Mendel Bluming | Blogger

In 1997 Pepsi ran a promotion in which one bottle cap out of 565 million revealed a win of 1 million dollars! It was called the 1997 Pepsi Cola Globe Buck Contest. There was excitement in the air and Pepsi sales sky rocketed! Say you invited some friends to a BBQ on a beautiful summer afternoon in your backyard and while they were enjoying their food one of them opened a Pepsi bottle and SHE WON! She was thrilled… but you, not so much… “Wait, you can drink the Pepsi as my guest, but the bottle cap and bottle are mine... I won that million dollars not you…” What do you think? Who would Jewish Law consider the rightful owner? Upcoming class taught by Menachem M. Bluming in conjunction with JLI 

There are times to bend like a reed in the wind. And there are times to act as a stubborn wall against the tide. There are matters that lie at the periphery of life. In those situations stubbornness often stands in the way of harmony and peace. Every such “I” is the very root and source of evil. But when it comes to matters that touch the purpose for which you were placed in this world, that’s when you have to be that immovable wall. That’s when you have to say, “On this, I‘m not going to budge.” That “I,” that’s not evil. That‘s an “I” fulfilling the purpose for which you were given an “I.” Menachem Mendel Bluming,  Chabad.org and Rabbi Freeman

Lighting candles seems to play a prominent role in Judaism. We light candles every Friday for Shabbos, we light candles on every festival, in memory of a loved one we kindle a flame and Chanukah is all about candles.  What is the meaning behind this focus?  There is something about a flame that makes it more spiritual than physical. When you use something physical, it is diminished. The more money you spend, the less you have. The more gas you use, the emptier your tank becomes. The more food you eat the more you need to restock your pantry. But spiritual things increase with use. If I use my wisdom to teach, the student learns, and I come out smarter for it. If I share my love with another, I become more loving, not less. When I give a spiritual gift, the recipient gains, and I lose nothing.  There is no better illustration of this than a candle. When you use one candle to light another, the original candle remains bright. Its light is not diminished...

Feeling depleted lately? Exhausted? Drained? Simply not enough strength to keep on moving forward? Sometimes I feel like I am down to the very last drop... How do we keep on going? …Gaze at the beautiful flames of the Chanukah Menorah, the soft lasting glow of the candles or oil flame seems to be telling us something very personal: Those brave Maccabees; All they had was one small jug of oil really not enough to last for 8 days, they realistically did not have enough.  Yet amazingly their flame kept on going and going and going… Within your soul and my soul there is an endless indefatigable supply of pure oil that will keep our flame burning way past what we think we can reasonably handle. If we only apply its flame our souls draw on an infinite resource… Menachem M Bluming and Chabad.org