Letters of Thought: May 2008

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Picture of the Week -50

Taken in Venice near S. Marco -Summer 5764

Wishing everyone a Good Shabbos!

Technorati Tags: Venice, Photography, Picture of the Week

Sefiras Haomer -B'nusach Lakewood

Taken in 'Gan Hashem' -Eseres Yemei Teshuvah 5768

While teaching children during Released Time in a shul in Queens, I happened upon a small booklet published by Beis Medrash Gevoah (Lakewood Yeshivah). A guide for Sefiras Haomer, each page had the days Hebrew and Secular dates, the Sefirah, and -as a novel concept- how many days were left until 'Kabolas Hatorah' -the receiving of the Torah on Shevuos.

Thus on page one it said,

Today is one day to the Omer

and then proudly underneath in bold letters.

Forty-nine days left to Kabolas Hatorah!

They couldn't have misunderstood the point of Sefiras Haomer any more . . .

We count down to a goal -to the take off of a space-shuttle, the end of the year, or how many days left to the summer. We await the objective -the sudden thrust of the rockets as the shuttle leaves our earthly domain, the New Year ushering in a fresh start . . . The moments in between are merely a distraction holding us back from achieving our goal. We thus hurriedly count away the time.

Sefiras Haomer is the opposite of a countdown. It's a count up.

Every moment is not a means to an end, a day to be counted down and forgotten, but rather an end unto itself. We count each day, we make it shine, and only then move unto the next -stepping up, climbing the peak . . . until we reach the top.

Technorati Tags: Released time, Mivtzoyim, Shlichus, Lakewood, Sefiras Haomer, Shevuos, Judaism, Dvar Torah

Monday, May 26, 2008

Basement Salad

While typing earlier this morning, a cup of tea was knocked over -flooding my laptop in a deluge of Honey Ginseng green tea . . . After being taken apart, dried, and reassembled by my roommate (a veritable computer genius) it's, thank G-d, working well -save a few sticky keys:

F's appear whenever I press the D R S and E keys, but not when I press the F key.
C's once pressed, stream forth in long cascades -cccccccccccccccccccccccccccc- and are extremely difficult to stop.

In short -typing is tough, so I'm going to put up my lunch instead . . .

Romaine Lettuce
Salt
Garlic powder
Pepper
Oregano
Crushed Red pepper
Dijon Mustard
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Lemon
Pieces of "Garlic Flat Bread" crackers

Mix ingredients, enjoy!

While you're eating, here are a few facts to think about (care of Wikipedia)

Peppercorns were a much prized trade good, often referred to as "black gold" and used as a form of commodity money. The term "peppercorn rent" still exists today.
The therapeutic use of vinegar is recorded in the second verse of the nursery rhyme “Jack and Jill”: “Went to bed and bound his head/With vinegar and brown paper.” As with some nursery rhymes, there is truth in the story. The vinegar used would likely have been cider vinegar.
The American Institute for Cancer Research includes Romaine Lettuce in its list of foods that fight Cancer.
The Romans most likely developed the prepared mustards we know today. They mixed unfermented grape juice, known as "must," with ground mustard seeds (called sinapis) to form mustum ardens, or "burning must."

Past foods for thought:

Technorati Tags: Computers, Typing, Photography, Salad, Food, Wikipedia

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Lag Ba'omer Photo Essay

Click on the link to enjoy the photos . . .

By Night:

With the boys . . .

By Day:

Released Time Rally in Queens
. . . with the kids

Technorati Tags: Lag Ba'omer, New York, Released Time, Children's Rally, Photography, Mivtzoyim

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Picture of the Week 49 -Lag Ba'omer

A look at Lag Ba'omers past . . .

Bonfire -Montreal 5765

Clowning around -Montreal 2765

Lithuania -5766

Technorati Tags: Lag Ba'omer, Bonfires, Clowns, Montreal, Lithuania, Travel, Photography, Picture of the Week

Friday, May 16, 2008

Protests in Crown Heights -Photo Essay

Click on the link to see pictures of the protest today in Crown Heights over the beating of a bochur last night.

