JamShalom Daydreams

Wow! How'd You Do That?

For Reason's explained in the attached Shu-Shine (and consistent with its message!), last week's Shu-Shine is coming to you today. So this Shabbat you get a double-portion of the 'Shine'! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sometimes we are so amazed by our own abilities. Man, I'm cool! Boy am I smart! Girlfriend, check me out! But is it really us? Or are we somehow enabled by a Deeper and Higher Source? Is it just blind luck that I have the power or the gifts, or have they been given to me as a Trust? And if they are given to me in Trust -- if it is, indeed, a partnership, what is the ultimate highest use of these gifts? Attached please find this weeks Shu-Shine on the Torah portion of 'Ekev': "Wow! How'd You Do That?" (click "Listen Now", below!) May we all be blessed to always remember the Source of our strength and wisdom and material gifts, and to use them with a purpose that respects that Sacred partnership. With Love and a Smile, ~Shu

It is Only With the Heart that One Can See Rightly

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, french reconnaissance fighter and author, once said in his book "The Little Prince" that "It is only with the Heart that we can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye". And Albert Einstein taught us that "Not everything that can be proven is important; and not everything important can be proven." The arguments of logic and reason can bring us to the shores of wisdom, but the deepest forms of knowledge are only to be found through experience. Many times we feel that if only we could be given even one proof of God's presence or His interest and wishes from us, well, then we would be ready to jump in and commit to a more Spiritual life in a heartbeat! But the proofs would only take us to the shore. And while arriving at the point of change and growth is extremely important, it is jumping into the pool -- freefalling into the unknown -- letting go -- that is where the ultimate discovery of a meaningful life waits for us. Attached please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'V'Etchanan' - "It is Only With the Heart that One Can See Rightly" (click "Listen Now", below!) May we each be blessed to open our hearts to HaShem, and to recognize how His Heart has always been devoted to us. With Love and a Smile, ~Shu

Stop Acting Like God

Dear Friends, Life is full of battles. But the question is, what are we fighting for? Are we fighting for the objects of our pursuit, or are we pursuing those things which are truly meant for us and which are best for us? Do we kick and scream and get angry when things don't go the way we want them to, or do we accept that life has a pathway for each of us, and that mastery is learning to listen and align with that path as it speaks to us? Attached please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Devarim' - "Stop Acting Like God" (click "Listen Now, below!) May we each be blessed to let go of our own ideas of 'good' and 'bad', and connect instead to a greater Wholeness that informs and fills all that we are meant to be doing. With Love and a Smile, ~Shu

Train Stops and Destinations

Dear Friends, Last week my Eishet Chayil - my amazing wife - was traveling on business, as I held down the fort with our five kids at home, none of whom are in daycamp. So the shu-shine did not make it out on time, and instead has been hiding here on my iPad. For those who want an extra boost before this Shabbat, here it is, a little dusty, but still relatively fresh and meaningful. * * * * * Life is full of junctures. We arrive at certain moments and certain events of life, whether it is a business event, a personal event, a traffic jam, or spilling wine on ourselves at a party. We have good days and bad days. And as the old proverb goes, "Stuff Happens" (ok, that might not be the exact expression...) But is 'Stuff' just 'Happening', or are there meanings in these moments of life. Is life a random series of events, or are the events that come upon us meant to teach us something about our journey to wisdom and self-fulfillment? Attached please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Masai' - "Train Stops and Destinations" (click "Listen Now", below!) May we each be blessed, Truly blessed, to understand the events of our lives according to their deeper meaning, and to learn from them all that we can about the personal and communal journey of life we trek upon. With Love and a Smile, ~Shu

What are YOU doing here?!

Sometimes, in those quietest of moments, we each wonder what we are doing here. Does my life matter? Do I have a mission here? Am I truly unique and essential to the world? And sometimes, when we look back at the choices we have made, we wonder if we haven't somehow "messed up too badly". Maybe I have really screwed up, and now whatever I was here for is lost to me? Maybe I am 'beyond salvation'? Maybe I am simply too stained, or too far gone, to still have the chance to brining my gifts to the world? But as you are sitting here reading these words before you, you are indeed still here. And the reason that you are still here, is because the reason that you are here -- what you were born to do -- still lies ahead of you! Below please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Matot' - "What are YOU doing here?!" (click 'Listen Now'!) May we each be blessed to spend each moment of every day wide Awake, celebrating the special gifts and the unique role that we alone bring to the world. With Love and a Smile, ~Shu

