What Would You Do?: Assist a Woman to Buy Groceries (Video Included)

She stands in line, ready to make a purchase. She has a family to feed - a baby in need of baby food, diapers and - well, everything a baby needs! She doesn't have the money for it all (let alone to imagine how she will pay her rent and taxes!) What would you do? Would you help?

This beautiful video shows a group of very special people who, when put to the test showed their true colours! Indeed, when one sees someone struggling financially - no matter what - if one is able to assist, the Torah teaches we should go all out for them. Of course, if one can't assist, a man in this video shows us another set of true colours - feeling empathetic rather than shouting out insults is also something special. Both take doing. So next time you're solicited for funds from someone who seems to look quite healthy - but going through hard times, consider this video. 

Remember, there is a Creator over all things who is ultimately putting each one of us through this test - every single day, even when we think we're not being watched. One day, however, the Creator will reveal Himself. Out comes the cameras and one is suddenly aware of the test that one had gone through. There's a "Crew" watching us in every situation just wanting and waiting to see the best sides of ourselves - constantly. Are you showing yours? If you can - help. If you can't - feel the other's pain as if it were your own. It may once have been your own too, that's why it should encourage you to give now - if you can! It's important to feel. And if you've never "been there", pay it forwards to others today - so that you may always be blessed. Life is a wheel that goes around.

A Purim Dream

Dreams mostly happen on the night that they happen. They don't usually happen before the night. But this Purim dream is already happening though it's just over a day until Purim itself.

Jews around the world will be celebrating. There's a victory that occurred some two and a half thousand years ago - and it's still being celebrated! An evil man by the name of Haman plotted to destroy the entire Jewish people, but a Jewish man named Mordechai together with his relative Esther entered to save the day! There were others involved - and even G-d Himself (though not mentioned in the Megillah) had His share in saving the Jewish people from mass genocide!

It seems so foreign to think about, and yet we know of similar periods in Jewish history about the enemies of the Jewish people doing whatever they wish in their hope of their greatest desires... But we're still here and going strong! It was at Purim that the Jewish people truly accepted upon themselves the Oral Torah - a set of rules not formally written down - and with all this happening and a complete revival of Judaism in every sense of the word, the Jewish people emerged victorious! With that - the celebrations were to begin - at least as much as Mordechai instituted them then. The Jewish people were commanded to remember the day of Purim through an abundance of love towards each other - charity to the poor, gift packages of at least two different items for a friend and a special meal for the day - not to mention the reading of the Megillah and hearing the story of the miracles that occurred! Who could ask for a happier day?! 

Get into it yourself - or think of previous years, and you'll know just what it's all about! Everyone is filled with tremendous happiness - tremendous love for the other too! Everyone seems so much more at ease - with real smiles on their faces! There's a "Shalom" waiting for you from practically everybody - and strangely enough - you'll find yourself saying it to others too! It seems that people feel easier - in fact with no embarrassment at all - about asking for money to help them (Matanot LaEvyonim - charity for the poor - "gifts for the poor.") More than this - people feel easier about giving them. There's no shame because everyone suddenly realises what it's all about. It's about happiness, kindness and giving. You'll see Jews of all kinds coming through - passing by your home too! Some will be wearing hats of every kind! Others will have Peyot purchased from a toy shop! Kids will be wearing beards! Nobody criticizes anybody - no matter what they wear! There's just so much joy - so much giving!

You'll probably even be invited out for a special Seudah - a Mitzvah meal! There will be meat and wine and other wonderful delicacies! You'll have friends (you never even knew about!) knocking on your door with a special gift package with an assortment of sweets, chocolates and even real food! In fact, you may be thinking - you'll be doing just the same.

It's an amazing day. It celebrates victory to the Jewish people. There's some Torah during the day as we read the Megillah. There's the festivities of the physical body too! There's even a combination where with a "little" wine, both body and soul feel good about things - together. True homeostasis! The Simcha (happiness) experienced by all is beyond what anybody can ever think of...

