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 Was the world better of with Gush Katif, or Gaza? Israel is the homeland of the Jewish People.
The politics of Israel is definitely controversial. There are almost as many different opinions as there are different nations of the world. Does the world simply refuse to accept that Israel is the one and only home and nation of and for the Jewish people?
Nobody denies that Chinese people are entitled to live in China, or that Russian citizens are entitled to live in Russia, however Israel as the land of and for the Jewish people seems to always draw fire from enemies of Israel and the Jewsih people.
Interestingly enough it has never been a matter of great debate that other nations are entitled to defend their own borders, and create and enforce laws designed to protect and defend their own people. Yet somehow we see today that Israel is forced to answer to worldwide pressure to do the right thing as expressed by the diverse and often diametrically opposed ideas, ethics, morals and values of people of the world as reported by the media.
It is plainly obvious to me that the nation of Israel must no longer acquiesce to various opinions of the day about what it should or must do to maintain it’s own national security.
Israel must act with careful deliberation and thought, in Israel’s own best interest. If the use of force as in military action should unfortunately become necessary to protect it’s peace, then Israel must act in it’s own best interest.
While these ideas and concepts are well known throughout the civilized world, for some reason the world often seems to choose to view the nation of Israel as some sort of special exception to the general rules and principles which guide a nation in areas regarding it’s own defense.
I believe that while the media, and yes even the United Nations, may be doing it’s utmost to cast a negative light on the recent actions that Israel has done in the interest of protecting it’s own security, that Israel had the full right to maintain it’s naval blockade of it’s territory known as Gaza, which is a known outpost for terrorist activity.
Often people who speak or write in a a manner such as mine, may be dismissed as Zionists, or Religious fanatics, however with this brief article I would like to suggest that one educate themselves in how over it’s bloody war torn history as an independent nation, the nation of Israel has always acted with extreme restraint and has exercised in right to bear arms in it’s defense only as a last resort and in a very minimal way.
However the enemies of Israel have shown time and time again that they will not be content until the nation of Israel itself as we know it has simply ceased to exist. The time has come for Israel not to further weaken it’s position with more concessions to it’s enemies but rather to strengthen it’s positions by taking back territories which have been ceded to her enemies under the mistaken notion that such actions would bring peace.
One does not have to look very far back in History to see how ceding territory to the enemy does not bring peace but only brings extended bloodshed. The student of the truth would do well to learn the lesson of what is meant by the term “policy of appeasement during WWII”.
In these writings one would learn something about an environment that existed which allowed an evil dictator to rise to power. Never again is not simply a slogan used by those who have some blood connection to the holocaust, a term which reasonably gets invoked when discussing Israel, the eternal homeland of and for the Jewish people.
Never again is this constant state of vigilance which was enacted by an entire generation which witnessed with their own eyes, and ears, and tortured flesh the horrors and atrocities perpetrated against the Jewish people for no other reason than simply being Jewish.
You do not need to have a direct connection to the Holocaust or even be Jewish to understand even the strategic position of Israel and it’s importance to exist as a strong and undivided sovereign nation with defensible borders.
It seem the current war on Israel and it’s right to exist is not being fought in the trenches, but rather it is being fought on Youtube, Facebook, sound bites on TV. and on blogs such as this one on the world wide web.
If the flotilla incident occurred with another nation, it might have been resolved with one shot fired across the bow however in the case of Israel it seems to always need to take into consideration what the other nations of the world have to say about it’s actions. Due to this unfortunate situation Israel gets pushed into a position of having to exercise extreme caution in it’s measured response to aggression. While this might normally be viewed as a good thing it also allows other countries such as Turkey to take the maximum advantage of this situation.
In conclusion the sovereign nation of Israel by displaying such extreme restraint and caution in their measured military responses to military actions initiated either by other nations or fundamental militant religious factions and other terrorist groups, repeatedly put themselves in a vulnerable position form the point of view of Israel’s enemies.
