Showing posts with label praying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label praying. Show all posts

Thursday, September 7, 2023

Break From Blogging

 

I'm taking a break from blogging  to prepare for and welcome our High Holidays  which are:   New Year (Rosh Hashana) , Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and  - the less solemn, more joyous 'agricultural' holiday of Sukkot  (dwelling in the sukkah,  celebrating Harvest).

Last but not least, Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Tora (celebrating the love for the Thorah : the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) by parading and dancing with it.

Yom Kippur (the day of Atonement) is the holiest day on the jewish calendar -  a day of Awe,  of Fasting, Praying, Remembering our departed  loved ones, seeking Forgiveness from God and our fellows.  It's a day that requires both physical and spiritual efforts.

Wishing you the very Best!      God willing, I'll hopefully resume blogging by mid - end of October.



Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Mamad, Helmet, and the British Actress

 

You should never ever need one, but it's good to have one, just in case.  It could save lives .  

Mamad (acronym for the hebrew 'merchav mugan' - meaning  protective space)  is a fortified room with reinforced, cemented walls and ceilings, thick floor, airtight steel door and window. It is supposed to be impenetrable to rockets carrying bombs or chemical/biological stuff. In peace time, it can be used as a storage/study/play room, but not as a kitchen or bathroom.

The law that requires a newly built house/ building /apartment to have a 'mamad', is from year 1993, after the notorious "Gulf War".  There are certain regulations with which I am not familiar as I  myself don't own a 'mamad'.

The thing is, a five year old boy, was critically injured during one of the recent rocket attacks, ( he later died in hospital-rip), when a shrapnel punctured the window of the 'mamad'. It is considered a rare incident, and it is under investigation. 

There were also some people who got injured by falling on their way to the mamad.  A 73 year old woman, awaken by the alarm, got quickly off her bed, ran towards the mamad and fell on her head before reaching the mamad. She died a few days laterׂ - rip (perhaps, a light helmet should be considered for prevention of tragic cases like this one.)


Those who don't have that kind of room (like me) are advised to stay in the most inner spot of their home, away from windows and exterior walls.That's what I do upon hearing the siren, and, immediately start ...praying to God asking for protection.

By the way, I became aware of how deadly a fall on the head could be, while following the news about the tragedy of Natasha Richardson, british actress, daughter of the great Vanessa Redgrave, wife of actor Liam Neeson. She fell on her head while skiing in Quebec, Canada, and died in a matter of days in 2009 (rip). I think since then, a helmet has become mandatory on ski slopes.


 

 

Thursday, September 3, 2009

The Wailing Wall & the 'CNN interview'


the 'women's only' section


I haven't been there for quite a while. I keep away from crowds, and there's always a crowd at the Wailing Wall, the remaining wall of the Temple of God, in the old city of Jerusalem. People are coming here from all over the country and from abroad to feel the presence of God, touch and kiss the sacred wall stones, pray for divine mercy, weep, insert a wish note (tzetel) into the cracks of the wall and between the stones.


The types of wishes on those notes are endless: health, success, finding a spouse, procreation
, guidance from God in personal problems, long life etc...
Nowadays, people can send their prayers and wishes by e-mail, by fax and even by Tweeter (Some see all this as sacrilegious, I haven't got an opinion yet on this matter).

Anyway , as far as I know, the slips of paper are collected twice a year and burried on Mount Olive ( the place from which, so it is believed, God will begin to redeem the dead at the end of the days).

There's this famous joke (Oh God, please forgive me!), about a CNN journalist who interviewed an old jewish man who had been going to the Wailing Wall to pray every day for a long time:

- Sir, how long have you been coming to the Wall and praying?
- For about 60 years.
-What do you pray for?
- I pray for Peace between Jews and Arabs.
-How do you feel after doing this for 60 years?
- Like I'm talking to a wall.