Yesod of Chesed - The Foundation of Love: a cross and a resurrection!

It is day 6 of the first week of the counting of the Omer and also the Easter celebration is coming to an end.  I hope you have enjoyed the celebration of the resurrection of Yeshua with your family!  I want to use this post to give you some great insights from the Word about the crucifixion and resurrection that you possibly have never heard before.  I believe these insights will strengthen your faith and give you more cause to delve into the Word of HASHEM with greater depth.

The first thing I want to show you is something Yeshua said while hanging on the cross.  I need you to understand something here.  When the Gospel writers were penning their words, there was no such thing as chapter and verse separation markings in the Torah, Prophets or Writings; therefore whenever they needed to mention a section of scripture they simply mentioned the first few words or lines of that particular section.  I will give you an example from our times.  We do the same in a way when we refer to "The Lord's Prayer" or "In a moment in the twinkling of an eye".  This is what is taking place in many, many portions of scripture in the New Testament.  It is especially true in the Gospels.

I want to take you to Matthew 27:46.  I, along with you most likely, have been taught all my life that Yeshua felt abandoned by His Father when the sky darkened and all the sins of the world were laid on Him.  I guess that is possible, but when Yeshua quotes "Eli, eli, lama sabacthani", He is saying  more than just that phrase.  Matthew is only giving us the reference line to the scripture Yeshua quotes in its' entirety.  The scripture is actually Psalms 22.  I am going to print the chapter entirely here and I want you to read EVERY word of it.  Never skip over a single word in scripture, for every word has a purpose!  If you keep reading my blog you will come to understand the importance of that statement.  So, here is that scripture and pay attention to what Yeshua was actually saying while hanging on that cross!  It gets interesting!!!!

