Awe

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Awe is Healing Possibilities

Awe is … all the healing possibilities showing up in my little world. As a somatic healer, fact finder and curiosity seeker, I always have my eyes open to healing solutions. Some have been around for awhile, some are new and some are recycled, but when Hashem (Gd) brings them into my small world, it’s always fascinating. The spiritual, emotional, mental and physical are so intertwined it’s truly amazing to see the connections.
28th day of the Jewish month of Tammuz – the month of Awe
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Awe is Kabbalah and Astrology

Reading up on some kabbalah as I write my memoir and it’s always so fascinating 🙂 Angels are conduits of divine energy flow. Some are permanent and some are temporary, some we even create through our choice of words and actions. In terms of planets and stars, every star in the universe has a name and each of the names of the stars correspond to the names of angels. When we talk about astrology, there is a ‘mazel of the hour’ meaning an angel of the hour that someone is born. However, though astrology does have truth to it, the truth is to be used for character analysis, but not to lock someone into auspicious times or predictions. We should always know that we can connect above our ‘mazel’ and connect directly with G-d through prayer. The more we connect with G-d directly rather than relying on nature, mazel, stars etc., the more G-d is going to connect to us above natural means. We are never stuck and there are always possibilities, miracles, and wonders. This is awe 🙂
25th day of the Jewish month of Tammuz – the month of Awe
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Awe is Straight Wisdom From The Rebbe About Killing Animals For Sport

Awe is … the straight wisdom expressed in these words of the Rebbe. Such compassion. The Rebbe expressed his deep pain over the cruelty of killing animals for sport. So direct to the point and to my heart – brings tears to my eyes. Translated from the original Yiddish talk that the Rebbe gave on January 31, 1972 (Tu Bishvat):
 
“…He has a gun, so he goes into the forest to shoot animals and birds. “Why are you shooting?!” we ask. “The animal roams freely and wants to live!”
 
The answer is that you don’t have anything else to do, so you’re looking for something that will rid you of your boredom. So if you’re bored, bang your head against the wall, heaven forbid! If you bang your head against the wall, it will be painful, but you’ll no longer be bored.
 
But instead, what solution has he found? He learns how to handle a gun and trains to aim and hit a mark. Then who does he target? Not himself—he shoots an animal! He would shoot a person too, but then he would be jailed. An animal isn’t going to shoot back and neither will he end up in jail. So he goes to the forest to hunt for sport. It is something for which there is simply no place if you want to be called a human being.
 
Yet not only do we not send people to jail for this, neither do we say that he is sub-human for causing pain to a living creature, maiming it and taking the life of an animal for no benefit whatsoever. He doesn’t do this to eat meat. He does it just because he has already done everything else, and has nothing left to do. So he gathers a group of friends and they go out into fields and forests and shoot!
 
This is so socially accepted that it’s not considered a crime, not even a small crime. People will say, “Oh, wow! What a great hunter he is!” And how do they know he’s a great hunter? Because upon entering his den, they see over there hangs the head of an animal he killed, and over here stands the horn of another animal he killed. What sort of achievement is this?!
 
G‑d gave him intelligence to build the world. But he uses it to destroy.
G‑d created you with intelligence in order that it should be used to build the world. But you have used G‑d’s gift to learn to damage and destroy. And you’re not simply satisfied with knowledge; you utilize the money and intelligence G‑d has given you, the strength G‑d has given you, and the guns G‑d has given you to target a defenseless living creature. And then you decide to display your accomplishment—that you can maim and kill!”
 
A TALK BY THE LUBAVITCHER REBBE, RABBI MENACHEM M. SCHNEERSON;
 
23rd day of the Jewish month of Tammuz – the month of Awe
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Awe is … Divine Providence

Awe is … Hashgacha protis, which is Hebrew for divine providence. Everything is basically hashgacha protis, but sometimes you get a glimpse of the awe of an encounter or an event. A few years ago, I was sitting on the couch during the first days of the Passover holiday. I was looking at a book from Penny Pierce called a ‘Leap of Perception.’ Since I’m a Martha Beck trained coach, I was pleased to see that the introduction was written by Martha since I enjoy her writing. I also happened to turn the book over and look at the endorsements by other people, something I usually don’t do. Surprise, Surprise my eye caught the name Demian Lichtenstein, a Jewish man that my husband had met once at a health retreat. We had been sending him a boxed gift of special matzah for Passover in the years that had followed that meeting. That year we were busy and just had forgotten. My husband had told me that Demian was a screenwriter and here it was, I was seeing his name and endorsement on the back of Penny Pierce’s book. On my lap as well was a Jewish magazine opened to an article called ‘Hashgacha Protis’ (see picture). Almost immediately when Demian’s name registered in my mind, so did the huge ‘Hashgacha Pratis’ of the article also register. It was like “ding, ding, ding.” I told my husband, “we forgot to send Demian matzah this year and look at this!” The following day, my husband emailed Demian to check if his address was still the same. When he responded back, we sent the gift of special matzah to him, still in time for most of the Passover holiday. Not just that, but the article itself was a story about the divine providence of a rabbi, last minute before leaving on a trip, remembering to pack special matzah in his car just in case someone needed it. And he tells that a Jewish man in a small town, that he was passing through, actually did. The awe is that I couldn’t even make this up if I tried 🙂 Hashem (G-d) really loves acts of kindness and will situate the physical world in such interesting ways to enable us to make miracles happen. And the name of the book is called “Leap of Perception.” Amazing 🙂 Sometimes we really do get a glimpse of G-d’s hand behind the scenes.

 

 

 

 

22nd day of the Jewish month of Tammuz – the month of Awe

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Awe is Abundance and Perspective

Awe is … that “Both abundance & lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend … when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives, but are grateful for the abundance that’s present – love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure – the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on Earth.” Sarah Ban Breathnach

20th day of the Jewish month of Tammuz – the month of Awe

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Awe is Commemoration After Thousands of Years

Awe is … that Jewish people still commemorate events from thousands of years ago. The history is incredible and is spherical in nature where the energy of time is carried forward.
Today is the beginning of a period of time called the Three Weeks. It commemorates historical events from thousands of years ago regarding the loss of two Bais Hamikdashes, the Jewish Temples of Jerusalem and is a fast day to remember when the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans in 69 CE. The Western Wall, the Kotel, still stands and is prayed at daily.
18th day of the Jewish month of Tammuz – the month of Awe
(the period of the three weeks usually starts on the 17th day of Tammuz, but was pushed off to begin this year on the 18th day of Tammuz in honor of Shabbos)

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Awe is The Amazement of Flowers

Awe is … the amazement of flowers. Most of this foliage looked dead a few months back, some completely concealed from sight. And now, with amazement and resilience, it’s become lush and overflowing with vibrancy and color.

 

13th day of the Jewish month of Tammuz – the month of Awe

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Awe is Miracles & Release From Our Self Imposed Prisons

Awe is … miracles enclosed in nature. There are some miracles that break nature and then there are some miracles that come from the highest order of Divine revelation that they are enclothed within nature. Today is a special day called Yud Beis Tammuz and celebrates the miraculous release of the previous Rebbe of Lubavitch from the decree of exile and from Soviet prison in 1927. He was arrested for teaching and strengthening Judaism among Jews in the Soviet Union. The same people who had arrested him in the first place,haters of Judaism and observant Jews, were also the same people who were forced to assist in releasing him. It is a day of celebration and a day of blessings for material and spiritual good. May we all be released from our self imposed prisons and not only experience miracles, but transform the physical world into a vessel for G-dliness. Amen 🙂
12th day of the Jewish month of Tammuz – the month of Awe