In this particular case while it’s intent was no doubt evil, the clever manipulation on the part of the nation of Turkey seems to rise to the level of having created a planned sacrifice of lives, in order to accomplish a larger long term goal which is specific in design to further weaken the military power of the nation of Israel without firing a single shot, (at least not from their own weapon).
Those people who are normally silent, when such actions and deliberate manipulation of the variables on the part of those factions, who have a vested interest in undermining the security of Israel, need to carefully evaluate the actions and events which they have witnesses as captured by the media, and share their take on the events, because many of these subtleties get missed when strong emotions, of anger, hatred, and religious intolerance become evoked.
The politics of Israel is definitely controversial. There are almost as many different opinions as there are different nations of the world. As for my own personal point of view on the matter I feel that Israel needs to rise to the occasion and enter in the world of political alliances, diplomacy, negotiations and also be involved in issuing it own demands, in the arena of the United Nations, and very specifically with regard to the United States.
The nature by which Israel defends itself in a manner of planned caution, restraint, and concern for world opinion is seen as weakness by more hostile and bellicose nations such as Turkey, and is exploited for maximum effect and result.
Israel is being pushed into a new role and it needs to develop stronger relationships and alliances with the other nations of the world. The nation of Israel had previously been only a small nation primarily concerned with it’s own internal issues, and it’s own survival. However the involvement of Turkey as a nation, in this unprovoked military action against Israel, has demonstrated clearly how important it is, more than ever, that Israel gain the support and protection of the peace loving and democratic nations of the world.
Aharon Moshe (Stephen C) Sanders
June 3, 2010 9:53AM, Updated on same day at 4:15pm
November 13, 2001: Al-Qaeda Convoy Flees to Tora Bora; US Fails to Attack
Bin Laden gave a speech in front of about 1,000 supporters on November 10, 2001 in the town of Jalalabad, Afghanistan. [CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, 3/4/2002] On the night of November 13, a convoy of 1,000 or more al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters escapes from Jalalabad and reaches the fortress of Tora Bora after hours of driving and then walking. Bin Laden is believed to be with them, riding in one of “several hundred cars” in the convoy.
The US bombs the nearby Jalalabad airport, but apparently does not attack the convoy. [CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, 3/4/2002; KNIGHT RIDDER, 10/20/2002] The Northern Alliance captures Jalalabad the next day. [SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 11/14/2001]
via Complete 911 Timeline: Osama Bin Laden.
This was the piece of information that I had noticed and commented on from my 9/11 message board that I had linked to my tripod website:
There is a link which works but when you mouse over it you will see that it originally was to take you the site which no longer exists.
This story begins at the end. It’s the End of the World as We Know it !
When you mouse over the: Holy War ! Yeah right link you will see: ezboard.com/f911usaattackedselfhelpsenterfrm1.showMess…
PS: In case any feels that I am spending an inordinate amount of time or effort on this. it may be because you believe that I am trying to blow my own horn etc. The truth is that after logging countless hours into creating this site as raw coded HTML in what has become know as the WWWI days using a tripod html code editor, and Cute HTP and text documents to save my pages, to be later cut and pastes into the html editor, to be uploaded onto this particular website, which I later found may have been left intact, while my original site, which had become well linked and showed up in many Google searches one day just vanished from the World Wide Web without a trace (pretty much like my recent Facebook page about a month or two back).
I initiated a dialogue, after mourning the loss of my precious labor of love web site where I had poured my heart and soul into the word. Eventually they restored my domain, but were entirely and properly apologetic about losing the content! I felt a little bit like Foghorn Leghorn, in this instance because luckily I keep back up copies of the html code in text boxes for just such an occasion.
Stephen C. (Aharon Moshe) Sanders
May 24, 2010
 Luckily I keep my feathers numbered for just such an occasion.
It is amazing that the US simply can not figure out how to develop diplomatic relations with Russia. It seem our cultures are so vastly different however there must be some mutual interests that both nations have. What president ever sought to create “warm fuzzy” relations with Russian, certainly not Ronald Reagan.
