Songs of My People

Last night I dreamed … I dreamed I spoke to Grandpa, who left us for his Eternal
Sleep so long ago….
“Tell me, zeide, what is it like for our people where you are?” And he told me …
Of the Angels in Heaven … the wise men and Sages who are all interceding with the Almighty for an end to the Misery and Oppression our People have endured for
centuries.
And he told me of Moses, our Teacher who asks, “Oh Lord, hadn’t we suffered
enough in days of old?”
And the Almighty answers, “Haven’t I warned you to follow in my ways, paying no
homage to false Gods and Idols?”
But Moses in his wisdom answers “Yes, Lord we have sinned, but we are your
children, and as our Father we beg you to forgive us again”, whereupon our merciful
Father in Heaven promises that as long as we obey His commandments, He will have mercy and help all … His children.

Ever since the destruction of the second Temple, the Jewish People have lived in the hope and dream of a new Bes Hamikdosh. The realization of these dreams are at hand, because God does not forsake us, and He is our Father – so is the earth of Israel our Mother. All will be welcome in our new Bes Hamikdash, none will be ostracized as we were … Come, then,to our Land of Milk and Honey … come and join us as we sing the praises of our Lord in our new Bes Hamikdash!

Open the Book of Psalms Open the T’hilim!
Find beauty of word and thought therein! Find comfort and Solace for your pain . . . Find the Word of God and follow in His ways, so that you may ever be beloved by all who are good and stay at peace with all who dwell about you. As it is said “The Lord shall keep thee from all evil … He shall keep thy soul – The Lord shall guard thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and forever.

Once upon a time … the great Prophet Isaiah predicted a new world. Once upon a time . . .Isaiah said,”And they shall beat their swords into plowshares.” Once upon a time, he told us, “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation . . . neither shall they learn war anymore.” Dear Lord! may these words of “once upon a time”, come true …. in our time!

After the great leader, Moses, brought his people Israel out of the land of Egypt, he knew that he must teach them to know God.So he ci them to the base of Mount Sinai, in southern Palestine and after three days of waiting, the skys grew dark, the Heavens shook,the thunder rolled and trumpets sounded asMoses ascended the Mount and received the Ten Commandments which is the Law of God … and when Moses was gone from the people for forty days and nights, they grew restless, fearing Moses would not return, leaving them without a leader … so they prevailed upon Aaron to fashion them an idol which they could worship as their God … and he made them a Golden Calf. This angered God who threatened to annihilate the people…whereupon Moses prevailed upon the Lord to spare his brethren and promised tc take the Laws of the Almighty and teach it unto the People of Israel. That Moses was successful is attested to by the fact that to this day the Jewish People are referred to as AM HASEIFER. People of the Book.

It is the Sabbath. The Synagogue is crowded with Worshippers dressed in their finest. The Voice of the Cantor rises from the throng and reaches up to Heaven itself. The weekday cares of the people are set aside and the Spirit of the Holy Sabbath prevails. And now from every home is heard the singing of the z’miros… A peaceful and soul satisfying picture of a grateful people thanking the Lord on high for gifts large and small ….
But what’s this?The picture suddenly changes. The Synagogue is deserted … hardly a minyon. There is no choir … not even a Cantor. One can hardly find a Kohen or a Levi to Officiate … Ah…here comes a worshipper… Oh, he is only here to say the Kaddish … the Prayer for the Dead ….
But wait … all is not lost. The Shul is full again… the choir sings, the Cantor gives his all. These are the High Holydays and after all … we must get enough this time, at least to pay off the mortgage!

Do you know what “Omar Abai” means? It means … in Hebrew … “and Abai said” … and what did this wise man say? My grandpa knew. And I would know, too, if I had listened more closely as my old Zeide, his goldrimmed glasses perched high on his furrowed brow – a tear dropping now and again on his silver grey beard, would chant the phrase and read aloud the writings of the Sages from the Talmud. But the droning sweet melodies would only lull me into deep sleep. Someday, I mean to study the Talmud, just to learn the mystery of “Omar Abai”.

From time immemorial, lovers and poets the world over have paid homage to the
Moon and the stars overhead but the Moon in all it’s beauty has much more
than a romantic significance to the Jewish people. Since the days in ancient Israel when the arrival of the New Moon was proclaimed from the mountain tops by the SanHedrin after careful questioning of witnesses, we still today, in ourRosh Chodesh celebrations every month, herald its arrival in song and Prayer. The moon, as it passes through all its phases, is symbolic of the Jewish people who have always reappeared after seemingly being eclipsed …. and we hail it in a joyous greeting to the presence of God. The Psalmist has said, “King David’s dynasty shall like the moon be established forever.”, and we add, Open the doors of Heaven, 0, Lord, Help your people to a very good month.