Mendel Bluming | Blogger

Note received:  “I have to admit, I am angry. I was brought up Jewish, attended a Jewish school, and have only known Judaism as my religion. Now I am told I have to convert, because my mother never formally became Jewish. Isn't it a little unfair that all my life I was more Jewish than my friends, was subjected to anti-Semitism, and then I am told I need to convert?!”   Here's a thought... I completely understand your frustration. It can't be easy to hear that you need to convert to your own religion. But please don't take it personally. This is not a reflection on you. The entire Jewish nation went through exactly what you are going through now. After leaving Egypt, where they suffered as slaves and were tormented for being Jewish, the Israelites reached Mount Sinai. There they were told they had to formally accept the Torah, and convert to Judaism by immersing in a mikvah. They could've had the same complaint as yours. We've always been Jewish, we have

The realities of Chanukah exactly 2159 years ago forced the Jews to find a way to light the menorah with one seemingly inadequate cruse of oil. Amazingly it lasted not only for that Chanukah but to this day.   In 2020 the realities forced us to somehow make one measly cruse of oil work. We had to find ways to make Chanukah joyous despite not being able to congregate and celebrate together.   In 2020 YOU found a way to make one small jug work. You expressed love and care despite physical distance. You supported and sustained the community despite the hardships of this year. Yes I have seen many marriages strained by the pandemic yet I have also seen so many marriages strengthened. When we spend so much time together we realize how much we need each other and how worthwhile it is to invest in relationships with family that are all too often neglected.   Finding the good in 2020 starts with Chanukah. That one small cruse of oil looked measly but now in hindsight it was a powerhouse of ene

Take a dreidel and spin it. Let everyone watch. It's fascinating. You never know which side it will land on. It could fall on the Gimmel, which means you win all, or the Shin, which means you lose all. It may land on Heh, and you win half the pot. And sometimes it ends up on Nun, and nothing happens. It all seems totally random. But really it isn't. Every spin has an exact amount of kinetic energy to cause a measured number of turns. The table surface provides an exact amount of friction, and the air pushes the dreidel in a certain way, so it falls exactly as it is supposed to. Nothing is left to chance. There is an exact science to the spin. We just don't get it. Life is like that. It may seem random sometimes. Things just happen, you win or you lose, it falls this way or that for no apparent reason. But that is just how it seems. There is a divine hand spinning the world. Every turn is deliberate, every experience you have is supposed to happen, and whether you win or

A foundation of Chassidic teaching is that, as taught in Tanya chapter 12, we can control our behavior, which includes our thoughts, speech and action. We can usually control what we do, and also what we say. But can we really control what we think? Can I control what will pop into my head? I got this response from a ‘friend’ some time ago: “Apologies for not responding sooner to your emailed message. I actually did receive it the first time. But I ignored it. I didn't even open it. And it was deliberate. I decide which messages I open, and which I don't. Just because an alert pops up on my screen does not mean that I have to react to it. I may not be able to control the messages that arrive in my inbox, but I can certainly control whether or not I open them. And I didn't open yours.” You may not be able to control the thoughts that pop into your head. But you most certainly can control your reaction to them. If an inappropriate thought enters your mind, you have the choice

Many people from all different walks of life have reported feeling an affinity to Jews and Judaism. Some leave it at that. Others take it further. For them, it is more than just a curiosity with Jewish things or a taste for Jewish cooking. It is in their soul. The first Jewish couple, Abraham and Sarah, were married for decades before they were blessed with a child. But the Kabbalists in Shelah HaKadosh, Sha’ar HaOsios, Kedushas Hazivug 402 say that although no physical children had been born to them, they had given birth to many spiritual children. Every time husband and wife are together, a soul is born. Sometimes that soul comes down into a body, and is born as their child. Other times, the soul remains in the heavens. Abraham and Sarah for all those years were in fact giving birth to souls without bodies. Those souls were then distributed among the nations of the world and spread over history.   These are the souls of converts to Judaism throughout the ages. When a non-Jew