As for Asia, it seems we can only recall the infamous presidency of Richard M. Nixon. Could it be that the US has lost it diplomatic touch. Which Commander in Chief in recent years has sought to develop peacetime foreign relations and has exercised effective diplomacy which can act to stabilize current world-wide tensions.
Perhaps if the US government; (vis-a-vis) the politicians, in their current fervor to win popularity contests and buy their seats either with pro-business legislation, or the ever popular tax cuts, or liberal spending policies, would simply do their sworn duty and maintain key diplomatic ties with other nations, then we would not have to feel as if the entire world is on the brink of some sort of global crisis.
It seems our government is always under some sort of artificial pressure partially created by the voting public, to fix some current problem (now it’s the economy) at the expense of any long term planning and sense of cooperation which could be and must be developed between the different political parties, in order to be pro-active in planning a safe and healthy economic climate in addition to having strong ties with other nations which might not always have the same agenda as our country.
Aharon Moshe (Stephen C.) Sanders
May 23, 2010
As you read this essay, please try not to confuse any of my unintentional sarcasm, with some sort of incorrect assumption which you would like to assign to a literal interpretation of my words.
As of the time of the writing of this piece, it is very clear to me that the entire world is “Going to Hell, in a Handbag”, and the most intelligent and knowledgeable people in the world, are powerless to prevent this extremely unfortunate outcome!
Do I have your attention now? Yes, this is strong language which I am using. Yes, I absolutely believe the truth I intend to develop for which I make no apologies in their delivery. Is this entire essay meant to be some sort of religious appeal, no absolutely not! This piece is no less than a call to action. Very simply I am talking about the indiscriminate use of our natural and yes G-d given natural resources. To understand my point, lets have a look at the world today, and try to figure out how this entire unfortunate series of events may have begun.
With Earth in grave environmental peril, many religious Americans are seeking to respond through our faith. Through the many gateways and galleries of this website, we offer resources and accounts of how people of faith are acting upon God’s mandate to be stewards of our precious Earth.
Above Courtesy of: The National Religious Partnership for the Environment
“The Tail Wags the Dog” is meant to be a political statement. The problem at the center of the primary conflict between the importance of preserving our the physical home where we all must live, planet earth, and a normally politically correct idea about the importance of the ability to make an honest living, in order to support the needs of; individuals, families, households, communities, cities, states, countries, continents, ecosystems, the world.
Now I say normally politically correct because there is nothing inherently wrong with honest hard work in order to make a living and put food on the table and provide for the physical, spiritual and educational needs of ourselves and our children of the world. Also there is nothing inherently wrong with a company trying to make a profit in any one of a number of legitimate endeavors including; the production of automobiles, petroleum products, oil, natural gas, coal, steel, lumber and paper etc. Also there is nothing inherently wrong with a company trying to make a profit in the areas of banking, insurance, health care and financial services etc. Additionally there are some guiding principles which govern the our country, The United States of America.
 Save The Earth, By Dinah Sanders (7th Grade): designed by my daughter for her Language Arts Fair. Students wrote and delivered campaign speeches, designed original posters and flyers, talked to parents and other students who voted for their favorite team. A problem that we are faced with in this country is that the primary groups that actively participate in the legislative process are those lobby groups which may benefit or lose from the passage of a particular bill. For example if banks have found it profitable to lend money to using interest only loans with no down payment, then they will direct their lobbyists to pressure politicians to create legislation which allows the banking industry to market such products to consumers. Or if it was advantageous to some United States companies that there were vast supplies of oil underneath continental plates that happen to be in under miles of oceanic waters teaming with marine life, they might find some way to overturn legislation which had been introduced to protect the environment from such exploits.
Now of course the lobby groups would have no shortage of money to spend to contribute to the campaign funds of the strategic politicians handling the oversight committees
By Les Blumenthal and Erika Bolstad, McClatchy Newspapers – Mon May 10, 7:05 pm ET courtesy Yahoo News link to full story below the following excerpt:
“The agency has a built-in conflict. It’s responsible for regulating offshore drilling, but also for leasing tracts on the outer continental shelf and collecting royalties on the oil and gas they produce. The MMS generates more revenue for the federal Treasury than any other agency except the Internal Revenue Service .