Know Your Place

Dear Friends, It is hard to know sometimes whether to turn left or right. To pause or to move forward. To argue or to remain silent. To strive or to be still. But there is a higher level, where we can tap into an inherent awareness of what is correct. On that level, it is not that we "know what to do", but rather that we simply "do" without being intellectually conscious of it at all. It is like when the swimmer becomes her swimming. Or the artist his paintbrush. Or the singer his or her voice. Below please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Pinchas' - "Know Your Place" (click "Listen Now"!) May we each be blessed to make the highest choices every day, and perhaps to move beyond the choices, to a level where we simply embody all the Divine beauty that flows within our very being. With Love and a Smile, ~Shu

Stop Forcing, Start Listening

Sometimes it just doesn't seem fair. Some people seem to have all the luck, while I seem stuck in first gear. And man, I want things to change! After all, you should just hear the way I complain and groan about my circumstances... But while I so very, very much want things to change, sometimes the one thing I am most avoiding changing is 'me'. Below please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Balak' - "Stop Forcing, Start Listening". (click "Listen Now"!) May we each be blessed to let go of our stubbornness to demand things to be as we wish them to be, and replace that energy with the strength to move our own selves into a place more aligned with the blessings we seek from God. This week's Shu-Shine is dedicated in the merit of all the awesome phans I had the privilege of meeting this past Shabbat at SuperBall IX, and to all of our In-Reach/RV 'Chevre'. Thanks for sharing in the light! With Love and a Smile, ~Shu

A Fine Line Between Right and Night

Has it ever happened that someone comes over to you with some Spiritual instruction or suggestion, and you suddenly feel cornered and defensive? And it's not that you doubt that what they are recommending has been good for them -- it's just that you somehow viscerally feel that their words are not good for you! Also, have you ever taken on a Spiritual commitment, only to find that drawing out the True Joy of that commitment and expression is much more difficult than you thought it would be? Below, please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Chukat' - "A Fine Line Between Right and Night" (Click "Listen Now!") May we each be blessed to discern the very fine line between Spiritual action and True Spiritual Direction, and to have the steps that best bring us forward in life light up before our very eyes. This week's Shu-Shine is dedicated to all my buddies and fellow Soul-Searchers up here at Phish's SuperBall Festival and In-Reach's first Upstate NY "Shu-bbaton", from where this Shu-Shine broadcasts! With Love and a Smile, ~Shu

Yo'! Where's My Promised Land?!

Sometimes it seems like other people have all the luck, and we don't. I mean, I look at myself and I say: "Man, I deserve the best! I deserve more! So whose the guy that screwed it all up for me....? There must be someone to blame..." We all want to make it to our "Promised Land". We all want to achieve the things we most dream about, whether those things are professional, artistic, Spiritual, family-related, personal, academic, changing-the-world, or whatever it might be that we wish to impact or accomplish in our lives. But how do we get there? What is the kind of thinking that creates success, and what is the kind of thinking that gets us stuck in the reeds, keeping our dreams perpetually out of our reach? Find out by listening to the Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Korach' - "Yo'! Where's My Promised Land?!" (click 'Listen Now', below!) May we each be blessed to learn to recognize the many choices we make each day, OWN those choices, and through owning our choices, earn and celebrate the positive results that will one day be ours as well. This week's Shu-Shine is dedicated in honor of my Dad & Mom -- because they taught me so very, very much. And also, because I love them. With Love and a Smile, ~Shu

Hearing the Song and Singing Along

There is an old saying that "One man's folly is another man's fortune". But what is it that brings folly into our lives? And how can we go about better aligning ourselves towards the spot where fortune will find us? in this week's Torah portion, the Children of Israel lose their first opportunity go into and inherit the land of Israel. Was it wrong for them to send in spies, essentially trying to do their part in bringing down the blessings in their lives? Aren't we supposed to work for the blessings we seek? Was it more about what they said when the spies came back? Or was there something deeper there... A wisdom that Moshe (Moses) was trying to teach, and which the Israelites were simply not yet ready to learn? How do we draw that same balance when we seek blessing in our own lives? Below please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Shlach Lecha' - "Hearing the Song and Singing Along" (click "Listen"!) May we each be blessed to learn to listen for the song of life that is carried in all things, and to learn how best to share in the melody of life's blessings. This week's shu-shine is dedicated in the merit of my dear friend Elana Knoller, a pure light of HaShem who is exactly as amazing and precious for our world as she has always felt deep inside, and who gave me the insight that unlocked this week's Torah Portion before my eyes. With Love and a Smile, ~Shu