There's a "skate" park nearby...

For those of  you who aren't familiar with the terminology...
it's where 'skate boarders' go to perfect their craft....
So...it was a GORGEOUS, SPARKLY, SPRING day....
and there were high levels of activity, happy smiles, and barking dogs.....
and I took my son to the park to skateboard...
And at the edge of the park...
there sat a woman and a little boy on a bench....
And the boy was ridiculously overdressed for this warm, spring day..
My GOD !
It looked as though he was wearing TEN COATS literally !!
and scarves and gloves and hats....
It was WEIRD...SO WEIRD...
and DISTURBING....
and MUNCHHAUSEN SYNDROME came to mind somehow...
as if the mother was over dressing the child in order to garner attention or something...
Interestingly....Paradoxically...
the mother was wearing a floral, yellow, spring dress...
no coat....no other accoutrement either....
And the poor boy was obviously BEGGING the mother to allow him to
take off all of these superfluous layers....
But the mother was busy stuffing SEGMENTS of CLEMENTINE ORANGES into the boys mouth....
and I DO MEAN "STUFFING"...
like almost GAGGING HIM....
And to make matters worse, she was SINGING  in a very shrill, very loud voice...
OVER the sounds of the boy begging....
It gave me chills to watch this highly dysfunctional scene...
I patted my "happy" and "safe" son on the head...
took him by the hand....
and we moved on past them.....

The Royals...

NOT Iconoclastic....
Actually rather....
 TRADITIONAL with a twist,....
a twist of the NEW....
Bringing ultimate STYLE and GRACE to the
somewhat 'antiquated', yet revered, OLD SCHOOL...
Hmmm....
Interesting...Fascinating....
and yet....
and yet....
one cannot help FEELING that there are SECRETS ....
hidden stories,,,,
beneath the layers upon layers of TULLE and SATIN and ostensive Gorgeousness....
Public life...
NOT SO EASY....
Attempting to bring an ANCIENT MONARCHY to a MODERN DAY....
NOT SO EASY.....

Leopards don't change their spots...

and so it is with people as well...
Although we'd like to believe that the human spirit itself...
can be ALTERED, CHANGED, REJIGGERED...
the reality is that BEHAVIOR can change,
but the essence of a person remains solidly in place,
regardless of whether it's a good or a bad thing....

For instance, a woman recently said to me that she NOW  had FOUND HER ESSENCE...
through religion actually...
My response was that a person's ESSENCE is ALWAYS THERE....
that we don't FIND OUR ESSENCE...
but rather...
that we ARE our essence.....
She went on to say that
"She used to have a LIFE, but now she'd found HIGHER PURPOSE",,,

Sorry, guys...
But, SERIOUSLY ???
Do we actually believe that GOD doesn't WANT US to have a LIFE ???

What she MEANT was that she had embraced religion SO TIGHTLY...
SO NON NEGOTIABLY...
and CLEARLY without ENOUGH KNOWLEDGE or INFORMATION...
that she'd COMPLETELY lost the POINT of the whole thing...
Am I making sense ?

I walked away, shaking my head....
Frustrated...EXASPERATED...
these ROBOTs.....
What's up with them ?
I wanted to tell her that OUR GOD is a merciful one....
The HE understands us....
But the words would've been wasted.....

Ehhhh...
Onward, Troops !

Back in the Saddle....

Ohhhhh...
it's great to be back in the game again...
the SWEATY, LUSTY, HOT game....
like a RIPE, freakin' TOMATO...
ready to be BITTEN into....
all JUICY and RED and DELICIOUS and TART....
yup...
yesssirrreeee....
It's good to be alive!
No more battles to forge....
They've been surmounted....BY ME!
No more worried nights....tossing and turning...
and churning out ideas and concepts and whatever can possibly be churned at night!
NOT BUTTER!
And did you know that there are NO LASER TOOTHBRUSHES anywhere ???
except MINE !
WHERE THE HELL IS WALDO ?
hahahaha

The Heart Wants....