So while one arm of the agency is trying to make money, the other tries to regulate an industry where pumping oil sometimes trumps safety and environmental concerns.”
U.S. agency lets oil industry write offshore drilling rules
The words from the referenced story, tell the whole story! This is how the paradigm operates under the current system of government which creates the kind of legislation that leads to such an outrage.
A classic example of what happens when we insist on the usual quick fix to solve all of our economic problems in one fell swoop. One administration bankrupts the US government by providing all kinds of tax breaks for large corporations and the wealthiest individuals in the highest tax brackets, While the administration which follows must find quick fix solutions before they all get voted out of office.
I propose a solution after I first restate my question:
How Much Longer Must The Tail Wag the Dog?
Party politics as we know it, must stop! If not now, then when?
Aharon Moshe (Stephen C) Sanders
May 12, 2010 2:15AM EST
This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without the express consent of its author. Short passages may be used with a link back to this website as its source, with proper credit to the author.
 Burning Oil Rig Explosion courtesy www.treehugger.com/
..the most intelligent and knowledgeable people in the world, are powerless to prevent this extremely unfortunate outcome!…the primary groups that actively participate in the legislative process are those lobby groups which may benefit or lose (only financially) from the passage of a particular bill. vast supplies of oil underneath continental plates that happen to be under miles of oceanic waters teaming with marine life, have found a way to overturn legislation which had been introduced to protect the environment from such exploits. “The congressional oversight committees should be charged with protecting the environment and should not have a dual mission to help the economy by making fast profits by extracting so much oil from the earth so as to upset a delicate balance, and destroy countless living things and their environment in the process”
The scorched earth policy of US corporations, in collaboration with the US government seeking out a quick fix to its current economic problem must stop! It would be better if the government would simply do nothing about the ongoing economic woes, than to implement short sighted economic quick fixes. It took the previous administration 8 years to create this problem with the unprecedented tax cuts implemented by G.W. Bush. The problem simply can not be fixed in a week or two! However this horrible oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is already taking its toll both in economic loss, as well as loss of our precious environment, and destruction of living ecosystems!
As a democratic nation with a vote and a voice, we need to wake up and put a stop to these kind of poorly planned proposals. Offshore drilling has always been, and continues to be an ecological disaster in the making. The procedure may work for a while, but once it gets going and the money starts rolling in, there is no system of checks and balances in place to stop it. To be put it plainly the Earth can not handle it either! The contents of the Earth’s various layers are under pressure. Even a child knows when you take an object (say a soda can) which is under pressure and shake it up (like the offshore drilling process) and the open the can (collect the oil) the result is an explosion and a big mess. The only difference with the analogy is with the child and the soda can, the mess is easy to clean up! We are now seeing that not only is the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico impossible to clean up, it is also extremely difficult to stop!
When will it stop?
Revised By:
Stephen C. (Aharon Moshe) Sanders
May 12, 2010
One of my earliest childhood school yard memories was walking arm with my friends in the school yard, chanting political slogans. As much as a I pride myself on having a tape recorder like memory, I am not sure if I have this quote verbatim, so I will paraphrase:
Wallace is a crumb, Humphrey is a bum, Nixon is the one!
Indeed we being the enlightened 6 or 7 year olds that we were, certainly we must have it right, right? Nixon is the one?
Now fast forward to a blip in time when one summer my brother and I spent a summer with my father in California in what is known as the San Fernando Valley, specifically it was either Reseda or Van Nuys, but I do not believe that it was Sherman Oaks. The time was 1974, and for some strange reason it turned out that my brother and I had plenty time to lounge around the apartment that did have a swimming pool and of course air conditioning.
It turns out that both my brother and I had precious little adult supervision and I remember watching history unfold in front of my eyes brought to us courtesy of our good friend the television set. The first thing on the news that day was that the air quality, was unacceptable. Wait a second, did the guy on TV just say that the air quality was unacceptable? What would he have us do, I wondered to myself, hold our breath until we turn blue? Yet the real news story in 1974 was the Nixon Watergate Scandal. I really was not sophisticated enough to really understand the significance of the entire thing.
