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  The Jewish Answer

  He is 15 years old. He lives in Manhattan with his family. This was the first time he ever put on tefillin so it was like his Bar Mitzvah. Bar Mitzvah means that the boy has reached the age where he is obligated to keep the commandments, so a 13-year-old Jewish boy actually becomes a bar mitzvah even if he hasn't put on tefillin.

  That's his brother and tour guide standing behind him.

  He read the Shema in English, prayed for his family, and wrote a note to place between the stones of the Kotel.

Before they left the guide asked me to say something to the boys to try to give them some "connection" to the Jewish people. Their father is not Jewish, and they are living an entirely secular life.

  I asked the boys, "Where is G-d?"

  The big boy answered, "In my heart."

  I made a sour face and said, "That's not a Jewish answer. Where's G-d"

  He answered, "In Heaven"

"That's not a Jewish answer either!"

  I explained "Hashem is everywhere at all times. Wherever you go, Hashem will always be there with you. Hashem is Infinite and the Infinite is everywhere."

  I asked both of them again, and they both answered, "Everywhere!"

  Why did I choose this subject to try to give them some recognition of the importance of their being Jews?

  A Christian says god is in their heart, or in Heaven.

  A Buddhist usually says, "There is no god."

  A Hindu might answer, "It depends on which god you are talking about!" They have 330 million gods!

  This is the first thing that differentiates between the Torah and almost all other beliefs in the World. Hashem is everywhere at all times. "If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in the lowest depths, behold, You are there." Hashem fills and surrounds all, and He is beyond the all, too.

One Life

  A blessing we say a number of times a day tells us what is perhaps the greatest mystery of all, yet most of us say it automatically, and do not pay the slightest attention to its meaning. No matter how many times we say a blessing, if we do not pay attention to even its simplest meaning, we will not gain the spiritual benefit that blessing is intended to bring.

  How many Worlds are there? Well, most of us will probably say, 'There is only one World'. And how many lives are there in that World? Well, most of us will probably say there are some 7.75 billion lives in this world. Right?

  After eating or drinking certain foods we say, "Blessed are You Hashem… Creator of numerous living beings…. Blessed is He who is the Life of the worlds."

This tells us that there are many worlds, not just one… such as this world and the World to Come. And even more surprising, although He certainly has created numerous living beings, in all these living beings, He is the One Life…. He is the Life of the worlds.

"The soul You have given within me is pure. You have created it, You have formed it, You have breathed it into me, and You preserve it within me. You will eventually take it from me, and restore it within me in Time to Come."

We are on an amazing journey. Pay attention so you will get the most out of this precious opportunity. Remember, all we take with us when we go are our deeds, not our property.

The Best

  They are from America... learning in an English-speaking yeshiva here in Jerusalem. Their rabbi asked me to speak with them.

There are so many things they needed to hear, such as how to search for the spiritual aspects of Torah and not just the physical. I tried to cover all of them, but the one thing that I felt they most needed to hear was;

"You're the best!"

  There was a Haredi rabbi who came over to hear me speak to them and he was a little surprised that I would call boys who are just starting out as being the best.

  I explained to the boys. "Where you are coming from, some 80% of the Jews are going to marry non-Jews! It makes no difference to them at all. They are cutting their families off from the Jewish people. But you, you are here in the Holy City, learning Torah, resolved to make a Jewish family. All of our enemies throughout history have wanted only one thing; to remove the Jews from the world! And these American Jews are doing exactly what our enemies have always wanted."

Why are these boys the best, and not the already religious boys who have been learning Torah their entire lives?       

  When someone comes from such a low place as these boys do, and they pick themselves up and take such significant action as coming to Jerusalem to learn Torah, even if they are on such a low level of observance compared to the Haredi boys their age, since they are coming from such a low place, Hashem accredits it to them as having climbed to a tremendous height!    

       The Infinite and Charity

  Early this morning at the Kotel a stranger came up to me with 50 shekels in his open palms offering it to me as charity. He didn't look Jewish so I didn't want to take it but I thought maybe he's a righteous convert so I took it, and I said, "I do not need this, but I will hand it out to others for you."

  He nodded his head, "Yes."

     We do not take charity from non-Jews. When someone gives charity, he is elevated, and the one taking the charity is lowered.

  I was thinking about it for a while but then I put the concern to the side until around an hour later I saw him sitting there reading the n.t.! (the x-ian religious book)

  I took out the fifty shekels and put it on the page he was reading and I asked him, "Where is G-d".

  He smiled, put his hand on his chest, and said, "In my heart."

  I asked, "Is he in your feet?"

  He said, "In my heart."

  I said, "G-d is everywhere. He is Infinite. The Infinite is without limit."

  He said, "That's right."

  "Well then is G-d everywhere?"

  He said, "Yes."