1. For the conductor, on the ayeleth hashachar, a song of David.		א. לַמְנַצֵּחַ עַל אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד:
2. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? [You are] far from my salvation [and] from the words of my moaning.		ב. אֵלִי אֵלִי לָמָה עֲזַבְתָּנִי רָחוֹק מִישׁוּעָתִי דִּבְרֵי שַׁאֲגָתִי:
3. My God, I call out by day and You do not reply, and at night I do not keep silent.		ג. אֱלֹהַי אֶקְרָא יוֹמָם וְלֹא תַעֲנֶה וְלַיְלָה וְלֹא דוּמִיָּה לִי:
4. But You are holy; You await the praises of Israel.		ד. וְאַתָּה קָדוֹשׁ יוֹשֵׁב תְּהִלּוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל:
5. Our ancestors trusted in You; they trusted and You rescued them.		ה. בְּךָ בָּטְחוּ אֲבֹתֵינוּ בָּטְחוּ וַתְּפַלְּטֵמוֹ:
6. They cried out to You and they escaped; they trusted in You and they were not shamed.		ו. אֵלֶיךָ זָעֲקוּ וְנִמְלָטוּ בְּךָ בָטְחוּ וְלֹא בוֹשׁוּ:
7. But I am a worm and not a man; a reproach of man, despised by peoples.		ז. וְאָנֹכִי תוֹלַעַת וְלֹא אִישׁ חֶרְפַּת אָדָם וּבְזוּי עָם:
8. All who see me will mock me; they will open their lips, they will shake their head.		ח. כָּל רֹאַי יַלְעִגוּ לִי יַפְטִירוּ בְשָׂפָה יָנִיעוּ רֹאשׁ:
9. One should cast his trust upon the Lord, and He will rescue him; He will save him because He delights in him.		ט. גֹּל אֶל יְהֹוָה יְפַלְּטֵהוּ יַצִּילֵהוּ כִּי חָפֵץ בּוֹ:
10. For You drew me from the womb; You made me secure on my mother's breasts.		י. כִּי אַתָּה גֹחִי מִבָּטֶן מַבְטִיחִי עַל שְׁדֵי אִמִּי:
11. Upon You, I was cast from birth; from my mother's womb You are my God.		יא. עָלֶיךָ הָשְׁלַכְתִּי מֵרָחֶם מִבֶּטֶן אִמִּי אֵלִי אָתָּה:
12. Do not distance Yourself from me, for distress is near; for there is none to help.		יב. אַל תִּרְחַק מִמֶּנִּי כִּי צָרָה קְרוֹבָה כִּי אֵין עוֹזֵר:
13. Great bulls have surrounded me; the mighty ones of Bashan encompassed me.		יג. סְבָבוּנִי פָּרִים רַבִּים אַבִּירֵי בָשָׁן כִּתְּרוּנִי:
14. They opened their mouth against me [like] a tearing, roaring lion.		יד. פָּצוּ עָלַי פִּיהֶם אַרְיֵה טֹרֵף וְשֹׁאֵג:
15. I was spilled like water, and all my bones were separated; my heart was like wax, melting within my innards.		טו. כַּמַּיִם נִשְׁפַּכְתִּי וְהִתְפָּרְדוּ כָּל עַצְמוֹתָי הָיָה לִבִּי כַּדּוֹנָג נָמֵס בְּתוֹךְ מֵעָי:
16. My strength became dried out like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my palate; and You set me down in the dust of death.		טז. יָבֵשׁ כַּחֶרֶשׂ | כֹּחִי וּלְשׁוֹנִי מֻדְבָּק מַלְקוֹחָי וְלַעֲפַר מָוֶת תִּשְׁפְּתֵנִי:
17. For dogs have surrounded me; a band of evildoers has encompassed me, like a lion, my hands and feet.		יז. כִּי סְבָבוּנִי כְּלָבִים עֲדַת מְרֵעִים הִקִּיפוּנִי כָּאֲרִי יָדַי וְרַגְלָי:
18. I tell about all my bones. They look and gloat over me.		יח. אֲסַפֵּר כָּל עַצְמוֹתָי הֵמָּה יַבִּיטוּ יִרְאוּ בִי:
19. They share my garments among themselves and cast lots for my raiment.		יט. יְחַלְּקוּ בְגָדַי לָהֶם וְעַל לְבוּשִׁי יַפִּילוּ גוֹרָל:
20. But You, O Lord, do not distance Yourself; my strength, hasten to my assistance.		כ. וְאַתָּה יְהֹוָה אַל תִּרְחָק אֱיָלוּתִי לְעֶזְרָתִי חוּשָׁה:
21. Save my soul from the sword, my only one from the grip of the dog.		כא. הַצִּילָה מֵחֶרֶב נַפְשִׁי מִיַּד כֶּלֶב יְחִידָתִי:
22. Save me from the lion's mouth, as from the horns of the wild oxen You answered me.		כב. הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי מִפִּי אַרְיֵה וּמִקַּרְנֵי רֵמִים עֲנִיתָנִי:
23. I will tell Your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You.		כג. אֲסַפְּרָה שִׁמְךָ לְאֶחָי בְּתוֹךְ קָהָל אֲהַלְלֶךָּ:
24. You who fear the Lord, praise Him; all the seed of Jacob, honor Him, and fear Him, all the seed of Israel.		כד. יִרְאֵי יְהֹוָה | הַלְלוּהוּ כָּל זֶרַע יַעֲקֹב כַּבְּדוּהוּ וְגוּרוּ מִמֶּנוּ כָּל זֶרַע יִשְׂרָאֵל:
25. For He has neither despised nor abhorred the cry of the poor, neither has He hidden His countenance from him; and when he cried out to Him, He hearkened.		כה. כִּי לֹא בָזָה וְלֹא שִׁקַּץ עֱנוּת עָנִי וְלֹא הִסְתִּיר פָּנָיו מִמֶּנּוּ וּבְשַׁוְּעוֹ אֵלָיו שָׁמֵעַ:
26. Because of You is my praise in the great congregation; I pay my vows in the presence of those who fear Him.		כו. מֵאִתְּךָ תְהִלָּתִי בְּקָהָל רָב נְדָרַי אֲשַׁלֵּם נֶגֶד יְרֵאָיו:
27. The humble shall eat and be sated; they shall praise the Lord, those who seek him; your hearts shall live forever.		כז. יֹאכְלוּ עֲנָוִים | וְיִשְׂבָּעוּ יְהַלְלוּ יְהֹוָה דֹּרְשָׁיו יְחִי לְבַבְכֶם לָעַד:
28. All the ends of the earth shall remember and return to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall prostrate themselves before You.		כח. יִזְכְּרוּ | וְיָשֻׁבוּ אֶל יְהֹוָה כָּל אַפְסֵי אָרֶץ וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְפָנֶיךָ כָּל מִשְׁפְּחוֹת גּוֹיִם:
29. For the kingship is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations.		כט. כִּי לַיהֹוָה הַמְּלוּכָה וּמוֹשֵׁל בַּגּוֹיִם:
30. They shall eat all the best of the earth and prostrate themselves; before Him shall all those who descend to the dust kneel, and He will not quicken his soul.		ל. אָכְלוּ וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ | כָּל דִּשְׁנֵי אֶרֶץ לְפָנָיו יִכְרְעוּ כָּל יוֹרְדֵי עָפָר וְנַפְשׁוֹ לֹא חִיָּה:
31. The seed that worships Him; it shall be told to the generation concerning the Lord.		לא. זֶרַע יַעַבְדֶנּוּ יְסֻפַּר לַאדֹנָי לַדּוֹר:
32. They shall come and tell His righteousness to the newborn people, that which He has done. Did you see anything that made you go, AHA!  Okay, now for the next thing.  There are three times a day a faithful Jew will pray.  Morning prayers are said at daylight or just before daylight.  Evening prayers are said just after sunset.  Then there is a time of day when a prayer known as Minchah prayers are said.  This prayer is one associated with a daily offering which is also called the Minchah offering.  This offering and prayer is done daily at ............the 9th hour.  It is offered (offering) for a life lived totally given over to HASHEM. I think I'll let those two things settle in for now and get a couple more for you in the next couple of days.  Now onto our current Omer.  The Yesod of Chesed or The Foundation of Love.  What kind of love is an eternal love?   Where do you start and what ingredients are necessary for your love to be a bonding love that endures the elements of time?  Do you know that kind of love?  Do you have that kind of love?  Do you exhibit and share that kind of love? Until tomorrow, Shalom!		לב. יָבֹאוּ וְיַגִּידוּ צִדְקָתוֹ לְעַם נוֹלָד כִּי עָשָׂה:

