This weeks Shabbos thread

Hi All,

As usual this is the thread where people can share their thoughts of the week, leave prayers or discuss whatever they want, including the week's Torah portion. 

I guess this weeks special prayers need to be particularly for the current situation in Gaza; to pray for the safety of our brothers and sisters in  Israel, be they in the IDF or the families of the IDF or the population generally, who are  hold up in bunkers to protect themselves from terrorist rocket attacks. May we pray for peace and no more loss of lives on both sides and may our prayers be received in mercy by Hakodosh Boroch Hu, and help usher in days of peace and security; may we look forward to the coming of the Messiah & the time in which war and suffering will be things of the past. 

Here in the UK,  we need to pray over the current debate in the House of Lords over the assisted dying bill; may their Lordships be guided by G-d to vote against this horrendous piece of legislation and may we continue to worship the G-d of life. 

Some Tehillim (Psalms)  which I hope will help people:

• Chapter 6
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 83
• Chapter 91 
• Chapter 130
• Chapter 142

I'll leave you with this thought :

We love Brum !

Hi All, 

This is a post for my lovely friend ,housemate & hopefully bro in law one day, hint, hint [I know being circumcised and converting takes a long time, but we are all here to help, support, encourage & love (: ] who is from the wonderful city of Birmingham, which has an excellent University,  has a cool Shul and lots of people with funny accents,  who think a  bus is pronounced BUZZ !

 LOL! XX

On the lovely laid back accent : 

And for a fab funny song, about a funky moped [ROFL!], which was  originally sung  by Jasper Carrott [but it should be noted, not the person in this video] :

Thank you all : some heart, some theology

Hi all,

I've updated, edited and redrafted some of this  post, which I wrote in haste last night...

Me and my housemates  & other friends are just having a summer BBQ , with Kosher Sausages and Beef burgers.  I just wanted to say on behalf of me and my girlfriend Sarah, THANK YOU for being so lovely and kind to us as we have admitted our feeling for each other & made our relationship public; yes it is an intimate and close one and that is all we want to say about that. Neither of us can tell you what it means to have this support and this love. I've been, for a couple of years,  in a deep black hole for a while, a depressive, suicidal, horrible place where I've struggled with my religion, observance, belief  & sexuality: I've flipped and I've flopped, I've been uncertain, inconsistent, unsure, I've tried to tow the party line & above all I've been afraid of my true feelings and needs.

Should I be a Jew? Or a Christian ? Does Hashem love me? Am I allowed to express my love? Have a companion? A soulmate?

And the answer is, after 10 years of difficulty,  yes ! yes and yes! I am a Jew, proud of my heritage, loving every Jew, every Synagogue, loving our homeland of Israel with a passion that I cannot express. Loving & loyal, but not necessarily, understanding of our G-d and  the Torah. But yet,  I am LOVED by Hashem; as child of the G-d of   Abraham Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, as child of Israel, made in his image, created by him.

I've known great joy, but great sadness and a deep, deep, longing to be loved by someone and to love in return. But, bit, by bit I've been able to understand these issues, thank Hashem. But thanks to YOU guys, my FAMILY AND MY FRIENDS, who have always been there for me, who have loved me and supported me through all the pain and all the difficulties. 

I love you all lots,  THANK YOU !! XXXXXXX

I also know that not everyone is happy at present, that people do struggle, strive and don't get everything about religion and sexuality, or just life :  the pain, the love, the tears, the difficulties, the cultural pressures & how one has to deal with fundamentalist attitudes as the bee all and end all of Orthodoxy. Well, we are here for you .As is G-d. G-d loves all of humanity. You don't need to be a Jew to know him and to love him or to walk in his ways. You don't need to dress up or wear a black hat to worship him, you just need to hear his voice. He LOVES you and all of humanity. 

This is my personal view and passions. But how does this stack up against Judaism and current Rabbinical thought?

Me and You

Me and you singing on the train,
Me and you listening to the rain,
Me and you we are the same
Me and you have all the fame
We need; indeed,
You and me are we.

Me and you singing in the park
Me and you light candles in the dark
Me and you we are the spark
We'll watch that light just make an arc
To say someday
There will be a better way.

Me and you were waiting for the dawn
Me and you and all the places we've gone
Me and you, sitting on the lawn
Me and you just singing a song;
A rhyme to shine
And to pass the time.

Me and you singing to all
Me and you were not so small
Me and you can stand up tall
Me and you just having a ball
Happy to be
You.....and Me

Barry Louis Polisar

Quote of the Day

Who says Orthodox Jews are unable to talk about sex or sexuality openly ?

“The moment you see orgasm as a transcendent experience and one that can lead to mystical union, it’s truly transformative. We don’t know how to deal with orgasm in American sexuality. For us, it’s just something that proves that the sexual encounter is over. The whole experience of sex is a means to an end. It leads to bad sex and short sex.”

– Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, author of the new book “Kosher Lust”

No fear only Shalom

Hi All,

I had to do write this.  it has been eating me up for a long, long time, but having read about others coming out that they were gay & in a relationship, I'm taking the plunge. I've spoken to my immediate friends and family. I hope people will be as understanding as they have been to me this morning 

( : 

My face is tears like rain

because being able to tell you

something special

has taken away my pain

my feeling of inadequacy, 

my fear, my feelings, 

my potential hypocrisy 

I feel no fear, only shalom

I've got a girl friend

Well more than just a friend

a companion, a soul mate, a lover

I'm no longer having to pretend

I can't help my feelings of whom I love

I feel no fear, only shalom

 

I thank my family and friends for understanding

for being loving and kind always

I know some of you don't understand,

 but love me as a sister

& for wanting to provide a loving welcome

 to my friend

I  feel no fear, only shalom

God created me in his image

He knit me together in my mother's womb,

knows my innermost thoughts

I am one of his children

He does not put a stumbling block before the blind

He restores the years the the locusts have eaten

The Merciful One, blessed be his name,

overlooks what is out of a person’s control

I feel no fear, only shalom

I can't live my life out without companionship and love

God knows this, I hope the rest of you do

Do not judge another person until you have been in their place

Don't judge me by what I am, but what I do

I feel no fear, only shalom

What is more important, the quantity of observance or the quality?

Rather than query what happens in bedrooms 

Praise what's going on in the living rooms 

welcoming guests, keeping Kosher, loving the stranger, 

not bitching, honouring people, 

being part of Torah centred families & values

I feel no fear, only shalom ...

 ...for I shall leave judgement to the Almighty. 

In the meantime we have a life to live and live it to the full. 

Hannah ...... & my girlfriend  Sarah 

Shalom Hashem Aleikhem!