Best Chanukah EVAR!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Chanukah Wrapup:
1 "Shema Yisrael" necklace: EXCELLENT.
4 Sarit Hadad CD's: FABULOUS.
300 Hamas terrorists bombed out of Gaza: PRICELESS.
There are some things gelt can buy.
For everything else, there's the Israeli Military.
Great Resources for Staying Updated on Israel:
Israeli Bloggers in English is a complete listing of Israeli bloggers who blog in English-- most are olim from North America.
Israel Matzav a favorite, this blog is managed by Carl in Jerusalem, an olim from Boston.
Sabra @ Heart A New Yorker who lives in Israel.
Many of these blogs have linked a post by Niv Calderon, who is starting a "Help Israel on Social Media" movement: go to his homepage for details. Basically, the idea is to stand up for Israel on social networking tools like facebook, myspace, twitter, etc., especially when these forums are referenced by major news sources-- i.e. Rick Sanchez's 3 pm EST spot on CNN. It's a great idea. With the protests going on worldwide, we need to get our pro-Israel voices heard.
And here's a Chanukah present to you: Hanukkah Hey Ya!
Labels: Chanukah, Gaza, Hanukkah, IDF, Israel
posted by Shoshana @ 5:27 PM
Of Miracles and Lights
Sunday, December 21, 2008
The greatest Hanukkah lesson I heard taught this year was from Rabbi David Wolpe, who remarked on the idea that miracles begin when human beings step out in faith. Were it not for the faith of the person who hid the oil, or the faith of those who lit the menorah on that first night, HaShem would never have been given the opportunity to reveal Himself in Spirit and in Truth. Miracles happen because we are willing to step out in faith; they do not drop from the sky upon our asking or manifest because we wish for them to happen.
We have grown soft in our comfortable, modern existence. We have grown susceptible to anti-Biblical ideologies because we are so distanced from the lives of the men and women written about in Scripture. We are cushioned by our own construct of reality, a structure that has carefully boarded out any remnant of the discomforts of our past. We fool ourselves into thinking that talking is action, forgetting that actions testify to the words we speak. We congratulate ourselves for forging alliances over breakfast tables that begin to decay by dinnertime. We have created for ourselves a very silly, sad and foolish world. Most frighteningly, we have put our faith in our creation.
Miracles happen because we are willing to stand up for what is right. The Maccabees had a false reality imposed upon them, one that contradicted everything they knew to be true and right. The Greek reality was the antithesis of who they were as Israelites. So, they fought back. It meant blood, injury, death. It was gruesome, ugly, fearful. It lasted more than a half hour, day, week, or month. It was not ended by third party negotiation or compromise. Judah Maccabee and his ragtag guerilla army of rebels, out-manned and out-flanked, won because they believed in a reality greater than any human being could ever create and couch themselves in. They won because they stepped out in faith--politically, religiously, and culturally.
And when the Jewish people can once again step out in that kind of all-encompassing faith, we will win, because our G-d has already claimed the victory.
Chanukah Sameach. This year, don't just light the lights. Strike a spark in your neshama and fight back.
Labels: Chanukah, Hanukkah, Israel, Maccabee, menorah, miracle, oil, Wolpe, Yeshua
posted by Shoshana @ 11:15 AM