  I asked, "Then, is He in the grave?" (The n.t. says yushka was not in the grave.)

  He said, "No, he's not in the grave."

I said, "Then you have a little god who is not everywhere. The G-d of the Bible is everywhere, even in the grave. When you learn to worship only the One G-d Who is everywhere you can bring the money back and I will hand it out for you." And I walked away.

  They want to do good, but they don't listen!

   Blessings

  After reading the Shema, I have the fathers bless their children with the blessing that Hashem told the Kohanim to say when they repeat Hashem's blessing for us. I have the fathers put their right hand on the boys' heads one at a time and say the blessing. Then I have them say out loud all the things they want Hashem to give to the boys.

  What happens? Number one: Hashem listens and blesses the boys. Next: The fathers reach into their hearts to see what they want for their sons… the boys hear what their fathers want for them …, and mostly the reason I do it is so they all will feel love and joy when their fathers do a mitzvah, especially at the Kotel.

  Hashem's Hand

  A very nice, haredi Jew and his teenage son from New York came up to me at the tefillin stand last week saying how happy he was to see me again. He said the last he saw me was 13 years ago on his last visit to Israel. He told me what happened.

  "It was great! You put tefillin on a young American and he asked you, 'How come whenever my girlfriend and I go to get engaged she breaks it off? Time and time again!'

  "And you asked him if she was Jewish. He said that she was willing to convert. And you said, 'Are you a kohen?' and he said that he didn't think so. You told him to call his father right then and there and ask him. He walked away, called his father, and one minute later he came back and said, 'My father said, "Yes" that he is a Kohen, so I am a kohen'.

   "And you said, 'Look at the wonderful blessing Hashem has been giving you! A kohen is not allowed to marry a convert. You have to marry a homeborn Jewish girl. You should be thanking G-d all day for this wonderful blessing… and don't ask that girl again. Find a proper Jewish girl for a kohen to marry.'"

     I had forgotten about the story…so many things happen here at the Kotel every day. But when you remember that everything comes for a reason, and you look for that reason, you can often see Hashem's kind hand working in your life.

      Portugal

  A group of Jewish teens came to the Kotel on a trip from Portugal. They were really excited. One asked me, "Why is the connection so much stronger here?" Another was excited to tell me that he cried by the Kotel. They wanted to know why these things were happening.

I answered them in two ways. First, I told them what they wanted to know, what they asked… then I told them what they had to know.

"Hashem is equally everywhere, at all times. There is no more of Hashem here in this holy place than anywhere else in the world, not even more than in Portugal.

   Hashem is equally everywhere, but He hides. He hides so we will seek Him… and He hides here in this holy place less than in any other place in the World. He does this because this is the home of His Torah, and He wants to draw us to His Torah, His ways, His instructions for us."

  "And why is all this here so special for you but not to the rest of the World? Why do you feel what you call a 'stronger connection,' … why do you cry here but they don't? Because you are a Jew. And you are a Jew because your mother is a Jew.

  You were born a Jew for some reason, and the only way you can pass this on to your children is if you marry a Jewish girl. Make a Jewish family, then Jerusalem will not only always be yours, it will always belong to your children, too."

      Rigid

  A young, American, Torah observant Jew came up to me at the Kotel and said, "I have a problem with the strictness of some of the rabbinic laws… and they seem to be based on things that no longer exist!"

  I tried to explain: "First off, know that those rigid rules are what are keeping the Jewish people in the World today. Almost every Jew who moved away from following the Talmud has no Jewish grandchildren. But your real problem seems not to be with the strictness of the laws, but with the lack of a living awareness of Hashem."

  As you can imagine, he wasn't too happy with my take on his situation.

  I went on, "Where's G-d?"

  He wouldn't answer.

"Nu! Where's G-d?"

  He answered, "Where is He not?

  "I didn't ask you where He isn't. I asked you where He is… not, where He isn't! This is exactly what I said was your problem."

  He said, "You can't say where G-d is. He is not in any one place!"

  "Yes, you can say where He is, as every Jew should obviously know. G-d is everywhere! There is no place devoid of Hashem!"

  "You can't say G-d is just here!"

  "I didn't say He was just here. I said He is everywhere, which includes 'just here', too."

   "All of Torah has a physical and a spiritual perspective. You are wrapped up with the physical Torah with no awareness of the spiritual Torah, so that is why those strict laws seem to be a burden."

   "Here is my point. Hashem fills and surrounds all, and He is beyond the all. He is everywhere at all times. Even right here on our lips. Since He is right here on our lips, how should we pray? By screaming? Or, by lovingly saying, 'Abba I love You'. If you would go through your day speaking softly and lovingly to Hashem Who is right there on your lips, all those laws that seem to be so rigid now would start to make sense to you. Try it and see."

  Will he listen to me?

  I hope so, especially for his grandchildren's sake.