Livin' the good life!

b"H

If you are a "regular" reader of my rantings, I must apologize wholeheartedly for my lack of writing and my constriction of your ability to actually read "regularly". It isn't for lack of time, necessarily. It is just that I keep getting overwhelmed with all the things I want to say and end up saying nothing. Well, I am going to try, again, to not do that anymore. I will again be trying to write more regularly. For now though, a brief update on the last - wow, just short of two weeks since I last wrote... terrible...

Okay, anyway. I'm going to just put some random experiences out there! If anyone wants to get any more information on anything that I list here, please, feel free to comment or email me (I have to check if my email is available on the main page, but if not, be'ezrat HaShem, I will get it up there soon) and I will answer whatever questions you might have to the best of my ability!

About a week and a half ago - the day after my last post actually, we went to Hebron for the brit milah of one of the Rabbis' son. It was an afternoon brit, and turned into a very powerful day. We spent the morning learning as usual (gemara takes up the whole morning from 9am until about 12:45pm) and then we all (well, most of us. Some people decided not to go.) boarded a bus. It was a full size coach. The route to Hebron drives through a number of Arab towns which are rather hostile to Jews, so the bus was bulletproof, but if you didn't know, you wouldn't know. It was a nice drive, maybe 30 minutes from the yeshiva. We pulled up to Me'arat HaMachpelah (the cave of machpelah / the doubled cave) and if looked as it has looked in every picture I have ever seen, but with one big difference: I was actually there! For those who are not aware of the significance of the place, it is where the forebearers of the Jewish people are buried. That is, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah (Rachel has her own place in Beit Lechem (Bethleham)) are buried there. It was very powerful! Although the external walls of the place were clearly modeled after Herodian period construction - there is a debate if it is actually from the Herodiam period of if it is from the period of the crusaders and modeled after the Herodian manner, or if it is some combination of the two- the internal aspects were very Muslim in appearance which leads one to imagine it as being put together during the Muslim rule of the land. Either way, the construction is at least 1000 years old. I don't have my camera with me right now, so I can't upload any pictures, but I do have them, so feel free to request them. Okay, anyway, the brit took place in a room that was surrounded by the traditional burial sites of Abraham on the South, Sarah on the North, and Isaac and Rivkah on the East. It was very powerful! The whole thing was quite surreal actually. The baby was crying the whole time and what was totally amazing is that the moment that the mohel (who performs the circumcision) made the blessing ("BA"H, EM"H, ahl hamilah") the baby stopped crying! Yes, you read that correctly - the baby STOPPED crying when the circumcision took place! It was totally amazing!

Anyway, the meal was fantastic and there was lots of singing. Before going to the meal though, I stayed behind and went to each of the graves and said a prayer to rectify my nature with that of the Holy souls at whose tomb I was standing. It was actually a VERY powerful moment personally. It took me a few days to notice that with the trip to Hebron I had been to all of the four holy cities - Hebron (Earth), Tzfat (Air), Jerusalem (Fire), and Tiberius (Water). Baruch HaShem that I merited to accomplish something so spiritually powerful!

I had never spent a Shabbat in Tzfat before, so I decided to spend Shabbat there an it was everything I could have hoped for and more. I ended up davening by ChaBaD minyanim a bunch - it just worked out that way even though it certainly wasn't the plan. In fact, on Friday night, I davened at Ascent, the hostel where I was staying (which happens to be a ChaBaD institution) and they actually asked me to be Shaliach Tzibur (the leader of the congregation) for Kabbalat Shabbat! They set me up to spend Shabbat with a family who lived close by, the father of which runs a Carlebach minyan in the area. It was a very nice dinner and the family were very gracious hosts. I slept in in the morning and given that ChaBaD tends to daven later than anyone else, that is where I went in the morning and then in the afternoon, I sat at ascent and learned Torah until a little before Ma'ariv.

