Parshat Kedoshim

Long ago lived a sage of great fame,
Hillel the elder, was his name,
Once a man tried to put him to the test,
The entire Torah on one foot, was his request.

While the man stood on one foot that day,
This is what Hillel the sage did say,
"Love your fellow as yourself, is the Torah in its entirety,
All the rest in commentary."

"Love your fellow as yourself," seems like a nice ideal,
Is love something we can be commanded to feel?
On our perspective it does depend,
When we look at the essence, everyone is a friend.

To a candle each one of us does compare,
Candles can be found everywhere,
Candles come in every size, and shape,
There are many different scents like lemon, berry and grape.

Although candles come in every color of the rainbow,
There is one thing we all know,
In essence all candles are the same,
What they have in common is their flame.

On the outside our differences appear,
We have different opinions to share,
Each one of us is special and unique,
Some like blue while others prefer pink.

But on the Inside, we are all the same,
We all have a Neshama, flame,
For every Jew, we can feel love,
Because every Jew is a child of Hashem above.

When the layers we uncover,
We are one family, we discover,
To put the soul first is the key,
The soul is the #1 priority!

To love your fellow as yourself, in this Torah portion we see,
The other 612 Mitzvot are commentary,
Because all the Mitzvot were given,
To reveal the G-dliness that is hidden.

Souvenir: birthday candles

Parshat Acharei

"After the death of Aharon's two sons,"
Nadav and Avihu died because they loved Hashem tons,
To be united with Hashem was their desire,
They died when they brought a strange fire.

What does this have to do with me?
On their level I can be!
Nadav and Avihu paved the way,
So that we can feel passion and desire for Hashem today.

After we reach the level of desire,
We need to know that there is a level that is higher,
Saying "I love you!" or "I'm sorry!" is very nice,
But about the other's needs do we think twice?

It is selfish to just think about how I feel,
Thinking about the other's desires is the big deal,
I enjoy the time that together we spend,
But putting the other first, is what makes a true friend.

"You, I love!" we should say,
"What can I do for you today?
I can see things from your perspective too,
Because what really matters is you!"

Nadav and Avihu said, "I love you very much!"
But with Hashem's desire they weren't in touch,
What counts is what we do,
After we say "I love you!"

To do Mitzvot in this world is the way,
To express our love for Hashem today,
On Yom Kippur "I'm sorry!" we say,
But the challenge is what we do the next day.

How do we keep up the love all year long?
How do we keep our commitment strong?
We realize that we are actually,
A part of Hashem so holy.

To fulfill Hashem's will is our priority,
Because we are not a separate entity,
Hashem's desire and our desire become one.
We won't stop until we are done.

Souvenir: heart stamp

Parshat Metzora

Tzara'as, Hashem said, "I will give,"
On the homes where the Jews would settle to live,
Why does the Torah choose,
To make it sound like a piece of news?

Tzara'as was a punishment for talking negatively,
About strangers, neighbors or family,
Tzara'as came in stages four,
It wasn't something you could ignore.

First on walls, then objects of leather were affected,
Clothing was next and then the body was infected,
Tzara'as was no fun, it is true,
But there is a lesson here for me and you.

When things seem bad we need to realize,
That it is good news in disguise,
In every situation there is a silver lining,
It is really goodness that is hiding.

How could Tzara'as be a blessing, you may wonder,
Let us go back in time and discover,
When the Amorite nation heard that the Jews were coming near,
In the walls they hid their golden treasures so dear.

They knew that because they sinned they would be sent away,
They hoped that the same fate would befall the Jews one day,
To claim their treasures in the future was in their plans,
But the hidden gold would fall into Jewish hands.

Let us learn the laws and see,
How this would come to be,
If a person found Tzara'as on his wall,
The Kohen he would call.

If the Tzara'as spread, unfortunately,
The house would have to be destroyed totally,
At this point the treasures would be uncovered,
The Amorites wealth would be discovered!

In the word Amorite, Amor can be seen,
To say, is what Amor does mean,
Tzara'as transforms evil speech,
So that the treasures within, we can reach!

Souvenir: silver glitter pen

Parshat Tazria

In Parshat Tazria we learn that impurity does come,
After a woman gives birth to a daughter or son,
How can this be when there is nothing greater,
Then partnering with Hashem, the creator.

A baby is holy, precious and dear,
The women's body to a holy ark, does compare,
Because the baby is holy and pure,
When it leaves the womb the woman becomes impure.

When holiness departs impurity immediately sets in,
This is why a woman becomes impure when her cycle does begin,
Because for a holy life there was potential,
When that possibility is lost, to become pure, Mikvah is essential.

The Mikvah is a very special place,
With G-d you come face to face,
Its four walls might be plain,
But they represent the four letters of Hashem's name.

Between the woman and the water nothing can intervene,
Only the woman and G-d, there is nothing in between.
In the water Hashem is found,
His love is felt all around.

When the woman emerges from the Mikvah she is as pure as can be,
She experiences a rebirth and is filled with a spiritual energy!
Let us go back in history,
In every generation, women kept this Mitzvah carefully.

Over Sarah's tent, hovered a cloud of rain,
Representing the rain water that a Mikvah does contain,
To cleanse herself from idol worship, was Batya's goal,
In saving Moshe's life, she played a big role.

With the plague of blood the Egyptians were hit,
Because immersion in a Mikvah, they didn't permit,
The well of Miriam in the desert the women did use,
To keep this Mitzvah they did choose.

To enter the Beit Hamikdash, the Jews had to be pure,
On Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol, would immerse 5 times more,
In Masada, the Jews were afraid of being killed,
Yet, Mikvaot, they didn't hesitate to build.

In Soviet Russia the women had to break the ice,
To go to the river they didn't think twice,
During the Holocaust, the Germans filled Mikvaot with cement,
But the women's self sacrifice they could not prevent.

Jewish women were entrusted with the key,
For the special Mitzvah of Family Purity,
We are the next link in the chain,
Our commitment will forever remain!

Souvenir: baby stickers

Parshat Shemini

Eight and Ate

The Tabernacle it was time to dedicate,
For 7 days the Jews did wait,
In this world, forever, G-dliness would permeate,
It all happened on day number 8.

"How is this relevant today?" one may ask,
To bring G-dliness into our lives is our task,
How can we accomplish such a great feat?
By having only kosher food to eat.

Kosher food is healthy for our soul,
To be sanctified internally is our goal,
Kosher food opens up our heart and mind,
So that we can understand the Torah and be kind.

Numbers 7 and 8 are close to one another,
But they are very different from eachother,
7 represents nature, like the days of the week,
8 represents above nature, something unique.

The laws of kosher we don't understand,
We do it because of Hashem's command,
G-d's infinite light in this physical world on day #8,
Is in the same category as kosher food on our plate.

Souvenir: kosher lollipop