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Now that it’s summer, I get to go out into my back yard and pick, literally, the fruits of my labor. That would be a fig tree. My wife and I look forward to this time of year when we are inundated with a delicious fruit that contains B vitamins, iron and potassium, among other things, as well as that all-important fiber. We also have a date palm, but we don’t really deal with it that much. In ancient Israel, they did eat a lot of dates and in fact make beer out of it. In the front yard we have an orange tree. I’m not really too sure about this because those oranges are very tart and it’s really tough to eat them. I’ve found that I can take this wonderful source of vitamin C and squeeze it into hot water—since they usually ripen mid to late fall—and have a wonderfully tart hot beverage. What does this have to do with Judaism? Let’s consider the fact that we live on a planet where, if we are careful and attentive, we have our needs provided for us. Earth provides all sorts of delicious food. We have a variety of grains—wheat, rice, barley—that provide vitamins, minerals, fiber, carbohydrates; fruits (some of which we just mentioned); vegetables as well with their respective nutrients. This planet provides a variety of animal life (including fish and fowl) that also provide food. Some of these animals provide dairy. Many of them are capable of “heavy lifting” provide power for farming tools. Finally, we have all sorts of natural resources—like trees to provide wood and a variety of metal ore—that we can use for building and providing the raw materials for building and technology. All of which makes our lives easier and more pleasant. What are the odds, then, that all this just happened? What are the odds that the same planet that provided for human life, also provided for the sustenance of that life? Did all this happen by chance, a cosmic roll of the dice? It would be easy to say that without all of things coming together, there would be no life. And of course, let’s not leave out the fact that our planet is just the right distance from the right type of star that provides just the right amount of light and heat. This is probably why many people do not believe in extraterrestrial life; what are the odds of all this coming together in other places in the galaxy, let alone the whole Universe? But this is not a treatise or discussion on aliens from other planets. This, of course, is a treatise on the existence of G-d. Certainly, there is a validity—as much as I would hate to acknowledge—that this planet and all its life and bountiful materials—is the result of a roll of the dice. A trillion to one odds, maybe. Or, this is the result of a Supreme Being with Omniscience, that designed the whole thing. Consider that the Divine Being, whom we come together each week to acknowledge, praise and worship, put all this together just for use. He (or She) wanted material physical beings created in His Divine Image with His Divine Spark to do His work in the physical realm. And to sustain us, he gave us everything we’d need to survive and growth. This, then, is a treatise on two ideas. The first is the existence of G-d, that there is more going on than just odds. The other treatise—and it is mentioned in this week’s Torah portion—is that since Earth is here for our benefit and our use, we need to care of it. We need to treat it as G-d’s creation. To do any less would be to disrespect HaShem. We need to use the resources to the best of our ability with the utmost respect. This leads to another concept. As we respect and treat our environment with respect and manage optimally our ecosystem, so are we to do with our own bodies. Our bodies are created in the Divine image as well and are a gift from G-d. We are really only “borrowing” these bodies, and when we’re done with them, we give them back. One interpretation of Deuteronomy 4:15 is to take care of ourselves, our bodies. If we are not in the best health, we can’t worship HaShem fully, as the Shema commands us. Some consider this an admonishment to not smoke or drink, or eat bad foods. HaShem created us, then, in His own image to use and enjoy the bounty of Earth, our home. G-d gave us all we need. So maybe, just maybe, we never left the Garden of Eden, Gan Eden, after all?