And yet, the day after Purim, it all seems to fall apart - again! The beautiful "Shalom" greeting has faded. People feel critical of the one with Peyos - or the one wearing a different hat (let alone if the other wears the brim up or down!) Their desire to give money to a poor person is replaced with "Why doesn't he just get a job," or the like. The poor feel once again ashamed to approach another for any assistance - ever again. As for gifts, those in real need can only but hope that someone will care to assist them - one day soon. As for a festive meal - or any meal at all, the poor man may well be confronted with a "You can live on bread and eggs," remark. And while a Shabbat invitation may come about - it's rare to find a caring person for the other six days of the week! Why does this happen? What happens to us just hours after a day experiencing what true joy is all about?

Purim is here - not for itself. Not just for the day itself. It is here to teach us what it really does mean to be Jewish. Purim is a day to be celebrated all year long. When we realise this - when we are truly able to see the foolishness of holding ourselves back from each other - we will have the opportunity to awaken that beautiful force that existed so many years ago - a force that will bring the truest joy to us all. Victory again! Love again! One can wonder if it will come from heaven itself - like so many feel and learn about. But maybe not. Maybe it's up to us. Maybe it's for us to bring in the joy. To grab hold of the Simcha as it exists from above, and pull it down hard into this world, so that when we see another Jew - any day of the year, we see him as if it were Purim. He is a Purim Jew. So am I. I see his need to be greeted. I see my need to greet. I see his need to have blessing. I need it too myself. I see his need for good food and physical satisfaction. I hope for it myself too. I see his need for a gift - because I so often need this comfort.

Purim will be here just around the corner. Internalise its message, or there will have to be another year before it comes around again. Make a difference to yourself this Purim - so that you can be a Purim Jew - all year around.

The Rambam (click image at top of post for larger picture) teaches that giving money to the poor is the greatest of all the Mitzvot on Purim - because it gives them the opportunity to express their own happiness by purchasing the things they need most for themselves. There's no need to embarrass them with what we feel they should have (because they are poor.) Those who are orphans, widows and converts - feel the pain of not having even more than others. If you are one of them - you know what this means. If you are not, it can take much "alone time" to realise just how great their pain is.

For those taking in the message of Purim - all year around - may you be blessed for all your kindness whenever you do it. You are blessed already! For those wishing to assist some orphans in great need - in starting their very own homes with their own families, we encourage you to visit our own Bayit Chadash - Wedding Project, and make a donation any time - but in particular this Purim. 

If you would like to know more about our projects and take part in any way you can, see our main page www.lovingkindness.co or contact us via email directly chessedveemet@gmail.com

Purim Somayach!!!

HaShavat Aveidah - Kiddush Hashem - Returning a Lost Object & Sanctifying G-d's Name (with video clip)

So often one hears that the Torah is dry. So often one hears that it's too ritualistic. Too many dos and too many don'ts! Too much of things that relate to older days. So many feel that the Torah lacks modernism. 

So far from the real truth are such comments. The Torah is as vibrant as ever! It's filled with a level of modernity that no other book can come close to - and still hold it's own throughout the years of "change." What's so beautiful is being able to catch that "modernity" when it happens - to see the Torah's truth and it's vitality at the moment it occurs!

Returning a lost object is a commandment in the Torah, "Do not see the ox of your brother or his sheep straying and hide away from them - you shall surely return them to your brother," (Deuteronomy 22:1). When one performs the action of returning what the other may have lost, one performs a Mitzvah - a Mitzvah that was as fresh thousands of years ago - as it still is today.

When others get to  hear about the good action, when they get to see it, one performs yet another special Mitzvah - a Kiddush Hashem - a sanctification of G-d's Name. This means that others will see that this is the right way to behave - and seeing it coming from someone who follows the Torah gives the other the strength they may need, to see the beauty of Torah, and it's goodness.

Torah is as fresh as ever. Those learning and practising it show the world just how modern it is, how kind it is, how much truth there is in it. The end result is a world that focuses on giving, on the other and on improving oneself to be a truly great person!

Don't forget to watch the video below!

Color Your World With Kindness

Greek mythology teaches that there was a King Midas who had some sort of unique touch. Everything he touched turned to gold - even on one occasion when he touched his own daughter! We live in a world where it does seem like there are those who have this same effect. There are those whose every business deal seems to meet with success. They seem to win every competition. It seems that everything goes right for them - always! Not everyone has this magic touch - but there is another far more special touch each one of us does have... It's the type of touch that turns everything into color. Not always for ourselves - but for others. I guess when it affects others, it must reciprocate and affect ourselves as well - even if it takes some time before the results can be seen!

