שירת שלום
Song of Peace
I always love setting a beautiful table for Shabbat and will often share it on facebook. The last tablescape I shared was the Shabbat after the inauguration. One of my dear friends replied, “the most peaceful Shabbat in four years.”
I know many would agree with these sentiments. But I don’t. And it has absolutely nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the true gift of Shabbat which allows us to transform into an inner state of peace no matter what is happening in the outside world.
Don’t get me wrong. I was truly happy my friend felt so peaceful. I am happy anytime someone feels peaceful as that energy goes out into the world affecting others. This is Judaism 101. It is part of our job as Jewish people and why we are here, to radiate out into the world that Light of Peace. We are to be a “ Light unto the Nations.”
I know that many people do not observe Shabbat. And Rabbi David and I don’t even observe it in the same way as we used to do. But there really is something so magical that happens when I light the candles and usher in Shabbat. There is an actual perceptible shift within. I can also feel the energy in the entire house shifting and as many people who visit us can attest to, our home already radiates a feeling of peace.
So what is it that causes this shift? Part of it is that we are connecting or tapping into what we can call the energy field of Shabbat which has been built up over the centuries of practice. With this connection from our intentions and rituals we are forming a sacred space for Shabbat angels to descend. Or another way to look at it is that we are activating the angelic energies of peace. But either way, yes, they really do join us.
We actually have so many gifts from our tradition, especially the mystical teachings from the Kabbalah, to transform into that uplifted state and live there.
In our upcoming class, “Soar Above and Beyond,” we will be learning how to use some of these gifts, including activating angelic energies on a daily basis.
I so hope you will join me!
May you have a peaceful Shabbat. The most peaceful one ever!
Shabbat Shalom,
Cantor Lee
As the Jewish mid winter holiday of Tu B’Shvat approaching (Jan. 28th this year) memories are coming back of when I was a child in elementary school in Israel. The mood was always festive with exciting preparations being made for the holiday.
Tu B’Shvat was quite a big deal especially since we didn’t have regular classes. Instead there were ceremonies in a big park where singing and dancing teams from schools all around Tel Aviv competed for first place. The songs were always about the Jewish people returning back to our land to rebuild it. While most of us boys didn’t care about watching the performers the day outdoors away from books was always fun.
After the competitions we would be taken by bus to the outskirts of the city where the land was still barren. Each of us would be given a small plant. While planting was done according to the strict instructions of the teacher, getting our hands and clothes dirty was always the best part.
Looking back at this childhood memory I realize the significance of these Tu B’shvat events which we experienced throughout our school years.
Tu B’Shvat indeed is the expression of Jewish love and appreciation for Mother Earth. It is a reminder of how delicate and vulnerable Mother Earth really is. It is a reminder to reestablish ourselves as the custodians of this beautiful planet home and all of its inhabitants. Tu B’Shvat reminds us that we have a G-DLY mandate to oversee Earth but not to do with it as we wish. Earth is not a human playground to spoil.
But there is more. For we as Jews, Tu B’Shvat is the supreme expression of our connection to our land, all of the land.. . It is a reminder that the Jewish land of Israel is just as important as the Torah itself. G-D sanctified it and gave it to us centuries before he gave us the Torah. In fact a significant number of the Torah‘s laws are directly related to the land. This means that we cannot observe the Torah’s laws in full without the holy land of Israel.
TuB’Shvat is a yearly reminder that the Jewish people, the land of Israel and the people of Israel are one and the same.
Rabbi David
Plant a Tree in Israel
Upcoming Events
Rabbi and Cantor Messages
Connection to Healing
People often ask us how Shirat Shalom started. The seeds of it actually began when Rabbi David and I were newly married over forty years ago and were teaching together in a Hebrew School. (Yes, our claim to fame is that we are still teaching Hebrew School together!) This happened to be a conservative synagogue with a wonderful community but we knew things could be much different especially when it came to the Hebrew School. So we promised each other that one day when we would have our own children they would have a different experience.
And we kept that promise. Our son who is now 37 received much of his Jewish education in a day school. With our daughter who is now 33, we began our own Hebrew School class of four children in our house. Before we knew it that little class began to grow and in 1998 became the basis for Shirat Shalom.
