Mendel Bluming | Blogger

It was not by chance that the Greeks overlooked one small cruse of oil, there is a deep message that is being communicated. No Greek in the world can defile that pure essence of yours! No abuse or neglect or catastrophe can touch that one small pure cruise of oil the center core of your soul. Tap into that pure cruse and rekindle the menorah of your life! Menachem M. Bluming and Chabad.org

​Mazel means a flow from above... tov means good or: a good flow from above. Mazel tov means may you be aligned with your soul above... May you appear below the way you are seen in your pristine essence above... So mazel tov for the marriage really means may your marriage reflect the way a marriage should be from G-d's perspective. Mazel tov for your birthday means may the coming year below reflect the way it is seen in its full potential above! Pretty deep blessing!! Menachem Bluming and Chabad.org

"A person is obligated to say: The entire world was created for my sake." (Talmud, Sanhedrin 37a). To a child, this is an absolutely obvious fact. He or she is the center and focus of all. Father and mother and the rest of the universe exist merely to cater to his/her needs. The undesirable aspects of such an attitude are self-evident, and weeding out the negative in man's base instincts is what education is all about. But the egocentric instinct that the child exemplifies has a positive side as well. A child has no problem dealing with an insignificance of self in face of humanity's billions and the vastness of the universe. A child is utterly convinced that his or her existence has meaning and his/her deeds have consequence. This is the child in ourselves that we must learn to cultivate: the conviction that our every thought and deed is of real, even global, significance. If you have difficulty accepting this, ask your child. Or the child in you. Chabad.or...

Here it is: The Conduit Dr. Martin Graf has been practicing internal medicine since 1964. He began attending college at Alfred University after graduating high school at 16. From there, he attended Wake Forest Medical School in North Carolina, where he finished his medical boards with the highest mark. Though he hadn't needed to study to pass his boards, when Dr. Graf started seeing patients, as an intern and then a resident, "I wanted to know everything. I wanted to help solve all the problems that were being brought to me. I read and read and read. " Dr. Graf attended the University of Chicago for his medical residency. The only resident not from an Ivy League school, he was named Chief Resident in his last year. He also did a fellowship in allergy and immunology at NYU, as well as two years in the military at Bethesda Naval Hospital. "My real strength is patient care, though. And that is what I have been doing for the past 47 years." Dr....

Love Your Neighbor As Yourself... seriously?! How can we be told to love another as ourselves? Well, are you perfect? Do you still love yourself? Accept another and embrace them too despite their imperfections. Don't allow that imperfection to constantly stare you in the face, just as it does not invalidate you in your own eyes. B ased on the Tzemach Tzedek; transcribed by Menachem Bluming and Chabad.org

Question:   I don't want my children to be small-minded and look down at others, so I haven't given them a Jewish education. They have been brought up without any religion; they are free to choose whatever beliefs they like. I try to live by the words of John Lennon: Imagine there's no countries / It isn't hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for / No religion too, Imagine all the people / living life in peace...  Doesn't that sum it all up?  Answer:  I admire your passion and idealism. You have obviously given some thought to your children's moral future, which is a credit to you. But I don't see how the philosophy you have espoused is any less closed-minded than fundamentalist religion.  You don't want to force your ideals on your children. But by denying them their spiritual heritage, you are doing just that. They are missing the chance to explore their Jewish identities during their formative years. They didn't choose tha...

Question: Why on earth do we still keep two days of Yomtov outside of Israel? I know the history: in ancient times people didn't have calendars on their phones, because the calendar was not set in advance, but rather month by month. When witnesses saw the new moon they reported it to the rabbis in the Temple, and the rabbis would declare that a new month had begun. It would take a couple of weeks for the message to reach outlying communities, so they could never be sure of the correct date to celebrate the festivals. So the diaspora communities kept two days to be on the safe side. That made sense back then, but for heavens sake, we have calendars today! Why do we still keep two days in the diaspora for every festival that is one day in Israel? Come on, it's like the World Jewish Council of Rabbis can't be bothered to overturn it or discuss it. Or perhaps they fear a backlash from Jewish bakers, butchers and grocers around the world who like having more Jewish festiv...