JamShalom Daydreams

Parsha Ki Tisah: Stay Above – Operate Within

It is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day routine and to lose our focus on the 'Why' of the things we are engaged in.  Why am I in this business?  Why am I going to school?  Why do I value this friendship?  Why am I putting time into the things I put my time into?

Often, when we lose sight of the reasons we set out to do something – when we lose sight of the deeper motivations and values that drove us in a certain direction – we become a slave to the endeavor or task at hand, and may even sacrifice our motivating values in pursuit of the more mundane task.

One obvious example of this is the many people who take on a job to provide for their family, and then sacrifice time with their family for the pressures they face at work!  Or there is the example of the people who go to school to enable themselves to reach certain dreams, but then resent the process of their own education and the pressure of their schoolwork because they forgot why they went to school in the first place.  Or there are the people who internally resent their friends for their shortcomings, rather than having the courage to talk things out in pursuit of deeper, richer, and more honest relationships.

When we forget the reasons that we embarked on a certain path, we risk becoming slaves to the tasks themselves.

We must always remind ourselves of the "Why" of what we do, and constantly measure our daily tasks in the context of the higher values that we aspire to fulfill in our lives.

Attached please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Ki Tisah': "Stay Above – Operate Within".

May we all be blessed to remain attached to the deep values and Spiritual passions that motivate us to take on the challenges in our life, and to see our daily activities through the lens of those greater pursuits.

With Love and a Smile,

~Shu

Parsha Tetzaveh: Become a Priest

We all love to feel like a king or queen.  To sit in the spotlight.  To be on top.  To be number-one.

And as Ricky Bobby said in Talladega Nights: "If your not first, your last".

But what if there was another pathway that provided even more fulfillment?  What if there was an even better feeling than being number one?  What if the best feeling of all wasn't found in coming out ahead, but rather was found in coming out 'helpful'.

It is easy to get confused and to start to believe that what we are looking for in life is to achieve and to acquire.  But that is simply not true.

We are most fulfilled when we give.  We are most fulfilled when we become valuable to another person.  The best feeling in life is found in the opportunity to lift another person up and to make a difference in his or her life.  This is the essence of marriage.  Of parenthood.  Of friendship.  Of community.

So yes, the achieving and acquiring is important.  But only as a means towards a much more meaningful ends.  Giving.

Because the number-one feeling is ultimately found in being a very important number-two person for someone else.

Attached please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Tetzaveh': "Become a Priest".

May we all be blessed to discover how we can be the conduit of light and blessing and encouragement for someone else around us — someone who needs to feel the warmth of you believing in them.

With Love and a Smile,

~Shu

Parsha Mishpatim: "Seeing the Other"

While we don't always agree with each other, that does not mean that we can not or should not show compassion and understanding for each other.  In fact, without an initial and steady expression of love and understanding at a time of conflict, any further resolution becomes more and more unlikely.

Attached please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Mishpatim': "Seeing the Other".

May we all be blessed to always see the other person, regardless of the intensity of our disagreements, and to affirm our love and understanding of them at all times.

Parsha Yitro: "Getting Past the Velvet Rope"

Dear Friends,

Sending everyone wishes for the most beautiful Shabbat!  

Also sending an open invitation to send me your spiritual/life/faith/personal/relationship/God/religion/search-for-meaning questions for possible topics of future shu-shines!

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Attached please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Yitro': "Getting Past the Velvet Rope".

May we all be blessed to receive the Torah as a helping friendly book, inspiring us to include the people around us in the light we discover in the world.

With Love and a Smile,

~Shu

*** Subscribe to the Shu-Shine podcast on iTunes - it's free!!  Just search for the keyphrase "Good Judaism" in the 'Podcasts' section of the iTunes store!  O:-)

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Rabbi Shu Eliovson

Head Honcho

TheLockers.net - "Where Teens Speak Freely"

v. 201.467.4300

e. Shu@TheLockers.net

w. www.TheLockers.net

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"Joy is not a result of the events of the day.  The events of the day are the result of being Joyous."

"Every Flower Grows in Dirt."

"The Truth is not afraid of Questions."

Parshah Beshalach: "The Wonder of Hidden Doors"

That darn ocean!  I thought I was going somewhere in life, and then that ocean had to go and get in the way!  Now everything is ruined!!  It's all over now…  I'm between a rock and a hard place.  It's hopeless…

Or is it?????

What if hopelessness was only a state of mind?  What if the only thing that was lost was our belief in the infinite possibilities of HaShem's world?  What if the only thing missing was our belief in the Truth that things can work out for the best?

Believing is seeing…

Attached please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Beshalach': "The Wonder of Hidden Doors".

May we all be blessed to move past the fear of uncertain moments in life, and greet those times with wonder and anticipation of amazing blessings to come.

With Love and a Smile,

~Shu

Parsha VaYechi: There's Someone That You Should Talk To

Attached is a shu-shine rewind from the Torah portion of VaYechi.  It is one of my favorites – about connecting to prayer and allowing ourselves to be human.

Also sending an open invitation to send me your spiritual/life/faith/personal/relationship/God/religion/search-for-meaning questions for possible topics of future shu-shines!

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Each and every one of us is filled with so many powerful feelings.  And of course, there is not a single human being alive who does not have hundreds of emotions running through his or her heart throughout the day.  But yet, despite all of those feelings and emotions, all too many times we keep our deepest selves hidden away from the world.

Sometimes, we even keep that part of ourselves hidden away from our own selves.