Now that we had a formal Hebrew School, Rabbi David named our program “Judaism of the Heart.” As part of that we would teach children to connect to their Divine Light.
Back then we didn’t really understand the significance of these ideas, “Judaism of the Heart” and “Connecting to our Divine Light.” We only knew deep within that we needed to bring these sacred teachings to the children. For Shirat Shalom as a congregation, the mission was to return to the spiritual and mystical roots of Judaism.
And this is what we have modeled and taught all these years on a level that can be easily understood. But now as we navigate through these chaotic times we know we need to share more deeply our tradition's sacred hidden teachings that are rooted in the Kabbalah.
✡Our sacred teachings that enable us to hold higher amounts of Divine Light thus overcoming anger, frustration, anxiety and despair and everything else that is of a lower consciousness.
✡Our sacred teachings that enable us to be partners with the Divine world helping us in every aspect of our lives, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
✡Our sacred teachings that enable us to bring change within ourselves, our loved ones and everyone around us just by holding and radiating these Higher Amounts of Light.
✡Our sacred teachings that help us all spiritually evolve to the next level.
Rabbi David often says, “What we have been doing clearly isn’t working.”
These teachings are our answer. And they can be for everyone, not just Jewish people. Are you ready to integrate them?
I so hope the answer is yes and you will join us in our virtual class, "Soar Above and Beyond." I will be facilitating the class and Rabbi David will holding the sacred space of the class. (Yes you will learn how to do that too!) Find our more here: Soar Above and Beyond!
With these four sessions you will have a new outlook and understanding of our sacred teachings. Most important you will have the tools to begin putting these teachings into practice as well as how to receive real help from the spiritual realms. We are also opening this class to teens.
The class meets virtually Tuesday evenings, 7:30 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. Feb. 9, 16, 23, March 9, Every class will be Recorded so you can still join if that time doesn’t work for you.
The price increases Wed. Jan. 20th so take advantage of the discounted price now!
Register Here: Soar Above and Beyond! Still not sure this is for you or your teen? Either Rabbi David or I will be happy to speak to you.
Love,
We started calling her the “Butterfly Girl” three and a half years ago when she was in third grade. She had just finished an Infinite Child Session so I took her into our backyard which all children love! The memory is still so deeply etched in my mind. As she walked through the entranceway onto the deck a swarm of butterflies came and began circling around her. There must have been at least 100 butterflies! I didn’t even know so many butterflies lived in my garden! Abby began dancing with them in utter delight making her own circle within theirs. I stood watching, mesmerized. It was as though time had stopped.
Each time Abby would visit our backyard over the next few years, the butterflies would once again come to visit their friend. I often wondered why the butterflies loved her so much and why this love was passed on through the generational lines of the butterflies. After all they don’t live very long, so it wasn’t the original butterflies who would come to greet her.
I know that a child’s energy field brightens from the Infinite Child sessions but other children who have gone through the program don’t attract the butterflies the way Abby does. I came to the conclusion it must be the Joy she always carries and emanates!
Abigail was supposed to have her Bat Mitzvah ceremony the first weekend of September but it needed to be postponed like so many other events these days. All the logistics were being worked out for a new date and location but then that needed to be postponed too. But Abby’s parents had no idea when this could be. You see their whole life had been turned upside down in just a matter of a few minutes.
Abby’s mother had to make a decision the night before that eventful morning of Sept. 21st. Would she return to school as a teacher or take a leave of absence? She discussed the situation with her father and decided at the last minute to take a leave of absence.
Even though she didn’t have to leave for work that next morning she still got up at her regular time. That was why she was able to smell the smoke. Her first thought was which of her three kids was burning something in the kitchen?
The smoke began coming fast and furious through the walls but being asleep her husband and children had no idea what was happening. It turned out the house had been struck by lightning. The fire inspector said ten minutes later the house would have burst into flames and it is doubtful anyone would have escaped.
It took weeks until they found a house they could rent. Even now they aren’t sure what will be in the future. The insurance company hasn’t even started work on the house which will take months to repair.
