Elena Flerova ( famous artist) and the holiday of Lag B'Omer

  Resolve Your Worries

When you are worried, pinpoint exactly what you are worried about, and then try to think of solutions to the real problem.
For example, if you're worried about how to make a living, your anxiety level might be commensurate with someone who's worried that they'll starve to death!
But is that really the case? Most likely, you have the necessary talent to deliver mail, work in a factory, clean floors, or similar jobs. Perhaps such jobs do not enable you to utilize your potential, or you feel they are below your dignity, or will be very boring. So realize then that your real problem is pride or boredom, not starving to death. Your worry level will be decreased if you realize the exact nature of the problem.
Now that your question is how to make a boring job more interesting or how to use your potential, you can make an inventory of all your skills, hobbies, and interests -- and figure out how to best utilize them to earn a living.
Love Yehuda Lave

Subject: Elena Flerova, absolutely beautiful!!

This is a MUST WATCH!!!!  The art work is exquisite both in the emotion and mood portrayed therein!

Enjoy!!! The works of internationally honored artist Elena Flerova range from remarkably insightful portraits that capture the spirit of her subjects to large-scale monoprint paintings and oils. They also include wall murals, screens and other interior decoration for private residences and public buildings. All of them evoke the mystique,essence and sweep of historical and religious events and fables. Born in Moscow, USSR, in 1943, Flerova graduated with honors from the prestigious Surikov Fine Arts Institute in 1969. Her top graduate standing won her a scholarship to the National Academy of Fine Arts, an exclusive school admitting only a limited number of exceptionally gifted artists. Both institutions assisted Elena in maturing her great talent and establishing authentic academic skills. Combined with her inherent ability to create sophisticated compositions, these skills empowered Elena Flerova to devise unique artwork.The avenue in which the artist uses light and shadow, color and composition equates her with old European masters. All these properties are efficiently used by Elena for conveying both mood and movement in her paintings. At the same time, her exceptional mastery in providing the presence of vibrating air illumination relates her with more recent impressionists. The artist refrains from any preparatory sketches and starts working directly with brush and canvas. This freedom distinguishes her in a favorable way from the majority of contemporary realists working in a less dynamic manner. Flerova is a master monoprint painter as well as an award-winning book and magazine illustrator, watercolorist and etcher. In the tradition of old masters, and unlike typical monoprint artists, Elena forges jeweler-like results by refining her work following the transfer.Meticulous details sharpened by intense color and provocative lighting create masterful three-dimensional illusion.  Over the course of her professional career, Elena Flerova has been recognized as an exceptional talent. She has had numerous one person shows in Europe and North America. Her works have been shown in more than 80 national and international exhibitions and won numerous awardsand honors. Paintings by Elena Flerova are held in many private collections in the United States and abroad.

Q & A: WHAT IS LAG B'OMER AND HOW IS IT CELEBRATED?

According to Jewish cosmology, the day begins with nightfall. That is why all holidays start at night after the stars can be seen. Saturday night, May 17th, begins the holiday of Lag B'Omer. You may have seen advertisements for picnics from synagogues and Jewish Community Centers.

Lag B'Omer is the 33rd day of the Omer, the period between Pesach and Shavuot. On this day the plague which was killing Rabbi Akiva's disciples stopped. It is also the yahrzeit of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar, the Kabbalah, the book of Jewish Mysticism. Tradition has it that the day of his demise was filled with a great light of endless joy through the secret wisdom which he revealed to his students in the Zohar.

In Israel there are huge bonfires across the country. From Pesach onwards the children gather fallen branches and old tires and build pyres often 20 and 30 feet high. Then as the sky grows dark, they are lit and the sky is filled with flames -- and smoke. (I have often wondered what the reaction is to the pictures from the US and Russian Spy satellites.)

The fires are symbolic both of the light of wisdom Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai brought into the world and as a "yahrzeit candle" to the memory of his passing. Haircuts and weddings take place on this date and there is much festivity including dancing, singing and music.

Why the name Lag B'Omer? Every Hebrew letter has a numerical value. An aleph = 1, a bet = 2 and so forth. The two Hebrew letters lamed (30) and gimmel (3) = 33. So Lag B'Omer means the 33rd day of the Omer. [The word "Omer" literally means "sheaf" and refers to the offering of the barley sheaf in the Temple on the second day of Pesach marking the harvesting of the barley crop. From that day until Shavuot (the anniversary of the giving of the Torah and the Festival of the Harvest) is called the period of the Counting of the Omer. It is a time for reflection upon how we view and treat our fellow Jews and what we can learn from the tragedies that have befallen us because of unfounded hatred for our

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