Also please understand that this was before cable TV had existed, and I do not even think that VCR’s (thats video taped movies) were prevalent back then. Of course I tried to change the channel, but to no avail, this news broadcast was on every network. It would have been preferable to go outside, maybe go visit the local aquarium shop and look at the cichlids (intelligent fish that exhibit aggressive behavior and defend their young) as I was fond of doing back then, but the air quality was unacceptable! In fact the guy on TV was telling us the best course of action was to sit back, close your windows, and not go outside, which left us with watching this incredibly boring news cast about the Watergate Break In!
Continue reading Presidential Bashing Is Really Boring
It might sound like the lyrics from a popular song by Neil Young, yet its deeper meaning rings truer today than back in the day when songs by the same musician for the rallying cries of college student staged protests
As much as pop culture tends to dominate the thoughts of various generations gone by, there also seems to me as if there is a very subtle barely perceptible change, that i must state right here and now, that I can almost feel it in the wind.
Meanwhile, to get a handle on what all this could possibly mean, I could draw from two sources on seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum. From the orthodox realm, there are a few personalities who’s nearly tangible presence can not be ignored. One of these personalities is Rabbi Akiva, who’s stature as a great Rabbi and Torah scholar is unchallenged amongst all the various Torah observant communities. The reason for the semi-period of morning that the accompanies the counting of the Sephirot He”Omer is because during the time period of the counting of the Omer, that 24,000 Talmidim (students) of Rabbi Akiva died from a plague. The importance of these great and very learned students is that they were the ones who would transmit Torah, to subsequent generations.
Continue reading They Say the Darkest Hour Is Always Before The Dawn
I attended more than my share of high schools while I was growing up. In one of these schools I was able to work on a school mural, with the quote: ”We Are What We Are About to Become” hanging above it. The concept of what we are supposed to be doing during the time period known as Sefirot Ha’Omer can be compared to that concept.
During the “Festival Of Weeks” Shavout we do not start “celebrating the holiday” until we have counted out 49 days, or seven cycles (weeks) of seven days, and then the 50th day shall be a festival for us. So really what is all this counting about. By counting each and every day going forwards surely we must be building up to some major event.
The answer is yes, we are building up to something big, nothing less than the very first time that we, the Jewish people received the Torah, at Mount Sinai. One of the rabbi’s I learn with has told me that we are always there, receiving the Torah always. It’s more complex than that, of course, it always is.
However this piece, is not a how to guide which serves to simply inform readers about the technical requirements needed to properly do the required procedures and ritual actions required by the time period. Torah observant Jews are told both by scriptural sources as well as dictates from the rabbanon (rabbinic sources), what we must do, what we must not do.
Well one might simply ask, what is left to discuss? My answer would be, all the rest.
Leaving Mitzrayim, is one thing, becoming the great nation of that was chosen by G-d “to be a light unto the nations, a nation of holy people, kohenim, priests “, well that is indeed a tall order!
I have often struggled, as someone who is relatively new to the scene of orthodox Judaism, to find my own framework to understand and do what to some would seem to be a vast array of customs, traditions, procedures, standards, rules and yes even specific daily ritual procedures such as putting on Tefilin dailty (except for Shabbos and some holidays). However I have developed specific strategies which have allowed me to do what is required to be considered a member in a good standing of the Torah observant community in my home town of Passaic NJ.
Additionally orthodox Jewish observance does vary in subtle and not so subtle ways depending upon one’s community, one’s rabbi, and even down to the level of how one’s father may have performed so many of the ceremonies that are part of what we as Torah observant Jews in Passaic NJ simply call being frum. However the idea that needs to be stated clearly, is that properly conducted ritual procedure is not nearly enough to satisfy the requirements of proper performance of the Mitzvot. The mitzvot consist of the statement of the rules and regulation that are given to us by G-d in our Holy Torah. Additionally our Rabbanon have created “fences” around the Torah, that require observant Jews in many cases to develop an even more strict adherence to Halacha (Jewish Law) than is actually mandated by the Torah. Something could be an issur d’Oraisa (prohibiton from the Torah) or an issur d’Rabbanon (prohibition by the Rabbanon). In almost all cases, the restrictions are given equal weight.
