A few months ago a member of our community sent me an article about a new book (I don’t know the name), that talks of new research that challenges the idea that our survival through time was based on survival of the fittest. Instead the research suggests, that the contrary is true. That literally, Generosity and Community are the things that enabled us to survive and thrive through time. The research goes on to show that Generosity and Community are not only practical, but also good for our health, on every level. So with scientific evidence in mind, Please Help us All be Healthier by making a Request, ask for something, and give something to another. “THE ARMY OF THE NIGHT” we are You.

Requests;

This is from a friend of a member of our community, can Anyone help?

Dear All,
I need a studio/ 1 bedroom; I can pay a maximum rent of $1600 for the UWS, UES, or Harlem. I could also share an apartment if I have my own bathroom.

If You can help, Please contact me at 347-968-8028.

Thank you All, so very much.
Shimon Lerner

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“New Shabbat Table - The Class!”
MONDAY 7pm-9pm, at 25 Central
Park West And 62nd Street. Please
Enter On 62nd Street. Lisa Goldberg,
Apt. 2D, Thank You, Lisa
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Here is how it works, each week; we each read the Torah portion for that week on our own. Please go to
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading_cdo/aid/15586/jewish/Bechukotai.htm

Then read Bechukotai three times. Once You have read it once then think about it, maybe do something else, and then read it again, and then again to find what it truly means to You, searching Your heart for it, listen for it, and write it. Imagine the Torah portion is unfinished waiting for You, like an unfinished sentence, What would You add to it, and Why? It can be ideas, stories, experiences, strange events, changes in philosophy, etc. You decide. Then on Monday we will gather, and listen, and share our Torah with each other.

Details:

Cost is $25 per class at the door; payment can be made in cash or by checks made out to Essence Dating Inc. The cost per class is less if You sign up for a number of classes in advance ask for details. All payments are nonrefundable. For info, or questions, call 212-860-8385, and ask for Theo.

It’s an Amazing journey, a great way to start the week; we hope You will join us.

But then the man and the woman awoke from their dream. Our communal dream, our worldwide dream, they still had allot to give, only they didn’t Love themselves, enough to give it. See, You got to Love Yourself, to give Love. You got, We got, to be that water called Love that brings Flowers, and beauty into this world. We got to be that water, that each of us was born to be, so that the water called Love can become a stream, so strong, that it can travel over mountains, to reach the thirsty, and become an Ocean, called Love. We are all in this together, but befor we are in it together, well dear Friends and Lovers, We are in it alone, or so it seems. And We have to find that water called Love in us. Find how We, can Transform.

And do You know what the good news is. The good news is that You are Love, all of You, is pure Love. Right from G-d’s hands. But the bad news is that we don’t believe it. We think that part of us is perfect, and usually we feel a larger part of us, is not. But in truth We are each of us perfect in our imperfections. If We knew that about ourselves, and We nurtured ourselves, instead of punish and deny ourselves. Then We could beter appreciate, the perfect, imperfections, of others. And then We could give them, the Love and nurturing We give ourselves. And that Love and nurturing, is ourselves, and they in turn could give their Love and nurturing waters to us. And if We do it right, then We both bloom, and our waters, become mingled and together. We can’t make Love happen, or someone Love us, but We can Love ourselves, and be patient, and kind, with ourselves, and treat ourselves with fairness, and respect. Then, our internal deserts, will become a stronger, and stronger river, until after awhile, We are so over flowing with these waters, called Love. That We can’t contain them any longer, and we have to let them flow out of us, up against and over rocks, that where once sand and water, until they, got stuck. And one day, these rocks, my dear Friends and Lovers, will become the waters called Love, again. And You know the thing about one day, is that its really any day, and that day, could be, today. So You be that water, and You be that rock, but when You are that rock, and You are stuck, remember where You came from, Sand and Water, You are literally a Beach. A Tropical Beach, and You can become it again, one-day, any day, and Today.

So once there was a man on a journey, and like most of us his journey was a long one, with great possibility and excitement. But his was the type of journey on which one must go alone, and can take few things with you. For him, his was a journey where one must travel light. And because of the journeys magnitude he had to keep moving, stopping was not an option. And because of that, even when he found things, he could not take them with him, for he could not stop, for that would be settling, and to settle, was about the worst, of all sins, to him.

