Happy Year Of Good 2024
We leave a very difficult year that very sadly comes with us into the New Year. This requires an even stronger response by each bringing more of our Light/Good to vanquish the Darkness/Evil than we have had to in many years. All who have a clear mind, open heart, and moral compass pointing higher, are called upon to increase our good deeds and good words to make 2024 a Happy Year. A Happy Year because it’s a year of good, where good wins, prevails, and brings peace. We can get there by constantly striving to make all of our actions directed to a purpose higher than just ourselves. Let’s fill 2024 with love, good deeds, acts of kindness, empathy, Charity….. Think good thoughts and stay positive
“Each person must see himself as though the entire world were held in balance and any deed he may do could tip the scales. – Maimonides
Let’s do more than just wish. Let’s make this a “Happy New Year”, a Year Of Good
You’ve Got The Whole World In Your Hands
Many years ago there was this great old wise man, a seer, who was coming to a town to speak. His reputation preceded him, so that many people waited with great anticipation for his arrival and then went to hear him speak. Among them, was this one young and skeptical man, who went simply to challenge the wise man. After the wise man spoke, there was a Q&A. When it was the young mans turn, he put out his cupped hands and asked the wise man what was in his hands. The wise man replied, “two little birds”, which was correct. The young man was impressed, but he was still skeptical, so he asked whether they were dead or alive. The wise man knew that if he replied, “they’re dead”, the young man would open his hands and the birds would fly away. If he replied “they’re alive”, the young man would crush the birds in his hands. The wise man’s reply was simply “The Answer Is All In Your Hands.”
May 2024 be your best year ever…so far!!
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Grateful Be Healthy Be A Light
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Finding Your Essence
Tonight is the last night, so here is another powerfully inspiring reminder/lesson. I have posted this lesson in previous years, but this year it’s message resonates loudly.
Chanukah, the miracle of light, celebrates the olive oil burning for eight days bringing light to the darkness. Of all the special qualities of a pretty and delicious olive, its essence is found in its oil when lit, producing light. In order to get to the olives essence, it must first be crushed to produce the oil. So too in our lives, we sometimes are, or feel crushed – by pain and suffering, illness, fears, loss, …….. Just like the olive, it is in those moments that you may find your essence and with it bring your light to the world.
Once again darkness/evil has come upon the Jewish people in an attempt to crush them.
“Chanukah carries forward the light of a two-thousand year old fight against evil. It is a reminder that even out of the worst possible darkness and despair, light will still come.” – Daniel Greenfield
Prior to October 7 Israelis were divided but through this crushing they were reminded of their unified purpose. Jews all over the world have come together and in many cases added to their religious observances and stand tall
Together We Will Once Again Survive, Thrive, And Continue To Bring Light
Deja Vu Never Again
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Your Light Will Vanquish The Darkness
In the last post Light Will Vanquish The Darkness I wrote one of my favorite lessons of Chanukah. An inspiring lesson for all
Here Is Another One
On the Menorah is a head candle called the Shamash, which is used to light all the other candles. The Shamash lights the other candles without losing any of its own light. Like the Shamash, each of us can bring our light to all whose lives we come into contact with. We all have that power through acts of goodness, kindness, and charity. More than like the Shamash, not only do we keep our light when we share it, we actually shine brighter!
“From one burning candle many candles are lit, yet its own light is not diminished.” – The Sages
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Grateful Be Healthy Be A Light
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Light Will Vanquish The Darkness
Tonight begins the celebration of one of the most joyous Jewish holidays Chanukah. Chanukah is celebrated as one of the defining moments when Jews were victorious against another effort to eliminate them. We celebrate as we remember a great victory of light over darkness. We celebrate this year in the midst of much darkness. The darkness/evil of Hamas and all the Jew Hatred expressed.
