Shoshana (Suzi) profile picture

Shoshana (Suzi)

♥ I'm Not Looking For A Prince--I LIKE Kissing Frogs♥

About Me


"Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are, for what you could become"
"Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.”
Karen Ravn
I was shocked when my poem won editor's choice

Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agreed, as you can all read the Book? Red Jacket (Sogoyewapha) - Seneca


|p|o|e|t|r|y| my anti-drug.

ABOUT ME


Without humor and enthusiasm there is nothing. The first place to start is by laughing at myself. Right now am learning about me, discovering parts I left behind, parts I thought I lost, and losing parts that should have been tossed away long ago. I do know is that each day is different. Some easier than others. I am strong and confidant, ready to conquer the world--I am scared and vulnerable. I find myself looking at things with wide eyes wonder. Like a prisoner who finally has her freedom after so many years behind bars. Essentially I suppose I have. Not only has my ability to accept joy, to allow myself to ENJOY come back, but I have also gone back a few chapters and started to finish things I left hanging. Things in my life that fell by the wayside. The 'I used to's" have now become I am starting again. I used to write. I used to take photographs... I don't pretend to be anything, anyone but me. My perspective on things is uniquely my own. I don't follow a 12 step plan. I am more spiritual than I am religious. I don't nor would I want to be perfect--flaws give character. It's not until we learn to accept and celebrate our uniqueness what makes us stand out rather than fit in- that's the point where we can start to truly embrace ourselves. It's taken me a very long time to figure that out.


I meant to do my work today... but a brown bird sang in the apple tree, and a butterfly flitted across the field, and all the leaves were calling me. And the wind went sighing over the land, tossing the grasses to and fro, and a rainbow held out its shining hand... so what could I do but laugh and go? ~Richard LeGallienne

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Winston Churchill
“Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression. Do not repeat them in the future.”
Swami Sivananda
Normal Miracles-Wisdom from the Rebbe
These things people call amazing coincidences, synchronicity, small miracles -- this is the way the world is supposed to work. It is only that the world is in slumber, like a sleeping person who does not see, does not hear, does not speak -- so that nothing distinguishes his head from his feet, his heart from his brain. So too, the world lies deep in a dream where anything is possible, but nothing seems to have a goal. Where only chaos reigns. It takes only one person to open his eyes, his ears, his mind and his heart and the objects of this world fall into place and work together as a single whole. Synchronized. As they were meant to be

♥ F riendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing. ~Elie Wiesel


♥ E verything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
~Viktor Frankl


♥ F ew of us, indeed, realize the wonderful privilege of living; the blessings we inherit, the glories and the beauties of the universe, which is our own if we choose to have it so; the extent to which we can make ourselves what we wish to be; or the power we possess of securing peace, of triumphing over pain and sorrow.
~John Lubbock


♥ I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
~Elie Wiesel


♥ T he hardest thing to believe when you're young
is that people will fight to stay in a rut,
but not to get out of one.
~Ellen Glasgow


♥ J ust as despair can come to one only from other human beings,
hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.
~Elie Wiesel


♥ I ndifference, to me, is the epitome of evil.
~Elie Wiesel


♥ I accept life unconditionally. Life holds so much--
so much to be happy about always.
Most people ask for happiness on condition.
Happiness can be felt only if you don't set conditions.
~Artur Rubinstein


♥ M an, as long as he lives, is immortal.
One minute before his death he shall be immortal.
But one minute later, God wins.
~Elie Wiesel


♥ " F or evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing."
~Simon Wiesenthal

♥ M ankind must remember that peace is not God's gift to his creatures; peace is our gift to each other.
~Elie Wiesel


♥ D espair is a narcotic. It lulls the mind into indifference.
~Charlie Chaplin


♥ M ost people think that shadows follow, precede or surround beings or objects. The truth is that they also surround words, ideas, desires, deeds, impulses and memories.
~Elie Wiesel


♥ W e have to go into the despair and go beyond it, by working and doing for somebody else, by using it for something else.
~Elie Wiesel


♥ " T he friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares"
~Henri Nouwen


♥ T here may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.
~Elie Wiesel


♥ W e have to go into the despair and go beyond it, by working and doing for somebody else, by using it for something else.
~Elie Wiesel


R est on your laurels.

They bring comfort whatever their size, age or condition.

Talk slower. Talk less. Don't talk.

Communication isn't measured by words.

Take time to think. Action is good and necessary,
but it's fruitful only if we muse, ponder and mull.

Listen to the song of a bird . . . the complete song.


Music and nature are gifts, but only if you are willing to receive them.

Give yourself permission to be late sometimes.

Life is for living, not scheduling.

Listen to the words you speak, especially in prayer.

Watch and listen to the night sky. It speaks.

Make time for play . . . the things you like to do.

Whatever your age, your inner child needs re-creation.

Slow down; God is still in heaven. You are not
responsible for doing it all yourself right now.

When you find yourself rushing and anxious, stop!

Ask yourself why you are rushing and anxious.
The reasons may improve your self-understanding.

Divide big jobs into little jobs. If God took six days
to create the universe, can you do any better?
Author Unknown


Comment here if you'd rather
Holocaust Links:
Most Of The Images Are Clickable And Will Take You To The Web Sites.

"We must teach others what can happen when we care only about ourselves. It says in the Hebrew Bible, V'ahavta l'reecha kamokha—Love thy neighbor as thyself. I searched to see if it said Love thy Jewish neighbor or Love they Black neighbor or Love thy Christian neighbor or Love thy Muslim neighbor. It does not say that. It says quite simply, Love thy neighbor. You are my neighbor. And I am yours." (from Shoah, Chapter Seventeen, "Will You Make the Music?")

Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List concludes with the Talmudic phrase "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire." While the film tells the story of one courageous man’s efforts to do the right thing in the face immense evil and great personal risk, he was not alone. Overlooking Jerusalem is a museum and a memorial to those killed in the Holocaust – Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem memorializes the names of each of those six million souls murdered in the Holocaust, not as anonymous numbers, but as real people who lived and laughed and loved.

And at Yad Vashem there is a garden lined with trees and another list of names. This is the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations, honoring the names of 20,000 non-Jews who acted according to the most noble principles of humanity and risked their lives to help Jews during the Holocaust.

The concept of doing the right thing, of being “my brother’s keeper” is not unique to the Hebrew bible, nor even to the Abrahamic faiths. The Holy Quran asserts “saving one life is like saving the entire mankind” The Holy Bhagvad Gita talks about Vasudeva Kutumbam meaning the whole world is one family…. Other religions have expressed the same concepts in similar words. They recognize that, whether you believe in evolution or you believe in creationism, we are all one family. Well, if we are one family, then why do we kill each other?

There are several justifications and reasons that evil people have used through out the history of mankind for their evil acts. You can always find one egomaniac and an insecure individual behind these evil acts.

One of the saddest part of this evil is that often good people could stop this evil if they recognize it early enough, if they don’t hide from it, if they don’t close their eyes to it, When good people chose to remain silent in the face of evil it becomes an endorsement for evil.

There were over 12 Million people murdered in the Second World War. They were a variety of ethnicities, nationalities and cultures. It was a crime against humanity done precisely and intentionally., We must condemn each of these atrocities. Out of the 12 Million, 6 Million were killed for no reason other than their religion. And that is important for the world to remember. It is the greatest man made tragedy in history. This must never happen again. As human beings we have failed on this time and again. We have stood by silently when people were murdered simply for their religion or their opinions or their color...

So today we remember the tragedies that happened at places like Auschwitz, Belzec, Chelmno, Treblinka, Dachau, Sobibor, Treblinka, Babi Yar and thousands of other places, and the unfathomable hatred behind those tragedies. And the tragedies that have happened since in places like Cambodia, and Rwanda, and that are happening today in Darfur.

Nobel Laureate Elie Weisel said: “My good friends – we never try to tell the tale to make people weep. It is too easy. We did not want pity. If we decided to tell the tale - it is because we wanted the world to be a better world .”

Taken from speech given by Prof. Elie Wiesel at the inauguration of the Holocaust History Museum at Yad Vashem 15/3/2005.


