To make Aliyah or not

As an orthodox Jew in America living in the End of Days, I keep thinking that we need to get out of this country as fast as possible and make it to Israel.

I am all for it.

I want to do it.

I think it's the only place for a Jew to live.

Jews here are caught in the 'hey buddy, dont get bent out of shape' culture where the hemlines get shorter, and 'slumming it' is a cool thing to do. We forget so rapidly that there is a schedule, a cosmic timetable to history. Just as a caterpillar has x amount of time to be a caterpillar before it suddenly enters a cocoon and then emerges as a beautiful butterfly.

For 5768 years, humanity has been in the caterpillar stage, and we have become like the Big Green Caterpillar, so big and fat, especially gorging all those pizzas, lollipops, and burgers in the good olde US of A. However whether we like it or not, we will eventually enter the cocoon and have to break out of our old caterpillar shell (hmm change ourselves, do teshuvah, etc) or else the governments will force us to do so, G-d forbid.

And the end, humanity will enter the beautiful butterfly stage, with Moshiach, speedily in our days.

Israel is a mess, however Israel is the only place to be if you want to be really close to Hashem.
Israel is a proving ground. I failed after 3 years, however it is for the best.

The Melitzer Rebbe, shlita, understands clearly why we cant simply drop the job, get on the plane and move to Israel.

First shalom bayit (peace in the home).
Even though Hashem wants us to make aliyah, nevertheless I think He would rather us happily married in the Diaspora rather than marital discord in the Holy Land! If the spouse is not ready to go up, then you are not yet ready. End of story.

Also, we have to think about $$$. Once you do get the job, you will probably have to learn to live on much less, deal with a much smaller house/apartment, and trash a huge percent of your paycheck to a now defunct government.

Nevertheless, I want to move. Im ready to leave my Honda Odyssey and move on. However I am not ready to leave my lucrative job right now, and more importantly, my wife is not ready to move yet.

So there you have it. Yes, Hashem wants me to end up in Israel. However right now, he wants me here in the United States.

We'll ramble on more about this subject. I congratulate and envy the brave people who have made the jump, and pray that their aliyah will bring the Redemption now speedily in our days, amen!

OK, time for Robert to take the mickey out of himself today.
Why?
Coz I feel like it, that's why!

Here are some things that I like that are going to make people either shout or point fingers at me.

Here we go:

1. I love Richard Wagner's music! Yes, Im a frum Jew who loves Hashem, and Yahadut. However I just enjoy that powerful Germanic sound!























courtesy of cbc.ca

2. I love driving aggressively. However I am working on this one! It's not easy to break an addiction (see article below)














courtesy of motorcycle.com

3. I am a Mummy's boy.

4. I am a big Neil Diamond fan.

5. I am discovering the appeal for love songs, especially since Im married to a wonderful Jewish queen!

6. I want to buy a pink and grey Brompton folding bicycle because, I just LOVE that pink colour!




















Courtesy of southdownsbikes.com

7. I am a big softie who loves to think he is a Labrador puppy.
























Courtesy of susanalabradors.com

8. I have terrible table manners and eat my food way too fast!
























Courtesy of TimesRecordNews Wichita Falls Online

9. I consult my rabbi so many times, the Rebbitzen starts to worry her husband is not spending enough time with her ;)

10. I always ask my wife permission for anything.

11. I cant cook anything that cannot be cooked in a microwave.


















Courtesy of iomfire.com

8TH DAY CHANUKA!

OK, it's the 8th day, the number 8 being the supernatural number, above nature, transendential.
No post today, Im just gonna give you some light to end Chanuka on a strong positive note!

Cheers!

The Speeding Addiction!

Yikes, I forgot my camera today, so I will have to show the 7 and 8 candle pictures tomorrow. Meanwhile, I hope you are having a wonderful Chanuka. My wife has a fever and is relaxing today in bed. Let's pray that she gets better soon!

(update) - got the camera, and my wife is getting much better, Baruch Hashem!


I want to talk about driving for today. It is such a big spiritual test, and one that I find tremendously difficult to pass. Drivers in the USA do all sorts of annoying things like blocking the left lane.

Jeremy Clarkson, the fantastic host of the British car show Top Gear says that speed is like a type of drug, a fix that one needs. Like a smoker who craves his cigarettes, a chronic speeder is addicted to that fantastic feeling of freedom and joy that moving fast generates in him, and when a guy blocks his way, he is denying the speeder his fix. This obviously gets the speeder furious, and road rage ensues.

This is a major battle for me. I am a chronic speeder, and need to break this addiction. There are times when the roads are clear and we can enjoy the route. There are also times when we are forced to slow down, during those infamous traffic jams on our interstate highways. The worst situation for me is when the motorway is not crowded, but all the cars are scattered over the road so there is no way to pass. Why dont they get out of the way, so they can continue their pace, but let us move on???