In today's world, so many people have a hard time praying.  Maybe we think it's outdated.  Maybe we think it's too routine.  Or maybe -- just maybe -- the real problem is that we have simply forgotten how to open up and share that deepest and most hidden part of ourselves.

Because it is really not that complicated.  (Even if it is very hard!)  We just need to find a quiet place to be by ourselves.  A place where we are not distracted by any of our routine obligations.  And a place where we can laugh or cry or yell or shout or dance without worrying that anyone will see us.  And then, in that window of time and space that we have created for ourselves, we let our heart pour out through the words that flow.  And suddenly, we are praying.

We don't have to carry the world on our shoulders.  And when we share all that is on our mind with HaShem (God), that lead balloon becomes a helium balloon, and our steps become so much lighter.

Attached please find a Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'VaYechi': "There's Someone That You Should Talk To".

May we all be blessed to rediscover the power of prayer, and to find the simple words of our heart, and let them flow without guard or defensiveness from our lips -- to the attentive ears of God.

With Love and a Smile,

~Shu

Parsha VaYigash: Crazy, Stupid Faith!

Man, some people are such stupid romantics!  They believe in things they can't see.  They believe in their dreams.  They believe in True Love, happily ever after, and maybe even that one day the world will be perfect and the Messiah will come.  Crazy…

But who changes the world?  Really, think about it.  Do the people who are happy with the status-quo ever find the fire to change the world?  Do people who are OK to accept things as they are, create insane new inventions, or go out an change lives and societies and bring peace to the world?  Do people who are OK with fighting and cold silence ever make the effort to bring peace between their friends?

It's crazy, people say to you.  Stop putting yourself out there, they say.  Don't take such stupid risks, they say.

But Chanukah says, GO CRAZY!!!  Jacob and Joseph in this weeks Torah portion say, BE STUPID!!!  HaShem says, don't ever apologize or feel bad for being the person who cannot color in the lines.  Because the future – the new picture of reality, lives outside the currently drawn lines.

Life is a journey.  But it becomes an amazing adventure when we live it with Crazy, Stupid Faith!

Attached please find this weeks Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'VaYigash': "Crazy, Stupid Faith!"

May we all be blessed to scribble outside the lines more often, to do more trust-falls into the next moment, and to live life as an adventure wherein we are the star of the new things that are happening.

With Love and a Smile,

~Shu

Parsha Miketz - Chanukah - Thanksgiving: Knowing what You're Seeing

Seeing is believing, right?  But of course, there's a problem with that.  Because we don't always know what we see.

Sure, we think we know.  Ahhh, too many people are ready to judge others by what they see.  But do we REALLY see?  How much do we really know?

Sadly, too many people think they know what they see all the time, and so they see things as so much less than they are.

Ok, you say – enough with the riddles!  Sure, all these things sound good and profound – but really – what is the point??

The point is this: That life is so deep.  Life is so beautiful.  And there is blessing all around us.  And sometimes… sometimes… we are blessed to get a glimpse of the light and love and magic that surrounds us.   Sometimes… sometimes… sometimes… we become aware that the magic and beauty is always there, if only we could stay tuned into it…

To stay tuned into it, requires not only seeing, but knowing what we are seeing.  Really knowing it.  All the way to the depths of our heart.

Attached please find this weeks Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'Miketz' and the holidays of Thanksgivukkah: "Knowing what You're Seeing"

May we all be blessed to connect with and see the magic and light and Spirituality and love that is all around us and inside us, and to know that it is so very, very real — so  that much so that we make it ours forever!

With Love and a Smile,

~Shu

Parsha VaYeshev: Bringing it All Together

Sure… Life can be difficult.  At times nothing makes sense.  Things don't go as we wish they would.  Life hurts.  We wish for something different.

But do we just plug our ears when it hurts?  Do we just close our eyes tightly and wait for the painful moments to pass us by?

Or do we open up our hearts to the hardship in the same way that we open ourselves up to joy?  Can we accept that ALL of life is a meaningful journey, and that the difficult moments have as much (or even more!) to teach us as do the moments of joy and 'things-going-our-way'?

Every aspect of life - as it happens to us - is part of our story.  Nothing is by accident.  Every moment is a purposeful and meaningful teacher.  

Our greatest challenge is simply to open ourselves up to learning — even when it hurts.

Attached please find this weeks Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'VaYeshev': "Bringing it All Together"

May we all be blessed to open our hearts and our minds and our Souls to even the hardest moments of life, and to grow from every part of our journey in the deepest and most meaningful ways.

With Love and a Smile,

~Shu

Parsha VaYetzei: My Karma Ran Over Your Dogma

Sometimes the hardest part of life is simply making sense of it.  Why did my day go like that?  Why did such an unfortunate thing happen to someone so kind?  Why is there so much conflict in the world?  When will there finally be peace?

Sometimes it's hard to face our humanity.  Why can't I always get things perfect?  Why do I sometimes hurt someone that I love?  Why do I sometimes hurt myself?

The amazing thing is that nearly everyone in the world wishes for things to get better and better; and nearly everyone in the world wonders what he or she can do about it.  Can one person's private actions really make a difference?  Do we every really know the power of the kind things that we do?

Attached please find this weeks Shu-Shine for the Torah portion of 'VaYetzei': "My Karma Ran Over Your Dogma"

May we all be blessed to cast loving stones into the pool of life, and spread rings of meaning to all those in the wake of those choices.

With Love and a Smile,

~Shu