Thursday, December 11, 2014

Mandarin skies

                                       Oregon skies December 10, 2014

Did anyone notice the Oregon Mandarin skies yesterday that eventually turned grape purple? It was wild and it frightened our cat and she does not frighten that easily either. She stayed hidden during the time of the event. The sky went from Grey to Orange in a split second after a flash which was not lightening or thunder. No sound was heard. and it was raining very hard. It was wild and spooky, but beautiful too. It was not part of the sky that turned orange it was the whole sky. I called my husband in Eugene who was on his way home. He was driving toward Cottage Grove and thought it was quite strange. It was not a sunset orange. I looked down at my purple dress it looked red standing outside under this sky even the air looked orange. It was wild!! I took pictures. Even the air looks orange and the raindrops appeared to be rust in color.

MANDARIN COLOR SKY :THE SKY STAYED LIKE THIS FOR 30 MINUTES.











                                               All Pictures copyright 2014

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Be the Shemen in life to give only G-d the power to care for you and your needs.



I read  this thought today :“Be not the slave of your own past - plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

I would never give anyone or any community that kind of power in my life. Only Hashem and his Torah give me protection. “A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition.” ― Henry Miller, The Books in My Life.
My Torah does not sit on a shelf and neither does my life sit in someone else' hands.

 “This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy.” ― Susan Polis Schutz



G-d protects and gives you the power over your life and choices, not anyone else. His Torah is  guides and His love is  protection. Let G-d take care of you and when you do that all this Torah can be kept in love and with great joy and in turn that protects you. Give no one that power above Him!

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

UNIVERSAL LOVE AND PEACE

When we Jews are gone there will be no real goodness of decent morals, peace, love or happiness in the world. Why do they want to kill us? Because we have the Torah which makes them to see who they really are. We are Yehuda, which means to "Praise G-d" This alone is why we are hated weather we observe or not the law of Hashem and his Torah. No goodness only hatred and anger will remain when we ar...e gone. When terrorist people kill us they will kill each other. My dear Christians friends after us you are next then they will my dear Muslim friends kill you too because the hate will become a civil hatred and war. Oh and my Buddist friends they hate you too and my Hindu friends they hate you too. No one is loved by these terrorists. It will not stop when us Jewish people are gone. No you all are sadly mistaken! I believe in universal Love and Peace, but these terrorist do not. It is time to stop and pray and really want love and peace in your hearts. Not just talk about it but really want it and feel it. If we all do this we can create Universal LOVE AND PEACE right now! We who want this together we are powerful in stopping this now!!! I do not want or care about any comments or likes. Lets all try to think about this deeply and search in our hearts what we really want. Together we can save humanity from destruction. I'm sick of the Galus, Mammesh lets do this!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Copyright (c) Israel Rubenstein
 
                           Original Silk Painting Copyright Rivka Sari (c) 1998
 

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Innocent Blood


NO words.... Please get your Metzuzos checked and Tefillin.
 
 Daas Torah Posted July 2nd, 2014 on Facebook this below
 
"Rabbi Yeruslavsky from Elad where one of the murdered boys is from visited with the Yifrach family.He related that in all 3 houses non kosher mezuzas were found and the tefillin of one of the boys was also found to be pasul.
These boys are... now in the highest levels of gan eden where even tzadikim (who didn't merit to be murdered al kidush hashem) can't reach.
But we prefer sanctifying Hashem's name by living.
There have been stories in the past where terror victims were found to have had problems with their mezuzas.
Most of the people on the hijacked plane in Entebbe for instance.
The 2 pictured below were beautiful when they were bought. The one on the left (being held by a book) was hanging in a damp place. Look at the result!
The other one I have posted about several years ago.
I was doing my weekly Friday rounds to a bunch of Jewish owned stores to put on tefillin with them or just to have a chat.
The week after new years one particular guy was very shaken up. The local thugs had celebrated their Rosh Hashana with an armed robbery.
The first thing I did was opening the mezuza which appeared to be ok at first glance.
When i expressed my wonder, he told me that the hold up had actually taken place in the store next door which was also owned by him.
This time it didn't take long to see what the problem was...
The story of the 3 martyrs has shaken up the entire Jewish world. We should not go back to sleep. Now that we know there was a problem with their mezuzas, we should make sure all our own are - kosher (need to be checked at least twice in seven years) - hanging on all doors that require one. - hang the right way/place.
And in order to add to the security of our brothers and sisters everywhere, make sure
they all have kosher mezuzas too!"
 Ari Lesser puts it simply in the video  above how I (Rivka Sari) feel right now! I cannot stop crying!!The Klal been injured to the core. How long G-d must we suffer? Bring Moshiach Now! Enough Already with the suffering!