Ultimately...
although we CERTAINLY try to intellectualize and rationalize and even fantasize about LOVE....
the HEART WANTS WHAT THE HEART WANTS...
Simple as that....
This particular vital organ,
CENTRAL to our LIFE....
speaks a language only unto itself....
The language of the VISCERAL....
a feeling....
an inclination...
SO STRONG,
that there are no short lists..
nor
databases...
nor
computer programs...
that can EVER FIGHT IT....
So...
I say....
LISTEN TO YOUR HEART....
GO DEEP.....
The answers to life's most complex and undulating circumstances...
lie there.....

There was fog in the atmosphere....

It made the scene feel very much like a dream...
Was she dreaming ??
Had she somehow MANIFESTED that which she so desired ?
She remembered being 20 or so...
and envisioning this VERY scenario in her mind's eye at the time...
And now here it was !!
in full blown technicolor !!
How would she use this opportunity to develop the OTHER aspects of the vision ?
this 'gift' really..
this OPPORTUNE GIFT....
She would have to actually REMEMBER the details of her youthful yearnings...
This was no small task....
She heard a song in the distance....
Moon RIVER,,,,,
OK....
perhaps a visit to the beautiful man downtown was in order after all.....
And lest we forget....
She HAD kissed "Inappropriate Guy"...
It couldn't have been avoided.....
His teeth had tasted like spun sugar.....like candy.....
and then she had FLED....
post haste....
an abstract message....I know...
Where's WALDO ?

Your NEW BFF...

You begin to realize quickly...or rather.....
 after an EXTENDED time period...
that woman friends are not ALWAYS worth the time and energy
and sheer LABOR that you continue to put into them...
And then...
JUST LIKE THAT !
SHE appears...
Justina...
TOTALLY new BFF potential !
Why ?, you ask....
tough to explain really...
kind of a visceral feeling of simpatico....
of shared experience....
of being SISTAAAs from ANOTHAAA MOTHAAA...
and you CONNECT...
AND SHE GETS YOU !
and WOMEN, yet again,
 take an important stand in your bag of paraphernalia and happenstance...
And you set a BFF PLAYDATE !!!
and the rest....
well.......
it remains to be seen,,,,,,

Somebody made a comment to me yesterday...

that got me thinking....
They said something about ,
"Easter coming up"...
and I responded..."Oh, yeah....I forgot about Easter!"
and they said,
"YOU FORGOT ABOUT EASTER ?"
and I said,
"Well, please don't take offense....After all....I'm Jewish..."
and they said,
"YOU're a JEW?"
"You don't LOOK like a JEW!"
And I walked away thinking,
What exactly does a JEW look like ?
And I can tell you with a pretty hefty amount of confidence,
 that this person thought that  they were paying me a compliment...
And of course, duhhhh...
it got me thinking about ANTISEMITISM...
Shocker!!!
and of how we really don't know what's inside of people's hearts  and minds...
and how they are really feeling....
and exactly how far their PRE judgements extend..
And I remembered that Brendan Frasier movie..
where he's a kid who's great at playing football..
and so he gets a scholarship to an ivy league school...
and everybody loves him....
Even the WASP, gorgeous girl falls for him...
until they find out that he's a JEW...
and then they TURN on him...
and they leave him...
and the girl, amid tears,
says that SHE SIMPLY CANNOT disappoint her parents by bringing home a JEW...
and the story kind of GETS to YOU....
in its CLEAR message about ANTISEMITISM....
And I wonder if someone can tell me why this kind of HATRED
continues to gnaw at the COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS....

Self Deprecation after 40...

When is it NOT OK to continue to "self deprecate" ?
...to put yourself down ?
There was a time, after all,
when it was still kinda CUTE or SILLY or WEIRDLY HUMBLE....
or...
you were just plain, ole fishin' for compliments....
for reassurance...
for LOVE...
But that, My Dears, was in your 20's....

After 40, or so,
 a woman ought to have gathered and honed some semblance of  self esteem...
or self confidence....
or just PRIDE....

in her appearance...
in her accomplishments...
in her children....(if she's fortunate enough to have had them...)
in her LIFE actually....