I sometimes amaze even my own self, by how many written words are actually needed simply to explain which ideas, I am not seeking to explain in this piece. Even with that being said, I am indeed imagining that a subset of my readers would be quick to point out, that there may well be some very specific mitzvot, (lets say the prohibition of shatnez, the mixture of wool and cotton in the same garment) that simply require someone to technically do the mitzvah properly without understanding the reasoning behind it.
I spend a good deal of thought and time explaining these details because even though I might hold myself to a standard which requires a mindfulness in doing the mitzvot, it may indeed be possible, and maybe even likely that there are those who in their observance will place a greater emphasis on the “how to” component of the performance of the mitzvah as opposed to the why one performs the mitzvah and as to the proper thought which one should have while performing the mitzvah.
For some of us, it might be good enough to count the Omer, the day number for 49 days, and refrain from listening to music, and to refrain from cutting our hair and beards, and not having weddings, during the period of Sefirot Ha’omer. For other people (including myself) it is rarely if ever good enough to do something simply because it is what everyone else does.
Aharon Moshe (Stephen) Sanders
April 29. 2010
Editor’s note; The author understands that this piece is not complete. The final part of this essay requires much thought and concentration, even though developing this piece to this point may have been the more difficult task.
 Abraham purchased the a plot of ground in Hebron for a burial cave for his wife Sarah.
Social network applications like Facebook allow individuals who are not experts in a given field to become part of an of ongoing dialogue be it of political social or economic importance. For example people can weigh in on special interests such as animal rights or global warming. Or they can join in on complex strategic and militaristic issues such as Israel/Palestine relations or the growing threat presented by a nuclear Iran.
By involving lay people in ever widening complex diplomatic issues they actually serve to activate previously unheard voices that may even have novel ways of framing such issues. Where as there might have normally been only two opposite and strongly adversarial approaches in dealing with the conflict and the proposed solution; social platforms widen the audience and are able to provide a much broader and deeper understanding to those who normally would not even think to challenge the ready made solution which was proposed by the leader of their political party.
I would say the emerging voices which have entered the world-wide debate on such issues might even be better equipped to grasp all of the subtle nuances of the specific problems.
The reason for this is that a newcomer to the issues, such as the billions of previously marginalized people, can now read about the problem as explained by their “friend” on a social network platform. This way they can take only a small risk when they try to add their own voice, comment, or idea to the matter at hand. A previously uninterested or unactivated reader may now feel confident to express their own opionion (as opposed to only experts or political leaders who may be pushing a ready made solution or agenda) these newly included voices can indeed change the landscape of the democratic ideal, by putting forth their own ideas.
By bringing in new voices to a playing field which had been previously dominated only by experts, diplomats and politicians, the social networks have put the previously marginalized “countless masses” forth as a new entity and political leaders might now be forced to explain their ideas, actions, theories, and proposed solutions, in a common no-nonsense approach (as opposed to detailing their agendas only to fully fledged experts) or else risk alienating a substantial part of the political support.
Adding new voices to age old debates could force political leaders to be more truthful and direct in with their explanations of their goals and objectives with regards to the specific issues, militaristic endeavors, and matters of international diplomacy. In other words, the larger number of individuals who become activated to become part of the extended debate, the less likely will it be for a political leader to hide behind the dogma that is commonly perpetuated from either side of a given issue.
Stephen (Aharon Moshe) Sanders
April 27, 2010
This entire essay was originally authored as a response to a question found on: Ideas Project, Question of the Week
There is no doubt that much of my writing revolves around the concept of self actualization. From a very early age I was drawn to self-help books.These days the big new genre is motivational book, and often the idea revolves around the concept of obtaining abundant wealth.
