How Good Was Today Compared To Yesterday

 

So let's compare:

    Yesterday:

Woke up, prayed the Modah Ani, did Netilat Yadayim, said the morning prayers & blessings, read the daily aliyah, made some notes, had a Zoom call with an FFOZ Torah club leader in the Netherlands, taught a Biblical Hebrew lesson, did some reading with a friend in the Jerusalem Talmud, prayed  Mincha, had a nap, phoned my grandson, ate dinner, prayed Ma'ariv & Bedtime Sh'ma, watched some teachings and fell asleep at about 2am.

    Today:

Woke up, prayed the Modah Ani, did Netilat Yadayim, said the morning prayers & blessings, read the daily aliyah, made some notes, taught another Biblical Hebrew lesson, made food and ate, read in Wayyiqra Rabbah with some friends, prayed Mincha, taught an Afrikaans lesson - with a LOT of background noise! Did my class on the inner meaning of the Torah with Yedidah Cohen from Israel, phoned my grandson, ate and prayed Ma'ariv. I am now - whilst writing this blog - watching Rabbi Alon Anava's Tu Be'Av teaching from yesterday. No time for napping today!

    Pirkei Avot says, in Chapter 2 Verse 2: "It is good to combine Torah study with a worldly occupation, for the effort involved in both makes one forget sin."

    How blessed am I that - since my retrenchment 5 years ago - Abba has allowed my "worldly occupation" to be teaching Biblical Hebrew and tutoring/teaching English and Afrikaans. It certainly does require an effort. Again, how blessed am I that I can pray the prayers of Israel most days - Mincha EVERY day - that is my gift to God. I am also very grateful for the friends who pray with me.

    I recently began a course on Tomer D'vorah and I am loving it. It goes live from Ontario, Canada, most weeks at my 2.30am. I have yet to be able to say awake and watch it live, but I will try tonight - as my beloved friend who usually comes to tea on a Friday morning is away this weekend, so I can go to bed at 3.30am and sleep until I wake up. Of course, that will take away from my Shabbat prep time...

    I was looking at my hands just the other day and thinking to myself: "They are 62 years old. God has kept them and guarded them for so many years, and they still work just fine. They might get a bit sore at times and I may bleed from time to time when I cut my fingers in the same places with one of my sharp knives - they should make those illegal for old ladies! - or I stick my fingers gingerly into the oven to retrive something and forget to avoid the blazing hot element, or I do the winter pruning on my plum tree and get impatient with the blunt pruning shears and jam them closed, only to pinch the flesh of my index finger between the clasps - the blood blister has now burst and is very raw and sore.

    Nevertheless, I have 62-year-old hands that still work. Legs that can still walk. Lungs that still breathe. A heart that still beats. There may be things going on inside my body that are a bit out of order, but I will continue to trust God for each new day. I am so grateful when I wake up every morning and realise He has restored my neshamah to me for another day.

        Anyway, at the start of this missive I was comparing today to yesterday and wondering if there was any improvement. The main part of each day for me is being able to pray the prayers of Israel. They are a refuge for me. 

    Then come my relationships. A lot of my friends I will only ever meet on Zoom or Teams, but that's ok. It feels as if I've known them all my life. Relationships grounded in God do tend to that sort of thing.

    Something that is fairly new in my life is reading/learning Zera Shimshon's Torah every week. I cannot now even remember where I heard about him - Oh yes, it was Rabbi Anava who introduced me to his teachings a few years ago! 

    My friend who has a shop on the corner here where I live is kind enough to print the 2 pages I download each Wednesday or Thursday, which are sent to me from Israel. I read them on Erev Shabbat or Shabbat day. This is what Rabbi Shimshon says in the introduction to his Sefer:

    "I implore upon my friends in ten languages of prayer to choose to learn the beautiful portions of he novel concepts in my work ... Even more so, to learn Sefer Zera Shimshon after my death, since learning this Sefer will be a remedy for my essence, soothing my spirit and meritorious for my soul. Those who study it, their righteousnes shall remain with them forever, to benefit in this world and have full satisfaction in the world to come. The One Who Rewards shall pay them in the merit of doing the ultimate kindness with the presence of all three: children, life and sustenance, which are dependant upon the person's merits. And as for me, in my poverty and bitterness, my heart cries that I do not have children and descendants who would serve me after my passing, which forces me to follow the footsteps of dignitaries, to leave posthumously a blessing.

    "I shall kneel and bow to HaShem,and I shall be very grateful for all measures with which He has treated me.With His enormous lovingkindness, even through his wrath, that He had taken away my only son, who was so close to my soul, He still remembered me mercifully, and He has given me "other" descendants..." Those other descendants are us.

    This rabbi, bereft of his only son, promises us that if we study his Torah that we will be blessed with the children he never had, among other things. This is the reason I began reading and studying his commentary on the Torah every week. For my children. I want again to see them all seated around my table from time to time, even if they are all grown up and busy with their own lives. I want them to be happy and content in the Lord. Any mother would only want the best for her children. Some interesting things have happened recently.

    I have six children but only one grandson. In the last month I heard that I am to become a grandmother again. If I count my family members, it seems they have increased - through ways and means I could never have even considered. A blessing from on High in the merit of Rabbi Shimshon?

I cannot neglect to mention - for those who might be wondering - that none of this would be possible without Yeshua HaMashiach. He saved me on the 10th of July 1990 and brought me into the House of Israel, the depth of which I only started discovering a decade ago. There is so much to learn and so little time. But, as I said, I'm grateful for each day.

    A bunch of us are now embarking on yet another adventure together. We are starting a new course together in October with FFOZ about what it means to obey Yeshua's commandments if we love Him, as he said. Can't wait!

    Some say life starts at 40. But in my case, I could probably say it starts at 50 or 60...

God bless you & Layla Tov!