him – did he invite me to wait until he finished his appointments for the night when he would make time to see me. I will never forget meeting the Rebbe. I recall that he got up from his chair as my wife and I came in, greeted us and insisted that we sit down. At that moment, I realized that we were going to have a real conversation – this was not going to be just a symbolic encounter. Indeed, during the meeting I felt that he was looking right inside me and communicating with me on a level that transcends the mind, getting straight to the heart and the essence of being. In addition, I sensed a kindness and warmth – all at once I was in the presence of a great man, an intellectual genius, a leader of the Jewish people, but also a grandfather who cared about me. I asked him about the responsibilities that I faced and the limitations that I felt, which seemed overwhelming. How could I manage it all? What should I give up – my business or my Torah teaching? Where should I direct my energies? His answer to me was that I should give up nothing and continue working in business while still teaching Torah. He insisted that every interaction that I have with a fellow human being whether in business or in Torah gives me an opportunity to impact and I should never underestimate the power of that impact. He said: “You think that human interaction is like a chemical reaction. But it isn’t. In a chemical reaction, there are two elements which interact with each other, and they result in a third compound. But people aren’t chemicals. When people interact, the result is a nuclear reaction. A nuclear reaction occurs at the core and then it radiates in a spherical, rather than a linear, way. As the outer rings of your sphere get bigger and bigger, the number of people you are touching gets bigger and bigger – indeed, there is no limit. “When you touch the heart of one person, there is a nuclear reaction because that person in turn touches so many other people. So, each person you touch – even if it is a moment’s interaction – represents a nuclear reaction in terms of impact. That’s what it really is.” He was right of course, and way ahead of the research that, since then, has proven his words to be true. For example, the Framingham Heart Study showed that people’s mood affects others three times removed – that is, one’s friend’s friend’s friends. We impact people not just with our words but with our moods and our energy. The words we use. The actions we engage in. They all create ripples of change. We have the opportunity to spread belief in G-d as the Eye that Sees and the Ear that Hears, emphasizing that G-d’s will is the absolute moral compass that decides what constitutes good and what is evil. Every human being is created in G-d’s image and needs to be treated with the utmost dignity. We can study about this. Learn the words to use. Get comfortable in sharing moral ‘elevator speeches’ as we often don’t get much time to impart lessons to others. Most importantly never underestimate the power that you have to create change in society through your interactions. We all need that change and you are a critical part in creating it. Rabbi Mendel (Menachem) Bluming The holiday of Shavuot celebrates the day on which the Torah was given on Mt Sinai. Now that sounds very important... and yet in the Talmud the holiday is exclusively called Atzeret which means “stop and linger”. The stop and linger holiday?! What could that mean?
Stay another day is a chant we hear from our children when a magical, wonderful vacation comes to an end. We don’t want to leave, they exclaim. This is so beautiful; we want to stay another day. We all have that experience when a wonderful vacation comes to an end. It might be a skiing trip to the Alps, a cruise on the Riviera, or a resort in the Caribbean, no matter how enchanting and delightful the holiday might be, the last day eventually arrives. We all feel the emotional tug that pulls at our heartstrings to stay just another day or even an hour. Alas, the return flights have been booked, the kids must return to school, and our work back home is piling up. We entertain the romantic notion of staying but give in to the burgeoning pull of reality. Nevertheless, occasionally, we give in to this romantic notion and make new arrangements. Imagine the thrill on your children’s faces when you inform then that mom and dad decided to rearrange everything and stay another day. We all know that we can only stave off reality for so long and that to stay another day will cost us dearly, but the thrill of letting it all fade and holding on to the magic for just another day, is too powerful to ignore. So, we put everything on pause and stay another day. G-d cherishes his relationship with us. From Passover until Shavuot we diligently counted each day awaiting excitedly the receiving of the Torah and that day has arrived! G-d says, give me one more day!” I love that closeness that we have enjoyed together over these weeks. Those few moments of focused connection. Atzeret- stop and linger with me let us celebrate our unique relationship that has been through rocky and joyous times and has persevered against all odds now more than 3330 years! Chag Sameach! Menachem (Mendel) Bluming, Potomac, Maryland and Rabbi Gurkow |
AuthorRabbi Mendel Bluming also dedicated six years to serving on the board of directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, where he received the Matthew H. Simon Rabbinical Award for exceptional communal leadership. Archives
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