"Whoever has succumbed to torture can no longer feel at home in the world. The shame of destruction cannot be erased"... Jean Amery
"Facing people I meet, I wonder, Would he have helped me walk, that one? Would he have given me a little bit of his water? I examine all the people I see.... Those about whom I know from the very first glance that they would have helped me walk are so few"... Charlotte Delbo
"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way"... Viktor Frankl
"Moni wrapped his hands around his midriff. He could feel the fingertips of both hands meet. 'I'm strong, Papa,' he wept. 'I'll hold out, Papa. I will"... Atrocity by Ka-Tzetnik 135633
"What have I in common with Jews? I have hardly anything in common with myself and should stand very quietly in a corner, content that I can breath"... Franz Kafka
"The true way leads along a tight-rope, which is not stretched aloft but just above the ground. It seems designed more to trip than to be walked along"... Franz Kafka
"If you want to live, you are condemned to hope"... Filip Muller
"Being in a postion to know and nevertheless shunning knowledge creates direct responsibility for the consequences"... Albert Speer
"There were times when we wondered whether we would ever be happy again, or whether Auschwitz, scene of so much death, was immortal and would live in our minds until we, too, died - and then live on to haunt those who understood"... Rudolf Vrba
Bodies Of The Jewish resisters lie in front of the ruins of a building where they were shot by the SS during the suppression of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. The original German caption reads: "Bandits killed in battle."
WARSAW GHETTO A FILM
The Pianist-2002 Movie
The Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names
Yad Vashem

The stars, triangles, and markings in this poster are symbols used by the Nazis to isolate and identify their victims. Almost everywhere under Nazi rule Jews were forced to purchase and wear a six-pointed star of David whenever they appeared in public. The yellow or blue star was worn on an armband or pinned on a shirt or coat. Concentration camp prisoners wore triangular badges that identified them by their arrest category. Many badges also identified the bearer's race or nationality. Yellow triangles were for Jews, red triangles for political prisoners, purple for Jehovah's Witnesses, pink for homosexuals, green for criminals, black for Gypsies and "asocials," and blue for emigrants. Letters printed on badges usually indicated nationality.


Israel's President Moshe Katsav:The Wounds of the Jewish People will NEVER heal"
Connecticut Today
Auschwitz Ovens
"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon:"We will NEVER AGAIN be caught unprepared. NEVER AGAIN!!!"
Public Hanging Of Jews
One out of Three Americans DO NOT KNOW that six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust
70% of the people of Poland DO NOT KNOW that six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust
Only 11% of Americans believe that anti-Semitism is a serious problem
Only 9% of British believe that anti-Semitism is a serious problem
REMEMBER, NEVER Forget...NEVER AGAIN!!!
Kristallnacht-Night Of Broken Glass
Synagogue Burning on Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht From the Weisenthal Center
Kristallnacht History Place
Holocaust Timeline
"The first to perish were the children...
From these a new dawn might have risen."
— Yitzhak Katzenelson, Yiddish poet
The late Simon Wiesenthal is quoted to have said this
in response to a question:
"You're a religious man. You believe in God and life after death.
I also believe.
When we come to the other world
and meet the millions of Jews who died in the camps
and they ask us, 'What have you done?'
there will be many answers.
You will say, 'I became a jeweler.'
Another will say, 'I smuggled coffee and American cigarettes.'
Still another will say, 'I built houses,'
but I will say, 'I didn't forget you.'"
"I've gone everywhere, trying to stop many atrocities:
Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia. The least I can do
is show the victims that they are not alone.
When I went to Cambodia, journalists asked me,
What are you doing here? This is not a Jewish tragedy.
I answered, When I needed people to come, they didn't.
That's why I am here."...Elie Wiesel
Victims
The Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names
Adding Names to The Central Database of Shoah Victims
We remember!
Jewish Communities from Poland
Missing Identity Holocaust Survivor Children
Crossing Over: Oral History of Refugees from Hitler's Reich
Jewish Records Indexing Poland
Center of organizations of holocaust survivors in Israel
Voice Vision: Holocaust Survivor Oral Histories
Rescue of the Danish Jews
Resources for Children of Holocaust Survivors
Bialystok Poland Jewish Children's Memorial
The Association of Jewish Refugees
Remembering the Jews of Lubaczow
Links to museums and memorials:
Yad Vashem Web Site
The Museum of Jewish Heritage
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Simon Wiesenthal Multimedia Learning Center Online
MORESHET Mordechai Anilevich Memorial Research and Study Center of Holocaust
Shtetl: Memorial
Holocaust Memorial at MELRC
J?disches Museum und Museum Judengasse Frankfurt am Main
New England Holocaust Memorial Boston Massachusetts
The Mechelen Museum of Deportation and the Resistance
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Jewish Museum Vienna
Jewish Museum Berlin
Jewish Museum in Prague
Jewish Museum in New-York
International Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Memorial Sites
Descendants of the SHOAH Melbourne Australia
Cape Town Holocaust Centre
Holocaust Outreach Center
Beit Therezin
C.A.N.D.L.E.S.
Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation
Holocaust Education Center
Holocaust Memorial Center
Holocaust Museum Houston
The Holocaust: A Tragic Legacy
/ The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The Virginia Holocaust Museum
Yad Vashem
Museum of Jewish Heritage
National Museum American Jewish History
Rhodes Jewish Museum
Fortunoff Video Archives
Holocaust Literature Research Institute
Survivors of The Shoah Visual History Foundation
A Cybrary of The Holocaust
Anne Frank Online
Holocaust Survivors
Descendants of The Shoah
Dachau Liberation
Memorial at MELRC
- A virtual memorial to the holocaust, with links to other holocaust sites.
Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust
Kindertransport Association
March of The Living - Official Site
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Hirsh, Gabo
- A survivor, asks for your help in finding other survivors
Survivors of the Shoah - Visual History Foundation
A Holocaust Prayer - by Alexander Kimel
The Nizkor Project
United States Holocaust Museum
Remember
Children Of The Holocaust

The Anti-Defamation League

Educational materials and links dealing with the Holocaust, extremism, anti-semitism, hate, civil rights and education. The ADL's purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens


The American Jewish Historical Society
Resources and materials including articles, links and exhibitions relating to American Jewish history. Look at the chapters feature in this site.
Ben Austin's Holcaust/Shoah Page

Essays, documents and some primary sources on some less frequently seen Holocaust topics such as Kristallnacht, euthanasia,and specific groups such as children,homosexuals and Romani Gypsies, the Nuremberg Trials and Holocaust deniers. Maintained by professor at Middle Tennessee State University.



Beth Hatefutsoth

The Nahum Goldman Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, Tel Aviv-Virtual exhibitions, articles, links and pictures convey the story of the Jewish people from the time of their expulsion from the Land of Israel 2,500 years ago to the present. Includes Jewish life in Europe and the Holocaust.


Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education
Activities and resources for educators, students, Holocaust survivors and liberators. A program of Cincinnati's Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion.
The German Propaganda Archive
The Holocaust On Trial
Channel 4 UK site deals with Holocaust denial and the trials of prominent deniers. Provides histories and resources. Highlights the the Irving vs. Lipstadt trial in 2000.
The Holocaust Teacher Resource Center
Resources and lesson plans for educators (kindergarten through college). Features the full text of pamphlets originally published by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on victims of National Socialism.
Women in the Holocaust

Dedicated to the experiences of women during the Holocaust. Includes academic and general articles, essays, survivor testimonies, poetry, book reviews, film reviews, bibliography and web links. Covers partisans and resistance fighters, forest-dwellers, survivors' stories, and women involved in the Nazi regime.



Spielberg Jewish Film Archive
Fabulous site with Over 100 Jewish and Holocaust historical films to be viewed over the Internet. Provided by Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
The Wiener Library
The world's oldest Holocaust memorial institution, tracing its history back to 1933. Use the photo archive in this site.
Holocaust Survivors

My Interests


Recovery And Hope...They Truly Do Go Hand In Hand...I Hope That This Page Reflects That

Many people believe the past should be buried. I believe what George Bernard Shaw said: "We learn from history that we learn nothing from history."

|p|h|o|t|o|g|r|a|p|h|y| my anti-drug.

Recovery:



Feeling Rather Like This Butterfly

Nice Jewish girl in recovery?

Somehow those words seem to not go hand in hand. Or at least lately I don't seem to think so. I have been clean and sober since December 22 2006. Addiction isn't something that seems to be spoken about openly in many communities, the Jewish Community being no exception. There is a certain 'shame'; a stigma attached. It's something that happens to "Other People"... Addiction Happens. In ALL communities, all walks of life. Truly, it is without prejudice and has no regard at all for political party, gender or age. And it's amazing how many lives it touches and changes.