There's a kid's game called Tag - or perhaps simply "you're it!" When you're touched - you need to touch someone else - because at the moment - "you're it!" The most unique of Tag games however is all about the excitement of "being it" so that one can reach the other - who needs it - no matter how the "touch" comes about. The truth is, nobody is really running away, because everybody really does need to be tagged - so that they can tag the other - and bring color into their lives.

It's an amazing "game" of sorts. It says - there's someone else in need. When one helps them - they too feel inspired - to give to the other. There's no need for selfishness in this game. No need to step away from the other to enjoy for oneself only. It's a different need. It says - your world should be at least as colorful as mine. I know it should be, because once it happened that someone colored my world - and I am simply over joyous to reach out and touch you - to color your world too. 

Try it some time - soon! It's really this type of touch which we all already actually have - that turns you into a king (queen!) too!

Destitute - A Meditation

A recent conversation had me thinking about a terrifying situation in life (may we not have to know of it.) The word "destitute" came up. I haven't consciously paid attention to it recently. On the contrary, words like "poor" or "lacking" - words so much more clinical in nature - are more the norm for today's society. "Destitute" on the other hand tells it all - no holds barred!

The Free Dictionary defines destitute as, "utterly lacking, devoid," and "lacking resources or the means of subsistence; completely impoverished". I was thinking of that other cruel sounding word which many "with means" are so fond of using, "indigent," to refer to someone considered to be a lost cause to the world, hopeless, and often even a waste to society (G-d forbid.) At least this is the way I've always heard it in the conversations I've been involved in.

I considered in my own mind the super abundance we seem to be living with, with most people oblivious to the reality of things. Sure in today's times, we are all poor. Nobody has any money. We're all suffering. The cliche's and platitudes continue ad nauseum. One dare never point this out to those making such original, caring statements, lest they bark up another dozen insults at the other's way of living. And then, just after their ingenious brilliance at the terrible state of life affairs, they'll continue with the importance of the next vacation they're planning for at least three weeks at the coast. They'll be sharing how their latest smartphone - just two months old, has already seen it's last - and it's time to upgrade! They might even laugh at their silliness at having dropped the last one down the toilet (a feat I have never understood,) and the necessity of purchasing a new one without delay! But the phone is not the only necessity. Today one needs the laptop (constantly updated!) for meetings, the Tablet (for ease of carrying around) and the electronic book reader - wherever one goes. All of course - for those in this senseless crazy situation of dire poverty!

I was thinking about the "greatness" of our generation today. Many commit themselves to an hour or so a day of introspective meditation. Feet folded a certain way. Hands positioned just right. Breathing - in absolute and perfect control. The relaxation is said to assist them with all of life's trials and challenges and help them to relax - so that perhaps they can get back into paragraph 3 again.

I considered the power of one of my favourite Torah books - Shaarei Kedusha (Gates of Holiness) written by Rabbi Chaim Vital and containing the secrets of some of the deepest levels of meditation available. The work may be a short one, but the effort needed in attaining these sublime levels of holiness can mean a lifetime of work. Not the kind mentioned in Paragraphs 3 or 4, but the kind related to that very word "Destitute". When one can truly understand it. When one can hear it, listen to it, and be so affected, that when one arises after having considered the total depth of despair another may feel when they are indeed destitute - that one can think of nothing less than doing whatever one can to assist them to succeed in life again - to have, just like everyone else does, to be able to live like others who do, and who themselves can become givers to others too.

Call it new-wave meditation if you like. It's something about hearing the reality of a situation. It's about being able to calm oneself enough - not for simple relaxation - but in order to listen and in order to hear the difficulty another may be going through (or if you like, to experience their joy too when the time comes!) When one arises after the session, the reality is so great, that it leaves nothing less, than the need to act in action. This is true holiness. It is true greatness. It is the most real of meditations possible because it affects oneself - and it affects another. It's not just something to think about. It's something to actually do.

Not for nothing does the Torah teach, "Action is the main thing!"

It's FREEZING! What Would You Have Done? What Would You Do?

The excuse is always what we will do "one day" that counts. We all talk about the times when we'll have the money - just how many people we will help! How many times have we heard this from others? The future is open and when the good times come - we'll be giving to everybody! Then of course, are the times when we see what others have done - and say the same thing! If we were there, then we too would have done the exact same thing!

