A week before Hubby and I got married, I sent out an email to my entire email address book, letting people know that I wanted to help them pray for the things they really want/need in their lives. I asked them to send me their Hebrew names and their mothers' Hebrew names. Then I asked them to write what they would like me to request for them(ie. a speedy recovery, a husband, a wife, healthy children, financial stability, a quick and easy delivery, a fast and minimally painful divorce, etc). It is said that on her wedding day, a very auspicious time, the bride has a direct channel of communication with G-d.
On my wedding day, before I was married , while praying at the Kotel with my book of names, I made a commitment that the book of names would not be "just for the wedding day", but rather that I would pray for the people in that book every Friday night at candlelighting and that I would add names to the various categories whenever needed or requested.
Hubby and I have been married almost 3 years now and many names have been removed from the book. People who have struggled for years to conceive now have healthy babies, thank G-d. Others who had been searching for their significant others for many years were blessed to find their other half. People who were very ill and were suffering terribly are now no longer suffering, either because they were blessed with miraculous recoveries or they joined their Creator in a place where suffering doesn't exist.
I believe in the power of prayer. I believe that every single one of us can have an impact on the fate of our fellow Jew. Think about the people you know and love. Think about what you know they would love to have and don't. Imagine that your prayer for them can open the Heavens and grab G-d's attention. G-d listens to every single prayer. Sometimes his answer is "no", but as our Heavenly Father, He knows what's best for us. Imagine never saying "no" to your children....What would become of them? And why should G-d treat His children any differently than we treat ours?
Every day, new names are added to my book. Many are names of people I've never met, but I consider them to be my brothers and sisters, so I pray for them like I would for a close family member or a dear friend. I pray for the quickest salvation from their current challenges and am reminded daily that Yeshuat Hashem Ke'Heref Ayin...G-d's Salvation comes like the blink of an eye.
It is also said that if there's something you desperately want and you know that someone else wants that very same thing(ie. a healthy baby, a husband, a wife, etc), if you pray for them from deep within your heart, G-d will bless you with whatever it is first.
I encourage you all, my dear readers, to think about the people you love and care about. Be their advocates. Be their cheerleaders. Ask G-d to bless them with their deepest heart's desires and you too will be blessed.
Love,
Cigal
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
My angels are smiling
I believe in angels.
As far as I know, I have 4 of my own; one that I met and loved and three that I never met, but continue to love just the same.
The one that I met and loved was my Saba, my mothers' father. He was one of the first pioneers to leave Poland (Pre-Hitler) and come to this beautiful country of ours, with a Zionist vision and an undying commitment to building this land with his own two hands and the hands of the trailblazers who joined him. When I first walked off the Nefesh B'Nefesh Aliyah flight almost 7 years ago, I truly felt Saba's presence with me....I remember that day like it was yesterday. I felt his strong and warm embrace as I stepped off that plane and into my new life. I know he was proud of me then. He's looking down at me from the heavens and at the life I've created for myself in the land he loved so and he feels proud.
My three other angels are my paternal grandparents and my uncle(dad's little brother) who were all murdered at the evil hands of the Nazis. They were observant Jews whose lives were wiped out for that very reason alone. I can just imagine what could have been had they survived...I sometimes fantasize that they would have moved to Israel, the only place in the world where one can be an authentic practicing Jew without fear and threat of persecution...My dad and his sisters would have had their parents here with them, rather than being raised in orphanages and children's homes after the Holocaust...How differently their lives would have turned out...
In so many ways, I feel like I'm living my angels' dreams, too. Here I am, living a passionate Jewish life in the Jewish homeland, with my husband and our two precious children. We are incredibly blessed to have the honor to not only be watching as Jewish history unfolds from afar, but rather, we are MAKING Jewish history just by living here. Hubby and I both made Aliyah(he 11 years ago and I, 7 years ago). I truly believe that we have four angels looking down at us from the heavens and smiling.