But within all this chaos and upheaval, Abby’s parents were determined she would have her Bat Mitzvah ceremony. It was finally scheduled for December 5th. A tent would be set up in the backyard of their rental home with chairs spaced out for the extended family.
Abby’s rehearsal a couple of weeks beforehand was held on the very deck where she danced with the butterflies. But this time instead of butterflies a humming bird appeared. And it came right when she was chanting from the Torah!
Rabbi David and I have lived in our house for over 26 years and have a myriad of wildlife in our backyard but we have never seen a hummingbird! I looked up in “Animal Speak” by Ted Andrews the spiritual message a humming bird brings: “It is a symbol for accomplishing that which seems impossible. It will teach you how to find the miracle of joyful living from your own life circumstances.”
The weather the day of Abigail’s Bat Mitzvah couldn’t have been more beautiful. And the Joy that radiated from Abby’s family couldn’t have been brighter. As I closed my eyes for a moment I saw the image of the hummingbird. Yes, this family had truly found the miracle of joyful living from their life circumstances!
May we all learn to do the same!
Read About Abby's First Encounter with the Butterflies
Here is our Butterfly Girl Abigail on the day of her Bat Mitzvah
Rabbi & Cantor's Messages
Infinite Child Videos
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Cantor Lee: When Tropical Storm Eta hammered South Florida the weekend after the election I felt as though I was in Noah’s Ark! We certainly have lived through plenty of tropical storms and hurricanes. In fact, two months after Rabbi David and I moved to Florida in the summer of 1992 we needed to evacuate from Miami due to Hurricane Andrew.
But Eta seemed different. After two days of non stop rain the water from our canal was the highest we had ever seen it over the past 26 years in our home! Even the tree trunks were submerged. I kept saying this is a major cleansing just as the biblical flood was . A major cleansing for all of us.
And no, this cleansing is absolutely NOT referring to the results of the election or the political leadership of the last four years. It is referring to the divisiveness in our country, in our communities, in our families. It is heaven crying out that we have forgotten to listen to each other's views rather than blame and call names.
This divisiveness has been an ongoing issue. I still remember in 2008 when Rabbi David gave a High Holy Day sermon about leadership in the Bible. Several people thought he was referring to the current political situation at that time with Sarah Palin and walked out. Ever since then, he makes sure to tell people that his sermons are not hidden political messages.
As Jewish people we have been given the responsibility to live at a higher consciousness, to be a Light in the world. Part of this responsibility means being extremely careful with what we say as each word we utter carries a vibratory energy that affects all of us. With the way this works, a derogatory insult can affect our children even if we are speaking about someone else!
Rabbi David: Ill speaking about anyone under any circumstances is called “Lashon Hara”, which translates as evil tongue. And this includes ridicule and insults. Our sages were very clear about it. Our demeaning language is like a boomerang that comes back at us by way of perpetuating hatred in our own hearts as well as going out to be part of the collective consciousness. When Miriam spoke against her Brother Moses G-d knew to nip it in the bud before her words contaminated others around her. She was given leprosy which required being isolated from the community.
In the political arena this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t express our views or take action with issues. But there is a difference with doing so without ridicule and insults. Of respecting that others can have differing political opinions.
So what can this cleansing do for us? I see it as a gift, a reminder to remember who we are. A reminder to go back to practicing it.
A year ago on Yom Kippur I made a vow with this very subject. I vowed to completely refrain from speaking Lashon Hara in the political or any other area, not even in a suggestive manner. Perhaps you will consider joining me.
We all need this cleansing reminder. Let us turn back into the compassionate Jewish nation that we have always been.
Our wonderful country well deserves it.
Cantor Lee: I was recently asked how G-d could be so cruel. This wasn’t the first time her family suffered greatly. In fact the woman had walked out on G-d for many years and only recently came back. But now again, she was so angry! It brought to mind Rabbi David’s Yom Kippur sermon from last year...
Rabbi David: Moses, as we all know, the holiest man, master of the prophets, led the Israelites through the desert for forty years. Along with the physical difficulties of desert life that the Israelites had had to endure, he also had to deal with constant complaints, and rebellions. He had to worry where to get water for more than two million people. .