On the heels of observing commandments; community obeying the commandments; women studying Torah. https://youtu.be/z3aBNcGfOkE

Harmony comes when resistance is faced with love instead of confronted with opposition. Harmony issues forth when bending and swaying like nature's patterns: the breeze, the tide, the seasons. Harmony is not attained in agonized submission or hopeless despair to overwhelming forces. Harmony is tasted in quiet waiting while the storm brews, until Wisdom and Love disperse the clouds and recreate the sunshine which always follows the rain. We are harmonized to life's tune when we accept the rain as a sister to the sun and use the wake of the storm as a quiet time to mobilize our inner perspective. By harmony our souls are swayed; by harmony the world was made. George Granville

This week's Torah Portion, August 5, 2017 https://youtu.be/9slrVJ3bAm8

Life is both basic existence and creativity. The various colors of life's panorama reflect a rainbow of potential for experiencing life's message, which is: live life both vigorously and contemplatively. Life has meaning when life means something to us. Life means something to us only when we are real to ourselves and dare to face our conflicts, expose our rationalizations, and free our inhibitions so we can make contact and connect to people. There are no sidelines in a spiritual world. We must enter it and live. It matters not how long we live, but how. P.J. Bailey

http://metro.co.uk/2017/07/31/what-is-tisha-bav-why-today-is-a-day-of-mourning-in-the-jewish-calendar-6753368/#ixzz4oQenpLBp Today marks a solemn day in the Jewish calendar. Tisha B’Av is a time to reflect on the Jews who have been killed over the years in a number of tragedies. Millions will pay tribute to them with prayers, fasting and readings from the Torah at synagogues around the globe. Here is everything you need to know about Tisha B’Av. When is Tisha B’Av? Tisha B’Av always falls on the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av. In the gregorian calendar this is usually in either July or August. This year Tisha B’Av begins the evening of 31 July and ends on August 1. The date is known as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar and commemorates the times when Jewish people have been persecuted over the years – often on the ninth day of Av. For this reason, Tisha B’Av is considered by many to be a day destined for tragedy. The first horror Jews commemorate during Tisha B’Av is when Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the first temple in Jerusalem in 586BCE, killing 100,000 Jews. The second is when the Romans destroyed the second temple in Jerusalem in 70CE. The Holocaust and World War I are also commemorated during Tisha D’Av. What is Tisha B’Av The date is known as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar and commemorates the times when Jewish people have been persecuted over the years – often on the ninth day of Av.For this reason, Tisha B’Av is considered by many to be a day destined for tragedy.The first horror Jews commemorate during Tisha B’Av is when Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the first temple in Jerusalem in 586BCE, killing 100,000 Jews. The second is when the Romans destroyed the second temple in Jerusalem in 70CE.The Holocaust and World War I are also commemorated during Tisha D’Av.Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2017/07/31/what-is-tisha-bav-why-today-is-a-day-of-mourning-in-the-jewish-calendar-6753368/#ixzz4oQfjhWTw

New Month of Av; Moses' first discourse; don't do what your parents did; euphemisms to avoid evil speech; battles. https://youtu.be/8yEWf6NvCIM

Success is measured by inner satisfaction, not in the largeness of feats accomplished. A small overcoming and unannounced act of love, these are the hallmarks of the successful person. Success can be silent and unpraised, but rich is rewards when the giving of ourselves has reached another human being. We may worship Success only if we can worship Wisdom and Love first, for then our drives are geared towards the accomplishment of self-growth, the capacity to touch and reach others, and the commitment to perfect the imperfect in the world. Then the goal will not be the crass symbols of success that an irrational modern society defines and reveres. When wanting becomes tempered and harmonized with the laws of love, then we are assured success. We succeed when we no longer need. He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much. Mrs. A.J. Stanley

