The Torah According to Potter

This a fascinating look at the world of Potter. It will be shared in several parts... take a look

The Torah According to Potter
Rabbi Isaac Serotta
Yom Kippur 5766

The past two summers at camp I have had the opportunity to witness a unique phenomenon. I have been at Camp Olin-Sang-Ruby on Harry Potter Day. Even those of you who have not read the books or seen the movies are probably familiar with the cultural juggernaut of Potter-mania, but it is really something to see it first hand with hundreds of children.

The Potter books tell the story of a boy becoming a man against the backdrop of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. This magical place is an imaginary location in the real world but hidden from the non-magic eye. Camp is also a magical place. In the world of Hogwarts, wizard mail is delivered by owls who come flitting in with packages and letters attached to their legs. At camp, the more prosaic delivery service is FedEx. 24 hours after the Potter books are released, hundreds of packages arrive at camp at once, as parents send their children books by overnight mail. Those who don't have copies of their own, bide their time and wait for a friend to finish and then devour the books for themselves. One boy I saw, shared his book by reading chapter one, tearing it out of his book and passing it on to his friend so that they could read the book in one sitting together nearly simultaneously.

I have never seen anything read with more enthusiasm, or absorbed more fully by young people than these books. On the one hand I could wish that our children would have the same hunger for the stories of Torah as they do for Harry Potter. But, on the other, the joy is infectious. I have been sharing these books one by one with my own son Hudy. Now he is old enough to read them on his own, but the ritual we've established is so firmly entrenched that he still allows and in fact desires that I read it to him at night, chapter by chapter. I suspect that once the last Potter book is done next year, that will be the end of an era for me as well, as I may be done reading aloud to my son as well.

These books are not the greatest literature ever written. They are not even the greatest children's books, but that doesn't mean that they're not good. They are far better than many of the books that offer children little encouragement to think. They are filled with fun and fantasy and they are stories that generate conversations well worth having.

And, in a way, they open minds to faith and Torah as well. They certainly appeal to the imagination. And imagination is crucial to religious faith. We cannot explain religion in scientific terms. We are called to believe in an invisible God, battle unseen forces, and even to do good to those who harm us. This is stuff that really requires a religious imagination. We must see more than the eyes can see. We are asked by faith to believe in more than our senses can apprehend. Such imaginative openness to life's possibilities may well require a cultivation of imagination. The Harry Potter books do exactly that. They cultivate in us a willingness to look for the things that are unseen, but not unreal. Magic is real in the books, but the real magic of them is that they tell remarkable tales of friendship, valor, and virtue. These stories can be a gateway that allows religion to be plausible rather than implausible. If you can suspend disbelief for the magic of Harry Potter, then the stories of miracles in the bible that are the backdrop for the moral lessons of Judaism can be open to the whole Harry Potter generation.

-- by Rabbi Isaac Serotta --

how do relationships work?

Most people enter into relationships with an eye toward what they can get out of them, rather than what they can put into them.

The purpose of a relationship is to decide what part of yourself you'd like to see "show up," not what part of another you can capture and hold.

-- Neale Donald Walsch --

I had the most interesting conversation the other day about a couple I know. They have been married twenty-one years. They have three children and seem as happy and in love today as they did over thirty years ago, when they first got together. My friend said they really seemed to belong together and asked if I knew how they did it. I couldn't really answer her question, but it got me to thinking about this book I read a while back about relationships. It is by Neale Donald Walsh. He says...

“When our reason for relationships is aligned with our soul's reason for being, not only are our relationships understood to be sacred, they are rendered joyful as well."

According to him, a great relationship is one of truth-telling. He says there are five levels 1) you tell the truth about yourself; 2) you tell the truth to yourself about another; 3) you tell the truth about another to yourself; and 4) when you tell the truth about another to that other; 5) you tell the truth to everyone about everything. He also says relationships fail because people enter into them for the wrong reasons; that the only way a relationship can work is for both parties "to agree, consciously, that the purpose of their relationship is to create an opportunity for growth, for full self-expression, for lifting each others lives to their highest potential, for healing every false thought or small idea each has ever had about themselves, and for ultimate reunion with GOD through the communion of their two souls"

A Sunday Guided Meditation

Monday Meditation - abundance

Happy Monday

susanne van hulst

Quiet the mind and the soul will speak.

Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavita

Let’s try an abundance meditation

sit as comfortable and as upright as possible.

rest your hands open and uncross your legs

drop your shoulders and slightly tuck in your chin

breath through your nose

smile... yes... put a smile on your face

keep your eye focused on something just above you or half close them... or... if you like close them all the way... whichever feels the most comfortable for you.

now take slow, deep breaths and tell yourself to relax with each breath.

pay attention to your breaths as you tell each part of your body to relax from your head down to your feet.

when you are relaxed repeat to yourself "I am abundance, I open myself to abundance, life is abundance"

say it to yourself with each breath

As you say this, bring your attention to a spot about three inches to the left of your chest area and inward toward the center of your body (your core).

Imagine that the air around you fills with a thick liquid. The liquid is so thick you relax completely into it. It cradles you gently keeping you safe and secure. It connects you to everyone and integrates you with your surroundings.

Through this, you can sense and feel abundance in your environment. You can feel abundance within you. The energetic vibrations of abundance are being transmitted to you through the thick air.

You are the center of this thickness and all abundance flows through the air to you. Open yourself and receive the abundance flowing to you and through you.

Listen to yourself and hear you inner radar speak abundance to you. Know that you are supported and connected to the abundance around you. Rest in this abundance, knowing you will manifest this abundance in your life and the world.

When you are finished, tell yourself that you will be abundant and that life will promote you and help you to grow, prosper and be abundant. Rest a moment and relax in the space of your meditation. When you are ready, get up and return to your day. every now and then, throughout the day,  stop, take three deep breaths and say "I am abundant, life is good."

-- written by asd --

-- (with some assistance from john a. bright-fey... thank you) --

are you into flowers, friendship and love?

Sometimes i think my appreciation of friendship and love grew from my love of flowers. Friendship and love are like flowers in our garden - the more flowers receive love (water, sun, nourishment) the more they grow and the more beautiful they become. so it is with friendship and love.  the more we nourish them - through attention, connection, interest, communication, the more they blossom, grow and increase in beauty. it's like the saying by Hans Christian Andersen...

"Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."

The other day, I felt so good, I bought myself a huge bouquet of  flowers. It was wonderful and special because I love flowers. I love their colors and textures. I love their shapes and sizes. I love the ones with a scent and the ones without. I… just love flowers. I firmly believe flowers are beauty and we should fill our arms with flowers and our lives with beauty. I also believe love and friendship are beauty and we should fill our lives to overflowing with love and with friends.

I often wonder why I have such an affinity… attraction for flowers. I think it is because surrounding myself with flowers (and plants) is cultivating my own, personal garden. It is my own slice of sunshine, my own patch of happiness, and every time I look at them or water them, I am enhancing my happiness, my sunshine, my paradise. Every time I water them or spray them or feed them, I am nourishing my environment, and in return, they nourish me. In a sense, I am loving that which loves me back.

Are You Gone Call?

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. (Jeremiah 33:3 KJV)

Today's Prayer

God, please answer my prayer. I'm in desperate need and don't have a lot of time to go into all the details. You already know them anyway. Lord, I know You hear me. If it be Your will, please, answer me. I need You. Not now, but right now. Amen and so it is. 

I Want To Know

Can You to shed some light

I want to know the future

I want to know that I'm right

I want wisdom and secret insight

I want to know what tomorrow brings

I want everything to be alright 

I want to know

Who can I call

Where can I go

I really, really, just want to know

Written by Marc Christmas 

What Kind Of Noise Do You Make?

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. (Psalms 100:1 KJV)

Today's Prayer

Lord, I want to thank You for being God all by Yourself. I'm so glad that You are the head of my life. When I go astray, You come get me, and safely carry me back to the fold where I am provided for and protected. I don't deserve the love that You extend unto me, but You grant it anyway. Your goodness and mercy extend further than my eyes can see across the horizon. I worship You. I praise Your holy name. I just want to take time out to say "thank Ya Lord" for all that You've done for me. I'm pretty much a sinner who sins over and over again. Sometimes I know to do better, but choose to do the opposite. I can be my own worst enemy. You love me nevertheless. You rescue me and give me the opportunity to do better the next time. I'm so grateful that I don't have to be perfect for You, just willing. I pray for the willingness to be obedient and the courage to do what You would have me to do. Lord, let me not be distracted or discouraged by naysayers and haters. I pray that I will accept who and what You made me to be, a child of the Most High King. As long as I know it and believe it, that's what counts. Your opinion is all that matters anyway. Amen and so it is. 