But he had a dream. A dream which probably kept him strong and steadfast for 40 years. A dream to enter the Promised Land with his people.
But he was punished with the most severe punishment he could have possibly received. He died just when the Israelites were ready to enter the land of Israel.
What was his awful mistake that caused his life long dream after forty years of struggle shatter into pieces?
Well, G-D said to him, “In the desert on one occasion I asked you to talk to the rock so water would flow out of it. But you instead hit the rock with your staff.”
And for that Moses was not allowed to see his lifelong dream come to fruition? Scholars have struggled with this question from time immemorial
I don't know the answer. I don't think anyone will ever know for sure.
But maybe for a brief moment in that tense situation Moses wanted to make sure that water would indeed come out of the rock. And that just talking to the rock, asking the rock to produce water, wouldn’t be enough for the water to gush out of it.
Maybe for a brief second Moses doubted his own faith.
Recently I was sitting in a waiting room in the Boca hospital off of thirteenth street. A few people were sitting with me. Suddenly a man turned to me and asked, “Are you angry?” Surprised and a little confused by the question I finally answered, “I am not particularly angry.” “Well, I am!” he practically screamed. “I am angry at G-D! I am furious!”
I was not sure if this was the time and place to begin a philosophical conversation about G-D or life and death. And why did he turn me, a complete stranger, in the first place? Certainly he didn’t know who I was.
“I am mad at him! I am furious!” he insisted. “Does he even listen to our prayers? Does he even care? Does he even exist?”
The man proceeded to tell me about this wife who was stricken with several kinds of cancer and was now fighting for her life. There was so much agony in his words.
After a brief silence he continued with tearing eyes and said quietly, “She has no chance to survive. I don’t even know why the doctor is sending her for another another cat scan.”
He continued, “You know, she is such an amazing person. Such a good sweet soul who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Why her? Why make her suffer so much?”
Don’t get me wrong, I am not usually approached by strangers in public places with such agonizing issues of life and death. Maybe he approached me because he saw my Kippah and wanted to talk to a fellow Jew.
Knowing that there really weren’t adequate words of wisdom to sooth his tormented soul, I said, “I don’t have an answer for you. I don't understand it myself.”
He continued as if he didn’t hear my response. “I was diagnosed with lung cancer. But you know what? I don’t care about me at all. But why her? Such a beautiful soul. I just want some kind of sign! Something! Even the smallest thing that shows me that he exists, that he listens, that he cares, that makes some sense. I just want a sign!”
I put on my rabbinical hat and said, “I know it is hard to hear but maybe we should consider that which does not make sense to us.”
He looked at me puzzled. I continued. “Maybe the struggle itself to make sense of that which makes no sense is what we are all about. Maybe that struggle with the unexplainable, the struggle with so much suffering of your wife and yourself, which is so unfair, is our strongest expression of our belief in G-D.”
“Who knows, ”I continued. “ As strange and unfair as it sounds perhaps G-D is communicating through you and your wife to remind us all how vulnerable we are and how precious life really is. Maybe you are the chosen messenger for everyone.”
He listened and then said, “I give him back this dubious honor. I don’t want it. My wife and I are no messengers. Let him take it back if he even exists or cares.”
I answered, “You need your faith, sir. It’s a powerful gift and can help us get through the toughest of times.” He looked at me. “Are you a rabbi or something?” Seeing my cover was exposed I said, “May G-D send you a your wife a Refua Shleima, full recovery and may He give both of you the spiritual and physical strength to get through such tough times.”
At this point we were already beginning to attract the attention of people around us who were now listening to our conversation. We both became silent when his wife was wheeled into the waiting room. He thanked me for listening to him and they both left.
As I was driving home, I remembered a story I heard from Elie Wiesel of blessed memory. He was describing a scene that happened in Auschwitz. A group of Jews barely alive, starving and weak decided to put G-D on trial. They appointed a prosecutor, defense attorney and judge.
At the end of the trial, the judge read the verdict. G-D was found guilty of abandoning his people. There was silence among the people. Finally someone said, “Well, fellows, it is time to pray mincha, the afternoon service.”