For myself, it's a struggle still with where exactly I 'fit'. I have found that well intentioned people seem to like to push their idea of what works, what is best for me. That is not limited to recovery...It is life in general. Everyone has a fabulous idea of what YOU need. And when you're scared, alone, frightened- ideas and opinions that others have seem far more valid than your own. After all, your decisions, your choices got you where you are.

I believe that recovery is an individual choice. None of us follow the same path in life. We didn't take the same path in our addictions, and what works for one, may not work for another in terms of healing. Finding out what works is process. I'm learning as I go. I don't think all the answers sit in a particular book or creed. I truly believe it's being open to ideas, learning as much as you can, and looking forward. Most important, it's being honest and learning to trust yourself. I do honesty and with my whole heart believe support is important. But I don't at all believe that support can ONLY come from others in recovery. And for some, like myself, it is very difficult to reach out and ask for help of any kind. It's wonderful to talk to people who have 'been there, done that', but it's just as wonderful to get a fresh perspective. Love and support can come from the strangest places. Here for example. I have found within 'this space' some of the most supportive, generous, creative and loving people I have ever known in my life. Had it not been for this 'space', I could have never encountered such phenomenal people. Our paths simply would not have crossed. Our lives would not have touched. My life would not be enriched...and my journey would have been more difficult, and certainly more lonely.

Knowing that there are other choices is important; Actually more than important--it is essential-- These links, Women For Sobriety, SOS, Smart Recovery, holistic therapies, are some of the other options that I have found. I have posted a huge list of support groups, treatment finders, rehab and other facilities, in my earlier blogs. I have also included as many links as I could locate for support for family members, since addiction affects the whole family. The bottom line is, whatever works for you, works...It's a matter of whatever you feel comfortable and safe with. Knowing you're not alone makes all the difference in the world.



"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure. The process is its own reward. ~Amelia Earhart

The Roads To Recovery Are Many
www.unhooked.com

YEHUDAH FINE, the Times Square Rabbi
Sacred Repair

A Kabbalistic teaching describes this world as "The World of Repair." Repairing our lives through forgiveness is a sacred task. It is a medicine that heals our inner wounds. Untying the knots of shame and blame frees us to live fully in the present. It is a wonderful irony that the more we stumble, the more we yearn to fix our souls. Central to this process is forgiveness.

In Kabbalah, each person is considered a small world. Every improvement to that world then has cosmic significance. Taken to its natural extension, forgiveness helps to bring about what is called in Hebrew, "Tikkun Olam" -- the fixing of the world.

"Every human being possesses the spark of giving. It is essential that this should be so, for the world depends on it for its very existence. By giving of yourself to another, you will find in your soul that you and your friend are indeed one."(Michtav MiEliahu, p.130)

The necessity for each of us to extend ourselves to fix our lives brings us necessarily into profound relationship with others. Our uniqueness is precious. The sages in the Talmud profoundly understood the importance of each of our lives. Therefore they taught, "One who saves a single life is counted as if they saved the entire world." (Sanhedren 37a)~Yehudah Fine



Short Video, Gambling

Rabbi Abraham Twerski is a noted author of numerous books. Dr. Twerski is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and founder and Medical Director of Gateway Rehab Center, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Here are some wonderful audio files of Dr Twerski's.

Raising Children: The Privileges & Responsibilities

Healthy Family Relationships mp3 download

    Has some Hebrew words but worth it - What to do about Divorce and Abuse.
    82 Second story about fish and love

Living a Whole life in a Fragmented World

Self Esteem

Wonderful Daily Messages
From Various Sources


GuruStu Daily Thought Follow Your Dreams Daily Kiss
Road Less Traveled Ask Moses Breslov World Daily Torah
Daily Zen Elder's Meditation Daily Affirmation
Daily Motivator Serenity Found Dr Twerski's Thought

Some Alternative Ideas...
There are so many fabulous pages on the web and right here on Myspace that take the more conventional approach. I've never been much for convention. It's that damn different drummer I still hear. Some days it's Buddy Rich-others it's Neal Peart...

"We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
-- T.S. Eliot

Charlotte Kasl"Joy leads us to the heart of our spiritual journey because it ignites the fire of transformation that enables us to change our thoughts, perceptions, and feelings." Charlotte Kasl, Ph.D., a practicing therapist and nationally recognized workshop leader for more than 20 years, has had lifelong connections to feminism, Buddhism, Quaker practice, and Reiki healing.The 16-step empowerment model is a holistic approach to overcoming addiction that views people in their wholeness-- mind, body and spirit. A fundamental basis of this model is flexibility and an openness which leads to continually ask: What works? Who does it work for? and How can we help it work better? It encourages people to be continually open to new information and not to become trapped in dogmatic teachings. At its core, this model is based on love not fear; internal control not external authoritarianism; affirmation not deflation; and trust in the ability of people to find their own healing path when given education, support, hope and choices.

In the traditional 12-step approach to addiction (known as Alcoholics Anonymous), basic assumptions about addiction and addicted people are based on observations, made over 50 years ago, of 100 white, primarily upper middle class, professional men who were alcoholic These theories were then adopted, without examination, for a multitude of other addictions and problems, and presented routinely to people of different races and social strata as the one and only way to overcome addiction. The 16-step model helps people to develop ego strength which is seen as having a healthy ability to be introspective and to ask oneself the questions: Who am I? What do I value, believe and want?


16 Steps Of Empowerment
Charlotte Kasl
1) We affirm we have the power to take charge of our lives and stop being dependent on substances or other people for our self-esteem and security. Alternative: We admit/ acknowledge we are out of control with/powerless over ________ yet have the power to take charge of our lives and stop being dependent on substances or other people for our self-esteem and security.
2)We come to believe that God/Goddess/Universe/Great Spirit/Higher Power awakens the healing wisdom within us when we open ourselves to the power.
3)We make a decision to become our authentic selves and trust in the healing power of the truth.
4)We examine our beliefs, addictions and dependent behavior in the context of living in a hierarchical, patriarchal culture.
5)We share with another person and the Universe all those things inside of us for which we feel shame and guilt.
6) We affirm and enjoy our intelligence, strengths and creativity, remembering not to hide these qualities from ourselves and others.
7) We become willing to let go of shame, guilt, and any behavior that keeps us from loving ourselves and others.
8)We make a list of people we have harmed and people who have harmed us, and take steps to clear out negative energy by making amends and sharing our grievances in a respectful way.
9) We express love and gratitude to others and increasingly appreciate the wonder of life and the blessings we do have.
10) We learn to trust our reality and daily affirm that we see what we see, we know what we know and we feel what we feel.
11) We promptly admit to mistakes and make amends when appropriate, but we do not say we are sorry for things we have not done and we do not cover up, analyze, or take responsibility for the shortcomings of others.
12) We seek out situations, jobs, and people who affirm our intelligence, perceptions and self-worth and avoid situations or people who are hurtful, harmful, or demeaning to us.
13) We take steps to heal our physical bodies, organize our lives, reduce stress, and have fun.
14) We seek to find our inward calling, and develop the will and wisdom to follow it.
15) We accept the ups and downs of life as natural events that can be used as lessons for our growth.
16) We grow in awareness that we are sacred beings, interrelated with all living things, and we contribute to restoring peace and balance on the planet.

The 16-step model encourages people to use this or any other model as a springboard to find their own voice. And while it is crucial to acknowledge the power of addiction, this model helps people affirm the power they do have to take charge of their lives and overcome addiction. Developing one's passion, finding purpose, bonding with others and becoming involved in social change are seen as antidotes to addiction. This approach does not posture itself as the one way or the right way, nor does it make assumptions about the length of time it takes or the path that must be followed.


