Holocaust? No, it can't happen here...

(courtesy of http://www.abqjournal.com)

The following article is excerpted from Lazer Brody's blog here.

I am an avid reader of his blog and almost always agree with even what some would say his most "extreme views". This blog is something I have been thinking in my mind for a long time and only whispered to a few close to me. I take no credit for the following words, only that they should be spread through out the Jewish public so you can decide to disagree or agree with what Lazer and others think.

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Famous last words of German Jews prior to Kristallnacht: "No, it can't happen here..."

American Jews, ever so comfy, say the same thing today. With oil up to $120/barrel and the value of the dollar down by over 30%, with a waning economy and increasing unemployment, it's only a matter of time until the ground really starts burning under the feet of American Jews.

For more on Holocaust? No, it can't happen here... see Section A8

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Its happening again in Europe too....

Davening with a Minyan

(Courtesy of www.xanga.com/Shlomo_Chizkiyahu)

I davened many a day in my living room. I always tried to say Shema in time, always tried to daven shachris well before the last minute and always tried to have on my tefillin. Day in and Day out I figured that this was what Hashem wanted from my daily teffilah. Missing Torah reading Monday and Wednesday and Rosh Chodesh. Then one day I came upon a quote from the Talmud Yerushalmi stating that davening in your home is like davening in a steel box. Implying that it is nearly impossible for a Yid, especially one of my spiritual stature to penetrate the heavens with prayer alone at home without a Torah or a Minyan. Then I moved .5 miles from the mikvah, .7 miles from the shul, and 1.0 mile from my Rabbi. Prior to that I had never spent a Shabbos where I lived since I moved out of my parents house. It wasnt to bad, but I did miss my bed on shabbos. I decided when I moved that I was going to make some changes. Sleep is for the weak so i started waking up at 5:45am everyday so I could make it to minyan, usually being the first one there and preparing myself even before the main Shul lights were triggered by their timer. I have this thing about being on time and it really gets to me if I am late for minyan. After a month or so, the members of the shul entrusted me with the code to the front door and I now could learn before Mincha and Maariv instead of sitting in my truck till someone came to open the door. Now that I am a regular for minyan my life is in a new direction. I still have the same tests and troubles I did before but now I feel I am stronger when confronting them because of the time I set aside to be in shul and daven with a minyan. Im not sure how to explain it but I would recommend everyone to make it to daily minyans 3 times a day everyday and see how it affects your life. Hashem wants us to daven ten men strong and this is the only way to rectify the sin of the spies, please HaKodesh Baruchu and usher in Moshiach!

Marriage is the Foundation

(courtesy of us getting married)

The Ramak zt"l says that until one marries it is obvious that the Shechinah is absent from a man's life, because the Shechinah only rests on a man in the merit of his wife. With such ideas running through my head I crushed the glass and sealed the deal, The rest of the night a blur filled with so much smiles and dancing that its hard to smile and walk. I'm now married thanks to HaKodesh Barachu who has just given me the greatest blessing i will ever have, a wife. My path back to the Emes known as Judaism has been an interesting one. More gratifying than anything I have ever done. Right now I am at a climax of happiness that I pray to G-d I can coast at for the next 20 or 30 years. There were so many great people around me dancing and hugging my wife and I, and showering us with the most beautiful blessings. I too gave blessings and the same one to every man who I held on to. I blessed them that they should grown in Torah knowledge and that their love for Torah should inspire other Jews around them to want that same love for Torah, because only this way will Moshiach come. Some people didn't like my blessing. What do you want? Me to bless you that you should be rich with money? Ask Hashem for that. If its not been given then maybe you don't deserve it. I asked G-d under the chuppah for Parnosah. I only need enough to feed and cloth my wife and children and enroll them in the best schools of Torah I can. I don't need luxury cars or trips to Hawaii. I don't need a 62 inch flat screen plasma as I don't even plan to own a television. I'm still in a dream during this week of Sheva Brachas. Waking up just late enough to say Shema with tallis and tefillin and just relaxing without worry of work or school. I'm truly blessed. There was a lot of criticism when I got engaged. Almost all of it from the Secular world who can grasp the true purpose of marriage and why the Torah commands us to wait no later than 20 years of age. Some people thought I was crazy, others impulsive. Then they met Sarah Rachel my wife and it made sense to them like I did to me the day I saw her in the kitchen at Derek and Sarah Leahs when it was just Derek's. Still I hear people jealous of us. Not everyone can be happy so there still must be some negativity trying to infringe on us. I chose to ignore it. As in a time these people will soon be married too and be to busy being in love to worry about the jealously in their hearts. Such a bad trait to have, almost as damaging as anger. Something that my wife has almost entirely extinguished from my heart. She has changed me into a humble happy, satisfied man and I thank Hashem so very much for bringing her into my life. Our trip on the road of life is just beginning on our second day of marriage and I anticipate much happiness now that I found my Beshert. She has given me clarity as well. I am now able to recognize that every single event, positive or negative that I have gone through was all meant so that i could meet her that Shabbos and know that she was the other half of my soul. I bless whoever reads this that they too shall realize that everything is Beshert and that they two will be bless if they just ask Hashem for what they need.