This week’s Torah portion is the double portion of Matot-Masei, and it closes out the book of Numbers. In the portion of Matot, HaShem commands Moshe Rabbeinu to צרור אח המדיני, “harass the Midianites”. It was confirmed that the Midianites had been massing for attack against the Israelites, and the order was to attack first. Each of the tribes contributed about a thousand of their best warriors to form a sort of special forces. This had been a recurrent theme over the last three books. After the Israelites left Egypt, the Amelakites were waiting for them. But rather than attack the masses, according to the Mishnah, they laid in wait until the mass of people passed them by, then attacked the rear. This was where a lot of the women and children were marching. Earlier on in Numbers, we read about the Moabites. This was a loose confederation of tribes who saw the Two-and-a-half million Israelites preparing to enter the land and they got worried. They were afraid that the Israelites would attack and destroy them. It doesn’t seem that there was any reason for this fear, but they had seen them win battles before and became quite distressed anyway. They engaged Balak as their king who then sent for Balaam the priest/sorcerer to go curse them. That didn’t work as HaShem had him pronounce curses. They settled on plan B which was to send their daughters in to seduce the men into depravity in celebration to their pagan gods. Today, once again Israel is in turmoil. A few days ago, rogue Palestinian youths attacked and killed two Israeli Druze policemen guarding the Temple Mount. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, acting on security concerns, shut down the Temple Mount, which now houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Palestinians became enraged. Today there were more attacks on Israelis. Palestinian youths broke into a settlement home and killed three Israelis and critically injured one more. They were “neutralized” by Israeli police. Later this evening in Israel, clashes broke out near the Temple Mount. Three Palestinians are dead. It’s not clear, at this point, who is to blame or specifically what happened. The point is that in 3500 years, not much has changed. We Jews want our ancestral holy land back. We have built it up over the last 60 years from a desert into a living, breathing, viable country. Israel has excelled in arts and sciences, with many medical technological innovations. And how does the rest of the world react? Israel ceded land to the itinerant Arabs, who are now deemed “Palestinians” more than ten years in exchange for peace. Instead of peace, a terrorist group—Hamas—seized control of Gaza and turned into a staging area for attacks against Israel. This was not against the army, but against school children and civilians. As they engaged in wanton violence against Israel, they spread over the world demeaning Israel and accusing them of “oppressing” them, forcing them into this violence as the only way to get their freedom. As much of the world sympathizes with them, their activities in their own land is ignored. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East where all religions are free to practice. In Gaza, you accept Islam or you die. In fact, Hamas has executed many people they believed were Israel sympathizers. They have used their children and women as shields against the onslaught of Israel reprisal after their unprovoked attacks. This is somewhat reminiscent of the commandment to “not have your children pass through Molech”, an ancient pagan practice that many believed was a euphemism for child sacrifice to appease a god. Again, in 3500 years, not much has changed. Israel has developed life-saving medical technologies that has been used to save even Palestinian lives. Where disaster strikes, Israel is one of the first countries to respond. Israel is responsible for many advancements, including the web site paradigm that I use. Yet the world continues to condemn Israel. While the UN puts forth a resolution each month condemning Israel for one thing or another, other issues go largely ignored. No resolutions have been put forth condemning Middle Eastern countries for their suppression of woman’s rights, their oppression of gays and minorities. Nothing is said about the attacks on innocent civilians in Syria, refugees who, by the way, get treated is Israeli hospitals. It makes one wonder if the ancient commandment to “harass the Midianites” should be revisited. Maybe that’s the only way peace will prevail in the area. Of course, the humanitarian implications are obvious and would further ignite an already inflammable situation. Or does it really matter. As Israel stands alone in the Middle East, more and more countries and realizing the reality of the situation and coming to Israel’s defense. In fact, many countries, previously Israel’s enemies, are approaching them for help in fighting indigenous terrorist groups that are starting to sprout. So maybe things will improve. So how do we handle it in the meantime? One might consider the old song, “you can’t please everyone, so you have to please yourself”. Or in Israel’s case, it may be more like “you can’t please anyone...”.

This week's Torah portion: https://youtu.be/pAuXAGTBdP0 Removing vows, harassing the Midianites and Moabites, 38 years of traveling, finishing up the book of Numbers.