AM YISROEL CHAI!
___________________________________________________________

Rebbe,oh Rebbe, we need you
Hashem,Hashem kel rachum (merciful God)
We're sick of this golus can't bear anymore, why don't you open the door?
Your children are yearning to be with you,
How long can this torture continue,

Bring us geulah fulfilling your vow, to bring Moshiach right now!
 Bring us Moshiach right Now!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=818135271529988&set=vb.100000005680911&type=2&theater


 

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Hemophilia is not Fair!

I could not believe what one man said to me when he inquired about my son's hemophilia. He said me that "I should not be so overprotective and that I should let him  enjoy life without him having to endure those infusions so muchthat makes him feel like he is walking on egg shells." I thought to myself "no you did not say that to me!" I replied well "do you think Hemophilia is fair? Do you think that me not giving him factor is fair to him or even make it fair for him to do what other normal children take for granted? needless to say I did walk  away feeling very angry and my energy felt drained.

 I have seen these same comments to many other parents in groups and even on their social network pages. I'm thinking these clotters don't get it do they?! HEMOPHILIA IS NOT FAIR! I actually read a few weeks ago on a friend's facebook page this comment "I'm glad that he doesn't walk on eggshells and live the "padded" life that some doctors would recommend for a hemophiliac. I can't imagine a bigger disappointment than living a sheltered life and one day dying without even a scar to prove that I had a good time while I was here." Now while some of that statement might be partly true for most people the fact is a child with  hemophilia makes it unfair for them to even compete with normal clotters. And not to mention scars are not overly desired by most people.That is why we give them factor treatments 2-3 times a week so that it makes it fair for them to play like normal clotters especially encourage boys to be just boys. So by-Gd  if he or she gets hurt and not get scarred (Gd forbid tuff tuff) at least it would be because they are being children and enjoying their life to the fullest not because they have a bleeding disorder!

Regular physical exercise is important to everyone’s health.  People who have bleeding disorders should talk to the doctors and nurses at their Hemophilia Treatment Center (HTC) about which sports and activities are appropriate for them, but I have yet to see where Hemophiliacs not play sports it all depends on the family and the child's choices.  People with mild disorders may not have to avoid any activities.  Others may have to stay away from rough sports like football and hockey. Believe me there are plenty of hemophiliac that do play hockey and Football.  Some activities like swimming, walking, and golf are okay for everyone.  But I want to empower my son to just be normal and be on a even keel with normal clotters so I factor my son  up so that when he does get hurt at least it is because he is tasting life as a normal boy not because he has Hemophilia. That is why we chose not to get a port that would disable him giving himself his own treatment, but to teach him to infuse himself so he feel in control of hemophilia not let hemophilia control him. Talk about enjoying life to the fullest.  The standard treatment of hemophilia today is factor replacement by intravenous infusion helps hemophiliacs to enjoy a normal life. Am I  a overprotective mother? Sure what mother wouldn't be, but at least I can breathe and let him be himself and have fun without so much worry within himself.

I'm writing this blog because I'm concerned that there are parents out there that would listen to uneducated clotters who make mishuga comments like that. Then in turn chose not infuse their child because they feel they are somehow neglecting their child's joy in life. Not giving enough factor is neglect and hurts the child more than if he was given factor often. Whats a few needle pokes a week? verses a lifetime of feeling empowered and can achieve normal play. Heck get a port if need be. But no parent/s should never feel that kind of pressure from someone who clots normal and have no idea what they are even talking about. Well I hope this help make it easier for clotters to get it. HEMOPHILIA IS NOT FAIR, but we can and do have a way to make it easier and fair for our children to enjoy life to the fullest. Giving them factor is not overprotection it's playing fair with ALL You Clotters our there!


 
 
 
 


Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The Scents of Shabbos and it’s Holy Sparks.