Hod of Chesed - Majestic Love

It is Saturday evening and tomorrow is Easter.  I had hoped to have some great insights posted today for you about Yeshua's death and resurrection, but you will have to wait now until tomorrow!  I have spent the day cleaning out closets and the attic in  preparation for a yard sale. (I can feel a blog coming out of that experience!)  I have just about gone past my limit, physically today, so all I can do is the counting of the Omer for today.

Hod of Chesed is about Majestic Love.  What is that exactly?  The best way I can describe the meaning is to describe the opposite: selfish love.  A majestic love is one in which you will seek to make amends without holding a grudge or holding onto past hurts.  Majestic love realizes that true love is something given only by HASHEM and we can only love others because He has given us the ability.

Now I ask you, do you enter into relationships asking what you can get from them or what you can give?  Do you look at all your relationships as a gift from HASHEM?  Do you also ask HASHEM to love others through you?  When you love others or when others love you, does it humble you to realize how much HASHEM loves you?

Do not forget to praise HASHEM for the gift of Yeshua tomorrow.  Praise His wonderful name!  Worship the Lord God, Adonai!  May His Name be praised forever and ever!  Until tomorrow, Shalom!

Netzach of Chesed - Enduring Love

I am ready to give Praise to HASHEM for His provision, grace and mercy!  The two little boys that I reported last night who were lost, were found safe and sound this morning walking along a road.  HASHEM is soooo good!!!!  They got lost in the woods and covered themselves in leaves to keep warm.  They didn't even need medical attention.

Now onto our current Omer!  Victorious Enduring Love!  This shall be the shortest post yet!  How willing are you to stand for the one's you love?  Are you in it for the long haul or do you bolt and run at the first wave?  What about the God you love?  Is your love for Him enduring as well?

Until tomorrow, Shalom!

Day Three of the Counting - Tiferet of Chesed

It has been a long day and it is now a very late night.  I will make this post a short one since I have to work tomorrow and my heart is also extremely heavy at this moment.  I attended a college function to watch my son perform for with his fraternity in a step show production and returned home to the news that two little boys, ages 7 and 5 were missing just a few miles from my house.  The boys were playing in their grandmothers yard after school in a rural area and disappeared.  My heart is so heavy and I am praying for their safe return.  Please, please pray for these little boys.