Practice "Good" Emotions There are "good" emotions: the capacity to feel, relate, anticipate, react with freedom and appropriateness. They are the warmth and lifeblood of arid intellect. Espirit or elan, with a flair fro sensitivity, are the antennae that reach out and capture the excitement of life. Emotions are destructive when they miss the spirit and emphasize "emotionalism," dramatizing strife, and overreacting to stress. When we are emotionally wise we are enthusiastic but we temper our zeal with balance and consideration. Rational judgment need not lack emotion. Rather, it adds totality and richness to our experience. Feelings are fun when reason is a companion, an equal partner, a co-creator of a balanced attitude. Thought is deeper than all speech, feeling deeper than all thought. Christopher P. Cranch

Regrets in Life There are many stages in life, and each contains its own unique emotional challenges. Erik Erikson was a psychologist who looked at the various challenges of these particular “stages”. He categorized each of these stages as pertaining to the psychosocial development at that stage. For me, I am getting to the point in my life in which I am known as a “senior citizen”. Of course this depends on which business is willing to give a discount at a specific age. Some are a little older, some are a little younger. Either way, I’m at the point where I get an invitation to join AARP just about every other day, it seems. Approaching these “Golden Years”, as a senior citizen, I am at the point of looking back at my life, wondering if I made the right choices and pushed myself as much as I could to accomplish things in life. As one tends to look back on their lives, we wonder if they did the right thing. Anybody have these same feelings? Erikson called this final stage, “Ego Integrity vs. Despair”. Do we see our lives as productive? Or do we feel guilty about our past, dissatisfied with what life threw at us, wondering if somehow we could have done better? To extend this a bit, do we feel that somehow life was unfair, always challenging us yet not letting us reap any rewards for any hard work we put in? It’s a tough call. Now, even though Erikson confined this stage to older people, I’ll bet that there are many younger people, maybe even teenagers, who ask themselves these questions. I submit that most decisions we make in life come with the afterthought, “did I do the right thing, make the right decision?” It’s probably more a part of human nature than we think. Time machines do not exist. We can’t go back in time and change things, or see how this decision would have worked out. I listened to a lecture by a rabbi on “Torah Anytime”, and he made the comment that it’s a good thing that we live finite lives. There’s a sense of urgency to accomplish things since we really never know how much time we have or how we’re going to end up. So we have to confront our challenges in life the same way and know that we made the best decision we could have for that moment. So what if we’re concerned that we made the WRONG decision? Consider that HaShem loves “Teshuva”. HaShem loves it when we feel that we’ve strayed from the path, the “derech” and returned to His commandments. So too, we can always “return” to what may be a better path after making a less-than-efficacious decision. One of the things that people who ruminate on their life’s paths tend to ignore is how much they’ve grown. They say that “hindsight is 20/20”. Looking in the rear-view mirror, we can always see the bigger picture. What people don’t seem to give themselves credit for is the fact that whatever those previous decisions were, they gave us more wisdom, and the insight to evaluate our previous actions in a brighter light. RATHER THAN BEAT OURSELVES UP FOR NOT HAVING THAT KNOWLEDGE THEN, LET’S USE OUR NEW-FOUND WISDOM, THE WISDOM WE ACQUIRED THROUGH THESE PAST DECISIONS, TO DRIVE OUR LIVES WITH MORE MEANING GOING FORWARD! Right? Finally, let’s look at the 10th Commandment: “Thou shalt not covert thy neighbor’s belongings”. In other words, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. How about bringing this closer to home? Don’t covet your own imaginings either, the better life that you think you would have had with a different decision. One of the reasons that stealing is an offense against G-d is because He apportioned everything for everyone according to His wisdom. By stealing, we are really going against His Design. We have what we have because G-d gave us what we needed, what we deserved, and what would motivate us to push ourselves. By coveting another life, we are going against G-d’s plan, questioning His Divine Knowledge. Let this then answer your question. G-d put the challenges in front of you, and you did the best you could with what you had. Sure we may think we could have, would have, wanted something better, but we got the best we could and did the best we could under the circumstances. So if you ever consider that somehow you’ve failed, you probably are selling yourselves short. Imagine how your life would have turned out if you didn’t have the insight to question?