What unwavering faith…
As I was driving I also recalled the pogroms, the persecutions, the endless suffering of Jews in Europe and the Middle East. And yet, none of it has ever shaken their faith in G-D and the belief of the coming of the Messiah.
One of the most profound songs of the Jewish Underground during the Holocaust was “Ani Ma’amim” “I Believe” which quotes the thirteen Jewish principles of the Rambam, the great Jewish scholar and rabbi. It says, “I believe with complete faith in the coming of the Messiah and even though he is delayed I nevertheless will wait for him everyday until he comes.”
Maybe with that rock episode back in the desert, G-D saw the hitting of the rock by Moses instead of talking to it as losing faith and therefore trust in G-D even if just for a few seconds. Maybe this wasn’t about punishment at all but G-d using Moses as the messenger for us, to remind us of the importance of our faith and trust.
There is a saying in Hebrew that “a man can be more fragile than glass and tougher than steel.” Faith, no doubt, is the divine gift given to us to give our spirit the strength of steel, even to the point that nothing can break it. We can then navigate our lives during times of vulnerability and turbulence.
And most importantly, faith brings about Hope another tool in our spiritual toolbox.
One of the best stories that demonstrates this isn’t even Jewish, it’s Greek, the famous story of Pandora’s box. After being told not to open the box she was given, Pandora could not overcome her curiosity. As the box was opened ugly little creatures representing all the diseases and suffering flew right into our world. Pandora closed the box quickly but it was too late.
As she sat on the closed box dismayed, a faint voice asked her to open the box one more time. At first she refused but eventually opened the box. And a beautiful little creature flew out. It was Hope, given to mankind to strengthen our spirit.
In this time of uncertainty, of division among people even more pronounced, it seems the Answer is to return to our Jewish spiritual roots and become the Messengers of Faith and Hope. Only then can we create a World of Peace, Prosperity and Harmony.
A pioneer in the field of energy medicine, Donna Eden, tells a story of a man who would stand in the back of the room during some of her seminars. He hadn’t registered but she just allowed him to be there suspecting he was homeless. He looked unwell.
When she had a chance to speak to him she learned that he subsisted on food scraps from the local 7-11 store. Donna urged him to begin to eat more nutritious foods to improve his health but he didn’t have the resources. So she told him to begin speaking to his food. To thank it for bringing him excellent nutrition, that it was such healthy food, that he was so grateful for it, bless it. You get the idea.
She saw him a few weeks later and couldn’t believe the difference in how he looked on the outside as well as the inner flow of his energy which she could see. He went on to take further steps to improve his health and life.
In Judaism we are taught to always say a blessing before eating. I can just hear Rabbi David now, “Make sure they know we don’t bless the food, we bless G-d for providing the food!” Yes, in the Hebrew that is exactly what it says, Blessed are You Adonai, Ruler of the World, for creating all kinds of foods. Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Ha-olam boray meenay mi’zonot.
Before eating I usually prefer to use the traditional Hebrew blessing as I know how powerful it is. But there are times that I just send Light to the food, thank it directly or bless it for providing me with such good nutrition. Just as Donna Eden advised the homeless man to do, I speak to my food!
During the holiday of Sukkot when we express our gratitude for G-d's bounty we are filled with Joy! I personally think the Joy is the way G-d is expressing His/Her gratitude back to us! So inside the sukkah when we eat the delicious fruit waiting for us we will be saying the traditional blessing, Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Haolam, Boray pre ha-eitz. Blessed are You Adonai, our G-d, Ruler of the World, who creates fruit from the tree.
It is so amazing how much better everything tastes with a blessing beforehand!
Chag Sameach,
Hebrew School
When we left slavery in Egypt the Bible counted more than 600,000 men. Considering the similar amount of women there were 2-3,000,000 Hebrews entering the land of Israel in the estimated 1300 BCE.
As a comparison the Zhou Chinese dynasty which took control of China about the same time at 1200 BCE counted 13 million Chinese people living in China.
The Hebrews were one fifth or 20% of the population of China at that time.
Today, 3200 years later there are a billion and a half Chinese in the world. That is 1500 millions.
There are maybe 14 million Jews.