She ought to be able to look in the mirror upon awakening....
and  see an inspiring, influential, SEASONED,
and accomplished woman looking back at her...
a woman filled with SELF LOVE...
with SATISFACTION....
with MEMORIES....
with FULFILLED CONTEMPLATION....

If this is NOT the case,
she DEFINITELY needs to buy a NEW MIRROR !!

Shabbat Shalom....

The 2 guys with the 'same name'...

I'm presuming that you remember that I had made plans with the 2 same named guys ?
One TOTALLY APPROPRIATE....
One TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE...
So the "appropriate" one cancelled very politely and asked for a 'rain check'...
(something to do with his 'KIDS'....
(hence, making him TOTALLY APPROPRIATE yet again !))
The 'INappropriate' one has BEEN literally BEGGING me for days to see him....
to the extent that I feel totally EMBARRASSED for him....
He's SO nice....
And things keep getting in the way....
And truth be told, I can be kind of an ASS when it comes to guys....
LOL
duhhh....
And obstacles are presenting themselves...
over and over....
Do you know about the GODDESS GANESHA?
She is the HINDU Goddess of OBSTACLES...
It is believed that she appears for 1 of 2 reasons...
1) to place obstacles in your way...so as to PROTECT YOU from making a mistake....
or
2) to place obstacles in your way...so that you must FIGHT very hard in order to BREAK THROUGH
'said' obstacles....
hence, making the ultimate outcome that much SWEETER....
So I've gotten a terrible head cold....
And I've lost my directions...
And Passover fell amid Courtship....
Suffice it say, I have NOT been able to see him...
or
perhaps...
I haven't really wanted to....
And he wants to hear my voice....
and we've become a NATION of TEXTERs...
No question about it....
I'm being an ASS....
Thoughts ?

Unbelievable....The GERMANs are 6+ months late....

Unbelievable....The Germans are 6+ months late with my mom's reparation payments....
She survived Auschwitz....
And they are on the phone telling me that,
"" I HAVE TO UNDERSTAND""....
Oh, REALLY ???
Which part of the MASS EXTERMINATION do I have to "understand" ?
And these SWINES send annual "life certificates",
so as to PROVE that their $600 freaking dollars are
 NOT GOING TO WASTE !!
They should be LOCKED into ovens and cages like animals...
They should be STRANGLED and RAPED and PILLAGED...
And THEN....WE should send THEM BLUE, F**KIN', "LIFE CERTIFICATES"..
(in case all the torture hasn't killed them yet...)
And their children.......
WELL, let me tell you !!
There weren't enough GERMAN MARKS in THE entire THIRD REICH to make up for the HEINOUS LEGACY
we've been left with.......
Yeah, RIGHT.....
THE UBER MENCHEN.....
just sayin'....

Shaking Off Habitual Paralysis....

We grow accustomed to the Routine....(the Rut)
and we don't necessarily See it happening...
Although there is generally a Little voice somewhere DEEP inside...
saying, "DO IT !!!   BREAK OUT !!"
Ultimately...
Whether or not we actually choose to do so ??
WELL.....
That,
my friends,
 is ENTIRELY up to US....
For there is a level of SUBLIME comfort in the DISCOMFITURE...
We are creatures of habit and patterning and predictability...
Fascinatingly so...
Even when we THINK that we've made some grandiose gesture...
That we've brought about some version of MONUMENTAL HAPPENING...
Sure enough....
(Now get this!)
the ENORMOUS CHANGES immediately begin to
 CLONISH LY resemble the old circumstances !
And we think that WE ARE SO EVOLVED...
SO ASCENDED...
and UNIQUE...
and WILD...
But REALLY...
we are just ROBOTS with skin and nails and hair....
MARCHING to the beat of an all-too-familiar DRUMMER....
Can you jive with what I'm saying ?
Can you admit to being "ONE OF THE PACK" ?
Break out of your shells, BROHEIMS....
Take a walk on the WILD SIDE....
Try it...
Strap that tedious MATZOH onto your back....and JUST GO......

She just kept going and going.....