But life is about the now. It's about doing what counts right this moment - to those who may need more than we do. What would we do right now, if we saw the situation truly needed something? Would we be there to help - or would we talk of the past - of doing what others have already done? Or perhaps we would talk of the future - of just how much we will help when we have it all (if we ever do.)

Let's see what others really do do - in this beautiful video clip. This is reality. Here are the real people of the world. Are you one of them? The situation demands immediate attention. Are we willing to give in - right away? So many do. To see it happening is an inspiration. Don't forget, you can always be one of these people. It takes courage to stand out from the crowd - to help the other when they are in need. But that's what it's really all about. It's not about discussing what work they're doing at the time, nor criticizing why it is that they're now freezing ("you made your bed...") It's about real action. It's about now. That's what's required - from every one of us. There really are no excuses - when it comes to doing an additional kindness for someone - without demanding answers - when they're suffering.

Appreciating Kindness and Truth

Yesterday was a big day for me as I changed the banner to my blog. It's been some time and it was worth the face lift! It got me thinking again about the beautiful values of kindness and truth - Chessed Ve'Emet (the name of our organisation) - what everybody should stand up for. The world is built on kindness - says King David (Tehillim 89:3,) and in 85:11 he says "Kindness and truth met, righteousness and peace kissed." They are the core values of life for any human being. At this time of year as we read about the building of the Tabernacle - the Mishkan - we become aware of the awesome wealth involved in order to make it what it was. And what exactly was it? It was a place for the Divine Presence to rest inside - ultimately shining Her rays into the heart of every Jew.

The Creator of the world wanted nothing less than the very best of material things - in order to rest Her Presence. More suprisingly, the Jews responded with a hearty "YES!" They all contributed. Some gold and some silver while others took part with materials. It was an awesome project that brought G-d into the world bringing blessing to all(!)

Our focus must continue in this same direction. We must admit to the beautiful values of truth - and we must be prepared to be kind - because that brings out a necessary truth in itself - one that acknowledges the need of the other - as much as we want it for ourselves. The Jews did not compromise in building the ultimate palace for G-d - and it is a lesson to  us to never slacken in contributing goodness and kindness to all others too.

Of course, if one feels one just cannot be kind - then at least do be quiet!

Someone once said that there are three sets of beautiful words that can instantly make a woman smile - "You are beautiful," "I miss you," and "I love you." They are not just for women - they will make anyone smile.  When said with meaning, these are words of kindness and they are also words of truth. It's kindness and truth that makes all the difference - to everyone.

Experience the Tabernacle. Experience the effort all went through to make it beautiful - because it is a place for G-d. So too is each individual a mini-Tabernacle needing the best of everything, the love, the kindness, the genuineness of the other and their caring.

Try it some time soon. You will see that the other will smile. 

Podcast - Assisting Orphans to Marry - with Reb Eliyahu, Shoshanah & Errol Ballen (Radio Protea)

For those new to our activities, enjoy this wonderful podcast as Errol Ballen from Radio Protea interviewed us last night discussing the variety of activities we are involved in. You'll hear more about the Torah outreach we do, our Mitzvah projects - and most notably, the Bayit Chadash Wedding Project - assisting orphans to marry. We come in at about 47:10. Enjoy! Do be in touch with us to find our more about becoming a partner in kindness together with us!

Popular Entertainment Internet Radio with Radio Protea on BlogTalkRadio

Assisting Orphans to Marry - Rabbi Avraham Sutton Talks to Reb Eliyahu

Imagine preparing for the excitement of your wedding day! Everything seems set to go and the day arrives. It's not quite as big as you expected with just 50 guests - but it will have to do. There's no new suit for the Chatan. In fact there's nobody really taking care of the wedding except for the Chatan and Kallah themselves. That's because at least one of them is an orphan.

Imagine - it's not far off - the guests don't have the means to assist the couple either - so the gifts they'll receive will be few. After the wedding, the couple will find themselves entering a home without a fridge, without a stove (or oven), without what many consider a necessity - a washing machine. Imagine entering your bedroom after the Simcha - to find - there are no beds. In fact, nobody actually cares whether you have them or not. Your first Shabbos sees you without a Challah board - not to speak of the fact that there's no table to put it on.