Choices and Options


Silent Treatment

S.O.S.
Secular Organizations for Sobriety

Women For Sobriety

Rational Recovery

12 Steps Based on Eastern Wisdom

Smart Recovery

ADDICTION DIRECTORIES & PORTALS


AddictionSearch.com

WAYS TO GIVE BACK

211.org - Volunteer Opportunities

WorldVision.org

Random Acts of Kindness

TZEDAKA

I HELP ISRAEL

VOLUNTEER MATCH

Be A Mentor

Big Brothers Big Sisters

Elders Without Walls
Adopt A Granparent

United Way

Self Help

Robert Burney - Joy to Me & U
Robert is a codependency counselor, grief therapist, inner child healing pioneer, Spiritual teacher, and author of the Joyously inspirational Spiritual book: Co dependence: The Dance of Wounded Souls

Richard Singer, Jr.
Richard is a psychotherapist, speaker and author of two books which are part of his life's work to help all of humanity to be released from suffering and move into complete fulfillment. He came through the path of addiction recovery. Richard also created the

12 Steps Based on Eastern Wisdom

www.comfortqueen.com
Jennifer Louden has created an interactive website full of fun web tools to help you in your journey from online private journaling, to over 500 articles that you can search on by mood, creative and motivational tips of the day and more. It is geared toward women, but anyone can use this site.

Living In Process
Anne Wilson Schaef, Ph.D. has done groundbreaking research on love, romance, relationship and sexual addiction. She has created a program called Living in Process, which employs holistic healing techniques for the recovery of addiction.

Marianne Williamson
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us..." - Excerpt from "A Return to Love"

Melody Beattie
Author of such recovery staples as "Codependent No More" and "Language of Letting Go" Melody Beattie understands being overboard, which helps her throw bestselling lifelines to those still adrift.

Kabbalah Centre
Kabbalah is not a philosophy or theosophy. Kabbalah teaches that every human being shares the same ultimate purpose in life, which is to receive the complete joy and fulfillment that God desires for us. But while this is easy to say, true spiritual work is needed to remove the negative tendencies that separate us from life’s gifts. And as we undertake this work, our souls need technical support, as would a computer or any other highly sensitive mechanism.

Wellbriety Movement
White Bison has created extensive programs and initiatives to bring sobriety and wellness to native peoples and integrates Medicine Wheel with 12 Steps, as well.

Finally Free
Blog

FRUMSTEPPER
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Flash Inspiration Jigsaw
Fit the puzzle pieces together and receive an inspirational message -

Ordinary Words
Love is... Something that should be felt everyday. What is love? Love is simple. Love doesn't need to be extraordinary, it has to be ordinary. It's not the famous people in this world that make our world. It's our family and friends. This inspirational flash presentation answers the question, "What Is Love?" with three minutes of beautiful images, soothing sounds, and heart-warming phrases.

Potential Flash Movie
Potential - we are all born with it. We never know when we look at a baby how their potential will manifest. Potential is like a seed. In order to help others reach their potential, we must become the gardener ...

Holistic Alternatives

Ecletic Recovery Blog

The Dash Movie

Drug Free Memorials
Read and/or create a memorial website for anyone in your life who has died as a result of addiction. This is a very powerful website to experience, especially if you are in the breaking denial stage.

Wisdom Flash- ConsciousOne
All kinds of motivational, inspirational and mood lifting online flash videos.

world prayers
An interactive website filled with invocations, celebrations, adorations and meditations. Spin the prayer wheel.

Dr Jeffrey Rubin
"Since every person is unique, any one-size-fits-all approach to therapy will ultimately fail. For me good therapy must be individualized. It is like jazz. It requires a sound basis in the fundamentals, and years of experience - at which point the therapist has the freedom and flexibility to improvise and use a variety of approaches and tools, geared to what the patient needs, rather than what the therapist believes." ~Dr. Jeffrey Rubin

Rachel Remen
Rachel Naomi Remen is one of the earliest pioneers in the mind/body holistic health movement and the first to recognize the role of the spirit in health and the recovery from illness. She is Co-Founder and Medical Director of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program featured in the Bill Moyers PBS series, Healing and the Mind and has cared for people with cancer and their families for almost 30 years.

Aspire Magazine
Aspire provides printed and on-line publications designed to inspire women to follow their heart, listen to their soul, honor their bodies .

Spirit Haven
Spirit Haven offers spiritual,inspirational, and recovery books, tapes, and greeting cards. And you can find out about retreats, workshops, meditation classes and even learn how to create successful affirmations.

WFS "NEW LIFE" ACCEPTANCE STATEMENTS

1. I have a life-threatening problem that once had me.
I now take charge of my life and my disease. I accept the responsibility.
2. Negative thoughts destroy only myself.
My first conscious sober act must be to remove negativity from my life.
3. Happiness is a habit I will develop .
Happiness is created, not waited for.
4. Problems bother me only to the degree I permit them to.
I now better understand my problems and do not permit problems to overwhelm me.
5. I am what I think .
I am a capable, competent, caring, compassionate woman.
6. Life can be ordinary or it can be great.
Greatness is mine by a conscious effort.
7. Love can change the course of my world.
Caring becomes all important.
8. The fundamental object of life is emotional and spiritual growth.
Daily I put my life into a proper order, knowing which are the priorities.
9. The past is gone forever .
No longer will I be victimized by the past, I am a new person.
10. All love given returns.
I will learn to know that others love me.
11. Enthusiasm is my daily exercise.
I treasure all moments of my new life.
12. I am a competent woman and have much to give life.
This is what I am and I shall know it always.
13. I am responsible for myself and for my actions.
I am in charge of my mind, my thoughts, and my life.

Women For Sobriety
WFS MSN Group

Women For Sobriety Home Page

If There Was No Change...There Would Be No Butterflies

I'd like to meet:

Righteous Among Nations People Who Risked Their Lives So Others Could Live
To save one life is as if you have saved the world"
The Talmud

Righteous Among Nations

Anne Frank
Anne Frank Homepage
Anne Frank
Anne Frank House
Schindler Survivors
The story of Oscar Schindler
Oscar Schindler, why did he do it ?
Irena Sendler, Saviour of Jews
Emilie Schindler
Nicholas Winton, the Schindler of Britain
Kurt Gerstein, conscience-stricken SS officer
A boy survived, Joseph Schleifstein
Maria Countess von Maltzan
Jane Haining
Miep Gies and The Diary of Anne Frank
The Chiger Family
Dr. Miklos Nyiszli, an eyewitness from Auschwitz
Albert Goering, the good brother
The Ghetto Fighters' House

Kolbe, The Saint from Auschwitz
An Angel of Mercy - Raoul Wallenberg
Ada Holtzman Home Page
Children from Izieu - Klaus Barbie, the butcher from Lyon
Wilhelm Canaris
Baral family
Rabbi Weissmandl
Gerstein - SS Officer With Consience
Irena Sendler story
Wladyslaw Szlengel, the ghetto poet
The twins Eva and Miriam Mozes survived Auschwitz
Masha and Zoya
Alois Brunner
Heroes and Heroines Righteous Among Nations
Holocaust Heroes
The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes
Jewish Foundation for the Righteous: Stories of Moral Courage
Memories of the White Rose
Rescuers
Righteous Gentiles
Whoever Saves a Single Life
Jan Karski: Hero of the Holocaust
To Save A Life - Stories of Jewish Rescue
Rescuers Honored by Yad Vashem Jerusalem
Oskar Schindler
Raoul Wallenberg

PAVEL FRIEDMANN

THE BUTTERFLY
The last, the very last,
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow
Perhaps if the sun's tears would sing
against a white stone ...

Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly 'way up high.
It went away I'm sure because it wished to
kiss the world goodbye.

For seven weeks I've lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto
But I have found my people here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut candles in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.

That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don't live in here,
In the ghetto.

4. 6. 1942



Pavel Friedmann, a young Jewish man from the Theresienstadt Ghetto wrote this poem during his time there. He was later deported to Auschwitz and died on 29th September 1944.

“Today, I am the victim. Tomorrow, it may be you.”
~John F. Kennedy
The Butterfly Project

1,500,000 innocent children perished in the holocaustIn an effort to remember them the Holocaust Museum Houston is collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies. The butterflies will eventually comprise a breath-taking exhibition for all to remember.
The Butterly Project
Please visit the site, so you can learn more about this wonderful project.