(There was mincha at Ascent at some point in the afternoon, after lunch. Oh, yeah. At lunch they asked me to give a dvar Torah on one foot. We had just sung the song "Kol HaOlam Kulo Gesher Tzar Me'od, Veha'ikar Lo Lefached Klal" - The whole world is a very narrow bridge but the main thing is to have no fear at all - by Rebbe Nachman. I related it to an analogy that I heard at The House in Toronto during one of their Saturday night JAMs. The idea was that one a narrow bridge - or the narrow streets of Tzfat - if there are two cars coming in the opposite direction, one person has to stop and possibly even back up to let the other through and that we should all strive to work together in order to perfect the world that there should be nothing to fear. In that morning's parasha (weekly Torah portion) "VaYechi" Jacob blesses his sons and his grandsons Ephraim and Menashe, Joseph's sons. There is a lot of commentary about the nature of that particular blessing. Menashe was the older of the two sons and should therefore have been blessed first, but Jacob put his right hand on Ephraim - thus granting him the first blessing. It is explained that the two boys had different roles in life - Menashe worked for Joseph, in the political realm of Egypt, as an interpreter for his father. He was deeply engaged in worldly affairs. Ephraim, on the other hand, is explained to have spent much of his time learning Torah and connecting with his traditions. This dynamic of two brothers taking these two paths mirrors Jacob's own life - Jacob having learned Torah and his brother Eisav having been a hunter (engaged with the world), and Jacob eventually started to engage with the world himself, but there was MAJOR tension between the brothers (Eisav wanted to MURDER Jacob). Jacob's blessing was showing the brothers that through Torah values, the most spiritual and the most physical endeavors can be achieved in harmony. The uniqueness of Ephraim and Menashe is that they accepted each other for their differences and decided to work together using their respective strengths to support each other. In this way they were able to walk on the "gesher tzar me'od" of this world and "to have no fear at all"! I then wished that we should all merit to be able to work together and live this same dynamic with everyone we each encounter in our own lives! Baruch HaShem, I don't know where that whole shpiel came from, but it seemed to go over well.)

For Ma'ariv and havdallah, a friend and I went to the Carlebach minyan. There was some powerful nigunnim sung there and there was lots of singing and dancing! Baruch HaShem, it was fantastic! It mamash helped the power of Shabbat flow into the rest of the week! It was a great motzei Shabbat, walking all over Tzfat trying to get lost and realizing it is absolutely impossible!

On Sunday I started making my way back to the yeshiva, missed the earlier bus and the next one was 3 hours later, so I hung around Tzfat for a bit, went to some bookstores and found some GREAT deals, so I bought a few books, and eventually went back to the bus station. There were accidents on the road, the trip back took an extra hour and I missed my bus back to the yeshiva from Jerusalem, so I had another hour to get through. I started walking around, got poured on, got on a bus, and eventually got back to the yeshiva! It would've been a miserable day, but I had such a good time in Tzfat, and was able to read/learn lots of good Torah, so Baruch HaShem I got back to the yeshiva with a huge smile on my face!

The last week has been a full one, with lots of learning. Nothing too special has happened, except lots of Torah learning and there is nothing better in the world than learning Torah! Well, actually, something did happen. I went to Jerusalem on Wednesday night with one of the guys from Yeshiva for a shiur by Rabbi Shalom Arush and even though the whole thing was in Hebrew, I was very pleasantly surprised that I understood the majority of what he was saying!

This past Shabbat I had Friday night dinner at one of the kollel students from the yeshiva and his wife's house. It was a great time. He is also from Toronto, and went to many of the same schools as me, so there was a lot of time to reminisce. Also, their daughter - I think they said she is a year and a half - is adorable! For lunch I went to one of the Rabbis' house! It was also a really nice meal. Baruch HaShem, Efrat is an awesome town. Getting to the Rabbi's house was the first time I really took time to walk through Efrat and it turns out the whole town is a really nice, calm, and peaceful place!

Also, this Shabbat, there were a few guys from the Darkeinu yeshiva - which is for students with special needs! It was actually really special to daven with them and to eat Seudat Shelishit with them. After Shabbat I was checking email and about to go to bed when one of the guys got a phone call looking for someone to do Shmira (guard a body before it is buried) over night and I decided that I would do it. I don't know why, but it seemed like the thing to do. So, I spent all night, from around 11pm Saturday night until 8am Sunday (this morning) saying tehillim and learning Torah! Baruch HaShem, the night actually flew by and I didn't even feel at all tired until around 630am. I got back to the yeshiva at around 845am, at something to have some strength, davened Shacharit, and started learning morning seder (gemara) but, totally unable to focus, I went to sleep, missed lunch, made my own something, davened Mincah and continued the day. Now this day is at an end and I am quite tired.

Before I go, I just want to express to everyone reading that, no matter what you might read in the news or see on T.V., Israel is SO great and I am 100% loving the life that I have been blessed to lead while I am here. I will, G-d willing, be starting to find ways to earn a parnassa while I am here, including continuing what I was doing in Toronto, teaching Bar Mitzvah lessons. I have a few other things that I am slowly working on and it all seems promising - even within the parameters of the minimal time available to commit to each thing! May it be HaShem's Will, that by His Loving Grace, all those who need His Support should receive everything that they require, and more so, that He should Grant us ALL everything that He Wants us to have, from financial stability to Peace in our lives!

May we all merit to live in Israel, physically, spiritually, or both! :)

L'Shalom!