Confident in Hashem

What looks bad from the outside is an illusion that exists because too many of our people do not believe that they possess the spiritual power to turn it into good. Yes, indeed. We, the Jewish people, need to take responsibility. It’s just that simple. The complexity of it is getting the subconscious minds of more of our Jewish brothers and sisters to accept the truth that we inherited the power to connect to Hashem in multiple ways that can turn the tide. However, we, the secular and religious alike and everyone in between, all-too-often do not use that power effectively. It’s like knowing that putting pressure on the gas pedal has the power to accelerate a vehicle, but we don’t apply pressure to the pedal. Or like knowing that putting the plug into the electrical socket will turn on the light, but we fail to connect the plug with the socket. Then the light does not shine. The same goes for our relationship with Hashem.

We leave Hashem while we complain, blame, turn to human beings to help us instead of Him, rant and rave, and live in confusion and then expect things to turn around. We must turn to the Source of all that is and believe that it is our connection He desires. We must tell Him we know everything is from Him and that we have been remiss in not communicating with Him on a daily basis. Ask Him a question, talk to Him, and yearn to receive an answer. Try personal prayer for fifteen minutes a day and then increase to at least thirty minutes.

It’s payback time, meaning that He wants us to initiate the interaction. We must have the confidence to do so. We must believe in ourselves that we hold the key to the “soul-ution” rather than continue to be part of the challenge. Use the power of speech to talk from your heart to Hashem. This is our purpose. This is how to unify in our desire for revealed goodness, love, and peace through the lens of truth.

Just as Rabbi Akiva laughed when he saw foxes stroll through the ruins of our Holy Temple, the Beis HaMikdash, because he knew that after destruction comes salvation, we must also see our lives, personally and globally, in this light:  To believe that our tribulations are a segue to our triumph when we call out to Hashem. He is waiting to hear from us from the depths of our soul.

So, on a personal note, on July 24^th, 2016, 18 Tammuz , the fast of 17^th of Tammuz, I received the message that there is no bad in the world. Everything we experience is for our best and for a purpose. This year the 17^th of Tammuz was on Shabbat, so we fasted, here in California as everywhere, on Sunday because we do not fast on the Holy Day of Rest. This was the beginning of the sad Three Weeks—the mourning period for the destruction of the First and Second Temples that occurred on the 9^th of Av. However, because I communicate regularly with the Creator, He infused this fast day with just the proper amount of happiness. This juxtaposition of the seemingly sad with the potential for joy is a message of hope for us all. For me, personally, this was the day our beloved and esteemed Rabbi Brody, may Hashem bless Him always, facilitated the publication of my first article entitled “The Art of Prayer”. This was also the day a friend I haven’t seen in well over two years, through hashgacha pratis (Divine Providence), found the article on the first day of publication, contacting me via e-mail. This day was also “coincidentally” (there really is no coincidence) the yahrzheit of my mother of blessed memory for whom I lit a candle.

Within the co-mingling of the joy and the sorrow we find the answer, and that answer is that we need to have confidence in Hashem. We need to unify in His strength. We need to believe in His goodness and in our power to connect with Him energetically through speech. We need to do what is right and give it our best. No matter where we are holding spiritually, He loves us. We need to tell Him that we want to be close to Him too, and we understand that we have a responsibility to discuss with Him from the heart the steps we will take to become closer to Him. He wants His children back in sincerity and with gratitude, trust, peace, and love. He wants us to see the good in each other and look at our similarities rather than our differences. He wants to give us inner peace when we demonstrate forgiveness and are mevater (letting go of the past). Then the light can shine in the blink of an eye when we realize that our individual effort matters to make it so.

Join me in talking to Hashem daily with all your heart and all your soul. As expressed in Psalm 90, when we strive to acquire a “wise heart”, we will see that “Hashem will give us joy corresponding to the days He has afflicted us, the years we have seen adversity.”  Joy follows sorrow when more of us realize that the ball is in our court. It’s time to win the game, play as a team, and return to Hashem with love. The relationship will turn from troubled to triumphant. Believing is seeing, not  the other way around. Pass this message on to as many people as you can. Its truth is everlasting. The story you read is authentic. Synchronicities from Hashem happen every day. He is with us. We just have to open our eyes and become aware.  It is time for us to be with each other and with Him in unity.