Go back to the scene of your wedding again. Imagine your Simcha with guests who have no interest in dancing - because you're an orphan - and it's you who must get things going so that somebody will dance - at your Simcha! Imagine there's no budget for a photographer - and nobody really interested enough to take a beautiful picture of both Chatan and Kallah together - one that could be framed and put on the table (not yet available!)

Imagine the embarrassment and pain of it all. But it's not fantasy. This is a reality...

Chessed Ve'Emet saw the urgent need to develop a unique project and a unique fund aimed at giving orphans the blessings they need and certainly deserve at the time of marriage. Whether "friends" take part or not - Chessed Ve'Emet is doing its utmost to see to it that those lacking should never feel the shame or embarrassment (and humiliation after the wedding from those who wish to further add insult to injury!) from not knowing how to even begin life and their homes at the time of Chuppah and thereafter.

Do watch this video with Rabbi Avraham Sutton and Reb Eliyahu discussing this important Mitzvah. But don't just watch it because it all sounds good, meaningful or emotional. Watch it so that it makes such a difference that sharing it with others is just the start - making a meaningful donation to actually assist is the next and immediate step. You can find out more about our project by visiting the Bayit Chadash Wedding Project, where you can make an immediate donation to our project today. Your donation is urgently needed as we head into the new year hoping to assist at least 15 orphans this year - with everything that they require.

Our New Magazine - "Yibaneh Yerushalayim" (Animated Video about It!)

You too can be a part of it! Advertise, share a quality article, sponsor someone else to write (and support those living in Israel,) or assist us to be able to do even more! Enjoy the video!

Cleaning Lady Syndrome - Don't Ever Get Caught With It!

Cleaning Lady Syndrome? Heard of it before? I've certainly seen it around, but only after reading a Jewish publication recently (see below) did I realise just how far out we've gone. Far out - in doing whatever we can to make sure others - no matter how hard they work - are not entitled to live.

In Israel, when all else fails, and one is unable to get a job - even working in something one is well qualified for - one often resorts to the norm of the Israel economy. One becomes a Cleaning Lady (even if one is a man!) There's a general rule about minimum wage (a concept that teaches that legally one should pay an amount equal to an accepted standard - instituted by a group of people who nobody actually ever knows about. This often entitles bosses to make large profits while the employee must work daily for - literally - his bread.) 

Then there's a broader concept of the individual who wants to progress. Call it Capitalism! The minimum wage - around 20-22 Shekels per hour currently (allowing for a full-time job income of around 4000 Shekel) allows one the opportunity to rent a one bedroom apartment and pay one's taxes. It doesn't allow for much more - and in fact often puts one in debt - even before eating - one's bread!

The Cleaning Lady has moved up a level in society and "demands" almost double the minimum wage (apparently an accepted amount by most people). Should she have the opportunity to work 6 days a week - 8 hours a day (all practically impossible - as nobody is actually able to work this way in the Cleaning Lady industry) - she would come out with sufficient money to rent her apartment, pay her taxes and purchase the basic food she needs to live. If lucky enough - she'd even be able to afford bus fare to get to work and back!

Most people never consider the reality of this. We've come to live in a society where our paying others is frowned upon for any honest work that the other does. It's become a society where we take as much as we can at the expense of the other - who must surely pull their weight in giving something to the world. It's a society where we feel the other must be put in their place as to their lowliness - at the advantage of the exploitative employer who may demand practically anything from the employee - all for the amount of a piece of bread. There are indeed known organisations who hire rabbinical teachers to teach at their "offices" without payment. Sure there is money - but those attending pay the organisation who receive the wealth for themselves while the teacher is given the "honour" to teach for them. Volunteer organisations abound - with "employers" demanding work from the volunteer for no pay at all - just for the privilege of being able to tell others that they "have a job!"

The letter below - sent in to a widely circulated magazine in Israel - was one that truly showed its colours. I wondered why the publisher had chosen to publish it, and wondered if they actually agreed with it's thoughts. Either way - that's their decision, because we live in a free society. A society that is entitled to express itself practically any way it chooses. I guess the hardest part in all this, is working out - that if indeed we do live in a society that allows one to express oneself as one wishes to, how come we are not entitled to charge honestly for the work we do (by the very people who expect the right to free-speech?!)

