Mendel Bluming | Blogger

People have the option of free choice. One can marry Mr Wrong, or divorce Mr Right. We have to own up to the responsibility for choosing a partner, even if things didn't work out. However, when a marriage ends in divorce, it's not to suppose that it was not meant to be in the first place. Alongside the trust in free choice, we also believe that whatever transpired in the past was supposed to happen. And so you married the spouse you were destined to marry. It was meant to be. And in retrospect it was meant to end. Here is the paradox of faith: What I am about to do is my decision. Once it is in the past, it was meant to be. I am responsible for what I do. I made the bed, and I have to sleep in it. But now that it’s over, I couldn't have slept anywhere else.  As full of pain as it may have been, your divorce was a slice of your soul mission. We can only guess why. Perhaps the ill-fated marriage was a rectification for something in a past life. It could be you h...

One of strange things Jews sometimes do is the wide-spread practice of "credit combing." Many Jews have a habit of flipping through the credits at the end of a movie, searching for Jewish names. At each discovery they shine with pride: Look! Assistant Staffer.......Marvin Goldstein! Catering Consultant........Beth Cohen! This odd habit comes from a very deep place in the Jewish psyche. All Jews feel a spiritual bond with each other. If I meet a Jew somewhere in the world, there is an immediate connection, a kinship, a sense of oneness. We are like one happy family, and even closer than that. When Jews are spoken about in the media, we each take it personally. When Israel is under fire, we feel the pain wherever we are. When a Jew takes home a bronze medal in croquet, we all share the victory. And when we see a Jewish name in the credits, we get heated up. Maybe other nations do this too. I doubt it. This profound sense of connection makes the Jewish nati...

Every one of us is a prisoner. However, we sit on the keys. Finitude is the cell. Our prison is the universe. Our jailkeeper is the act of living. The keys to our freedom are clamped tightly in the fingers of our own egos. Menachem Mendel Bluming, Tzvi Freeman and Chabad.org

Well here’s a thought... The Torah speak about when the Israelites made a Mishkan, a moveable Temple in the desert. G-d instructed them to make the outer walls out of the hide of a mysterious animal called a Tachash. Our sages described the Tachash as an animal who lived in the desert with a splendid multi-coloured hide and one horn in the middle of its head. The Tachash appeared only when the Mishkan was being built, then vanished without a trace, never to be seen again. There is a powerful message to be learned from this enchanting little episode. The building of the Temple is a symbol of our life mission, to create a place for G-d in this world, to work our lives into a sanctuary where holiness can dwell. Life is built up of many fleeting moments. The years fly by, the days pass us, and opportunities appear and disappear. Like the Tachash, here today and gone the next. Every moment is multi-coloured, multi-faceted and multi-layered. We are Blessed with good days...

So many people are feeling unwell with the flu. May they recover quickly! How does this work from G-d’s viewpoint? This illness holds us back from doing so many good things and furthering our duties? Who knows… here’s a telling story: There was once a Jew who resided on a farm, at a great distance from any Jewish community. He was a devout and pious man, and united with his wife did their best to create a Jewish home for his children. But he yearned to be near Jews, with the chance to pray in a shul, study Torah with like-minded people and be part of a community. Day in and day out for many years he would learn and pray alone with his prayer book and his volume of Talmud, wishing he could share them with others. After many years, his dream began to come true. Slowly, more Jews moved to his area. It took decades, but slowly he built a community. Forty years after his arrival, that remote country town boasted a shul with services every day, regular Torah classes, a mikva...

There is an ancient Jewish remedy for strengthening faith. It is a pity it’s not well known, because if people knew about it, their lives would be so much richer. And it really isn't so difficult… All you have to do is eat a piece of chocolate. But before eating the chocolate, you should recite the blessing on chocolate. It goes like this: "Blessed are you Lord our G-d, King of the Universe, for everything exists by Your word." If you say this phrase and actually think about the words for a few seconds, you will shift your entire perspective on life. Everything exists in reality through His word. What G-d says goes. Nothing ensues by accident. We didn't make ourselves. We are not without support. We are in good hands. Contemplate those words for just a minute a day, and you will have the strength to face everything life throws at you. Because it's not life throwing it at you, it's G-d. So what are you waiting for? Eat some chocolate :)...

What a fantastic perspective: “This week G-d granted Shevy and I the greatest blessing any parent could wish for—healthy infant triplets!!! When we first thought that maybe Shevy was pregnant, we went to the OBGYN for a routine confirmation appointment. We've done this before. Not a second thought. We were elated when the doctor established the pregnancy and told Shevy to return the week after for another routine check. We had five beautiful kids at home, which together with a newborn would make that six. How exciting! But at the appointment the week after, the doctor told her we were actually expecting twins. That meant we'd be skipping from five kids straight to seven! Wow. We felt truly blessed.  She told Shevy to return again for another check up the following week. When Shevy returned the next week, the doctor detected a third little baby and told her we would be having triplets and that she should come back again the following week. To say we were in ...