Mendel Bluming | Blogger

I remember at school a friend failed his end of year exams and had to repeat a grade. He stayed back for a year and was no longer in our class, but rather the class below. We all moved on but he was held back. Some think reincarnation is like repeating a year at school. While some souls graduate to the next world after their life in this world, others are sent right back down to get things right in another life. That is not quite how Judaism teaches that it works. A better metaphor would be a mobile data rollover plan. The phone company gives you 15GB of data per month. Any part of that data you don't use in one month rolls over to the next month. So if you only used 14GB in May, that 14GB is gone, but the remaining 1GB comes back for you to use in June. Your soul has multiple gigabytes of spiritual energy and divine potential. This is the power G-d has invested in you to fulfill your mission in life. You use that potential by doing good deeds, performing mitzvot. Every mit...

Question from a groom:    I understand the reason we break a glass at a wedding ceremony is to commemorate the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem some 2000 years ago. This indeed was a significant event in Jewish history, but it doesn't seem to have any personal relevance to me. What does a destroyed building have to do with my wedding? Here’s a Wedding/ Tisha B’Av thought: The destruction of the Temple has extreme personal relevance. It happened to you. The shattering of the glass commemorates not only the fall of Jerusalem, but also a cataclysmic shattering that happened to your very own temple, your soul. Before you were born, you and your soulmate were one - a single soul. Then, as your time to enter this world approached, G-d shattered that single soul into two parts, one male and one female. These two half souls were then born into the world to try and find each other and reunite. At the time, the split seemed tragic. Half of your soul went missing. What wa...

We are taught to be the masters of acceptance. All that G-d does is for the best, Judaism teaches us repeatedly.   Yet we do not become comfortable with death, internally we do not accept it. When Jacob was faced with the tragic death of his precious son Joseph, the Torah tells us, “Vayimaen lihisnachem” (Breishis 37), he refused to be comforted. Some understand that to mean that he had an inkling that his son was really alive, and he was indeed right. Others say that this is a general rule for the Jewish approach to refuse to be comforted or to accept the “reality” of death, because our loved ones are never really dead. Yes, the body is buried and that is very tragic and painful. Yet if we used 3 words to describe our departed loved one it would rarely describe their body. Kindness, thoughtfulness or happiness are not properties of the body they are expressions of the soul. The soul doesn't die when the body is buried and we instinctively know that and therefore refuse to ac...

A lot of people call themselves "culturally Jewish." They feel connected to the Jewish people, are active in the community, advocate for Israel, and may attend shul on major festivals. But they don't keep Jewish law.   For example, when it comes to Shabbat, they will argue that the laws are not important, it is all about family time. If you come to Shabbos dinner, whether you walk or drive doesn't make a difference. As long as you eat chicken soup, it doesn't matter if it was cooked before Shabbos came in or after. These people believe it's all about the feeling, not the little details. Let's call them Chicken Soup Jews. On the other side of the spectrum, there are some Jews who are scrupulous in their observance of Shabbos, keep every law down to the last dot, but do it without joy. They keep Shabbos neurotically, obsessing over what you can't do and making the day of rest into a day of stress. Let's call them Chicken Coup Jews. Both are mis...

Every other creation was created ready to go. When G-d created camels and hippopotamuses and horses He created them, body and soul, united ready to do what they need to. Only human beings were created as a lifeless body and then as the Torah shares in Genesis 2:7: “G-d formed the human from the dust of the ground, and He breathed into its nostrils the soul of life.” He breathed a soul of life into that lifeless body to remind us that our soul is not (just) about animating our bodies, your soul is independent from your body. It existed before it was joined with your body and it will continue its journey beyond your body’s passing. Don’t get too caught up with the indulgences and fears and narrow vision of your body. Your body’s life is so fleeting while your soul’s relationships and vision and G-dly awareness are eternal. Mendel (Menachem) Bluming, Maryland

Remember when your little brother was born? After being in your mother's tummy for such a long time, he finally came out to be with you and the family. How exciting. You'd been waiting for so long to meet him and play with him, and then he finally arrived.   Your baby brother was very comfortable inside mummy's tummy, where it's warm and he had everything he needed. But he couldn't stay there forever.  When it was time, he came out to be with you. In a strange way, death is similar to birth. We leave the world we know and enter the great unknown world outside.  All the people who have passed away are in that peaceful and happy place. Just as you were waiting for your brother to come and be with you, the souls of past generations were waiting for your grandfather to join them. Now they are all together. We miss them. But there's nothing to be scared of. Remember you used to talk to your baby brother, even before he was born? He heard you, though he couldn...

What is the essence and theme of the day of Yom Kippur? If it is a day to say I'm sorry and repent just say you're sorry and let's move on!   What is Yom Kippur? It is a day to focus on the needs and voice of the soul. Our bodies are vocal and demanding. The desires of the body we feel strongly. The soul is more subtle. So today we put aside the body’s demands of work, leather shoes, food etc and we focus on the voice of our souls. That still soft inner voice yearning for connection and meaning that is so often overlooked by the daily din. If you listen closely to the voice of your soul what does that tell you? Your body needs nutrients and so does your soul. Yom Kippur is the day to focus on that. Mendel (Menachem) Bluming

G-d shared with us why He created you and me.   To speak in human terms, a true gift is something that the recipient cannot attain on their own. G-d is perfect and Almighty, omnipotent and omniscient, so what can we possibly give Him, what can He possibly want that we can give? Due to His perfection He lacks accomplishment, overcoming obstacles and partnership because who can be His partner... He chose to shine His light through you, we call that a soul. Through you He lives vicariously and when you overcome obstacle, when you accomplish, when you choose to be His partner in refining this world and living in accordance with Torah values, He accomplishes what He could not on His own. This, G-d shares with us, is His purpose in Creation... Only you can give G-d this gift and fulfill this purpose. Menachem Mendel Bluming, Potomac Maryland

Imagine that you are chosen for a role in a brand-new movie that you are very excited to play. You'll be required to show great motion and involvement personifying that role as perfectly as you can.   But then when you read the script you find out that later on in the movie the character is going to die! You protest. “I can't play that role, I don't want to die!” The producer laughs, “You won't die. The character will and you will go on to win an Oscar!” In life we are assigned roles that we play really well. We cry with the sadness that our bodies experience and we rejoice in its successes but we don't die with it because we are only acting that role, our true self remains independent. It is not that you have a soul, it is that you ARE a soul and you have a body. Your body is your role in life and you must act it really well just don't get too caught up in the character you play... Mendel (Menachem) Bluming and Rabbi Aaron