Something that I wrote when I was studying Aromatherapy


The Scents of Shabbos and it’s Holy Sparks.
Written by Rivka Sari    For Lesson 11 Tiferet Basic Aromatherapy

 

Shabbat dinner begins with kiddush, the blessing of the wine that sanctifies the Sabbath day.  I can smell the sweet wine being poured into my glass by guest or sibling that is sitting next to me.  As my Papa of blessed memory holds the goblet of wine I begin to imagine that it is the womb of the universe, the place of eternal creation. My Papa recite over it the biblical verses that tell the story of the making of the world from the sidur. Then all who are sharing the meal go to wash their hands, an act of ritual purification before the blessing over bread. For me, this is the stage of water of flowing together in fellowship, of lifting up our hearts as holy together as a family. I remember that G-d is called “makor mayim chayim” the source of living waters, the one who flows through all things. In the background I smell the matza ball soup mixed with the smell of dakah a spicy nut dish that make everything feel holy during the washing of hands. Washing is a way for me to feel as if my Shabbat table is a temple, because the priests in the Temple in Jerusalem washed before serving Hakodesh Barechu.  It is also a way for me to feel connected to the flow of life.

Then the challah, the special braided bread that honors women who prepare the home for Shabbos. My mother works tirelessly every week to make our home lovely and clean for Shabbos and she works so hard to the making of the best and most beautiful braided loaves of Challah. The smell of her sweet soft bread coming out of the oven just send me to another time and space. This is where shabbas really begins for me. From it’s sweet aroma I imagine that it honors and is the smell of the Shekhinah, keeper of life and death, and also the earth which gives us grain. We sprinkle the challah with salt before we eat it as a sign that it is holy, just as the holy sacrifices in the Temple were sprinkled with salt. The challah smell for me is the sign of the cycle of life—the harvested grain we need to keep ourselves separate and apart from the world and be alive in Torah and Mitzvos which is “the Bread of Life”. The bread of the Sabbos meal it’s smell reminds me that I eat through the sacrifice of life, and reminds me of my responsibility to make my life worthwhile. According to the teachings of Isaac Luria, when we eat consciously, we release the holy divine sparks within the food, within the physical substance of being, and allow them to fly upward. For me it’s not just the eating but the smells of Shabbos that releases those divine sparks that ascend upward to Hashem. The smelling of the ketoret is like all the the smells of Shabbos combined, thus when we end Shabbos with smell of spices for havdalla we end connected to the Divine Holiness of Hashem through the holy sense of our smell.
Smell is considered the loftiest and most transcendent sense....All other senses desire forbidden things while the nose remains ”holy"...Arizal connects the sense of smell to the month of Adar..."
Arizal connects the sense of smell to the month of Adar, the month that contains the holiday of Purim. The heroes of that holiday Purim were Mordechai and Esther, both of whom have a connection to scent. Esther’s real name was Hadassah, which means myrtle (a good smelling plant). And the Talmud relates the name Mordechai to Mor diror, which is musk (Bnei Yissaschar).  Together they were all the smells of  Gan Aden.
So to me Shabbos is the smell of the world to come and smells of year around holidays is just a preview of all the smells we will encounter at the Tree of Life in Jerusalem when Moshiach arrives to Rebuild our Beis HaMikdash. May it be soon in our days.

 

 

 

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Jewish and Ginger

Growing up Jewish was hard enough in the southern hemisphere of the US, but being ginger redhead on top of it was extremely hard for me growing up. Father was military and we moved from one place to another so the teasing never changed it was the same no matter what language, culture, or country we lived in. It was the same every where. Cultural reactions have varied from ridicule to admiration; many common stereotypes exist regarding redheads and they are often portrayed as fiery-tempered. Which is quite true for me. Well in all honesty I can say we do have fiery tempers. but probly no more than anyone else does with blonde or brown hair.

 As I grew up I developed a love- hate relationship with my ginger roots (in America all ginger roots are called "red hair" or a "redhead" or even "carrot top"). Funny now that I'm more frum, I do wear a ginger haired sheital (wig) because I have come to embrace my natural hair color more. While I have tried other colors in a sheital (wig), red just looks the best and more natural on me.