THE ARTS
Mina Cohen - artist
Beth Hatefutsoth
Olocausto e Letteratura
Last Expression
Ressources documentaires sur le genocide
Reflections in Rhyme
Sho ? - Olocausto
Alfred Tibor sculpture
Witness & Legacy - Contemporary Art about the Holocaust
Aktion Kinder des Holocaust

March of the Living - Canada
Zydzi w Czestochowie
If Not Now ....
Songs of The Holocaust
Holocaust Education Through Art
Humor as a defense mechanism in the Holocaust
The Beth Shalom Web Centre
Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz Homepage
Learning about the Holocaust through Art
Papers by Sandra S. Williams

Per Anger
Business and the Holocaust
The Art and Politics of Arthur Szyk
Teaching Holocaust, Special conference for educators,August 8-11, 2004
Rajzel Zychlinsky, Yiddish Poet from Gombin, Poland
My Journey by Mike Kaufmann
Talking With Angels
La memoria della shoah
Cross Cultural Service Project - Belarus 2003
CICAD - Coordination Intercommunautaire Contre L'Antis? mitisme et la Diffamation
A letter to God from La Maison d'Izieu
Summary Of Report On Looted Gold And German Assets
Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation
Vatican Bank Claims
Art and Poetry From the Holocaust

Art and Auschwitz

Holocaust Poetry

Multimedia Learning Center
This is part of The Wiesenthal Center, it's just a wonderful tool to learn about individual places, people etc.

Yehuda Bacon (b. 1929), In Memory of the Czech Transport to the Gas Chambers, 1945, Charcoal on paper. A short time following his liberation from Auschwitz, the sixteen-year-old Bacon drew this portrait of his father who perished in the death camp. Like a necromancer, Bacon conjures up the thin, exhausted face and blazing eyes of his father, the disembodied face ascending from the smoke. The image of the father whose life was ended in the furnaces of Auschwitz is reconstructed by the son who still remembers the father he was recently separated from. In the lower section of the drawing, where we would expect to see his father's body, we detect the crematoria and a body hanging off the barbed wire fence which surrounded the camp. In the right-hand corner, the artist has added the date and time: 10.VII.44, 22:00 - marking the exact moment when his father perished.

1942. Esther Lurie used ink on cardboard to draw this scene. She described here new deportees arriving in the ghetto, carrying bundles of their meager possessions and scrutinized by armed guards.

Nevek-Klarsfeld This unique website that permits you access to details concerning over 350,000 Jews of Greater Hungary and their fate during and following the Holocaust.

The Camps

Auschwitz
Auschwitz: Place of Horrors
Panstwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau (in Polish)
Auschwitz/Birkenau - Photographs by Alan Jacobs
Auschwitz Hitler..s deathcamp
Auschwitz - photographs by David Cirese
An Auschwitz Alphabet
WWII Concentration Camps (Birkenau,Mauthausen) - Photographs
Hitlers Deathcamp Sorbibor
Hell of Sobibor
Visiting the Concentration Camps
The WWII Aerial Reconnaissance Archive - The Camps
Warsaw Ghetto
Polish Jews, Concentration Camps, Death Camps
The Concentration Camps Today
Treblinka Extermination Camp
Obozy - Nazi camps in Poland (in Polish)
Ghetto Ebraico di Venezia - Jewish Ghetto of Venice
"A YEAR IN TREBLINKA", 1945, By Yankel Wiernik
I am from Vishnevo
Irene Muskal OB"M, Bergen-Belsen and Beyond
Poniatowa Forced Labor Camp
Birkenau
Dachau
Fort Oberer Kuhberg
Majdanek
Mauthausen
Mittelbau-Dora
Ravensbruck
Sachsenhausen
Stutthof
Terezin
Treblinka
Other Camps
Other Locations


The "sport" Of Cutting A Man's beard off in public to humilate him


This entire family went to the gas chamber.

"Auschwitz, 1944. Not far from us, flames were leaping up from a ditch, gigantic flames. They were burning something. A lorry drew up at the pit and delivered its load-little children. Babies! Around us, everyone a weeping. Someone began to recite the Kaddish. I do not know if it has ever happened before, in the long history of the Jews, that people have ever recited the prayer for the dead for themselves .... Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp .... Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent sky."
From Night
By Eli Wiesel



"In Italy, the country where fascism was born, we have a particular relation with the Holocaust, but as a turning point in history it belongs to everybody in the world. It is a part of humanity."
Roberto Benigni

Nazi Propoganda

JOURNEY OF SURVIVAL EXHIBITION

Name Recovery Project

Gone now are those little towns where the shoemaker was a poet,
The watchmaker a philosopher, the barber a troubadour.

Gone now are those little towns where the wind
joined Biblical songs with Polish tunes and Slavic rue
Where old Jews in orchards in the shade of cherry trees
Lamented for the holy walls of Jerusalem.

Gone now are those little towns, though the poetic mists,
The moons, winds, ponds, and stars above them
Have recorded in the blood of centuries above the tragic tales,
The histories of the two saddest nations on earth.
Polish Jewish poet Antoni Sonimsk



The Jewish Children Of Izieu
The little children were deported to the Nazi death camp Auschwitz and murdered immediately upon arrival. Of the forty-four children kidnapped by the Nazis in Izieu, not a single one survived. Of the supervisors there was one sole survivor, twenty-seven year old Lea Feldblum.
Beate and Serge Klarsfeld, who brought Klaus Barbie to justice in 1983, later wrote: "Forty-four children deported - no mere statistic, but rather forty-four tragedies which continue to cause us pain ..."

Eleven-year-old Liliane Gerenstein, born January 13, 1933 in Nice, France,
letter to God just days before the children of Izieu were sent to their deaths at Auschwitz

"God? How good You are,
how kind and if one had to count the number
of goodnesses and kindnesses You have done,
one would never finish.

God? It is You who command.
It is You who are justice, it is You
who reward the good and punish the evil.

God? It is thanks to You
that I had a beautiful life before,
that I was spoiled,
that I had lovely things that others do not have.

God? After that, I ask You one thing only:
Make my parents come back, my poor parents
protect them (even more than You protect me)
so that I can see them again as soon as possible.

Make them come back again.
Ah! I had such a good mother and such a good father!
I have such faith in You and I thank You in advance."


Music From The Holocaust

More Music From The Holocaust


Hidden Children Film

Photo of Birkenau in May 1945 from the Inside The three (3) railroad branches that are seen inside Birkenau were constucted at the beginning of 1944 to accommodate the growing number of incoming transports.

A pile of shoes belong to prisoners who perished in Bergen-Belsen. This photo was taken in April 1945, after liberation. Originally designed as a prisoner of war and transit camp, Bergen-Belsen was to house 10,000 prisoners. From March 1944, Bergen-Belsen became a "regular concentration camp" with new prisoners arriving who were too sick to work at other camps. Some 35,000 to 40,000 inmates died of starvation, overcrowding, hard labor and disease or were killed. -- Yad Vashem Archive.

Hall Of Names Yad Vashem

United States Holocaust Museum, Washington DC

Children's Holocaust Memorial
Temple Emanuel, Great Neck, NY

Miami Florida

Jericho Jewish Center, NY

Holocaust Memorial
Pittsburgh, PA

Miami Florida

Miami, FL

Miami, FL

Six Million Random Names- Boston, Mass

Yom HaShoah is the day designated by Jewish communities around the world to memorialize the Jews who were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators between 1933 and 1945. Jewish tradition requires that a memorial prayer called the Kaddish is recited in the synagogue on the yahrzeit (anniversary of a person’s death). The actual date of death for most of those who died under the Nazi regime is unknown. Yom HaShoah, therefore, is a Yom Kaddish K’lalli, a day established by the Jewish community to recite the traditional Kaddish prayer communally for all the people whose deaths occurred during the Holocaust.



Antisemitism Today
People who have no tolerance or room in their lives, for narrow minded hatred and antisemitism. I am pro-Israel, but I am not anti-Muslim. Just as there are fanatical Muslims, there too are fanatical Jews.And I am just as disturbed if not more so, by them. Hate is hate. Teaching children to hate just perpetuates the violence and stereotypes. Tolerance doesn't mean wrapping our arms around each other in love, it simply means acceptance. If for one second we could sop seeing the differences and try to look at the similarities then perhaps there is a chance for coexistence.