The Cliff Notes Version Of The Chanukah Story
Chanukah, is a true celebration of many miracles. Around twenty-two hundred years ago, Judea, now called Israel*, was overtaken and ruled by the Syrian-Greek Empire who forbid Jewish practice so that Judaism would disappear. There was the miracle of the victory of a small band of men, known as the Maccabees, fighting for the religious freedom of the Jewish people against a very large and well equipped army. Then one days worth of olive oil used to light the Candelabra/Menorah for rededicating the rampaged and desecrated Temple, which then miraculously lasted for eight days. The miracle of the military victory and of the oil burning for eight days represents light overcoming darkness, both literally and figuratively.
The Chanukah message of light vanquishing the darkness is so very relevant now and a needed reminder. It is now so important for Jews and Non-Jews to push back the darkness/evil with extra doses of enduring light/goodness. The goal of the darkness is to eliminate the light. We must not and will not let that happen.
“In dark times, there are those who curse the darkness and others who light a candle.” – Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Remembering the victory of the Chanukah story also gives us hope that we will be victorious again. Hope and Faith that light, good, love, will triumph over darkness, evil, hate, terrorism, and bring peace to all
“A little light will dispel much darkness.” — Rabbi Schneur Zalman
Here is one of my favorite lessons of Chanukah that apply to all
The holiday is commemorated by lighting oil or candles on a Menorah. This is done for eight nights, The first night one light is lit. Each night one more light is added, thereby increasingly bringing more light to vanquish the darkness. How exciting is it, that when the fifth light of the eight is lit, there is now more light than darkness. A reminder for us all to continually and increasingly bring more of your light to all. How much more exciting it will be this year.
Happy Chanukah
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Grateful Be A Light
*Around twenty-two hundred years ago, wait, what the Jewish people were in the land then called Judea, now Israel, over two thousand years ago and longer? That’s not something I would learn if I was in College today*
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Be Thankful Today And Everday
Despite the pain, sorrow, and mourning of October 7, and since (see the last post) we all always have something to be Thankful for. By acknowledging that something gives us the strength to stay strong, fight back, and bring light to the darkness.
We so quickly and casually say “Happy Thanksgiving” that we often miss and forget that it’s a day for actually Giving Thanks. Of course, so is every day and so we begin everyday with Thanks. When we Give Thanks, we have a happy day.
No matter what else is going on that may trouble us, we always have something to be Thankful for! That you woke up today is the first thing to be Thankful for. That means you were given more time. You were given more time, because you are still needed. Your light is needed.
Taking a moment to think about that which you are thankful for, creates a feeling that is healing.
What are you Thankful for?
Who are you Thankful for? Let them know!
Thank You for being a friend of The Spinning Rabbi and Fred Fox😊
Wishing You A Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Healthy Be A Light Smile
Be Thankful
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Deja Vu All Over Again
This is the most difficult post I’ve ever had to write and wish I didn’t have to. It’s taken me a few weeks to finish it and post it.
My parents (OBM) were Holocaust Survivors. They did not survive the Holocaust for me to be silent and therefore I must do something. This post is a little of that something.
To wake up on the morning of October 7 to the news of Jews being slaughtered, or raped, or burned, or taken hostage simply because they are a Jew, is heartbreaking. To wake up every morning since October 7 to the news of the tens of tens of thousands who are “mostly peaceful”* protesting against Israel is frightening. To see people in power, in Congress, in the State Department, the media siding with Hamas tells you that this hatred is not just from a fringe group. To see the demonstrations on college campuses and the silence of the administrations evokes fear of our future when those students graduate. All of the above are justifying and celebrating Hamas’s inhumane barbarity and inciting more violence. To justify or glorify that barbarism, to create a moral equivalence, is immoral! It is Immoral Relativism
This Is Jew Hatred
Deja Vu All Over Again
Even if the stated grievances of Hamas or their supporters were true, which they are not, does not justify this level of barbarism, nothing does. The truth is so obvious that to ignore it, spew the opposite, and justify barbarism says a lot about the mindset of the “mostly peacefuls”. How could one know of the inhumane barbaric acts and ignore it, dismiss it, justify, and not at least be skeptical of and question the real motives of who you’re siding with? If they truly cared about the Palestinians they would want them freed from their rulers. More proof that this is really about the Hatred of Jews.