Please take a moment to say tehillim for him as well:
Alon Yisroel ben Irit

May we all have a good shabbos!

Technorati Tags: Crown Heights, Brutal Beating, Protests, New York, News, Photography

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Picture of the Week 48

Venice -Summer 5764

As well, this week was the Yahrtzeit of my Grandfather Sunny Lightstone -
שמשון בן יונתן יעקב ע"ה

The Lightstone family, Circa 1901

Have a great Shabbos!

Technorati Tags: Venice, Gondolas, Travel, Picture of the Week, Photography

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Good Bad Examples

My guest post on "Good Bad Examples" is up. Here's the beginning -click on the link below to see the rest!

A Simple Jew asks:
Often when confronted with something to her dislike, my mom will
remark, "It was a good bad example". A "good bad example" is an
occurrence that provides the one witnessing it with a good lesson of
what not to do in a similar situation. Learning from a "good bad
example" is thus essentially following the directive of Pirkei Avos 4:1
to learn from all people.
On occasion, we witness examples of another person's avodas Hashem
that we seek to emulate, and at other times we witness a person's
avodas Hashem that clearly provides guidance on how not to proceed.
Can you think of a "good bad example" that you have recently
encountered and the lesson you derived from it?

Mottel:

Throughout the course of our lives we come in contact with many people; from those that we meet in passing to friends and family who spend considerable time with us -each plays a part as a thread in the tapestry of our lives.
We are instructed to take a lesson from all things that we see . . .

Continue Good Bad Examples.

As well, for those of you that would like to check out the rest of my guest posts on ASJ . . .

Technorati Tags: Guest Post, A Simple Jew, Good Bad Examples, Judaism, Essays, Life, Links

Monday, May 12, 2008

Like Passing Clouds

Clouds in Vilna -Pesach 5765

Staying up late . . . It's not great, but when else would I have time to write?

I'm working on a guest post for A Simple Jew -when he puts it up, I'll link to it here.

When I left, Crown Heights was still held in the hands of Winter's grip. Trees stood stood naked and bare along empty streets -skeletons shaking in the pre-Pesach wind.

Now everything has changed. Green. Growth. Alive.

Now the full trees stand regally along Montgomery, shading us with their leaves, dancing in the Spring raindrops.

Families bustle along Kingston; children no longer clad in thick layers of winter clothes jump in puddles.

Pink blossoms carpet the ground in front of Hadar Hatorah.

The sun still shines when I leave 770 in the late afternoon.

True the clouds that come at times are gray, the wind cold . . . .

But it's a new season. Good things must surely be coming for us all.

Spring in the Height of Crowns

Let it be so!

Technorati Tags: Vilna, Photography, Travel, Clouds, Blogging, Weather, Spring, Crown Heights

Friday, May 09, 2008

Picture of the Week -47

Taken in Venice -Summer 5765

A Good Shabbos to All

Technorati Tags: Venice, Ghetto Nuovo, Picture of the Week, Photography

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

The Rebbe's Tears

This video has already been up on all of the main Lubavitcher sites . . .
I'm sure you've all seen it.

Interesting how it's only audio played over a montage of black and white photos . . . Everything seems so simple.

And then one hears the Rebbe sobbing.

We realize that things aren't what they seem. We aren't seeing simple photos bound in an eternal stasis . . .

Things are now seen as they've broken down to their essential parts. We're focused.
"Sunday he looks . . ."
"Monday he looks . . ."

It's real.
The Rebbe cries for us, cares for us -and what do we do?

Now though is enough, it's time to wipe away the tears.

The Rebbe once said that Iyar is the month of ultimate simcha.
Adar is the joy of Purim -boundless joy, yet tempered by the fact that we are still in Golus ("We remain slaves of Achashveirosh")
In Nissan we go out of Egypt, we are free . . . but we have not yet matured, the revelations are all from above -we are not yet ready.
In Iyar every day is a mitzvah, each day has a unique sefirah to count, each day is a chance to forge anew our eternal bond with G-d. The joy of a mitzvah, of a connection with the essence of the Creator, is the true joy.