"It is important to feel anxiety, but it is sinful to wallow in despair." -Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel



TAKE A STAND - FIGHT THE BOYCOTT

http://www.adl.org/boycott/
BRITISH ACADEMIC BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL CALLED OFF

On September 28, 2007 the British University and College Teachers Union's (UCU) announced that based on legal advice, the union had determined that an academic boycott of Israel "would be unlawful and cannot be implemented" and thus it will not act on its May 30, 2007 resolution. According to a UCU statement:

"Legal advice states: 'It would be beyond the union's powers and unlawful for the union, directly or indirectly, to call for, or to implement, a boycott by the union and its members of any kind of Israeli universities and other academic institutions; and that the use of union funds directly or indirectly to further such a boycott would also be unlawful.' The advice also says that 'to ensure that the union acts lawfully, meetings should not be used to ascertain the level of support for such a boycott." Many organizations in the UK and around the world worked together to challenge the UCU boycott. ADL initiated an international ad and letter writing campaign. Over 25,000 signed our letters to the UCU and many more helped spread the "Stop the Boycott" message.

Thank you for your help, activism and continued support.

Music:




Life is a very narrow bridge...
The essential thing is to not be afraid ~Rebbe Nachman Of BreslovThe teachings of a man that lived 200 years ago shouldn't be limited to one religion. Any more than the words of The Buddha, The Dali Lama, or Mother Theresa are only for those respective faiths. He spoke of joy, of happiness...that transcends all religious beliefs. His words are spiritual, they make your soul feel good, they make your heart smile.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov was no stranger to sadness. His two young sons passed away within a year of one another. His wife died of tuberculosis soon after. Rebbe Nachman suffered from the same pain-wracking disease for several years, before succumbing to it at the age of 38. Yet it is Rebbe Nachman who gave the Jews of Europe their "battle cry" during the years of th Holocaust: Never despair! It is forbidden to give up hope! Rebbe Nachman's teachings - which weave together intricate arguments from the Talmud, mysteries from the Kabbalah and simple common sense - are based upon three basic principles: trust in G-d, optimism and joy.

The important thing, though, is to never lose hope. To remember that no hurt is too deep that it cannot be healed. No door is so tightly shut that it cannot be opened. No bridge is so narrow that it cannot be safely traversed. You just have to open the door of your heart and take the first step -and trust that if you ask, G-d will help you find the path.

“Most people think of ‘forgetting’ as a defect. But I consider it a great benefit. "If you did not forget, it would be utterly impossible to serve God. You would remember you entire past (and the mistakes you made), and these memories would drag you down and not allow you to raise yourself to God. Whatever you did would be constantly disturbed by the past. "But God has given you the power to forget and disregard the past. The past is gone forever and never need be brought to mind. Because you can forget, you are no longer disturbed by the past"

"It is a great mitzvah to be happy always. Strengthen yourself to push aside all depression and sadness. Everyone has lots of problems and the nature of man is to be attracted to sadness. To escape these difficulties, constantly bring joy into your life – even if you have to resort to silliness"

"Joy enhances the mind’s ability to comprehend"

"If you believe that you can damage, then believe that you can fix. If you believe that you can harm, then believe that you can heal."

"Criticizing others, giving them an unwelcome feeling, can be done by anyone. Uplifting them and giving them a good feeling - that takes a special gift and spending effort."

"With happiness you can give another person life! There are people who suffer terrible pain but cannot express what is in their heart. They would like to speak about their suffering but they have no- one to whom they can explain what is really in their heart. This leaves them full of pain and anguish. When you come to such a person with a smiling face, you can literally give that person life. To give a person life is not an empty gesture. It is something very great."



Flash Movie -The Baal Shem Tov

The Lost Princess-Flash Movie

Finding the good points

Rebbe Nachman Of Breslov

You must search for the good in yourself.

When you start looking deep within yourself, you may think there is no good in you at all. You may feel you are full of evil: a negative voice inside you may try to drive you into depression. But you must not allow yourself to fall into depression. Search until you find some little good in you. For how could it be that you never did anything good in your whole life?

When you start to examine the good you have done, you may see many flaws. Maybe you did what you did for the wrong reasons and with the wrong attitude. Even so, how could it be that your mitzvah or good deed contains no good at all? It must contain some element of good.

You must search and search until you find some good point within you to give you new life and happiness. When you discover the good that is still inside you, you literally swing the scales from guilt to merit. This will enable you to return to God. The good you find inside you will give you new life and bring joy to your soul.

Having found one good point, you must continue searching until you find another. Even if you think this good point is also full of flaws, you must still search for some good in it. In the same way, you must continue finding more and more good points.

This is how songs are made! In essence, music is made by sifting the good from the bad. The musician has to find the “good spirit” – the good air – and reject the bad. A musical instrument is a vessel containing air. The musician produces the sounds by causing the air to vibrate. His task is to move his hands on the instrument in such a way as to produce good spirit, “good vibrations”, while avoiding the “bad vibrations” – the dissonant winds of gloom and depression.

When a person refuses to allow himself to fall into despair but instead vitalizes himself by seeking out and gathering together his positive points, this produces melodies, and he can then pray, sing and give thanks to God.

When a person recognizes the wrong he has done and how grossly materialistic and impure he is, he can become so depressed that he is completely incapable of praying. He simply cannot open his mouth to God. This is because of the deep sorrow and heaviness that overcome him when he sees his overwhelming distance from God.

But finding your good points can give you new life. Even if you know you have done wrong and caused damage and that you are far from God, you must search until you find the good that is still inside you. This will give you new life and make you truly happy. You are certainly entitled to feel the greatest joy over every good point you find in yourself, because each good point comes from the holy soul within you. The new life and joy you will gain from this path will enable you to pray, sing and give thanks to God.


In Search of Shalom



Shalom is Hebrew. Shalom is one of those wonderful word that have multiple meanings.
Shalom can mean hello. Shalom can mean goodbye. Shalom also means peace. This is what I have been seeking.

Many organizations collect money for victims of terror. One Family is different. We collect not only money, but all human resources - bringing together people who have suffered through terror attacks, along with caring people who thankfully haven't. We connect people in Israel with people in almost every country around the world.

Pray For The Soldiers

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world . . . Either we have hope or we don't; it is a dimension of the soul, and it's not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation. Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, and orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons

. . . Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather and ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. The more propitious the situation in which we demonstrate hope, the deeper the hope is. Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. ~Vaclav Havel



Movies:


One Day My Soul Just Opened Up
(by Gemmia L. Vanzant)
"One day my soul just opened up and things started happenin' things I can't quite explain I mean I cried and cried like never before I cried tears of ten thousand mothers I couldn't even feel anything because I cried 'til I was numb.

One day my soul just opened up I felt this overwhelming pride what I was proud of only God knows! Like the pride of a hundred thousand fathers basking in the glory of their newborn sons I was grinnin' from ear to ear!

One day my soul just opened up I started laughing and I laughed for what seemed like forever wasn't nothin' particularly funny goin' on but I laughed anyhow I laughed the joy of a million children playin' in the mud I laughed 'til my sides ached Oh God! It felt so good!

One day, my soul just opened up There were revelations, annihilations, and resolutions feelings of doubt and betrayal, vengeance and forgive- ness, memories of things I'd seen and done before of places I'd been, although I don't know when there were lives I'd lived people I'd loved battles I'd fought victories I'd won and wars I'd lost.

One day my soul just opened up and out poured all the things I'd been hiding and denying and living through that had just happened moments before.

One day, my soul just opened up and I decided I was good and ready! I was good and ready to surrender my life to God.

So, with my soul wide open, I sat down wrote Her a note and told her so."

Find the Hidden Good

Judge everyone favorably. Search for even a little bit of goodness. In that little bit of goodness, that person isn't bad. When you do this, you can raise someone from guilt to merit. You can bring him to repentance. Even if someone is bad, how is it possible that he doesn't have at least a little bit of good? How could it be that he never did something good? Apply this to yourself as well. Even if you see that you are full of wrong-doing, search for some little bit of good. Maybe your good deed was flawed and filled with ulterior motives. But how is it possible that it didn't contain some bit of good? Find that little bit of good and rejoice. Search again and find more goodness. Gather all the good points. When you do this, you make spiritual melodies with your soul. You are like a musician plucking the notes of a melody. Likutei Moharan 282


Quotes From The Talmud


"Whoever destroys a single life is as guilty as though he had destroyed the entire world;
and whoever rescues a single life earns as much merit as though he had rescued the entire world."
"There are stars who's light only reaches the earth long after they have fallen apart. There are people who's remembrance gives light in this world, long after they have passed away. This light shines in our darkest nights on the road we must follow."
"Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, Grow, grow."
"The sun will set without my assistance."
"Live well. It is the greatest revenge."
"Examine the contents, not the bottle"

RABBI NACHMAN OF BRESLOV USED TO SAY:
"There are those who are afraid to enjoy what they have today because they always worry about tomorrow." May they soon discover they are missing the delicious joy and sweet pleasures of the present moment.