However after years of this journey he was lonely and wanted to share the adventure with someone special. He for his part never imagined that the journey would ever take this long. And now he could not imagine it ending. But he did long for company, someone to share his adventures, and fun with, he just new things would be beter that way. But alas, woman found this idea only slightly interesting, and mostly terrifying. He could not understand, he thought about the Bedewen People, and wondered about the first one. He was sure he must have been a man, and wondered how he got a woman to follow him. He thought about the first Bedewen woman, and how special a woman she must have been. A revolutionary, in her time, and in ours, he thought. What must her mother and sisters have thought, and said. What fears must she have had, and yet she went. And she must have been pretty happy to, because her daughters, and granddaughters, stayed after her, to this day.

So he thought maybe there is hope for me, and so he prayed and learned, and though he was still alone. He started to realize that he was not, and never had been. That everything was everything, and so everything was connected. And when he started to see that, when he started to trust in G-d, past the logical, it was then that the ordinary, became the extraordinary, and he and G-d, became lovers. And he knew that in time, he and G-d, would marry as scripture says, we Jews are the bride, and You G-d, are the groom. And as Shabbat was soon to come, he dressed in white, and prepared to be wed. So, who turned on the light, which made the difference? Well he did, of course.

Shabbat Shalom.

You see this was a Jewish couple and they where both into practice and particularly Mystical practice. So they read a lot and they learned that the Balshem Tov the first Chassid taught that you could only truly pray to G-d if you pray with joy. In other words you’re a good Jew, a devout Jew, it is not enough to pray quickly after a meal thanking G-d, unless you can do it with joy. So even you don’t feel joy, the Balshem Tov’s message was, find joy, even if just for a moment. And that is how this Man and Woman felt about each other. That the only true connection was through joy. And of course this is not easy, and in fact very difficult, but that was the challenge and the great possibility in their connection. To find ways to be in joy more and more, with the hope that one day they could be in joy all the time. And in coming to each other this way they also came to G-d this way. And so sometimes it was a challenge and they had to push it and laugh when they where sad for a moment. But this was their commitment to each other, to always be reaching higher, and helping the other to reach higher. But sometimes when they laughed it really did come from pure joy and love for the other. In fact the more they practiced, the more they loved, and the easier it was. And how amazing that one is going to laugh with you no mater what, even they won’t get in the way of their commitment, in this way to you.

So laughter and joy grew in their relationship each was happier each day. And the kisses where filled with joy, laughter, fun, and playing. To this Man and This Woman, Joy was their way of connecting simultaneously to G-d and each other. Laughter is their Jewish Mystical Sex.

So once there was a man who was nothing and a woman who was nothing to, and a beggar that was holy. Now this woman and this man felt like nothing, their day was hard, their week was harder. All of their decisions they each questioned, and all possibility for them they doubted. And then there was this beggar, he was older, poorer, dirty, hungry, and he lived on the streets. But he was holy; everything to him was a blessing, and a miracle. And though he to most of us would seem as though he had nothing, to him dear Friends, he had the world.

Now how can it be that a beggar one who suffers. One who appears to us victim, and tortured, has everything. Well You see dear Friends this beggar was no ordinary beggar.
You see once he had had everything by our standard. He was rich, young, handsome, and smart. But he did not posses what he most needed, or wanted, and that was faith dear Friends. He had no faith in him, or in G-d, or in anybody else. And this lack of faith tormented him, frustrated him, and challenged him, and he tried everything but nothing worked. But then one night in his anger and frustration with himself he had this dream. In the dream he remembered the story of Abraham, and how Abraham woke up one day and gave it all up, everything he had, he left, he left his fathers house. So when the beggar not yet a beggar awoke from his dream he knew what to do, so he got up and he left his possessions and his things and wandered without money or worldly attachments. He never knew after that when he would eat, but when he ate he knew it was a blessing and the will of G-d, and he never knew where or when he would sleep but when he slept he new it was blessed and the will of G-d. He was this beggar in constant danger and he was afraid, but it made him value every safe moment, and every time G-d, Ha Kadosh Barechu himself smiled on him. So this beggar had nothing, or less then he had ever had in his life, but to him he had everything.