It's not the Torah approach to life - which encourages a healthy lifestyle of paying honestly for work done. The Torah demands not just giving charity, nor helping one's fellow when they are in dire straits. It demands respecting the other for the efforts they put in to doing a hard and honest job. Should they require money to live, or dare it be requiring money to pay for bus fare - shouldn't we at least be prepared to accept the basic necessities of the other?! Or should we simply get together and force others to kneel at our every request - so that we may live as we wish to - with our own wealth, while the other be brought down to the lowest levels of life - and heaven forbid, give up on life altogether due to a lack of money just to live...

The "Cleaning Lady" in Israel is often a very educated person (many times a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant or even occupational therapist!) Not only are they to be respected for their education and their other contributions to society - they are too be thoroughly appreciated for the tremendous effort they go to (back breaking - very often) of keeping our homes clean when we need that time for ourselves to attend to our own lives. What a shame the writer below could never appreciate this!

The comments below leave a lot to be desired. They reflect this most sick condition in our society - The Cleaning Lady Syndrome. It's not a syndrome the Cleaning Lady has - it's a sickness very often found in the head of the employer!

Help Bring Moshiach - Video Clip of the Rebbe

Just a few days ago, we began the new cycle of learning the Tanya - Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liady's magnum opus of mystical teachings, discussing the nature of the soul and it's duty, purpose and challenge in the world. A glance at the first chapters lets us know about souls that operate on the level of "head" and souls that operate on the level of "feet." Souls who must lead others because of their complete knowledge and understanding of how things must be, and souls who must put into action whatever needs to be done.

A Rebbe has a soul of the former kind, with complete clarity of what must be done. Those who lack this particular soul (most everybody else,) have within them the strength necessary to achieve what needs to be done. Nevertheless, the Rebbe is by no means exempt. On the contrary, he is at the very forefront of every activity, leading by example. There are many things he is able to achieve as he leads the way, but even so, there is also a frustrating feeling of realising that there is much more that still needs to be done - by others. After all, feet are much more suited to running - than are heads!

Our generation seems lost in both material and spiritual pursuits, with everybody on a path of "every man doing right in his own eyes," while forgetting the goal. This goal is to bring Moshiach - the real Messiah of the world, who will bring both physical and spiritual redemption to every person on every level they need it. Many feel they are already there. They feel it "spiritually," apparently living the perfect and ideal spiritual life. They even feel it materially - with many being blessed with their deepest most personal material fantasies and whims being fulfilled on a daily basis. But it doesn't take much to actually pause, step back, and realise that we're far from redemption, both on a personal and a global level.

We enter the festival of Chanukah, a time of light. But it's only light because we make it so. There is always the Shamash - the "Master Candle" that lights the others. But then, the real Mitzvah is the candles that burn on their own throughout the eight days. The Shamash is really there only to get things started. When it comes to actual fulfillment, it's important that the individual candles themselves illuminate the world. Even though it may seem like nothing can be lit by itself and the Shamash is needed, we must keep focused on realising that what is most crucial is for the individual lights to bring illumination into the world. The Shamash may always be there, but the Mitzvah lights must take the torch for themselves - and share the light that they have!

Each one of us - this very day - finds himself/herself in trying times like nothing ever before. But it's time for us to take the light that we have inside and to light ourselves up - sharing this beauty with others. "A candle is a Mitzvah, and the Torah is light," teaches King Solomon - the wisest of men. The Rebbe - and all those outstanding Tzaddikim before him - have done everything they can to bring Moshiach, but it seems that he has not yet arrived. He has not yet redeemed us, and each of us, in our own way, feel the pains of the exile - one in which G-d too finds Himself. Now it is up to us, each in our own unique way to increase every day with something great, something new, something kind - never "blue."

Right now, it is time for each of us to take on another Mitzvah. One today - and another tomorrow. Time to increase in our Torah learning and our teaching to others. Time to give a little more. Time to focus on even greater honesty, more care and more sharing the pain and difficulties of others. Should you feel lost in wondering where next to bring a ray of light into the world, check in to Lovingkindness.co, and better yet, bring some light into the lives of those who are lacking redemption - to be blessed with some type of redemption they need - today! Enjoy the video and do take it to heart!

Purpose of Technology (Video of the Rebbe of Lubavitch)