Smile at strangers. Smile even when you don't feel like smiling. Smile at friends, smile at your family, smile at your pets, smile at nature, smile when you are alone, smile for the joy at being alive, smile for the goodness you can choose each and everyday of your life. Smile and let your soul sing for joy! Smile and feel the healing forces well up inside you!

Television:


A short film from Jewlarious at Aish.com pokes fun at the PC crowds desire for boycotting Israel. It'll have you splitting your sides:



A film by Aish.com: Israel Then And Now - 60 Years in 60 Seconds :



Links To Breslov Sites And Healing

NachalNovea.com
SimplyTsfat.com
Tzaddik Magazine
Breslov.org
Breslov.com
Azamra.org
Breslov World
Eizer L'Shabbos
Denver Breslov
Breslov Montana
Montreal Breslev Center
Rabbi Lazar Brody
I Love Torah
Breslov World
Jewish Pen Pals
Perform a Mitzvah With Only a Postage Stamp-- write to Jews in nursing homes, prisons and the military. . . This Mitzvah is for "Our Forgotten Jewish People"
Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin, "Wellsprings of Jewish Learning"
Breslov.com
Judaism with Heart
613.org
Torah audio materials to suit all tastes and interests.
Devekut.com
Authentic resources in Kabbalah, Chassidut, Jewish Meditation and Torah Spirituality.
Judaic Healing Therapies
Healing Notes
Helping people connect with their souls using music, energy and other modalities.
JewishLink
providing on-line support for those seeking Jewish spiritual connection or those that struggle with physical or emotional obstacles.
Peres Center For Peace

Why we should pray for our friends

We should pray for our friends when they are in trouble. Why our prayers for friends are effective can be understood from the story of a certain king who was angry with his son and sent him away. The prince came and placated his father, who agreed to have him back, but afterwards the prince again offended his father, who sent him away again. The prince again placated his father and the same thing happened several times.

Once the prince did something that made his father extremely angry. The king thought to himself: “What point is there in sending him away if later on, when my anger subsides, he comes and placates me again? This time when I send him away, I will so arrange things that he will not even have access to me so as not to be able to placate me.”

The king appointed one of his ministers as an intermediary between himself and the prince, instructing the minister that when the prince came seeking to placate him, he was not to allow him entry. The prince came several times asking to be admitted to his father in order to placate him. However, the minister would not let him enter, for those were the instructions the king had given him. This happened again and again.

Eventually the minister saw the prince's great longing for his father and saw how much he was suffering because of not being able to gain entry to his father in order to placate him. The minister thought to himself: “If this is how much the prince misses his father, presumably the king is also suffering a great deal because his son cannot come to him. For the greater the desire of he who desires, the greater the desire aroused in the object of his desire.” The minister felt extremely sorry for both the king and his son, and he himself also suffered, because he said to himself: “Surely I am the cause of all this, since I am the barrier that keeps them apart: I am the one causing both the king and the prince to suffer.”

The minister thought to himself: “There must be some way to bring about a reconciliation. Surely the king does not want his son to suffer forever without being able to reach him, and the king himself must be suffering as a result.” The minister realized that it was all up to him. “I myself will go to the king to plead for the prince. I will ask the king to forgive him and allow him back.”This is exactly what the minister did. He went to the king and told him how much the prince was longing for him, begging the king to forgive him. The king immediately agreed and restored the prince to his place.

The meaning of the story is obvious. Whenever one of our friends is suffering, physically, mentally or spiritually, we should say, “Without doubt I am the cause of this. Because of my sins, I myself am the barrier between the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, and the world. For the Holy One, blessed be He, constantly desires to bestow blessings of goodness upon His children. But because of my sins, I am the barrier that is holding all this back. The solution is for me myself to plead with the King on behalf of my friend.”

When a person does this, he will certainly not succumb to arrogance. The root of arrogance is when a person prides himself on having qualities which his friend lacks. But when a person believes that the only cause of his friend's deficiency, spiritual or material, is the barrier that he himself has erected between his friend and the Holy One, blessed be He, Who wants to bestow blessings at all times, he will certainly not become arrogant. On the contrary, his pride will be broken and he will achieve genuine humility.
Chayey Moharan #447


A rabbi was giving instructions to some children, and he posed this question: "How do you know the night is over and the day has come?" One child ventured, "When at dawn, you look at a tree and you can tell whether it is an apple or pear tree."

The rabbi acknowledged this response but repeated the question. A second student offered, "When you see an animal in the distance and you can tell whether it is a donkey or a horse."

The rabbi acknowledged this response, too, then gave his answer: "You know the night is over and the day has come when you look into the eyes of any human being, and you see there your brother or your sister."


The story is told of a famous rabbi who was walking with some of his disciples when one of them asked, "Rabbi, when should a man repent?" The rabbi calmly replied, "You should be sure you repent on the last day of your life." "But," protested several of his disciples, "we can never be sure which day will be the last day of our life." The famous rabbi smile and said, "The answer to that problem is very simple. Repent now."


God's boxes

I have in my hands two boxes which God gave me to hold. He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black, And all your joys in the gold." I heeded His words, and in the two boxes both my joys and sorrows I stored. But though the gold became heavier each day. The black was as light as before. With curiosity, I opened the black I wanted to find out why. And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole which my sorrows had fallen out by. I showed the hole to God, and mused aloud, "I wonder where my sorrows could be. "He smiled a gentle smile at me, "My child, they're all here with me." I asked, "God, why give me the boxes, Why the gold, and the black with the hole?" "My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings, The black is for you to let go."


"Words To A Grandchild"
Chief Dan George
Perhaps there will be a day you will want to sit by my side asking for counsel. I hope I will be there but you see I am growing old. There is no promise that life will live up to our hopes especially to the hopes of the aged. So I write of what I know and some day our hearts will meet in these words
- if you let it happen.
In the midst of a land without silence you have to make a place for yourself. Those who have worn out their shoes many times know where to step. It is not their shoes you can wear only their footsteps you may follow,
- if you let it happen.
You come from a shy race. Ours are the silent ways. We have always done all things in a gentle manner, so much as the brook that avoids the solid rock in its search for the sea and meets the deer in passing. You too must follow the path of your own race. It is steady and deep, reliable and lasting. It is you
- if you let it happen.
You are a person of little, but it is better to have little of what is good, than to possess much of what is not good. This your heart will know,
- if you let it happen.
Heed the days when the rain flows freely, in their greyness lies the seed of much thought The sky hangs low and paints new colors on the earth.
After the rain the grass will shed its moisture, the fog will lift from the trees, a new light will brighten the sky and play in the drops that hang on all things. Your heart will beat out a new gladness
- if you let it happen.
Each day brings an hour of magic. Listen to it! Things will whisper their secrets. You will know what fills the herbs with goodness, makes days change into nights, turns the stars and brings the change of seasons. When you have come to know some of nature's wise ways beware of your complacency for you cannot be wiser than nature. You can only be as wise as any man will ever hope to be,
- if you let it happen.
Our ways are good but only in our world I you like the flame on the white man's wick learn of his ways so you can bear his company, yet when you enter his world, you will walk like a stranger.
For some time bewilderment will, like an ugly spirit torment you. Then rest on the holy earth and wait for the good spirit. He will return with new ways as his gift to you,
- if you let it happen.
Use the heritage of silence to observe others. If greed has replaced the goodness in a man's eyes see yourself in him so you will learn to understand and preserve yourself. Do not despise the weak, it is compassion that will make you strong.
Does not the rice drop into your basket whilst your breath carries away the chaff? There is good in everything
- if you let it happen.
When the storms close in and the eyes cannot find the horizon you may lose much. Stay with your love for life for it is the very blood running through your veins. As you pass through the years you will find much calmness in your heart. It is the gift of age. and the colors of the fall will be deep and rich,
- if you let it happen.
As I see beyond the days of now I see a vision: I see the faces of my people, your sons' sons, your daughters' daughters, laughter fills the air that is no longer yellow and heavy, the machines have died, quietness and beauty have returned to the land. The gentle ways of our race have again put us in the days of the old.
It is good to live!
It is good to die!
- This will happen.
If You Desire
by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook
If you desire, human being,
look at the light of God's Presence in everything.
Look at the Eden of spiritual life,
at how it blazes into each corner and
crevice of life,
spiritual and this-worldly,
right before your eyes of
flesh and your eyes of soul.
Gaze at the wonders of creation,
at their divine lifeBnot like some dim phenomenon
that is placed before your eyes from afar.
But know the reality in which you live.
Know yourself and your world.
Know the thoughts of your heart,
and of all who speak and think.
Find the source of life inside you, higher than you, around you.
Find the beautiful ones alive in this generation
in whose midst you are immersed.
The love within you: lift it up to its mighty root, to its beauty of Eden.
Send it spreading out to the entire flood of the soul of the Life of worlds,
Whose light is reduced only by incapable human expression.
Gaze at the lights, at what they contain.
Do not let the Names, phrases and letters swallow up your soul.
They have been given over to you.
You have not been given over to them.
Rise up.
Rise up, for you have the power.
You have wings of the spirit, wings of powerful eagles.
Do not deny them, or they will deny you.
Seek them, and you will find them instantly.
Orot Hakodesh I pp. 83-84

