Greetings friends
Keep praying for the hostages to be free and for terror to be eradicated. It would be nice to pray for man to live in kindness and love, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.
Enjoy the year of the dragon, embrace its power and mystery in your life, and welcome its new moon and the entrance into the last Hebrew month of the year as the cycle will renew.
And get ready for Valentine’s Day - the non-Jewish festival of love—a day dedicated to love everywhere, amongst everyone.
I think every day should be the day to honor love.
Now, for this great book of names - exodus – which is really the story of freedom and of treatment of those around us – we have already had our introduction, climax, and denouement – which was the great epiphany when G0d him/her/it self stood before you and spoke to you and gave you ten simple rules on how to live life and get along.
No other gods
No images – the concept of G0d can’t be minimized
No broken oaths (swearing to G0d)
Remember to stop each week and regenerate
Honor mother and father (the roots of you and the female and male)
No murder
No adultery
No stealing
No false witness – no lying
No coveting – it is you diminishing you
Live by these and the rest are window dressing. It's not a hard list to consider each day to help guide your actions in life. Remember, at one point, this was the entire prayer service – the recitation of the rules of life – say them every day, and your life will change. You will see things differently and approach things differently; you will be different.
This week we begin receiving the minutiae of laws that will probably go on forever – and many will seem out of place in this section, more designed for an existing society, not a fresh group of wanderers without law or ritual or instruction, but in this reading, there is an emphasis on two things that actually connect - humanity, dignity, and decency to your fellow man and as we saw last week when we honored the new year of the trees, who we share this great spinning sphere with, there is the sabbatical for the land – it too gets one year out of seven to regenerate. Our treatment of man and the flora and fauna of life must be the same. They go hand in hand. We are not just connected to our fellow man; we are all connected to everything, everywhere.
Keep practicing forgiveness and use this time to continue to forgive those you need to forgive and ask forgiveness from those you need to seek forgiveness from and give thanks and celebrate your freedom and joy; do not succumb to fear – and please feel free to share this audio and video with any you think might enjoy it, and of course, enjoy all of our past audio and video episodes which are available on our YouTube channel. This episode will be posted on our channel -
click here to watch the Rabbi David Gellman Show in the 2024 cycle.
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Thank you all for allowing me into your homes, into your electronic devices, into your hearts – as you are all with me in mine –
Be well, be happy, be healthy, be free, be kind, be forgiving, be compassionate, be independent of mind and deed, be mindful of your intentions and be good to yourself. Continue to celebrate freedom of choice in your life. Do not give in to the fear that is so prevalent, and enjoy the peace that comes from acceptance – and as always - if you have any questions or suggestions or just want to say “hi,” please send me an email. I love hearing from you.
And remember, anytime you do not want to receive these anymore, please send me an email so I can remove you. And know - that I truly appreciate your sharing your sacred time with me.
Enjoy and celebrate your life and the lives of others, and in doing so, be safe, my friends, be happy and may you all sow the seeds of and reap the rewards of peace and love and miracles and make sure you also celebrate your unique individuality and your incredible awesomeness.
Have a great year of love and life, and go get some chocolate and share it, and remember – your world is what you make it. Just wish upon a star, continue to be a miracle in someone’s life, and light the light of love.
Blessings
RD