..and going...
to the point of exhaustion...
Well, not that she would have EVER admitted that....
Her energy levels were, of course, second to none...
But really, people...
How much activity can ANY sentient being endure without just plain FALLING ??
So fall she did...
into sleepy, contemplative rapture...
BLUE rapture,,,,,'
deep...puffy....snugly, BLUE rapture....
And even though the odds were against her being able to dance the night away....
one of the two namesaked gentlemen...after all...
had scheduled an evening of courting...
just for her...
And so...
Shake off the fatigue she must......
because  clearly CUPID was coming calling....
with his bow and arrow poised...
just directly at her heart.......
And so she coiffed ad soaped...
and primped and drank mugs full of steaming, caffeinated,
"KOSHER FOR PASSOVER" coffee...
And away she went !!!

Willie knows.....

http://youtu.be/l_cWBM9D7yM

""Blue Skies Smilin' at Me....
Nuthin' but Blue Skies do I See...."""
These words resonate...This melody sings to the soul...
"Optimism...", my friends...
in the face of Adversity....(or NOT!)
Turning the OTHER Cheek...(ehhh)
(not 100% sure that's doable!)
Very Much Christian Doctrine...
Nonetheless....WE CAN ASPIRE !
Celebrating the Future....
Willie KNOWS....
and We can surely learn from him...
We JEWs can learn the talent of AFFIRMING POSITIVITY through "less than desirable" circumstances...
For that is CLEARLY the antidote to our perpetual LAMENTATION...
(oops!)
  WRONG HOLIDAY ??
What's my point, you ask ?
Corny...Corny...Unrealistic....You're thinking ??
Well....
NOT REALLY....
I recently read a powerful book, where the author, a known and highly regaded psychologist,
states that
"The BEST people she's EVER known...
the most QUALITY people....
are the ones who've developed character and gumption
 through Troubles and Tribulations...
The ones who truly understand "Darkness and Despair"...
"NOT the ones who've had it easy..."
Interesting....
Got me thinking...reflecting...
Blue skies....EVEN on a GRAY DAY....
Chew on that while you're picking the MATZOH out of your teeth....lol

So...there are these two guys...

one TOTALLY appropriate...
the other...ehhhh..
And get this...
They both have the SAME NAME !
And let me tell you, it's NOT a common name...
Weird, right ?
It's like the universe is putting forth an equation of sorts for me...
problem solving...
Which road to take...
Which rules to follow....
But the INAPPROPRIATE guy is SO FREAKING CUTE....
And after all...
What makes him so inappropriate ?
And how do we know that the APPROPRIATE guy is the BETTER CANDIDATE,,,,REALLY ??
Are we guilty of following some archaic rule about PROPRIETY ?
Do we REALLY give a Rat's ASS what anybody thinks at this point ??
I mean....REALLY ?
Well....One today....One tomorrow...
It remains to be seen....
A TRIAL RUN will EXPOSE the true candidate...
I'll keep you posted....
xo

At the drop of a hat..

CHANGE can enter the room....
and ....
9 times out of 10,
it happens SO insidiously,
that the inhabitants of 'said room' don't even notice its appearance.....
So they seem to wait somehow,
 until such time as
 retrospect can be gathered and contemplated upon......
so as to astutely COMMENT on and  EVALUATE  this new course of events....
WHAT THEY THEN DETERMINE TO DO WITH THESE CHANGEs...
Now THAT appears to be ENTIRELY up to them...
What they can learn is ANYONE's guess....
So..
Here's my question....
Must we ACCEPT all change ?
Is change necessarily a GOOD THING ?
What do we do if we find these transforming events disconcerting ?
When are familiarity and routine a BETTER BET ?
IS EVERYTHING the work of GOD ?
Are there OTHER forces at work perhaps ?
(other than GOD)
In a world filled with CONSTANT, STAGGERING CHANGEs...
apparently hurling through the air at the speed of light...
when is it appropriate to BLOCK and REPEL newness ?
to FIGHT against it ?
Thoughts ?