Sad to say, the world that we live in is not as pleasant as the Land of Oz. But if we all try and do a little bit to help improve things, we can all make a big difference. If you want to know how to help, check out these links:
Network for Good -- http://www.networkforgood.org/
I moved almost all links and banners to my blog
so that this page would load faster.
JWI INTERNATIONAL
These sites allow you to give to worthy causes with one mouse click, at no cost to you. Please visit them and their sponsors.
The Literacy Site gives books to children in need. Please click on their site every day to give books to as many children as possible.

Books:


Blogs I Read: Ed Koch
Bibi Netanyahu
Jewlicious
Generation Bubelah
Velveteenrabbi
this normal life
the view from here
Mom With A View
Tracing The Tribe
Frumstepper
Wilde Wisdom:Life according to Oscar
The book of life begins with a man and woman in a garden; it ends with revelations.
The good end happily and the bad unhappily; that is what fiction means.
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Experience is the name we all give to our mistakes.
The only thing worse in the world than being talked about is not being talked about.
Children begin by loving their parents. After a time, they judge them; rarely is ever do they forgive them.
The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know everything.
Nothing succeeds like excess.
In this world there are only two tragedies; one is not getting what one wants, the other is getting it.
To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.
To get back one's youth, one merely has to repeat one's follies.
Young people nowadays assume that money is everything, and when they get older they know it.
It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating.
No man is ever rich enough to buy back his past.
A man cannot be too careful in his choice of enemies.
Every great man nowadays has his disciples, but it is always Judas who writes the biography.
The youth of America is their oldest tradition; it has been going on now for three hundred years.
If you find a box labeled American Dry Goods, you can be reasonably sure it will contain nothing but their novels.
Education is a wonderful thing, provided you always remember that nothing worth knowing can ever be taught.
It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information around.
Ignorance is a rare exotic fruit; touch it, and the bloom, has gone.
The only duty we owe history is to rewrite it.
The English country gentleman galloping after a fox - the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible.
Democracy is simply the bludgeoning of the people for the people by the people.
Work is the curse of the drinking classes.
I find that alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, produces all the effects of intoxication.
Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.

Heroes:



Raoul Wallenbergs Quest to Save the Jews of Hungary
True Stories Of Holocaust Rescues
A Life in Search of Justice
The Black Hole of Auschwitz
Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust
The Holocaust Chronicle
The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million
A Vanished World
Night
A History of the Holocaust powered by frazy.com
Simon Wiesenthal
Golda Meir
"In Germany they first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up."
Martin Niemöller


"Dachau is left standing because it must be. All the Dachaus all the Belsens, all the Buchenwalds, all the Auschwitzes all of it. They must remain standing because they are a monument to a moment in time when some men decided to turn the Earth into a graveyard. Into it they shoveled all of their reason, their logic, their knowledge...but worst of all, their consciences. And the moment we forget this, the moment we cease to be haunted by its remembrance, then we become the gravediggers. Something to think about, something to dwell on and remember...not only in the Twilight Zone, but wherever men walk God's Earth."
Rod Serling


"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Mark Twain


"You punch me, I punch back. I do not believe it's good for ones self-respect to be a punching bag."
“I'm not the type to get ulcers. I give them.”
“I'm not an author, but before I became mayor, I wasn't a mayor.”
~Ed (How Am I Doin'?)Koch, And yes, he will always be MY hero

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”
Victor Frankl


"Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live; it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. And unselfishness is letting other people's lives alone, not interfering with them. Selfishness always aims at uniformity of type. Unselfishness recognizes infinite variety of type as a delightful thing, accepts it, acquiesces in it, enjoys it.
Oscar Wilde


"It’s utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more."
Anne Frank


For many of us the march from Selma to Montgomery was both protest and prayer. Legs are not lips, and walking is not kneeling. And yet our legs uttered songs. Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying.
~Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel


The Jewish people asked nothing of its sons except not to be denied. The world is grateful to every great man when he brings it something; only the paternal home thanks the son who brings nothing but himself.
Theodor Herzl


Humanity should question itself, once more, about the absurd and always unfair phenomenon of war, on whose stage of death and pain only remain standing the negotiating table that could and should have prevented it.
Pope John Paul II


Suffering makes a people greater, and we have suffered much. We had a message to give the world, but we were overwhelmed, and the message was cut off in the middle. In time there will be millions of us - becoming stronger and stronger - and we will complete the message.
David Ben-Gurion


Israel's capital will never again be a divided city, a city with a wall at its center, a city in which two flags fly. This city, will, in its entirety, absorb immigrants, welcome pilgrims and be the eternal capital of Israel forever.
Yitzhak Shamir


Miracles sometimes occur, but one has to work terribly hard for them.
Chaim Weizmann


When you have two alternatives, the first thing you have to do is to look for the third that you didn't think about, that doesn't exist.
Shimon Peres


I do not bring forgiveness with me, nor forgetfulness. The only ones who can forgive are dead; the living have no right to forget.
Chaim Herzog


"I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let the fear control me. I have accepted fear as a part of life, specifically the fear of change, the fear of the unknown, and I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back, turn back, you'll die if you venture in too far."
~Erica Jong


"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference."
~Elie Wiesel


"Why is it when we talk to God we are said to be praying, And when God talks to us we're said to be schizophrenic?"
~Lily Tomlin


"Intolerance lies at the core of evil. Not the intolerance that results from any threat or danger. But intolerance of another being who dares to exist. Intolerance without cause. It is so deep within us, because every human being secretly desires the entire universe to himself. Our only way out is to learn compassion without cause. To care for each other simple because that 'other' exists."
~Rabbi Menachem Mendel


"He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies."
~Martin Luther King, Jr


"The souls of people, on their way to Earth-life, pass through a room full of lights; each takes a taper - often only a spark - to guide it in the dim country of this world. But some souls, by rare fortune, are detained longer-- have time to grasp a handful of tapers, which they weave into a torch. These are the torch-bearers of humanity -- its poets, seers and saints, who lead and lift the race out of darkness, toward the light. They are the law-givers and saviors, the light-bringers, way-showers and truth-tellers, and without them, humanity would lose its way in the dark.
~Plato


"It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters. The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted. ~Mother Theresa


"All men were made brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect the rivers to run backward as that any man who was born free should be contented when penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases. It does not require many words to speak the truth.
~Chief Joseph Nez Pierce


"I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


The Holocaust is a central event in many people's lives, but it also has become a metaphor for our century. There cannot be an end to speaking and writing about it. Besides, in Israel, everyone carries a biography deep inside him.
~Aharon Appelfeld


"Fear is, I believe, a most effective tool in destroying the soul of an individual - and the soul of a people."
~Anwar Sadat


We must think differently, look at things in a different way. Peace requires a world of new concepts, new definitions.
~Yitzhak Rabin


"When you waste a moment, you have killed it in a sense, squandering an irreplaceable opportunity. But when you use the moment properly, filling it with purpose and productivity, it lives on forever."
~Menachem Mendel Schneerson


"O Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the winds, I come to you as one of your many children. I need your strength and your wisdom. Make me strong not to be superior to my brother, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy: "Myself" ~Chief Dan George


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updated Links, Resources for dealing -Life Challenges

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updated Daily Thoughts- Recovery Links

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Holocaust hero honored at 97--

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