Today's counting is that of Tiferet of Chesed, beautiful love.  The beauty of love is empathy or compassion.  The one thing I am going to ask and leave with you is this:  do you have compassion for all humans regardless of their ability to repay your kindness?  Do you also have compassion for creatures as well?  HASHEM cares about His creatures too, read Leviticus.  Think about these things.   Compassion and empathy are traits that let you see past the outward appearance right to the heart.  (Think of Yeshua with the Samaritan woman at the well).

Until tomorrow,  Shalom!

Gevurah of Chesed (Boundaries to Love)

Today is the 2^nd day of the counting of the Omer.  This is the day of the Gevurah of Chesed (judgment or boundaries of loving kindness).  I do have a confession to make about yesterday’s counting of the Omer.  I told you that the counting is a rectifying of our emotional and spiritual well-being in order for us to remove the Egypt from our lives.  I also reminded you that there is an Egypt for each of us.  The truth is, whenever we are delivered from our Egypt, it seems it doesn’t take long before the Egypt we have left behind begins to catch up to us and draw us back into its’ fold once again.  That is the purpose behind going through the counting of the Omer every single year, over and over and over.  As long as we remain in this world, we are surrounded by Egypts on every side.  Those Egypts will do their best to pull on us, twist us, taunt us, allure us and try to reel us back into their folds. 

As I went through my day today trying to keep Chesed of Chesed on my mind, my Egypt surrounded me with extra forces and I was drawn into conversation after conversation which I knew was displeasing to HASHEM.  By the end of the day I felt dirty and beaten down and ultimately I felt like an epic failure.  The one day in the year in which I should have exuded love, I exuded anything but love it seems.  I was relaying to a friend how much of a failure I felt when she reminded me, “If you recognize your failures, then you haven’t failed.  It is when you can’t see them, that you have truly failed.”  How true!  Reminds me of an old Beatle’s song, “There are none so blind, as he who will not see.”   I wanted to let you know that I struggle every single day of my life, but HASHEM looks at the heart.  He wants a heart that longs to connect with Him!   If you are a parent, think about your child.  You do not stop loving your child each time they do something that displeases you or something you have asked them not to do.  But, oh the difference it makes when you see a look of true heart break on their face for the act they have committed.  That is our connection with HASHEM! 

Now, on to today’s counting of the Omer.  Gevurah of Chesed

I really have written a couple of posts on yesterday and today’s lesson already in previous posts, but will just ask a few questions for today.  This is helping you see where your loving kindness (or your love) may need some boundaries.  Love MUST have boundaries or discipline in order to work properly.  Just as in the picture above, how could a game of baseball be played if there were no boundaries?  How would the players know when they scored a run?  Love must have boundaries so there is no confusion for those involved.  If you really want a full explanation on this you will have to go back to my previous post "What's Love Got To Do With It".  

Now, are you ready for some tough questions? 

Parents  

Do you have boundaries and discipline for your children?  Unconditional love is no love unless it has appropriate boundaries with it.

Do you force your children to follow your dreams and a path you have chosen or do you allow them to follow their own hopes and dreams?

Are you so overprotective with your children that you smother them rather than allowing them room to fail?

Do you have so many rules for your children to follow they barely have time to be children?

Husbands / Wives / Dating Relationships

Do you give the other person in the relationship their own personal space?

Are you sensitive to the other person’s needs or are you selfish?

When you dream about the future, who's future do you consider, yours or theirs or both?

Other Relationships

Are you a person that is easily taken advantage of?

Are you an enabler for someone with a habit or dependency?

Do you isolate yourself?

Do you reach out to others, but let very few into your life?

These questions can help you see whether you have too few boundaries or in the case of the last two questions perhaps too many boundaries.  These are thoughts to ponder for the next 24 hours.  I certainly know where I fit in this category and I have been working on those for the past couple of years.  I am making progress, but I definitely need to pray specifically for direction on them tonight and tomorrow. 

May HASHEM open your eyes to see what HE wants you to see about your inner soul during this counting of the Omer.  Blessed be HE!  Shalom!

Counting Down the Days!!!!!!

