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

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...