Additionally a branching off in my writing particularly over the last three of four years has revolved around the specific ideas contained in the weekly Parsha (portion) of Torah which is publicly read (laned) in Shul on Shabbos. In truth a major thrust of my writing is to help me pin down some of the new things which I have been learning as a Torah observant Jew.
Due to the fact that I have made Torah learning an central focus in my life it helps me to have a vehicle to share my learning with others. However there is always can be an issue which one could ask, which is what puts me in such a strong position to share what at least I have come to believe to be meaningful insights into understanding the meaning of our Torah. I answer to that I must profess, that while my intrinsic motivation is sincere at true, it is possible from time to time that my observation or understandings might sometimes be off the mark.
Additionally while I do often struggle to take the time to consistently write about my own unique experiences, be it specifically related to the Torah portion, or not, that life itself or any number of dozens of life’s distractions effectively prevent me from completing this goal. It was the intent of the essay to explain the nature of how that is been working in my life which at least until today has prevented me from accomplishing so many of these goals which at least in my mind I feel so committed to pursuing.
Getting caught up in the thought process which proceeds the creation (or completion) of anything is a significant challenge to many of us. Unfortunately, now that my elaborate introduction has only just gotten me to the starting point of that which I would like to describe, once again I must pause and attempt to find the time later to complete this essay.
Stephen (Aharon Moshe) Sanders
Friday April 23, 2010 11:50AM
 Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was a student of Rabbi Akiva Lag B'Omer - Yartzeit of Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai - Author of the Zohar Carpe diem, seize the day! It would seem that this should be the rallying cry for each and every day. I try to read all these little explanations that are really so deep, that I know that I have no chance to even get an inkling of some relevant meaning. Of course I am referring to all this books that explain the inner essence of each of the 49 days that we count the Sepherot HaOmer. Like all words which we transliterate from Hebrew to English there are several different ways to spell Sefirat Ha’omer
We start counting after the second night of Pesach (Passover) and we keep on counting until Shavout. There are 49 days and each one of these has special significance. None of the days are as significant as the 33rd day, which is L’ag B’omer.
We are told to count the Omer which is the number of day between Peysach (Passover) and Shavout and we are commanded to bring the “omer” of barley to the Temple. After the evening prayers are completed, we say a bracha (blessing) which states that blessed is G-d who has commanded us to count the Omer, and then we state which day in the omer count they we are in. After prayers this evening we counted the 23rd day, so we are now 23 days (or three weeks and two days into count).
There is a great deal of literature written discussing specific characteristics (midos) that we are supposed to be working on for each and every day. However in my mind focusing on one specific quality on a specific day could cause one to miss out on something of extreme importance because, well they just might not be focused on the particular value on that day.
For example lets say, it happens to be one of those day where you are working on the specific quality of the Gevurah She be Netzach. Gevurah is often described as strength or might, while I know I have heard the word victory for netzach it seems most of the references call netzach endurance. so one blogger wrote the idea of the weeks tied into days very nicely as:
“Today is Gevurah she b’Netzach - a day of strength in a week of endurance.”
The simplicity of the statement and the sheer power of how that idea hit me just now is enough for me to thank the author of that phrase right now with the international currency of appreciation: A citation and a link: Divah World mdivah.blogspot.com Thank you, Marilyn Heiss.
Sometimes life throws us so many curve balls and its amazing that all these simply lousy things seem to happen to us all in one week.
Then you may have seemed challenged to just unleash your pent up wrath and just yell or scream: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it”
Then somehow something kicks and in and you decide not to do that rash, crazy, impulsive and self destructive act and decide to sort of just pause, and take a step off the merry-go-round. To yourself you say “Hey, I can handle this”. You realize that as long as you remain cool and calm, that you can rise to the challenge.
You can do this because you just experienced having “a day of strength in a week of endurance”
“
Stephen (Aharon
Moshe) Sanders April 22, 2010 To be continued to include the next topic in the title (or as a separate piece).
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