Down-to-Earth Spirituality

Unlike the Torah narrative that begins “In the Beginning,” a blog begins at the end. This "Torah Tweets" blog displays its narrative in reverse chronological order with the most recent post appearing first. The blog http://bibleblogyourlife.blogspot.com was created to reverse the order of the blog posts in this blog to begin in the beginning.

See the blogs for the books Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media http://throughabiblelens.blogspot.co.il/ and Photograph God: Creating a Spiritual Blog of Your Life http://photographgod.com/. Both books invite you to explore creative ways to photograph all that happens in your everyday life while crafting a vibrant dialogue between your life story and the biblical narrative.

Postdigital Narrative on Spiritual Dimensons of Everyday Life ///// "For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp." (Deuteronomy 23:15) ///// "Judaism does not direct its gaze upward but downward ... does not aspire to a heavenly transcendence, nor does it seek to soar upon the wings of some abstract, mysterious spirituality. It fixes its gaze upon concrete, empirical reality permeating every nook and cranny of life. The marketplace, the factory, the street, the house, the mall, the banquet hall, all constitute the backdrop of religious life." (R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik) ///// "It is not enough for the Jew to rest content with his own spiritual ascent, the elevation of his soul in closeness to G-d, he must strive to draw spirituality down into the world and into every part of it - the world of his work and his social life - until not only do they not distract him from his pursuit of G-d, but they become a full part of it." (R. Menachem M. Schneerson) ///// "If there is a religious agency in our lives, it has to appear in the manner of our times. Not from on high, but a revelation that hides itself in our culture, it will be ground-level, on the street, it'll be coming down the avenue in the traffic, hard to tell apart from anything else." (E. L. Doctorow) ///// "The first message that Moses chose to teach the Jewish people as they were about to enter the Land of Israel was to fuse heaven to earth, to enable the mundane to rise up and touch the Divine, the spiritual to vitalize the physical, not only as individuals but as an entire nation." (R. Abraham Y. Kook)




Monday, October 10, 2011

Vezot Haberakhah (And This is the Blessing) וזאת הברכה

This is the Blessing

And this is the blessing…. before the eyes of all Israel. (Deuteronomy 33:1 and 34:12)

From generation to generation, they will dwell in the Land of Israel where the wilderness will rejoice over them, the desert will be glad and blossom like a lily. Her wilderness will be made like Eden and her desert like a Divine garden.  Joy and gladness will be found there, thanksgiving and the sound of music. (Isaiah 35:1, 50:3)  


Our Torah Tweets blogart project draws to a close as we celebrate our wedding anniversary and begin our 53rd year together

On the Simhat Torah holiday, we rewind the torah scroll reading the end followed by the beginning and dance with the torah singing.
When the holiday ended, dancing and singing continued into the night 52 years ago to celebrate our wedding, prolonging joy and gladness.   

As we rewind the torah scroll to begin a new year, we link its last word YisraeL (Israel) to its first word Bereshit (In the beginning).  

The last letter Lamed followed by the first letter Bet spells "heart" Lamed Bet. At the heart of the torah, our blessings are renewed.
The last torah portion is Vezot habrakha/And this is the blessing. 

We are blessed with wonderful children: Ron, Ari, Iyrit, Moshe, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 
Moshe & Carmit with their children: Elianne and Avraham.
Ron & Miri with their children: Or, Yahel, Shirel, Meitav, Tagel, Razel.
Ari & Julie with their children: Elan and Talia.
Iyrit's children: Yishai, Rachelle, Inbal, Renana. 

Iyrit with her grandchildren, our great-grandchildren: Eliad and Tehila, the children of Inbal and Moshe Peretz. 

No comments:

Post a Comment