As King Pharaoh succumbed...

to the ENORMOUS pressures placed upon his shoulders..
regarding the Hebrew slaves being set free...
As he attempted to thwart the deadly and mystical plagues set upon him and his people....
As he tried to imagine himself running a nation, completely devoid of JEWs to kick around....
there came a Heaviness on his heart....
For he KNEW, full well, that the JEWs held the TRUE keys to the kingdom...
His Napoleonic ego quivered at the thought of allowing these HEBREWs to go free...
and hence 'sicking' them upon a world, actually quite RIPE for "takeover"...
He hemmed and hawed at allowing this FINAL DECREE to manifest...
He shut his eyes tightly as the LOCUSTs appeared...
He wore a HELMET in order to DUCK the HUGE BALLS OF HALE coming towards him...
He swore off FROGs LEGs forever, even though it had been a favorite delicacy of his....
He had to admit, in the end of the day, as his SOLDIERs were drowned in the RED SEA...
that these people KNEW something....
Their GOD was SO POWERFUL....
oyyyy....
He would have to revisit this issue in the morning....
His head was SPLITTING from pain as he waded through the BUCKETs of BLOOD...
This 'KING GIG' was NOT all it was cracked up to be!!
He tried to sleep, but that annoying "LET MY PEOPLE GO" song kept drumming through his head...
I mean, the damn song had already risen to the top of EGYPT's pop charts !!
OK..
Maybe there was another ENTIRE NATION out there he could trick and enslave....
The thought comforted him as he FINALLY fell asleep...

Anything BUT an Ivory Tower...

She sits in her chair, concocting and devising
PRACTICAL means in which to help people...in which to SHED LIGHT...
And she does so with extreme humility and grace...
So much so that you cannot help feeling that she's your FRIEND...
and not just simply your CLINICIAN....
And she NEVER sits in that ivory tower...
Ohhhh, NO !
She makes you feel LOVED and REVERED and BELIEVED IN....
things that are SO alien to you, that you WEEP from relief...
the relief that someone is ACTUALLY listening...
that someone out there is as SMART and as DEEP and as EVOLVED as you are !!!
And the 'fair haired' woman allows you to reach out....to ask for help....(without shame)
She even lets you bounce those all encompassing,
grandiose ideas of yours off of her in the after hours...
She goes ABOVE and WAY BEYOND anything you've experienced thus far...
And you thank GOD that you found her....
a mentor...a lady....a contemporary....

for Dayle

Measured Gratitude...

In the opinion of this 'humble' blog mistress...
the concept of 'gratitude' and giving thanks seems to mean vastly different things to different people....
There are the "Gushers"....
the ones who shower their benefactor with lavish language and gifts and somewhat superfluous innuendo...
leaving said benefactor wondering as to the level of sincerity being cast forward...
YUCK...
On the other side of the equation, there are the "Tightwads"...
These are people who can NEVER bring themselves to actually SHOW their gratitude....
They find this display of emotion and/or vulnerability, somehow WEAK...beneath them...
They are CHEAP with their words....STINGY...
leaving the other person wondering whether they even appreciate the efforts and kindnesses
which have been bestowed upon them....
SUPER YUCK....
I say that there has to be a MIDDLE GROUND....
a place where one can express thanks and love and deep appreciation without seeming SILLY
or FALSE....
a place where SINCERITY is paramount....
where there is no question as to INTENTION.....
Just thinking out loud.....

Shabbat Shalom to you all...
And Chag Kasher Visameiach...
A Happy and Kosher Passover

A man stood on 10th Avenue...

one spring morning...
hailing a taxi....(or at least ATTEMPTING to hail one!)
It was never easy to get a cab in Manhattan during rush hour...
It was chilly out...
So after a while, he put his FREE hand into his pocket to warm it up a bit....
and he felt a folded piece of paper inside....
That was odd///
He ALWAYS cleaned out his pockets...
He pulled it out, unfolded it......
And here's what it said:

Hank,
It's been a hard, hard few years....
With all the losses and money troubles, etc...
This note probably pegs me as a HUGE COWARD...
But I just couldn't do this face-to-face....
I've met someone else, and I'm leaving town with him this afternoon...for good....
I know that this may come as a shock to you...
Although I can't imagine that you would really care at this point....
Twenty years is a LONG time in which to constantly feel compromised...
I will be back to get the rest of my things in two weeks...
I have left a simple divorce agreement on the kitchen counter....
I don't WANT anything, so I'm guessing it will not be a contentious scenario....
I wish you luck and love and freedom....
Have a meaningful Passover...
Liz

The man, Hank, stood there FROZEN, PARALYZED on the side of the Avenue....
He didn't notice the speeding taxi coming towards him.....
He remembered being HIT....
The rest was a BLUR.....