Today is the 2^nd day of Pesach (Passover) and it is also the first day of the counting of the Omer.  The directive for the Omer comes from Leviticus 23:15.  Growing up Baptist, this concept is one which was totally new to me when I first began my Hebraic studies, but one which I have found is so needed in our world today.  If you read my post from yesterday, I talked about Pesach being about Egypt and Egypt was about bondage, idols and those who would take away your identity.  I should probably throw slavery into the mix as well.  I started to include slavery last night, but felt that bondage covered that topic and realized today it probably does not.  Judaism covers every area of life and when one follows it to the letter, there will be no need for a Psychologist, Therapist, 12 Step Program or Divorce Lawyer.  Let me explain a bit before going further about the Omer.

It is here that I must introduce a new concept where the idea of time is concerned.  In the Western mindset time is seen as a linear idea.  There is a beginning point (birth, creation, big bang, etc.) and an ending point (death, nuclear war, End Times).   In Eastern Hebraic mindset though, time is cyclical.  Things happen over and over and over spiraling inward getting sharper and clearer with each passing until there is a climax.  This is the cycle of the feasts and festivals and appointments.  Actually when you think about it we function the same way, but tend to not speak of it the same way.  We speak of another birthday coming around again; the seasons come around again; we even talk about the cycle of life and death, i.e. when one person dies another is born to take their place and the cycle of life goes on.  The Jewish believers teach from the Torah that these feasts and festivals set forth by HASHEM, Himself, hold special power when kept at their appointed time.

This appointed time beginning with Pesach is a time for HASHEM’s children to take care of any emotional baggage they are dragging behind them.  This is the time for all of us to rid ourselves of any and all of the Egypt within us and ready ourselves for a pouring out of His Torah into our lives.  There will be 49 days of the counting of the Omer.  Are you ready?  If you are not ready to take this serious, don’t even start.  If you are arrogant enough to think you have no Egypt within you, then great.  Take your place on the left hand of God (sorry, the right hand spot is already taken).  He could probably find a crown to fit your head, but the last time I read the Word I think I read somewhere that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  I think that probably means that everyone has at least a smidgen of Egypt in them somewhere.  I would wager a bet with you that if you were to take it seriously, somewhere during the counting, HASHEM will show you the trace of EGYPT you have let creep back into your life somewhere.  The counting of the Omer is a 49 step process of self-refinement with each day dedicated to rectifying and perfecting one of the sefirot combinations on the Tree of Life.

 Now, for those who want to receive a fresh outpouring of HASHEMS Spirit 50 days from now, are you ready to begin?  (Pssst!  You know what happens in 50 days?  Do you know what feast that is?  What is 50???   Pentecost!!!!!!  And you can receive a fresh outpouring of the Spirit in 50 days if you take this seriously and see what HASHEM has to offer you by re-connecting with HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!)  He just thought of everything, didn’t He!!!!!  

Ready?  Okay  We have to go back to our diagram of the Tree of Life.  I will post it to one of the tabs at the top of the page and title the tab THE TREE OF LIFE. 

Day 1:  Chesed of Chesed:  loving kindness of loving kindness

First things first:  our prayer to start:

May the Merciful One restore unto us the service of the Bet Hamikdash to its place, speedily in our days; Amen, Selah.

For the Choirmaster; a song with instrumental music; a Psalm. May God be gracious to us and bless us; may He make His countenance shine upon us forever; that Your way be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. The nations will extol You, O God; all the nations will extol You. The nations will rejoice and sing for joy, for You will judge the peoples justly and guide the nations on earth forever. The peoples will extol You, O God; all the peoples will extol You, for the earth will have yielded its produce and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us; and all, from the farthest corners of the earth, shall fear Him.

We implore you, by the great power of Your right hand, release the captive. Accept the prayer of Your people; strengthen us, purify us, Awesome One. Mighty One, we beseech You, guard as the apple of the eye those who seek Your Oneness. Bless them, cleanse them; bestow upon them forever Your merciful righteousness. Powerful, Holy One, in Your abounding goodness, guide Your congregation. Only and Exalted One, turn to Your people who are mindful of Your holiness. Accept our supplication and hear our cry, You who knows secret thoughts. Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever.