The job therefore for me is to
1. Stop asking those questions like "why dont they just move over, blah blah blah?
2. Stop talking to people about American drivers.
3. Constantly think about the good things this country has to offer us.
4. Realize that driving is only a teeny tiny part of life; the most important thing is to be close to Hashem and to maintain our relationship with Him.
5. Play relaxing music or a Torah shiur instead of rock or techno!
6. If I get angry, pull over at the next opportunity, stop the car and just stay put (count to 10, breathe, or just do nothing) for 1-5 minutes, and then start all over again

One thing I noticed is that once I start to drive aggressively, I suddenly go into speed mode and it is much much harder to slow down and be a mentsch again. Therefore, it is wise to stop and breathe so I can slow down. Once I am back in mentsch mode, then I can start the car and drive on.

If you have any tips on how to overcome the speeding addiction, please send them to me.

It is said that our life tikkun (the purpose of our lives) lies in the very things that are very difficult for us to do. Perhaps this area is one of my tikkunim, one of the reasons for What Am I Here For Anyway!

Cheers for now!

More Photos

Good morning! Happy Chanuka.

Since I dont have the WWW at home, I will have to put day 5, and 6 here together. Here they are:

Since day 4 was Shabbat, and I lit the chanukiah at somebody else's house, and I forgot my camera, we dont have day 4. Nevertheless I think the 2 above pictures make up for it.

Anyway, the chanukiyot are getting brighter and we pray that Moshiach's light is getting brighter every second now. Yes, we have a Damocles nuclear sword hanging above our heads, and the USA is going bananas, and Europeans are learning how to say rude things to us again. However Hashem is the Ruler and we trust in Him. Think about it....isnt it amazing that we have got to this point in history. We nearly destroyed ourselves in WW2 (if Hitler got the bomb). Then the Cuban Missile Crisis, then the rest of the Cold War, then the Gulf War, then India and Pakistan. We could have got nuked then...but Hashem protects us in His secret ways.

Anyway, at the risk of being naive, just hug your brother, overcome a negative character trait, or just thank Hashem for one thing He has given you, and you are on your way to happiness and not just survival but a thriving new member of Hashem's people! Yes and that includes people who are not Jewish too.

Cheers for now!

OK, I am settling down in Baltimore and am enjoying my marriage with Yelena every day, B"H!
I am now working for a nice computer training company in Hunt Valley and have a wonderful office. I have a fantastic view of the rolling hills, as you can see in this picture:



















I also will show you some Yelena pictures as well! (More to come, because I just love photographing her!) She is so photogenic, unlike your's truly who runs like a cheetah on amphedamines away from a camera!


















I also have found a wonderful little Sefardic shul near my house. IT's called Bet Ya'akov and I will put in a link to the shul's website. It has a fantastic Aron Kodesh, which I will also show you in this photo:



Anyway, that's it for now. Expect more cool pictures, and thought-provoking articles to come IY"H soon!

Shabbat Shalom!

Living in 2 worlds

Things are not what they were a decade ago. Life is rushing forward at a breakneck pace and it seems that Moshiach will appear any minute now!

And yet life goes on, I go to shul, get to work, and live my life as usual.

What do we do? Should we ditch everything and move to Israel and hunker down in kollel learning Torah non-stop until the big day, join the IDF and start defending our Holy Land, or just hang out in our nice corner of Galut and drive the nice car, eat the nice meal in the nice house, and commute to the good secure job every day?

Well, I am no Rabbi, however Hashem has blessed me with a good common sense that has helped me alot. It seems to me that we are living in a unique chapter in history where we have to be living in 2 realities or worlds.

We must not quit our day jobs at all, unless you have a better one waiting for you in Israel. We still have to live our lives, doing our best performance at work, gaining new job skill. More importantly, we have to work on improving our relationships, our Yiddishkeit, and Torah learning.

YET, we must remember that the world we see right now will end and a new glorious era will usher in a world where we will not have to worry about finances, wars, and evil any more! We must look forward constantly to that day, and yearn for it with all our heart and soul, as though it will come NOW!

So as the wise proverb says, keep your head in the sky and your feet firmly rooted on the ground. And keep talking to Hashem and pray for what you need so you can serve Hashem better. Remember, Hashem and the Divine Court love happy smily people, not complaining grouchos (more on that subject in a later post)

There is one thing, I believe that will bridge today's world with the world of Moshiach: Treat people with respect, and do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you! Forgive anyone who angered or upset you, start talking to people you have not talked to. I am working on my driving for example!

So dont make snap hasty decisions, keep a connection with your Rebbe or trusted advisor, and start to be nice to people. Keep the course, and IY"H, Moshiach will come and say Hi to you!

Cheers!

It's been a long time!

Good morning!
It has been a long time since I updated this blog. After my father created an incredible blog on his Indian trip, I thought, it's time to dust this thing off and start anew.

Many things have happened in my life including:
1. Getting married on August 28, 2007
2. Moving to Baltimore
3. Finding a wonderful new job in Hunt Valley

Hashem has been blessing me with so much!

Will talk more later, just want to get this blog back in action again!

Meanwhile, let the lights of Chanukah warm you up!




Cheers for now!