Re: A message I learned from my Grandmother

I just wacthed the slide show today and it really did make me think of your grandmother! Mrs. Nadoff was an amazing woman and she was always so kind to me whenever we saw eachother. One time I was in the office because i got in trouble (actually i was there many times) but each time she would always be so nice to me and she would always tell me i was a good kid and she was proud of me. other school admin. (im sure you know who im talking about) were NEVER as encouraging as she was! I dont think i could have ever gotten through elementry school without her!

be well and keep in touch!

Leora N.


**If you would like to see that slide show, email me at chaya770@gmail.com an i will iy'h send it to you.

Splitting the Sea

Why did the Israelites have to pass through the Red Sea? On my map of the Middle East, the route from Egypt to Israel is directly through the desert. The sea is totally out of the way. G-d led them on a detour, trapping them between the sea and the chasing Egyptians, and then split the sea. Does G-d have no sense of direction?

Answer:

The Israelites passing through the Red Sea was not a geographical necessity, but a spiritual one. At the Red Sea, we were shown the power of the human soul.

The earth is comprised of oceans and continents, sea and dry land. The difference between the two is that on dry land, all is open and visible. The trees, animals, mountains and people that occupy it are all easily recognisable. The sea on the other hand is a big blue expanse of mystery. Though the sea is teeming with life, when you look at it you can identify nothing, all is hidden beneath the surface.

So it is with a person. Our personality has two layers: our sea, and our land. What we know of ourselves, our visible strengths, our tested talents and our known abilities, the elements of our character that we are aware of, these comprise the dry land of our personality. But below the surface of our character lies a vast sea of latent talents, inner strengths and untapped abilities that we never knew we had. In the depth of our soul lies a reserve of dormant energy waiting to be discovered. This is our sea, and even we ourselves are unaware of what lies there.

How can we access this reservoir of potential? How can our sea become dry land? There is only one way. And we know it from the encounter at the Red Sea.

The Israelites had their back to the wall: Egyptians closing in on one side, a raging sea threatening on the other. They had only two options, despair or faith. Logic and reason demanded that they give in. There was no possible way out of their predicament. But faith demanded that they keep marching to the Promised Land. Sea or no sea, this is the path that G-d has led us, so we have to have faith and march on. And so they did.

It was at that moment, when hopelessness was countered by faith, that the impossible happened - the sea opened up to become dry land. The most formidable obstacle dissolved into nothingness, without a struggle, just with faith. They became empowered exactly when they acknowledged G-d as the only true power. By surrendering themselves to a higher power, they discovered their own higher powers. They split their own sea. The Jewish people are not strangers to times of challenge. At the birth of our nation, we needed to learn how to face these challenges. So G-d took us on a detour to the sea and opened it up for us. He was telling every Jew for all times:

Obstacles are not interruptions to the journey, they are the journey. Keep marching towards the Promised Land. Every challenge along the way will give you deeper insight and renewed power. Just have faith. It will split your sea.

Good Shabbos and Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Moss rabbimoss@bina.com.au_ (mailto:rabbimoss@bina.com.au

"Ma, if my eggs were left in a broken refrigerator for three days, are they still usable?"

"Um, well I would tell you to ask Bubby Miriam, but...."

Today is Bubby's Shloshim

As you know, we (the girls) divided up the book "Praying with Fire". Thank you TBC. I don't have the book with me, and I hadn't learned one of my lessons, so I called up Tova Bracha and she learned it with me. It seems so appropriate to have learned it today, because it portrayed Bubby a"h very well.

Lesson 72 talks about one's mouth. Rabbi Heshy Kleinman says that if one wants to turn to G-d in prayer, he must make sure the tool that he is using, namely the mouth, is a clean, sterilized tool.

For example, a doctor cannot perform a surgery with an unclean surgical tool. If he does, he will not be able to heal his patient. He can do the procedures professionally, but an unsterilized knife can c"v spread disease. So too, we must make sure to use our mouths in only holy, clean ways so that when we approach Hashem, we can can accomplish our goal of having our tefillos reach Him.

What are clean ways to use our mouth? Speaking nicely to others, watching what comes out of our mouths, etc.

Bubby a"h is the best example I can for a person who only used her mouth for holy tasks. No one has ever heard an unkind word come out of her holy mouth. May we all learn from her, and be able to make her proud.

A Gut Moed.

Found this post about our cousin. Click on this message to view it.

Chag Kasher V'sameach

Here's wishing you all a kosher and freilachen Pesach. Enjoy every minute (day...)!!