Friday, July 31, 2009

Awesome Powerpoint and Pouring out your Heart


Pouring Out Your Heart

When you are in emotional turmoil and distress, verbalizing your thoughts and feelings lets off steam.

Talking to someone who cares about you and understands you melts away stress, tension, and emotional pain.

Pouring your heart out to your loving Father and powerful King, Creator and Sustainer of the universe is a wonderful way to release the negative energy that you are feeling. After pouring out your heart, your heart becomes lighter.

Love Yehuda



Jewish Joke:

One evening, Rabbi Levy is visited by a stranger. "Yes," says the rabbi, "can I help you?"

"Life is very hard for some," says the man. "I thought you should know about the problems facing one of your congregation."

"So tell me already," says the rabbi.

"Well," says the man, "your Mrs. Goldman owes a moneylender over $10,000 and she hasn't got the money to pay him back. She's being thrown out her house this week, she's too ill to work and she can't feed her children."

"It's a terrible life, indeed," says Rabbi Levy. "Thank you for letting me know. I'll raise some money from the synagogue straight away – I'll even donate $1000 of my own money. But tell me, my friend, are you a relative of Mrs. Goldman?"

"Don't be silly, rabbi," says the man, "I'm the moneylender."







Subject: Awesome Powerpoint

See the Attached

--Know your place in the Universe
Powerful Slideshow!!!!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

test for today? and Keep the Sabbath --go on a Cruise and the sad day of Tishabov

Go on a Cruise—Keep the Sabbath and Introspection

 

I recently went to a sales promotion for a cruise line trip. Their strongest pitch and the one they opened the presentation with (after the pretty girl of course) was that on the cruise trip you were the master of your own time.

The visual imagery they used was throwing into a garbage can, your cell phone, day-timer and computer.  Be your own master again and work on your own body clock was the sale point.

If one follows the bible, we get to take a cruise every Saturday. We don't turn on our phone, cells, or e-mail and take a break from the work week. Three thousand five hundred years ago, long before any of this was invented; G-d said spend the day in meditation about where you came from and where you are going.

Today is a day of retrospection, because we remember the destruction of the two temples and various mishaps that have burdened the Jewish People. We call the day, Tishabov, meaning the eight day of this Hebrew Month with the name of Ov.

It is considered the saddest day of the Jewish year and we mourn for our losses and murders over the recorded modern History.

It is also considered the day with the most potential for our sadness to end and for the new world to start.

May you be blessed with love and kindness and compassion and be this truly be the beginning of the Utopian world that we all long to live in. In the meantime let's go to work.

Love Yehuda


since today is a day of Introspection, here is a test to start you mind thinking




:

 test for today?


 
 
 
 

 





 

A QUIZ FOR
PEOPLE WHO KNOW EVERYTHING
 







This is a
quiz for people who know everything!
 

I
found out in a hurry that I didn't.
 

These
are not trick questions.
 

They are
straight questions with straight answers.









1. Name the
one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the
score or the leader

until the contest ends. 






2. What
famous North American landmark

is constantly moving backward? 






3. Of all
vegetables, only two can live to produce

on their own for several growing seasons.


All other vegetables must
be replanted every year.

What are the only two perennial vegetables? 






4. What
fruit has its seeds on the outside? 






5. In many
liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy,

with a real pear inside the
bottle.

The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine;

it
hasn't been cut in any way.

How did the pear get inside the bottle? 






6. Only
three words in standard English

begin with the letters 'dw' and

they
are all common words.. Name two of them.










7. There are 14 punctuation
marks
 in English
grammar
.

Can you name at least half of them? 








8. Name the
only vegetable or fruit

that is never sold frozen, canned, processed,


cooked, or in any other form except fresh. 






9. Name 6
or more things that you can wear

on your feet beginning with the letter
'S...' 






THIS IS
PRETTY COOL 




HAVE A
GREAT DAY 








Answers To
Quiz:
 





1. The one
sport in which neither the spectators

nor the participants know the
score or the leader

until the contest ends . 


Boxing 





2. North
American landmark constantly moving backward. 


Niagara
Falls 


(The rim is
worn down about two and a half feet

each year because of the millions
of gallons

of water that rush over it every minute..) 






3. Only two
vegetables that can live to produce

on their own for several growing
seasons . . 


Asparagus
and rhubarb
 . 





4. The
fruit with its seeds on the outside .. 


Strawberry. 





5. How did
the pear get inside the brandy bottle?

It grew inside the bottle.


(The
bottles are placed over pear buds

when they are small, and are wired in
place

on the tree. The bottle is left in place

for the entire growing
season.

When the pears are ripe, they are snipped

off at the stems.)
 





6. Three
English words beginning with dw 


Dwarf,
dwell and dwindle
. 