With Love,
Cigal
As far as I know, I have 4 of my own; one that I met and loved and three that I never met, but continue to love just the same.
The one that I met and loved was my Saba, my mothers' father. He was one of the first pioneers to leave Poland (Pre-Hitler) and come to this beautiful country of ours, with a Zionist vision and an undying commitment to building this land with his own two hands and the hands of the trailblazers who joined him. When I first walked off the Nefesh B'Nefesh Aliyah flight almost 7 years ago, I truly felt Saba's presence with me....I remember that day like it was yesterday. I felt his strong and warm embrace as I stepped off that plane and into my new life. I know he was proud of me then. He's looking down at me from the heavens and at the life I've created for myself in the land he loved so and he feels proud.
My three other angels are my paternal grandparents and my uncle(dad's little brother) who were all murdered at the evil hands of the Nazis. They were observant Jews whose lives were wiped out for that very reason alone. I can just imagine what could have been had they survived...I sometimes fantasize that they would have moved to Israel, the only place in the world where one can be an authentic practicing Jew without fear and threat of persecution...My dad and his sisters would have had their parents here with them, rather than being raised in orphanages and children's homes after the Holocaust...How differently their lives would have turned out...
In so many ways, I feel like I'm living my angels' dreams, too. Here I am, living a passionate Jewish life in the Jewish homeland, with my husband and our two precious children. We are incredibly blessed to have the honor to not only be watching as Jewish history unfolds from afar, but rather, we are MAKING Jewish history just by living here. Hubby and I both made Aliyah(he 11 years ago and I, 7 years ago). I truly believe that we have four angels looking down at us from the heavens and smiling.
With Love,
Cigal
Monday, June 27, 2011
The Blessing in the Glucose
When I was pregnant with each one of my kids, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Both times I made strong commitments to myself, to G-d and to the unborn fetus that I would adhere to the strictest of diets and do lots of exercise in order to protect my child from sugar issues, G-d forbid, and to prevent myself from c-sections( I had a bowel resection for Crohn's Disease in 1996 and abdominal surgery frightens me to no end). The doctors put the fear of G-d in women with GD about having large babies, needing c-sections, etc.I am eternally grateful to G-d for giving me strength and discipline to do as I committed to doing and for allowing me to experience the intense beauty of natural childbirth both times. More importantly, I thank Him every day for providing me with two healthy children with perfect birth weights and without any sugar problems.
Today I had to go for a follow up sugar test in order to make sure that what I had was indeed gestational diabetes and not a more chronic case. The glucose I had to drink was vile, but after I drank it, I stopped to think for a minute about the blessing that was hidden in the glucose.
I am a self diagnosed Ben & Jerry's addict. It is a serious danger to leave me alone with a tub, as it can easily disappear without any evidence of ever having existed(I'm sure many of my readers can relate...That stuff is heavenly!). Gestational diabetes meant that I couldn't go anywhere near the stuff for 9 whole months. It was hard work for sure and required insane amounts of discipline, especially when I was pregnant in the hot summer months...But that very difficult challenge made me step up to the plate and be strong for the sake of my kids and my fear of c-sections.
This morning, as I gulped down the sickly sweet glucose, turning up my nose and using every last bit of strength not to throw it up, I suddenly smiled as I looked at my two little darlings in their stroller. So what if I deprived myself of Ben & Jerry's for 9 months? So what if this tastes horrific? I have two healthy kids, thank G-d. I am blessed.
With Love,
Cigal
Today I had to go for a follow up sugar test in order to make sure that what I had was indeed gestational diabetes and not a more chronic case. The glucose I had to drink was vile, but after I drank it, I stopped to think for a minute about the blessing that was hidden in the glucose.
