Where was G-d? Everywhere!

In my World War II class today, we saw a documentary on the Holocaust. 'Nuff said. It was rather painful, but thought-provoking. Two of the people interviewed wondered where G-d was and why He didn't listen to the cries of the prisoners. I just want to venture a reply. I do not have the audacity to claim that I know what G-d thoughts are, but I DO know that they are always good and for the good of His Children. So where was He, you ask? With the Allied soldiers, helping them win the war so that they COULD save the survivors from the camps. If Hashem hadn't intervened, perhaps the Nazis C"V could have won, I don't know. But He did, the camps were liberated, and the main perpetrators of the evil were punished.

So why did it take so long? I don't know. Maybe it was supposed to be longer and the time was shortened because of our cries and His mercy. Maybe certain things had to happen in the order that they did for reasons that will later become clear. Like I said, I don't presume to know Hashem's reasons for what happens. But we say ברוך דין האמת when bad happens precisely because we know that what He does IS for the good.

Just a thought.

Defending Myself Against Lurkers...

So apparantly I've made it to h.com. Oh dear. So now I have to explain some things, because someone apparantly read only the name of my site and came to his own conclusions about me...and I quote:

BaronPhilip-"A blog by a "frum actress"? What does she write about? Kosher tarfus?"

Um...I sure hope that's not what my posts have been coming across as-if I have been, let me know, and I'll stop blogging immediatly.

I wonder if you'll actually take the time to see my site and give me the benefit of the doubt, but this is to answer your question, "Baron":

I love to act, and, I might add, I kinda have talent (If you must know, though I hate posting personal stuff, I worked at a FRUM girls' performing arts camp for two summers). Apparantly you can't understand this, which is fine...many of my best friends can't (tho some can ;) ). I also, B"H, am veery happy being frum. It's what literally, B"H, makes my life what it is, and I am (and will be!) eternally grateful for it. I also don't think that anybody has a talent that is to be wasted. (To quote Julia Blum..."If G-d gives you a gift, you are obligated to use it. Use it to bring goodness into this world, and honor to the One who gave it to you.") I happened to be given by Hashem a talent for acting. Ordinarilly, one might think that this is something that can't be used, and should instead be stifled (and after all, aren't Orthodox women stifled anyway? NO!!) I made "frumactress" my blog name because I feel that it's NOT an oximoron, but rather something I must try to utilize to be מקדש His Name. Regardless of how I end up using my particular talent, I am on a search to find a way to use it לשם שמים, or, as a certain R' H would say, to "make Poppa happy."

Hashem loves us!!

My friend the Morah was telling me something she taught in her tefila (prayer) class the other day, and I think it applies to my soapbox on people's perspectives..enjoy!

"In 1927, at the University of Berlin, a Jewish woman named Bluma Zeigarnik, who was researching brain psychology mechanisms came upon an important finding that says a lot about how human beings respond to prayer and spirituality. She showed a large number of human subjects a circle that was 7/8 complete and found that the vast majority focused their eyes and their attention on the 1/8 of the circle that wasn't complete.
This phenomenon, which was later named "the Zeigarnik effect," explains why our anxious, problem-seeking brains can't seem to notice what's going right in our lives but seem to be pulled toward the next unsolved problem. Is it any wonder your spouse, your boss, your parents, or your own self-critical brain tends to focus only on what's incomplete and takes for granted or ignores what is healthy or going well?
Jewish spirituality recommends saying a prayer or reciting a blessing whenever you notice, even for a moment, that something is going right. It's as though the ancient rabbis knew that our brains were good at problems but lousy at appreciating life or moments of peace. It is a radical liberation step to rise above anxiety for at least a few moments each day to appreciate that some things are going well, even in tough times."

It's by Leonard Felder (no idea who he is, but I'm sourcing it!)

Just something to keep in mind every day. Hope yours is wonderful!! :)

יהודים ששונאים את עצמם

Why? Why can't we look for the good in those people that it's apparantly so easy to find bad in? It'll make your life (and perspective) so much more positive, and then y'all won't blast our faults all over the Internet for all to see. Find the good, and make it a קדוש ה and not, C"V, the opposite. PLEASE!! If you can change the world, please, go ahead!! But if it's just לשון הרע, why is it necessary?
No, this is not addressed to anyone or anything specific...just a culmination of events.

My history..

So...for those wondering, this is what I want to do when I grow up. Check out the fragments from the Cairo Geniza!! You're not excited??? Oh. I am!!

Lashon Hora

Literally, it means, The Bad Language. I've learned from being in an environment where people are soooo not careful how they speak that speech is such a powerful and important thing. Today, I saw it make someone cry, make someone laugh, make someone hate someone else, and make someone look down on another person. We have laws about how to guard our tongues, but I think it's something that should hold true to all people. It is so not necessary to say something nasty-to someone, or worse, about someone behind their back(therefore not them the chance to defend themselves).

Lashon Hora doesn't only include how we speak about others-it's how we talk in general. We learn that a person has only a certain amount of words to say in his lifetime-how can we waste them with curses and dirty phrases? How can we take the one thing that physically separates us from animals and act lower than the lowest creature?

I heard Eli Weisel speak last night. The man has taken the English language and mastered it, to the point that every word that he says is quotable, is remarkable in its brilliance. We can't necessarily do that, but we CAN make our words pleasing to others.

Al tadun es chavercha ad shemagia limkomo

Chazal say that "you shouldn't judge someone until you have reached their situation". Having reached a situation that I have judged other people in before getting there, I want to apologize for making judgemental statements without having a clue as to what you were going through. I'm trying to work on it. Have a wonderful uplifting, amazing, and absolutely inspiring Shabbos.