Interesting to note...

that EVEN when we have been wartorn and ravaged...
Even when we are SO EXHAUSTED from toiling and schlepping and
 being RESPONSIBLE for EVERYONE,
that we LITERALLY cannot take another step....
Even in the most extreme cases of abuse, neglect, etc...
We, en masse ',
tend to be somewhat ROBOTIC...
in that EVEN the most HEINOUS situation STILL becomes the accepted ROUTINE...
So that...
when we are FREED from our own version of BONDAGE....
when the threat of TERROR has been ERADICATED....
there is a small, vacuous space somewhere inside of our hearts...
that LONGs for the horrendous routine to still be in place....
STRANGE beings we are....
Take the prisoner out of prison,
and 9 times out of 10 he will willfully commit a CRIME in order to SIMPLY return to his routine...
We continue, unbeknownst to even ourselves...
to create situations from which we can CONTINUE TO SURVIVE....
just observing.....

the most extraordinary feeling of relief....

washed over her......
literally drenching her in CLOSURE...
yes...
DRENCHING HER IN CLOSURE....
ahhhh.....
how to describe this 'completing' feeling...
she had spent so much time worrying and dreading and anticipating....
and PRAYING....
praying for GOD to simply 'hold her hand' through these trying times...
through these arduous, yet necessary, tasks....
and then as well...
there was a sense of .having absolutely DONE THE RIGHT THING....
having honoured her family....her parents...
in Godly ways...
even though, at times, it seemed utterly impossible....
an EXTRAORDINARY relief.....
she slept like a baby that night.....
dreaming of ice cream and feather pillows and smiling, pink angels...
Ahhhh...

Missy was DRIVING in MASSIVE TRAFFIC....

People were crazed from the gridlock and congestion of the city,,,,
So one can only IMAGINE how incensed Missy was !!
hardly being known as a BEACON of PATIENCE and COMPLACENCY...
LOL
And there was a car in front of her....
and they were moving at a snail's pace...
I mean a SNAIL would have gone FASTER !
Even a DEAD PERSON would have driven FASTER !!
SERIOUSLY!!
and they were what can only be figured as "" MILES"" behind the car in front of them....
and Missy was ready to SCREAM,,,,
(shocker!)
And then she noticed a 'suspiciously veiled' passenger in the back of  'said car'.....
and RED Flags began waving....
And her ""MUSLIM alert"" went off...
And she began to bully the car in front of her UNABASHEDLY....
perhaps UNDESERVINGLY even...(But who gives a shit ??!!)
and she flashed her lights and Tailgated them....
And they were FREAKING OUT....
They could not understand for the life of them,
what they had done to deserve this TREATMENT ?
And then Missy did what ONLY MISSY would do....
She rolled down the window....
and looked at the offended and flabbergasted driver squarely in the eye..
and said,
"Because YOU ARE a MUSLIM"...
"Just because you're a MUSLIM..."
and then she sped away.....
oyyyyy....this Missy
LOL

Choosing Optimism....or WHAT ??

Is HOPE a choice ?
Can we REALLY determine our destiny by having a "positive outlook" ?
or...
is that just a posthumous and corny myth?
there to assuage the reality...
And what of Situational Melodrama ?
What about things OUT OF OUR CONTROL ?
Is EVERYTHING really within our purview ?
Can INTENTION and DESIRE play that big of a role in the OUTCOME of things ?
It seems to be a continuous quagmire of PUZZLEMENT....
of DEBATE...of ANGST...
Are there answers to this age old dilemma ?
In many regards, I suppose that this is PRECISELY what RELIGION is there for...
To answer the questions of destiny, karma, etc...
with one simple word....one simple concept.....
FAITH...
pure and simple....
Blind and all encompassing FAITH...
For in the end of the day...
in the VERY END...
when we feel deflated and alone...
when the future has no shape or color...
FAITH MUST be our LIFE PRESERVER....
our BUOY...
amidst piles and piles of FLOATING DOUBT....
FAITH, my loves....