7. Fourteen punctuation
marks
 in English
grammar. .Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash,


hyphen, apostrophe, question mark,

exclamation point,quotation marks,
brackets, parenthesis, braces, and ellipses.
 






8. The only
vegetable or fruit never sold frozen,

canned, processed, cooked, or in
any other form

but fresh -

Lettuce. 






9. Six or
more things you can wear on your feet beginning with 'S'. 


Shoes,
socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers,

skis, skates, snowshoes, stockings,
stilts.
 










Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Sign on I-35 near Dallas and use your Upgraded Skills

Use Your Upgraded Skills

When you upgrade your brain in any single context, you get a free upgrade in each and every context of your life.

When your brain enables you to feel confident and empowered when interacting with one person, your brain can enable you to feel this way in all contexts.
If you can be creative in one area, your brain can be creative in many similar areas. If your brain can concentrate when you read one thing, you can concentrate in other areas as well.
If you were able to cope well with a specific difficult person or difficult situation, it means that the inner resources that enabled you to do so are stored in your brain and your brain can access them with other people and situations.
When you are able to create or access the states of happiness and joy at will, it means that your brain can do this over and over again in many other contexts.
Love Yehuda --see the enclosed movable sign with different messages below--

WHAT A SIGN!

This is in Dallas! On I 35.

Take the time to Watch it change every 2 to 3 seconds.




How awesome is that!?

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Morning laugh - Gas Guzzlers and Focus on the Future

Focus On The Future
 
Many complaints people have against one another are about the past and have no future relevance.
 
Many of the questions that begin with, "Why didn't you...?" fall into this category.
 
Learn to keep your focus on what is relevant for the future.
 
 Whatever was, was -- and no amount of blaming will change what has already happened
Love Yehdua


 

Subject: FW: Morning laugh - Gas Guzzlers


 
 


Perhaps G-d does not like gas guzzlers?!?!





   


   






  

 



Monday, July 27, 2009

Math question and let us do our Share


Let Us Do Our Share
 
The realization that our own strength may be inadequate should never cause us to sink back into inertia.
 
Never refrain from a good endeavor because the difficulties involved seem insurmountable.
 
Keep in mind that we have a mighty Helper in the Almighty in all our good endeavors.
 
Let us do our share; the Almighty will do the restSubject:
 
Love Yehuda
 
 FW: Math question


 
 
Subject: Math question


  Math Question

A Backhoe weighing 8 tons is on top of a flatbed trailer

and heading east on Interstate 70 near Hays, Kansas ?

The extended shovel arm is made of hardened refined

steel and the approaching overpass is made of

commercial-grade concrete, reinforced with 1 1/2 inch

steel rebar spaced at 6 inch intervals in a criss-cross

pattern layered at 1 foot vertical spacing.


Solve: When the shovel arm hits the overpass, how fast

do you have to be going to slice the bridge in half??

(Assume no effect for headwind and no braking by the

driver...) Extra Credit: Solve for the time and distance

required for the entire rig to come to a complete stop

after hitting the overpass at the speed calculated above.?

Yes, you can neglect friction.













 

I couldn't solve it either......but who cares;

the pictures are great!



Sunday, July 26, 2009

Good Morning, and Draw on your Experience

Draw On Your Experience


In what contexts have you already been patient? Even the most impatient person will be able to think of a few. Realize that you can now access this very same patience in new contexts where you haven't yet been as patient as you would like to be. 

Love Yehuda



B"H


Good Morning,





Good
morning!
We
can
pretend we are

 sharing
a good cup
of coffee (or tea,
 or Achai juice )
while
enjoying....


Good
Morning Blessings

Good
Morning !!!!

This

 morning
 when
I

 wakened


And
saw the sun above,
I softly
said, '
Good
morning

,
Lord
,

Bless

everyone
 I
love'




Right
away I thought of

you

And
said a loving prayer
,
That
He /She
 would
bless

 you
specially

,

And
keep you

free
 from
care
.
I

 thought

 of
all the

 happiness

A
day could

hold
in
store,


I

wished

 it all for

you
because

No
one deserves

it more

.

I felt so
 warm
 and
 good

 inside,

My

heart
was
all aglow
..
I
know

G-d
 heard
my

 prayers
for
you

,
He /she
 hears
 them all, you know.




^j^
^j^ ^j^ ^j^
^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^


Nine
angels are sent to you.





Friday, July 24, 2009

Kurtis & Brenda..TRUE STORY and Cheer for Others

Cheers For All 

Root for the success of people you know as well as for people you don't know. 

 Whenever someone is successful in some endeavor, root for him/her and cheer. If this doesn't come naturally to you, you aren't alone.

How do you practice? Bill Gates' fortune has increased? Cheer for him. You see the announcement of an engagement, cheer for the happy couple. Someone wins an award for anything: Cheer! Someone wins a lottery: Cheer for the winner. Someone has achieved scholastically, created a new invention, has written another book, composed a new song: Cheer!