The sole true grievance of theirs is the existence of Jews! They explicitly have been telling the world that and yet too many weren’t listening, or willfully ignore, or willingly support that. This isn’t about land, it’s about Jews on the land. They chant “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea”. That means the elimination of Israel and the Jews living there. That’s what it meant years ago when first said and that’s still what the chanters mean now. That would be Genocide! That’s Hatred of Jews!
Deja Vu All Over Again
Jews have experienced hatred over and over again, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Pogroms, the Holocaust are just some examples before there even was a state of Israel
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana
We repeat because because each time it came dressed in different clothes. Each period of Hatred of Jews came from different quarters with different false reasons. Sometimes we missed the signs because we were only paying attention to the last haters. Many saw the signs and too many chose to ignore. In the last several years, many willfully missed or ignored the signs.
The signs have been there for several years now. After 9/11, there was concern of hate crimes against Muslims. Instead, the largest increase in hate crimes was against Jews. About 60% of hate crimes in the US have been against Jews, who make up about 2.4% of the population. This is significantly more than any other group.
It is taught that we fight the darkness with light. To do this we must bring light to the darkness. For too, too long we have allowed the darkness to come to the light.
“We are a light unto the nations.” Isaiah 42:6
Throughout our history, over and over again, there have been those who prefer darkness/evil, so they must hate and eliminate the Jews. Today all those who side with the darkness are delaying the world we all supposedly wish for. A world of peace for all!
I am heartened and encouraged by the around 300,000 at the March For Israel rally in D.C. I am heartened by so many of the speakers, Bi-Partisan members of Congress, leaders from different faiths, and many others with influence.
Notice the difference between that rally and all of the Anti-Israel/Pro-Hamas rallies. At the March For Israel rally there was no anger, hate, violence, no tearing down of posters, there was no racism or bigotry, concern was expressed for innocents on the other side….. they were there to show solidarity, bring attention to the atrocities committed so as to show what Israel is up against, to bring attention to the plight of the hostages, pray for their release with chants of “Bring them home”. Seeing the difference in the rallies shows you all you need to know about who speaks and seeks truth and peace.
To the Jews reading this, stand tall, proud. Add an additional Mitzvah in your life
To the Non-Jews reading this……I am grateful for the support shown to me by many of you that I know. That means a great deal. In past periods of blatant Jew Hatred, we have felt alone. Please reach out to a Jew you know and let them no them you support them/us.
Jews have been victimized time and time again, but we never see ourselves as victims. That speaks to our survival, which comes from our faith.
We are still here, and we always will be!
DEJA VU NEVER AGAIN
To Be Continued
*mostly peaceful riots sarcasm intended
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Adam And You
The Jewish people are about to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, generally known as the Jewish New Year.
I wish to share with all of you, whatever your faith, one of the many inspiring lessons of this commemoration. A lesson that can help each of us, climb our mountain.
Rosh Hashanah doesn’t commemorate the first day of creation, it celebrates the creation of the Human Being, Adam, which was on the sixth day.
One might ask then, why was Adam created alone rather than one of many?
Adam was created on purpose with a specific purpose and he knew it. Being only one, only he could accomplish his purpose or mission. All depended on him.
A Lesson For All
We are all created with a uniquely specific purpose and mission. If we think of ourselves as an Adam, then we realize that our purpose is also ours alone and all depends on each of us. We can’t expect someone else to do it for us.
This is a powerfully inspiring thought, that reminds each of us of how valuable our lives are, individually and collectively.
You are not just matter, it is you that matters!
Sing along “Only you can make this world seem right / Only you can make the darkness bright / Only you and you alone!”*
Or maybe, the real reason Adam was created alone was so that he couldn’t kvetch, go to a therapist, and blame his problems on his parents or anyone else!😀
L’Shana Tova A Good And Sweet Year
Be Good Do Good Think Good Be Grateful Be Healthy Be A Light Learn Smile
*From the song “Only You” by The Platters
The Spinning Rabbi - Heart & Soul 