Noise Reduction

Your hate is so loud

You say I'm too proud

You hate so strong

You think God can't right my wrongs

You hate with precision 

You doubt He healed my condition

You whisper in the night

You tell others I ain't right

You make faces at how I walk

You laugh about how I talk 

False accusations you spread

You place doubt in peoples' heads

You quick to spread the word 

You're famous for "know what I heard"

You cackle about me sinning

You real quiet about me winning

You real quiet about my new life

You real quiet about my lack of strife

You real quiet when I move along

You real quiet when I sing a new song

You real quiet about my peace

You real quiet about His favor unleashed

You real quiet when I do good

Your quiet, it's understood

You real quiet when I overcome

You real quite about what God has done

Written by Marc Christmas  

are you expressing gratitude?

I purchased The Secret, on DVD and on CD when it first came out some yeras ago, Over the yeras I have listened to and watched it many , many times and one of the things that always stands out is the reference to taking time to say thank you.

It stood out because during several of the periods in my life when things have seemed rather hopeless... sometimes, before I lamented and complained, I would say thanks for the things that were going right. I figured it would only take a second and then I could get to the stuff really bugging me. Often, however, I would find so much to be thankful for, I would forget what I wanted to complain about.

The Secret recommends that you take time out each day to say thank you for all the things you are grateful for. When I started watching the DVD, I was at a low in my life and figured I would give it a try - it could only help. So I gave it ago. Today, I still try to find time each day to say thank you. Sometimes first thing in the morning, sometimes just before bed and sometimes all throughout the day. I do believe it has helped me to realize all the things, blessings, miracles, and magic I have in my life - even on days when things truly seem bleak. I still sometimes complain after my thanks, but more often now, I am filled with joy and happiness when I think of all my blessings.

Are you at peace?

How do we bring peace into our lives? The books I have read suggest meditation. It is supposed to ground your spirit, put you more in tune with your body and your inner you and give you peace. I am working on that. I try to meditate as often as I can; lately meditating at least three to four times a week. I find it does keep me more grounded and in tune with the needs of my inner me. I find that I am more at peace when I practice meditation. It does work. The hardest part is just finding or rather carving out time to meditate.

As I think about peace, I think of the people in my life who exude peace and serenity while their lives are in turmoil. When I ask them how this could be, they say they don’t let the turmoil around them touch them. They tell me to let go of the things that make me crazy, to let go of past issues that bring me down. When I tell them it is not so easy, they agree, but say that is what makes it worth it. I am trying to do those things as well - let go of the things that make me crazy. It does work, but it is also not easy...

Faith Friday

I thank You God and I won't forget Your benefits:

Forgiving my sins, Healing me, Redeeming my life, Crowning me with steadfast love and mercy, Satisfying me with good and Renewing me with youth!

Psalms 103:1-5

I believe by faith that because of my relationship with Jesus, the best things in life and undeserved favor follow me everywhere I go.

Psalms 23:6

I will not let my past mistakes keep me from my God-given purpose. I believe by faith that it is time to drop my pot and pick up my purpose! John 4:28-29

Thank You God for Your correction. Even though I don't like it, I know there is a purpose. I believe by faith that correction from God will be a blessing for me. Likewise, I won't be afraid to correct my own children. It will give me peace. 

Hebrews 12:7-15

Proverbs 29:17-19

When I fear, wait for, rejoice in and hope in The Lord, I believe by faith that help, protection and undeserved favor is mine in all situations that I face!

Psalms 33:18-22

I believe by faith that when I am obedient to what God says do, God is obligated to bless me and my family. 

Deuteronomy 11:13-15

Written by Lawrence Smith

Do You Deserve It?

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. And all of this is a gift from God...And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him...And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:14, 16-21 NLT)

Today's Prayer
Dear God, help me to see You in others, including myself.I'm praying for courage to step up to the plate today. If Your will demands a higher calling for me, then so be it. Help me to press on towards that mark. Touch my life and draw me closer to You. I'm asking for the following:
-Comfort on difficult days
-Smiles when sadness intrudes
-Rainbows to follow the clouds
-Laughter to kiss my lips
-Sunsets to warm my heart
-Gentle hugs when my spirit sags
-Friendships to brighten my being
-Beauty for my eyes to see
-Confidence for when I doubt
-Faith so that I can believe
-Courage to know myself
-Patience to accept the truth, and
-Love to complete my life
Amen and so it is.

Please
Give it to me
Don't take it back
I need it more than ever
I promise you that

Are You There?
Come on,
Let's see
If I can see the God in You, and
You can see the God in me

Written by Marc Christmas 

The Road to Happiness Inspirational Movie - Movie

The Road to Happiness Inspirational Movie - Movie