When a NAMESAKE becomes a NUISANCE....

Is it not enough to have ONE of 'us' on this planet ?
Is there a SOLID reason for MORE to be manufactured ??
It was said that they 'broke the mold' when I was born....
So now 'others' are attempting to replicate the BREAKING OF THE MOLD ???
Huh ???!!
It cannot be done !
No question about it...
Try as they will...
THEY are simply  NOT ME !!
They can mimic my patterns...
They can even BORROW my names....my EXes...blah blah....
But, my friends...
Let me make this VERY CLEAR....
There is ONLY ONE ME !!!
God and Mother Nature have assured me of this fact...
So...
BRING IT ON, Muthhhhaaa Fukkkkkaaaa !!!

And away we go...

Freedom !!
At last !!
From the shackles of 'Humdrum mery'....
Yes, indeed !
And we will FLY to locations uncharted....
unencumbered....
And as we go...
we will surely remember our ancestors....
climbing their way to Freedom....
out of Egypt...
Away from Slavery....
In search of the PROMISED LAND...
the land of MILK and HONEY...
In search of GOD....
as the bread baked on their backs....
in the heat of the Egyptian sun....
hands chafed and red from mortar and brick....
Away, I say !!
To a BETTER life...
RATHER,  just " TO A LIFE !"
Things would occur on this sojourn through the desert...
some 40 years in exile....in quarantine....
Seas would part....
Tablets would be brought to bare witness...
Religion itself would be formulated....
indoctrinated...
We remember the bravery....the comradery....
the sheer WILL....
that delivered us from BONDAGE....
And we shall APPLY IT....this sense of PRIDE...
to EVERY OPPRESSION....
to TODAY's enemies as well....
to ANY who seek to enslave us yet again....
And believe you ME.....
We shall PREVAIL !!!
Shabbat Shalom...

The season is upon us....

Innovation, contemplation, and aspiration...
are the themes of the day...
Waste not this  specific and emphatic interlude...
an opportunity to LIVE CATHARSIS...
to literally ASCEND to new heights....
to ever-mourn the thwarted 'UNLEAVENING' and to CELEBRATE in its Miraculous countenance...
The day is upon us..
PASSOVER is the time to REALISTICALLY expect MIRACULOUS EVENTS ....
And My FATHER is soooo close....
(Zichrono Livracha)..
I am essentially TRIPPING over the signs and symbols which He is CLEARLY hurling at me !!
After all....
LOVE doesn't die with people...
LOVE lives on....
It feeds on our hearts...in GOOD ways....
It nurtures itself on the soul recovery of Humans long passed....
What we determine to DO with these signs and symbols....
That's where FREE WILL comes into play....
Always we have the choice...
between GOODNESS and GREATNESS.....
Wishing you all a wonderful PASSOVER season....

your...
GODDESS XREBBETZIN

Yesterday I saw a boy ...

He was maybe around 10 years old, or so...
standing, quite alone....
apparently waiting for the ferry....
He wore a Kippah (a Skullcap)....
It was cold out...
that 'end of winter' kind of chill....
where sunshine and heat are just around the corner....
but one still definitely needs a jacket...
And he was only in a t shirt and shorts....
...plus... he was standing right on the edge of the river...
 He had NO bag with him....
no backpack....nothing....
And he was SHAKING from head to toe....
TREMBLING...
And after all, he was ONLY 10....
What was he doing alone ?
Where were his parents ??
I wanted to approach him...
to ask if he needed help....
but it's quite awkward to approach a child on the street...
I wanted to buy him a sweatshirt and a sandwich...
But i was paralyzed by the concept of impropriety....
The ferry came just then....
But the boy did NOT get on it...
He just stood there...
And then a stunning little girl around the same age got off of the ferry...
and ran to the boy.....
She was also COMPLETELY alone !
They hugged....
(not in the way that a brother and sister would hug!)
It was 100% clear that these two children were in love...
I'm telling you....one could FEEL it in the air....
SO young......
They walked down the side of the river....
and I knew for certain that they were RUNNING AWAY....