From now on be more aware of the choices you will be making throughout your life whenever you hear about someone's success. You can choose to be envious. This choice gives you nothing but pain. Or you can choose to be neutral. With this choice you don't suffer, but you miss out on a lot of life's potential for joy. Or you can choose to experience joy because of the joy of others. With this choice, you will have unlimited opportunities to experience joy. A wise choice, isn't it?

And now here is the choice to cheer for someone else:

 Kurtis & Brenda..TRUE STORY



 
Real life can be beautiful, and this story proves it. 
 
  
 
KURTIS THE STOCK BOY AND BRENDA THE CHECKOUT GIRL

In a supermarket, Kurtis the stock boy, was busily working when a new voice came over the loud speaker asking for a carry out at register 4.  Kurtis was almost finished, and wanted to get some fresh air, and decided to answer the call. As he approached the check-out stand a distant smile caught his eye, the new check-out girl was beautiful.  She was an older woman (maybe 26,
and he was only 22) and he fell in love.

Later that day, after his shift was over, he waited by the punch clock
to find out her name. She came into the break room, smiled  softly at him, took her card and punched out, then left.  He looked at her card, BRENDA.  He walked out only to see her start walking up the road.  Next day, he waited outside as she left the supermarket, and offered her a ride home. He looked harmless enough,
and she accepted.  When he dropped her off, he asked if maybe he could see her again, outside of work.  She simply said it wasn't possible.  He pressed and she explained she had two children and she couldn't afford a baby-sitter, so he offered to pay for the baby-sitter.  

Reluctantly she accepted his offer for a date for the following Saturday.  That Saturday night he arrived at her door only to have her tell him that she was unable to go with him. The baby-sitter had called and canceled. To which Kurtis simply said, "Well, let's take the kids with us."  She tried to explain that taking the children was not an option, but again not taking no for an answer, he pressed. Finally Brenda, brought him inside to meet her children.  She had an older daughter who was just as cute as a bug, Kurtis thought, then Brenda brought out her son, in a wheelchair.  

He was born a paraplegic with Down Syndrome.
Kurtis asked Brenda, "I still don't understand why the kids can't
come with us?"  Brenda was amazed. Most men would run away from a woman with two kids, especially if one had disabilities - just like her first husband and father of her children had done.  

Kurtis was not ordinary - - - he had a different mindset.
That evening Kurtis and Brenda loaded up the kids, went to dinner and the movies. When her son needed anything Kurtis would take care of him.  When he needed to use the restroom, he picked him up out of his wheelchair, took him and brought him back.  The kids loved Kurtis.  At the end of the evening, Brenda knew this was the man she was going to marry and spend the rest of her life with.
A year later, they were married and Kurtis adopted both of her children.
 
Since then they have added two more kids.
So what happened to Kurtis the stock boy and Brenda the check-out girl?
Well, Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Warner now live in Arizona , where he is currently employed as the quarterback of the National Football League Arizona Cardinals and has his Cardinals going to the Super Bowl.  Is this a surprise ending or could you have guessed that he was not an ordinary person.
It should be noted that he also quarterbacked the Rams in Super Bowl
XXXVI. He has also been the NLF's Most Valuable Player twice and the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player.

Love Yehuda


Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Virtue is its own reward and Mt. Bachelor in Oregon

Virtue Is Its Own Reward

Some people complain they are not appreciated for what they do for others. This is a concealed form of approval-seeking. While it is normal to want to feel appreciated, to demand appreciation is to cause yourself suffering.

Anyone can do kindness for honor. It is a mark of an elevated person to do kindness when he knows he will not receive any praise in return. Instead of telling yourself, "How awful that my hard work is not appreciated," tell yourself, "I can take pleasure in knowing that I help others even though they do not express proper appreciation."

Love Yehuda

Pictures taken by family of my friend Stan of Mt. Bachelor taken earlier this year. I will be visiting Oregon in September




Tuesday, July 21, 2009

awesome birth and don't be discouraged


At Least Don't Be Discouraged

Realize that if you ever feel discouraged, your attitude of discouragement is a greater problem than any external hardship.


You can change your attitude.

Love Yehuda



-Check out this birth of a baby giraffe.....very interesting-click link below


Monday, July 20, 2009

Laughlin Nevada and the Colorado River and Drawing a Connection

Drawing a Connection

The bible at the end of the fourth book (Midbar or Desert)  describes the travels of the Children of Israel in the desert over the forty-year period that began with the miraculous exodus from Egypt and ended with the Jews poised to enter the Promised Land of Israel

The fourth book ends  with a listing of each of the forty- two encampments of the Jews in the desert. Rashi comments that although the B'nei Yisroel were forced to pick up their tent stakes and relocate in the midbar numerous times, Hashem's mercy is still evident. The Jews were punished for the sin of listening to the meraglim (spies) by being forced to "wander in the desert for forty years (Bamidbar 14:33)." Rashi point out that aside from fourteen relocations during the first year that they left Egypt and eight during the fortieth year, there were only twenty moves during a thirty-eight year period of relative tranquility.