In fact this beggar had so much he felt that he had something to give. And so on that Friday afternoon befor Shabbis when he met this man and this woman who thought they where nothing, he talked to them both. Each was sad and tired and ready to give up, and each he made laugh with his story of hope. And as he talked to one the other came a listened, and because they heard the same story twice they listened. And when the beggar left to prepare himself as best as he could for Shabbis the woman and the man talked more about G-d, and each other, and their struggles for faith. After they talked for a while both went to pray, and they went to pray together. They came befor G-d together as one, and though to some this was just another Friday night service. To them this was everything. Each prayer they prayed from their nothingness and in a strange and new way they where hole, and it felt new and yet formilur. They also prayed not as two, but as one, in compassion for the other. After they had dinner in peace and love, and when they had finished dinner they went for a walk. As they walked the man said to the woman I may be nothing, or come from nothing but today I made a good choice in stopping and meeting the you. And she said, I walked this day on holy ground and I did not know it was holy and I met you. From dust to dust is how the Torah defines life she said, but when blessed dust, meets blessed dust, then something is created, and that something is earth. And earth with careful, and deliberate care, can become a flower or a fruit tree that can become homes for other things. And dirt itself can become land, on which a home can be built, where a family can grow. And she said today we became dirt. And he smiled and said, want to see a movie on Saturday, and she smiled, knowing he agreed, and said yes. And he said what will be will be, cay sera sera. And she smiled, and each felt a little less like nothing. So it was nothing that brought them together, and it was the knowledge of the potential of nothing that made them whole.

She was attractive, even sexy, but she was alone, love seemed always so far away. Love she often thought, what is it. Why is it a boat on which my body will not sail. Why she thought is my body not a port, in which this boat visits. But she did love to see her friends in love, it truly brought a smile to her lips, desire to her mind, and longing to her heart.

She new men, even met them occasionally for a get together, but they never got close. She would spend the date looking at them critically, and making fun of them in a harsh way. And each night she would cry to G-d, and G-d heard her. One day as she was walking on her way, a man stopped her.

She was surprised, and befor she could catch her breath, he asked her. Why are you so sad? Well she wanted to say I am not sad, and mind your own business. But the way he looked at her, with such compassion, and sincerity she just couldn’t turn him away, he looked so vulnerably, so exposed. So instead she laughed and turned away, and as she looked back at him he was still looking at her, and his look had not changed. Only now it was one of greater consern, who is this guy she thought, not wanting to turn away, but not knowing what to say.

So she did something rash, something crazed, rather than answering his question, she invited him in, back to her place. And once there she stopped being the gatekeeper for a while, and they where together. Their touch was a wave; each fighting for air and to survive, breathing became difficult. They fought to survive, and to save the other. It was hour’s befor that beautiful moment past. Tiered and satisfied, they lay there in each other’s arms, talking of mystery, and G-d.

She wanted to know, though in truth she knew, and she wanted him to know she was not a slut. That this was the first time and there had been others, but she had not touched them. He was touched that she trusted him, a stranger, and she was surprised. A slut, she was not, but how else to explain it. She said he was not a stranger, for he was expected, so therefore he was a guest, and she had been waiting for him, though she had not known it. He smiled and it touched her physically, and emotionally. And now? He asked, and now? she asked, and they both laughed. And now, is now she said, you are a traveler, and I am a place you’ve visited one night. A town, a castle, and you are liked, maybe even loved, and wanted. But our cultures and languages are different, which after all is why you came. So you must ask yourself, is this a place you want to stay. Or is this a place you got drunk one night. Either way you have become part of this town, like its walls and its buildings. When you are gone people will ask about you, and talk of the day you came to town. And maybe one day you will come back, or maybe not, and as you become a legend and you travel on your way, and see many things I hope you well remember this. And with that she kissed him, and he said, I may be drunk, but I know when I have felt G-d, and seen G-d. And though our cultures and languages may be different, I see, and feel, G-d in you.