Relentlessly Optimistic.....

driving...
and shifting...
and reconoittering....
and tackling endless piles of paperwork....
and Diet Coke by the gallon...
and PAINTING ????
what of PAINTING ??
and sushi...EWWWW...
and water taxis..
and hydrangea......
BLUE hydrangea....
and BLUE water...
and BLUE sky...
a CACOPHONY of BLUE....
CLEARLY, a BLUE painting is called for....
YES!!
a BLUE period.....
A Raphsodic situation...
Ravel's Bolero in HIGH DEF....
and THAT Homeless woman looked me SQUARELY in the eye.....
as chopped salad collided with those DAMN ,open umbrellas....
"We are WHAT WE EAT.....",
said the COW....
and so on....

Spring is upon us...

Traditionally,
Springtime is a period of high level growth...
of new beginnings...
Is the phrase "new beginnings" REDUNDANT ??
In any case, we take this season...
or at least,
 we are ADVISED to take this season....this "growth period"...
and to sprinkle it with CONTEMPLATION....
with ASPIRATION....
with GREEN....
with BIRTH....etc...
And in so doing, we are, organically,  forced to really LOOK at
WHERE we are...
HOW we are...
What we can do differently...
What is, in fact, WORKING already...
We think of children..
of ""off"spring"""....
Of plants and trees and grass coming, yet again, to fruition...
all in their own, provocative, yet predicatable, time frame...
We think of LOVE..
of "SPRING FEVER"...
WHAT is SPRING FEVER ?
How do we CATCH it ?
Bottle it ?
Is it CONTAGIOUS ?
And what of religious ritual??
Passover Seders...
Slaves in Egypt....
Easter Egg Hunts....
Resurrection....
Are they ALL the SAME thing ?
 WHAT, My Loves, are the lessons of SPRINGTIME ?
Are there lessons ?
Thoughts?

Just a little bit of adjustment....

goes a Long way......
No change in this life is doable...palatable...tenable...
without some sort of adjustment period...
even without EXPECTING a period of disconcertion...discomfort....
Our very genetic coding is set.....
in familiar rhythms and patterns...
And so...
to essentially 'upset' the patterning which has been etched into our DNA...
(or seemingly so..),
of course...
requires a period of GETTING TO KNOW the new rhythm....
of falling into the groove of a new WAY....
The MISTAKE which we, as humans, tend to make...
all too frequently...
is to JUDGE the "newness" all too early,,,,,, to BALK at it even.....
without giving it the appropriate amount of time to gel....to marinate...
to resonate....
This 'adjustment process' can take a month, perhaps even up to a YEAR in some cases...
Just observing My Friends....
Don't shoot the messenger !

Pass the Gefilte Fish !!!

While seated at the family Shabbat table...
a mother, a father, a young girl, her teenage brother, their grandmother, and their newlywed neighbors...
partook in the sumptuous ,Shabbat delicacies ...
There was the traditional chicken soup....a veritable panacea for ANYTHING that ails you...
the chopped liver....an acquired taste, most definitely...
delicious challah....juicy, fatty brisket with gravy....
But the thing that was MOST memorable about this particular Friday night was this.....
A shipment of SPECIAL gefilte fish had arrived only that morning from AMSTERDAM!
It was unclear exactly WHO had sent it...
But what was crystal clear was that it was the MOST spectacular tasting gefilte fish
that anyone had EVER had!!!
Furthermore....
within just moments after swallowing,
the 'EATER' began seeing Rainbows and Unicorns and FLYING Matzohs !!
and RELATIVEs who had passed on !!
Even MASHIACH !!!
(Messiah!)
 showed up on this particular Friday night !!!!
on a WHITE HORSE !!
The grandmother, who used a WALKER....
began doing CARTWHEELs !!!!
The newlyweds essentially started having SEX on the dining room table !!
It was SHEER MADNESS...
Needless to say....
I gotta get me some of that GEFILTE FISH !!!
You think they have FRESH DIRECT in Amsterdam ????
lol
Shabbat Shalom....