I am a self diagnosed Ben & Jerry's addict. It is a serious danger to leave me alone with a tub, as it can easily disappear without any evidence of ever having existed(I'm sure many of my readers can relate...That stuff is heavenly!). Gestational diabetes meant that I couldn't go anywhere near the stuff for 9 whole months. It was hard work for sure and required insane amounts of discipline, especially when I was pregnant in the hot summer months...But that very difficult challenge made me step up to the plate and be strong for the sake of my kids and my fear of c-sections.
This morning, as I gulped down the sickly sweet glucose, turning up my nose and using every last bit of strength not to throw it up, I suddenly smiled as I looked at my two little darlings in their stroller. So what if I deprived myself of Ben & Jerry's for 9 months? So what if this tastes horrific? I have two healthy kids, thank G-d. I am blessed.
With Love,
Cigal
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Seek and you shall find
Finally. After being in Israel for almost 7 years( since Aug 11th, 2004),my time has come. Almost everyone who makes Aliyah seems to have a blog about their experiences here. I just never got around to it. But here we are. The little darlings are asleep and I am alone with my thoughts, my cup of decaf and you, my dear readers.
Every person has many different chapters in their life. Some of those chapters are filled with joy, while others are filled with pain.Some chapters are uneventful, while others are filled with adventure. We search in some chapters, and we find in others. But every chapter is meant as a stepping stone, something to grow from. We are meant to learn something from every person that comes into our life and to become stronger, better people from the challenges that we encounter.
I am a believer. I believe that everyone who enters our lives is there for a reason. That everything we go through is for a reason and that timing is EVERYTHING.
After having lived in Israel for almost 7 years now, I understand why my soul was crying out that I wasn't living my intended life in Canada. I understand why I had to wait so many years to meet my husband( we got married almost 3 years ago) and why I had to go through so much pain, disappointment and frustration with dating and relationships...In His Infinite Wisdom, G-d knew that had we met sooner, we would have both walked away from each other. We both had to be ready for our mission.
Just when you think the pain will never end and that all your prayers are going unheard, G-d steps in and blesses you with so much more than you'd ever expected or hoped for.
Here I am, living the life I was intended to live all along, in MY land, with MY people. A life of passionate Judaism. A life based on striving for holiness, exactly how G-d intended, with the man who G-d wants me to do that with. And it all seems to have happened like the blink of an eye. Suddenly, I'm a wife and an Ima to two precious little babies...I am truly blessed.
In this blog, I will share ideas, thoughts, stories and anecdotes, all meant to warm your hearts and inspire you to look for the constant miracles and blessings in your daily lives. Seek and you shall find.
With Love,
Cigal
Every person has many different chapters in their life. Some of those chapters are filled with joy, while others are filled with pain.Some chapters are uneventful, while others are filled with adventure. We search in some chapters, and we find in others. But every chapter is meant as a stepping stone, something to grow from. We are meant to learn something from every person that comes into our life and to become stronger, better people from the challenges that we encounter.
I am a believer. I believe that everyone who enters our lives is there for a reason. That everything we go through is for a reason and that timing is EVERYTHING.
After having lived in Israel for almost 7 years now, I understand why my soul was crying out that I wasn't living my intended life in Canada. I understand why I had to wait so many years to meet my husband( we got married almost 3 years ago) and why I had to go through so much pain, disappointment and frustration with dating and relationships...In His Infinite Wisdom, G-d knew that had we met sooner, we would have both walked away from each other. We both had to be ready for our mission.
Just when you think the pain will never end and that all your prayers are going unheard, G-d steps in and blesses you with so much more than you'd ever expected or hoped for.
Here I am, living the life I was intended to live all along, in MY land, with MY people. A life of passionate Judaism. A life based on striving for holiness, exactly how G-d intended, with the man who G-d wants me to do that with. And it all seems to have happened like the blink of an eye. Suddenly, I'm a wife and an Ima to two precious little babies...I am truly blessed.
In this blog, I will share ideas, thoughts, stories and anecdotes, all meant to warm your hearts and inspire you to look for the constant miracles and blessings in your daily lives. Seek and you shall find.
With Love,
Cigal
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