So Rebbe, please stop crying. We don't want to cry, and we don't want you to cry. We are hurting, and seeing you in pain hurts us even more.

Let us laugh together again.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Psalm 30 -A Thought

While davening sometime back, I thought about the words העלית מן שאול נפשי
-You raised from the depths, my soul . . .

At times we sink into our own inner depths . . .

Those real, and all the more, those perceived.

On this we say, "You raised [me] from the depths of my soul."

I looked in and saw the Id.

You looked in my heart, smiled, and lifted me up, revealing the Yid.

Technorati Tags: Psalms, Prayer, The Soul, The Id, Thoughts, Judaism, Chabad

Friday, May 02, 2008

Picture of the Week 46

Sunset in Hollywood, Sunset in Life -taken like the quintessential Angeleno on my cell phone.

Pages turn in the book of life, chapters written, and chapters sealed. New volumes opened, old ones put aside, but not forgotten.
Externalities reign supreme, look at the package and know what's inside?

Don't read the fine print, gloss and skim . . . it's touch and go.

Palm trees -transplanted from Latin America

Chain link fence -imported from China

Sunset in Hollywood. What is real?

Good Shabbos to all.

Technorati Tags: Sunset, Hollywood, Thoughts, Photography, Life, Picture of the Week

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Pesach in Germany IV -In the Land of the Lightstones

Through the trees.

From Dachau we went to Füssen, home of Schloss Neuschwanstein - the famed Bavarian castle near the Austrian border.

After intensity of our first stop, the time spent in the castle balanced out the day, letting it end on a brighter note.

Click on the link to see the last leg of the German Pesach experience.

Hohenschwangau -the castle where Ludwig II, builder of Neuschwanstein, grew up in -we did not buy a ticket to go inside.

On the walk up

The castle . . .

The view of the valley.

Inside.

Unfortunately, we could not take pictures of the interior of the castle . . .

A view out of the window onto the nearby lake and the majestic Austrian Alps.

From there on to . . . Liechtenstein!

As a child, I received an atlas for one of my earlier birthdays. I would spend hours looking through its pages at the various countries, and discovered, much to my joy, that there was a country that shared names with me . . . Liechtenstein!
(In truth the name Lightstone is an Anglicization of the name Eidelstein, not Liechtenstein, but why spoil the fun)

For years I had been trying to plan a trip to 'my' sovereign principality, but none of my plans had ever come to fruition. The proximity to Ulm, less then two hours by car, left no doubt in my mind though that this would be chance to go . . .

So from Füssen we drove to Austria, then to Switzerland, and then across the Rhine, into the Principality of Liechtenstein.

We went to the castle in Vaduz, the capital, but unfortunately could net get in -as the Prince lives there (he is in fact the functioning head of state)

No Entrance

Wanting a stamp in our passports from the country (Switzerland and Liechtenstein have an open border), we drove across its width, into Austria - taking a stop to daven Ma'ariv - and then back into Liechtenstein again (thus avoiding the Swiss border this time).

With a new stamp in our passports, we drove back across Liechtenstein, and returned to Germany (via Switzerland and Austria again).

A night in Ulm, an hour or two of rest, and we were off for Frankfort and our flights home.

After checking in, we began to divide our food for the flight, and found that between the four of us we only needed two boxes of Matzo, not the three we had brought.

"It's worth holding onto," I mused, "who knows who we'll bump into."

After we had settled our expenses, T and D left, the spare box of Matzo in hand.

No sooner had they walked out of sight, though, then a lady walking passed us and turning with a smile said,

"Chag Samech."

Leaving her in the care of my dear friend Mendel, I ran post haste after the other two . . .

The lady, a local Russian Jew, had not been able to get any Matzo before Pesach . . . Now, however, she had.

Thus ended the Pesach in Germany.

Technorati Tags: Füssen, Castles, Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Nature, the Alps, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Passover, Mivtzoyim, Travel, Photography