The other main topic mentioned in this week's parsha is the halachos (laws) related to one who kills accidentally. The Torah notes that once such a tragic event occurs, the person who took the life of another, albeit inadvertently, is required to immediately run to an Ir Miklat (a "city of refuge"), where he remains until the death of the Head Priest. There were forty two (42) of these cities of refuge.

DRAWING A CONNECTION

The Kli Yakar connects these two seemingly disparate portions of this week's parsha by pointing out that there were forty-two cities that were inhabited by members of the tribe of  Levi that were not formally designated as 'cities of refuge.' Nonetheless, they offered protection to people who killed accidentally.

The Kli Yakar notes that these forty-two cities correspond to the forty- two encampments of the Jews in the desert. He explains that Hashem, in His infinite mercy, arranged that the cities of refuge were those designated for the tribe of Levi. Members of Shevet Levi did not own portions in Eretz Yisroel, but rather lived in these cities.

Hashem lessened the discomfort of those who were exiled to arei miklat by sending them to cities where the leviyim were also landless. Joseph when he was king of Egypt (Bereshis 47:21, see Rashi) acted in a similar fashion, resettling all the Egyptians during his reign to remove the stigma of 'gerim' (exiles) from his brothers.

ANOTHER POSSIBILITY

We are familiar with the concept that Hashem does not discriminately deliver punishments for sins that we commit. Rather, His judgement  is delivered middah k'neged middah (there is a direct correlation between the crime and the punishment). That being the case, what is the connection between the sin of killing accidentally and being sent to an ir miklat?

There is a direct linkage between the two – one that would explain the juxtaposition of the encampments of the Jews in the desert alongside the laws of ir miklat.

TAKING A LIFE – AND LOSING ONE'S OWN

The taking of a human life – even accidentally – is an act of such magnitude that the perpetrator should lose his or her life as well. However, it would certainly be overly harsh to kill someone whose crime was committed accidentally.

A SYMBOLIC TAKING OF LIFE

Going to exile is similar to losing one's life – and starting anew. Over the course of our lives, we establish our reputations, create and develop friendships, and stake our claims in our communities. When one abruptly pulls up his or her roots and is forced to relocate, it is, in many ways, like starting life anew.

Thus, when one kills accidentally, it is perfectly symmetrical that he relinquishes his current life. We do not take his life completely, as we recognize the inadvertent nature of his misdeed. However, it is fitting that he leaves behind all that he had built up over the years and start life anew.

WANDERING IN THE DESERT

Seen in this light, we can attain a fresh perspective on the wandering of the Jews in the desert. Hashem initially wanted to take their lives (Bamidbar 14:12) after they had sinned with the incident of the meraglim. After Moses begged G-d for mercy on behalf of the Jews, He spared their lives, but gave them a sentence of galus – a symbolic death – and instructed them to wander in the desert for forty years.

There is, in fact, another striking similarity between the galus of the Jews and that of an accidental murderer. The Jews in the desert never knew when they would be asked to move. When the miraculous cloud rose, they needed to pack their belongings and move on to the next location. In the instance of the ir miklat, the murderer's galus ended with the death of the Head Priest – an event that could not be predicted. In both cases, there was no predetermined time for the relocation to end – adding to the sense of instability.

A COMFORTING MESSAGE

Perhaps this is why this section of the bible  is read during the 'three-week' mourning period. In the midst of our commemoration of this long and bitter galus, one that is seemingly without end, we are reminded of Hashem's mercy – even when He delivers middas hadin.

Even when His children were sentenced to death in the midbar, Hashem miraculously provided all their needs; food, water, and shelter for a period of forty years. As Rashi explains, He even grouped their moves in the desert to allow them longer periods of tranquility. So too, were the needs of an accidental murderer taken care of in every detail (see details in the  gemorah makkos perek beis).

Like a loving Father who disciplines his child while taking care of his needs, Hashem's boundless love for us is evident in these two interconnected portions of this parsha.

May this be a source of comfort to us in these difficult days.

Love Yehuda


You are invited to view Yehuda's photo album: Laughlin Nevada and the Colorado River
Laughlin Nevada and the Colorado River
Laughin Nevada -
Jul 19, 2009
by Yehuda
On a Quick Jet Flight--new experiences Shabbat looking over the Colorada River on the 18th Floor
Message from Yehuda:
This Torah (bible) section was about the Travels of the Jews in the Desert.

So this Jew and his wife went off to the Midbar (Desert) of Nevada

Love Yehuda