In the last year or so I have noticed this my ginger roots are turning pure white and a bit more blonde. I guess it is fading since I'm older. However a  fun fact is red hair never really grey out. It either turns white or fades to a pale strawberry blonde. Somehow I must cope with getting older, and  yes I do wish I had enjoyed my hair more when I was single and appreciate the beauty and rarity of it. Did you know we are 4% of the world's population? Yup we are a rarity indeed. When I was a child my hair was so dark that from a distance that it looked brown but when you walked closer it was obvious I was a redhead gingersnap. 
                                (Me at age 3 -Picture is  Copyright by Rivka Sari 2013)
                                                          
                                                       

I remember a few ginger head boys in Hebrew school in Nashville and the teasing oy  gevauld it was murder for them and scary to watch Jewish kids doing it too.The teasing was worse than a ginger girl would endure. Together both redheaded boys and girls however got teased in secular schools for being red haired and for being Jewish which was horrible especially when going through the teen years. That was painful!
I hate to even admit it to myself, but being the mother of two sons, I was ever so glad neither of them were redheads. I just didn't want to think of my own children experiencing the painful growth through their teen years as I had seen other young boys in school and community go through. What scares me the most is very often I notice that when young boys commit suicide due to bullying, a high rate of them are redheads. With this hair color being the rarest on earth, what does that say? Appalling!

A positive note on being a ginger and Jewish that is the rarest of all we are less then 1% of the Jewish population. I like to think we are a rare gem among the rare treasures of the smallest people in the world. That is something to be proud about.  Red hair is also fairly common amongst the Ashkenazi Jewish populations, possibly because of the influx of European DNA over a period of centuries. In Italy, red hair was associated with Italian Jews. Not sure as to why really that is, but also writers from Shakespeare to Dickens would identify Jewish characters by giving them red hair. A book called "The 7 Daughters of Eve" which traces the redheads from the Middle East to Italy, Spain, France, and then northward. So this maybe why the writers did this knowing we may have originated from the middle east. King David was said to have had red hair and a ruddy complexion or pale skin. I have even seen commentaries that state the prophets were redheads also. What is odd is when you see a redhead with brown eyes. That is also rarest to site a redhead with brown eyes and my sister was the lucky one and got the brown eyes. I so wanted brown eyes growing up.

(My brown eyed baby sister Matey Rachel-Picture copyright by Rivka Sari 2013)


Red hair is the rarest natural hair color in humans. The non-tanning skin associated with red hair may have been advantageous in
far-northern climates where sunlight is scarce. Studies by Bodmer and Cavalli-Sforza (1976) hypothesized that lighter skin pigmentation prevents rickets in colder climates by encouraging higher levels of Vitamin D production and also allows the individual to retain heat better than someone with darker skin. speaking of Vitamin D as a redhead ginger top I was told by my doctor we are the lowest in Vitamin D simply because we burn and avoid the sun. So "I do not tan I stroke" as the saying goes according to Woody Allen. However when I started taking 5000IU of vitamin D3 a day in the summer and 10,000IU a day in the winter. I have not had the sniffles of a cold or flu since May 2009. So ginger tops take your Vitamin D3 you will be glad you did it will make you feel good. Yes I do get out in the sun need to tank up for the winter months. It is ok as long as it is no longer that 15-25 mins a day.

Check out all about redheads and how the gene works http://www.brighthub.com/science/genetics/articles/4704.aspx



This has been considered characteristic of the Jews by some anthropologists. It appears to be not of recent origin, and was not unknown among the ancient Hebrews (Esau was "red, all over like a hairy garment"; Bresheit (Genesis) 25). Andree ("Zur Volkskunde der Juden," pp. 34-40) points out that the fact that red and blond Jews are found in North Africa, Syria, Arabia, Persia, etc., is proof that intermarriage has had little to do with the production of the blond type in eastern Europe. He is of the opinion that there were blonds among the ancient Hebrews, and that the modern red and blond Jews are their descendants. Many Jewish commentaries agrees in this view. The popular Jewish legends do not mention a Khazar kingdom but a kingdom of the red Jews, red being the color of their hair and maybe due to the mongoloid pigmentation of many Khazars."

Well that being said being a Jewish red head ginger top is so rare even when red hair gene occurs in all human ethnic groups. More frequently in some and less so in others. In the case of European Jews it might have something to do with the widespread Indo-European genes ( specifically, Celtic, Germanic and Slavic) in the gene pools of east and central European Ashkenazi and Spanish Shephardic Jews also. Being that we are less than 1% of a population that is 1.3% of the world's population, All I can say is Wow!! We are a miracle and being a redheaded Jewess in this world is a honor I'm not taking it lightly. That love- hate relationship of my hair has changed late in my life to love and I have a whole new level of respect for me.