Master of the universe, You have commanded us through Moses Your servant to count Sefirat Ha-Omer, in order to purify us from our evil and uncleanness. As You have written in Your Torah, "You shall count for yourselves from the day following the day of rest, from the day on which you bring the Omer as a wave-offering; [the counting] shall be for seven full weeks. Until the day following the seventh week shall you count fifty days," so that the souls of Your people Israel may be cleansed from their defilement. Therefore, may it be Your will, Lord our God and God of our fathers, that in the merit of the Sefirat Ha-Omer which I counted today, the blemish that I have caused in the sefirah Chesed ShebeChesed be rectified and I may be purified and sanctified with supernal holiness. May abundant bounty thereby be bestowed upon all the worlds. May it rectify our nefesh, ruach and neshamah from every baseness and defect, and may it purify and sanctify us with Your supernal holiness. Amen, selah.

Examine the love aspect of love within your life.  Ask yourself the tough questions.  Do I know the One who is love?  Do I allow Him to love others through me?  How do I give love?  How do I receive love?  Can others see love in me and through all my actions or am I just a clanging cymbal or a blaring brass? 

Here comes the tough questions:  Do I say I love, but because of past hurts and possible abuse I withhold my love for fear of being hurt further?  Is my “love” more cordial kindness rather than true Love?  Do I truly have no problem loving others, but have trouble loving myself?  Do I feel unloved, even by HASHEM?  Do I often wonder how anyone could ever love me?  Do I feel or think that if anyone really knew me they could never love me? 

These tough questions are ones that you must ask and definitely work through to COMPLETION with satisfactory wholesome results TODAY!!!!  My friend, HASHEM wants you whole and healthy, not sick and wimpy!!!  HASHEM’s children are Princes and Princesses!  We are not paupers!  We ARE LOVED!!!  And we are the only ones who have the true capacity to love the correct way.  If you need a true vision of love, go back a few posts in my blog to the post entitled, “What’s Love Got to do With IT.”     Until tomorrow, keep asking, praying and searching, my friend, SHALOM!  

Passover is HERE!

Shalom!  It is a very special day!  It is Passover!!!!!  How special this day is.  The first day of the Pesach celebration began at 6 p.m. tonight (Monday).  It is a day of remembrance and re-telling.  It is about Egypt and HASHEM.  You see, all of us have an Egypt that we need to be delivered and redeemed from.  HASHEM is waiting ready to deliver and redeem us from our Egypt.  Egypt is that place in your life filled with bondage, idols and those who take away your identity.  Egypt places you between a virtual rock and a hard place; an army to the back of you and the sea in front of you. 

BUT there is a God who has come to deliver you!!!!  He has redeemed you with an outstretched arm!  This day has so much significance.  For the next 24 hours I want you to reflect on your Egypt.  If you are still in Egypt, lift up your head, your deliverer is here!  If you have already been delivered, reflect on your deliverance and tell someone your story.  It is of the utmost importance that we “remember” by re-telling the story of how HASHEM delivered us from our Egypt.  It is through our re-telling of our deliverance and redemption that others find deliverance and redemption from their Egypt.  Never forget to tell your story at this time of year!  It is your testimony to HASHEM!!!!  Praise HIM!!!!! 

I will be back tomorrow night with more for you, because we have a lot to do over the next many days! (yes I meant to say it that way, although it is incorrect grammar!)  Shalom, my friends!

Something long overdue

This morning I was reminded of something very important.  I know that I haven't posted anything in a couple of weeks and very much need to do so.  I could give lots of excuses, but before I even begin to write I need to take care of something vitally important.  I have to stop and take time to thank the One I am writing about.

It is here upon these pages where I want to publicly acknowledge the Lord G-d, maker of heaven and earth, as the one and only.  It is He who gave me everything I would need in order to write and teach.  He gave me life both physically and spiritually and it is to Him I give all glory and honor and praise!  HASHEM, You are my life and the air I breathe.  I could do nothing without you.  I bless You, my G-d, the maker of my soul.  It is because of Your great Chesed that I live and breathe and the world exists.  Thank you for all the provisions in my life.

I do not say these things publicly to draw attention to myself, but to draw attention to you, my G-d, my Redeemer, my Provider.  You are the lifter of my head.  It is for all mankind that you created this world and for that reason you have a plan for our lives.  Oh my great and glorious G-d, open my eyes and the eyes of those who read the words of Your Torah to see You more clearly and give us hearts that want to run to you!

Bless the Lord, Oh my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name!!!!!




"Barukh attah Adonai Elohenu melekh haolam asher kideshanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu laasok b'divrei Torah!"

"Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to engross ourselves in the words of the Torah!"