From being 20% of the Chinese population we are now 0.00052 of the Chinese population.
Compared to the Chinese growing curve of the last three thousand years and keeping the estimate of about 20% of the Chinese population, we should have numbered many hundreds of millions at least.
In fact, we are dozens of times smaller than the Chinese margin of error in any census they take.
We all know the reasons for this awful disparity. The Roman empire of 2,000 years ago murdered about one million Jews. It is estimated that over the millennia in Europe about three million Jews were either slaughtered or forced to convert in masses.
Just in South and Central America alone there are many millions of descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jews who were forced to convert to Catholicism between the 15th and 17th centuries.
All that translates to about 100-150 million Jewish descendants of all the Jewish victims over the centuries who could have been with us today.
We cannot afford to lose more Jewish souls to other influences.
Generations of Jews since then have changed. Their religious as well as Israel outlook has changed.
With the chaos, killings and destruction in the many cities Anti-Semitism begins to stink to high heavens. it is used as an important part of radical actions against America
Nothing new here!
Jews have been caught in the middle of civil chaos and destruction for hundreds of years with very dire consequences.
Anti-Semitism is being bred in many campuses in some of the most prestigious schools. And it is getting a stronghold among young impressionable ill informed students, many who are Jewish students.
In the name of this perverted agenda what is really being ignored purposely is the honest and real details of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. Its origin, its true reasons and goals are being purposely ignored
The agenda is simple: to deny Israel the right to exist as a Jewish state. Also to remove Israel from being a close ally and best friend to the USA.
A whole generation of students, many of them are Jewish, is being bombarded and poisoned with distorted information. This happens even in traditionally Jewish colleges like Brandeis or colleges with a large Jewish student body.
And these are our future congress members and leaders!
Using unfair influence on our students for an intentional Anti-Zionist agenda discourages students from arriving at their own independent conclusions.
What is claimed to be lessons in critical thinking which is a common course in college amounts to almost brain washing.
This is a gateway to Anti-Zionism which in some places has become institutionalized and tolerated.
Make no mistake: Anti-Zionism, denying Israel the right to exist as a Jewish country or not at all - is absolutely Anti-Judaism.
The land of Israel is a central part of Judaism. It’s like Mecca to Islam or the pope to Catholicism.
Judaism cannot exist without it. The hope and yearning to return to Zion in the last 2000 years has been a central component of Judaism.
Anti-Zionistic activity is an act against Jewish survival.
In 2019 there were 2100 reported cases of assault, vandalism and harassment against Jews in the United states alone including schools, synagogues and community centers.
The problem is even more compounded because for many of our Jewish students it’s a gateway to losing their Jewish identity.
What concerns me is that we have become complacent in the face of those who wish to hurt us the most. We simply do not think it is a major problem.
While, of course, not all of our young people leave their heritage because of college influence,
We cannot afford to lose anyone.
We cannot be complacent. Let's continue doing what we, the community of Shirat Shalom have been doing for many years.
Let us continue bringing Judaism of the heart and souls to our children. Instill in them love and pride in our heritage and in Israel. That is the best remedy against detrimental influences and assaults on our heritage.
It’s about Jewish identity much more than Jewish or Hebrew knowledge.
Children as we all know, get from us their parents the sense of pride in our heritage and commitment to our Jewish homeland in Israel.
When our children sense that both Israel and the Jewish tradition are a crucial part of our own identity they understand that Zionism is an existential part of Judaism and in turn, Judaism is an existential part of the welfare of the world.
They then will be more inclined to make the effort and seek the honest truth about the Israeli Arab conflict and explore Judaism further on. We cannot afford losing any more Jewish souls.
Senator Daniel Moynihan said in 1974 in a rally for Soviet Jewry: One cannot eliminate a tree which has its roots in the center of the earth.
It is our duty to ensure our children’s Jewish continuity.
May G-D inscribe all of us in the Book of Life. Let us pray for a much better year next year. A year of health and healing.
A year of tolerance and unity. A year of love and prosperity to all of us. A year of elimination of all viruses and social turmoil.
