Chanukah (and BD) is here!

We have been blessed with a week of balmy pleasant weather here in Jerusalem to accompany the light-filled festival of Chanukah.  It happens that my birthday also falls during Chanukah (second day), so I took the opportunity to make some Chanukah resolutions.  Here is one of them.  I consulted with a friend, because we are all blind-sided by our individual biases and none of us are objective about ourselves.  My friend said, “Be happy with what you have.  You should learn to be happy with the blessings that HaShem has sent your way.”  Wow, I thought, what a beautiful thought.  Because He has certainly sent a lot of blessings our way.  Here’s perhaps the one at the top of the list: being surrounded by good friends and positive energy in the holy city of Jerusalem.  In fact, that is such a major blessing that I’d like to share it, and here is how:  for a taste of Jerusalem, go to www.chabadjerusalem.org where you can find the latest in all kinds of events and history, as well as personalities and words of Torah.  If you’d like to delve deeper into the weekly Torah portion, try www.jerusalemconnection.org/weekly where we posted some deep words of Torah from the Megaleh Amukot (a 17^th century Jewish sage).  And finally, if you want to really sit down and immerse yourself in Jewish meditation and prayer, go to www.jewishspiritualbooks.com, where you will find detailed instructions and descriptions how to proceed on the path of Jewish spiritual actualization!

Tags: Chanukah, Jerusalem, weekly Torah portion