Amen
Recently I was asked to sing the Lord’s Prayer at an interfaith wedding. I didn’t know too much about the prayer except that my girlfriend recited it every day growing up in her church and that it is a central and revered prayer in Christianity. Well, I certainly wanted to sing it with the reverence it deserved so I began learning it.
I didn’t get too far though and stopped after the first line as a beautiful sacred Presence had entered the room.
Wow, I thought! Does this prayer have the same power as many of the Hebrew prayers I sing? They are meant to connect us with the Divine which can come in many energetic variations. Or was it my intention to sing the prayer with reverence that called this Divine Presence? Yes, our intentions can be that powerful!
Intrigued, I went on a YouTube search and listened to several videos of people singing the prayer. Hmmm.. most of the videos invoked the Presence.
The next day, my Catholic neighbor, Gina, posted the prayer on her facebook page and wrote: "I hope everyone who reads it answers Amen and sticks it on their page. Prayer chain for world peace and end of the pandemic. Amen."
Gina's Facebook Post:
This certainly caught my attention. I mean, what are the chances my neighbor would post this the day after my experience with the prayer! I knew this was a message to me to explore further. Intrigued again, I went on a google search and discovered what is just basic knowledge for most Christians. That Jesus taught this is a prayer in how to pray and that it covers everything.
Well that made sense why so much of the wording seemed familiar to me. The same concepts are in the Jewish prayers. And Jesus after all, was Jewish.
A week later as I sang the prayer during the wedding I could see how touched the Christian family members were that their tradition was honored. This filled me with such Joy! Even in these days, it isn’t always so easy for everyone when there is an interfaith marriage.
Two months later as I finished my preparations for the Jewish holidays I realized I never formally added my Amen to my neighbor’s post!
So now, just before Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people, I offer my prayer. “May ALL our Sacred Prayers from ALL Hearts come together bringing World Peace and an End to the Pandemic. Amen!”
The Divine Presence that has come in now certainly seems happy with this! I feel a smile in the midst of all the Love that is present!
May we all be sealed in the Book of Life for a good year!
Lee
I heard the story from the mother the week before but I wanted to hear it in the boy’s own words. So he told me that when casting his fishing lure, it caught a dragonfly trapped in a spider web causing its wings to break. He used a pair of tweezers to set the wings back together. Afterwards he put the dragonfly in a jar in order to nurse it back to health and fed it moths each day. Under his watchful care the dragonfly lived for another few days.
When he finished telling the story, his mother exclaimed “What child does this!” I knew the answer but I just smiled.
When I first met the boy a year and half earlier to prepare him for his Bar Mitzvah ceremony, I immediately understood he is one of the amazing children who have come to help heal the planet. So many of these kids don’t have an easy time in our left brain educational system or fitting into our paradigms and this teen was no exception.
When we had his rehearsal months later and he could read Hebrew which traditionally uses left brain teaching techniques, his mother called me a miracle worker. But I knew the child is really the miracle. For these kids are impelling us to “think out of the box,” to reframe our perspectives when it comes to their education. The Infinite Child Institute is certainly a result of this thinking. It didn’t surprise me when this teen excelled in the program.
As we got close to his Bar Mitzvah, everyone was so excited that the boy’s great grandmother would be able to attend. What a blessing!
But with the pandemic postponing his Bar Mitzvah day for five months this all changed. His great grandmother passed away three weeks before the new date at the amazing age of 107.
The boy’s mother continued her part of the story. That during the great grandmother’s funeral, a dragonfly stayed with them the entire time. She would have never noticed it if her son hadn't rescued the first dragonfly and knew there had to be a connection.
I told the teen that dragonflies have one consciousness. That the essence of his dragonfly came to say thank you! But there is another message too. His mother continued, “Now, whenever you see a dragonfly your great grandmother will be present!”
Before they left, I took the boy aside and asked him to promise me that he would never forget how special he is, of what he came here to do.
On the day of the Bar Mitzvah, the mother displayed a quote saying, “Dragonflies Appear when Angels are Near.” There were certainly many angels in the room that day.
And the great grandmother... well, she had the biggest smile of them all!
High Holy Day Services
Phone: 561.488.8079 P.O. Box 971142, Boca Raton, FL, 33497-1142
