Esther Jungries has lived out my fantasy. Or perhaps, I created my dreams based on her story.
In 1973, Esther, a survivor of the Bergen Belson concentration camps, a young married woman looked at the state of American Jewry and cried.
She thought about what she could do. She thought about how she could help. And all at once, this lone woman ran to her father, a great man, and said, “I want to fill Madison Square Garden with Jews! I want to gather them together and remind them of who we are. I want to say Shema Yisroel with thousands of my people. I want to bring them home.”
And that’s what this Little Giant did. With no special VIP pass and no fancy titles, she booked the hall and filled it with glory.
(The recording above is from that 1974 event. Its one of 4, make sure to hear the other ones - here’s 2 of 4
https://youtu.be/0GKnEtZL9VY
That’s my dream – to awaken the hearts of Jews. But before I can, I must ask myself – “am I awake?” Am I AWAKE!!?
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Esther Jungries, just one month after hip surgery, sat on a plane for three hours waiting for it to take off. And when it didn’t, she sat in the car for another four driving to Baltimore. Why? To WAKE US UP!
“Wake up!” she cried. “I look around and I see 1938.
I see Jews everywhere sleeping, ignoring the signs.
I looked at a copy of the 1938 Warsaw Gazzette in and do you know what I saw there? The Yiddishe Theatre, advertisments…. Nothing, NOTHING about Hitler. They didn’t want to see, they were sleeping.
And now we hear news every day and we say ‘Oh please, it’s nothing.’ An earthquake in New York? Children being gunned down in school? A Hurricane that wipes out homes and electricity for weeks? Tsunamis? Tragedies? We say ‘Oh please! Its just more bad news.”
“G-d is talking to us, He’s sending us clear messages. My heart is so heavy when I see what’s going on. Why does history have to repeat itself, when will we learn?”
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Rebbitzen, Rebbitzen, we hear you! We ourselves can’t bear it. We know the world has gone crazy but what should we do?
The Rebbitzen quoted the Yalkut Shemoni - there are three things a person must do to ready himself for the End of Days.
1. Make Torah your business. Don’t just take a class – live it. Learn it, love it, practice it, breathe it. Make your life a life of Torah.
2. Do acts of loving kindness. Step out of the world of me, me, me and into “how can I make my fellow man happy.”
3. Eat Shalosh Seudos – The Third Meal on Shabbos afternoon.
When the Jews left Egypt only 1/5 of them survived. The rest persished in the Plague of Darkness. Those were Jews who had assimilated. The worshipped the Gods of Egypt. They weren’t worthy of leaving.
And do you know why? Because in their heart of hearts the didn’t want to go. They didn’t want to leave behind Egyptian culture.
Today, we are in the Plague of Darkness. G-d has even taken away our money – the 21st century God.
She spoke about loving-kindness and smiling. “smile with two eyes, not just with your lips. Put your whole self in the smile that you are giving to another.
I learned to smile in Bergen Belson. When we arrived there, my father, the Tzaddik, said to us “kinderlach, children, smile. When grown-ups see young children smiling it will give them hope. And so, I learned to smile even when my heart was in pain.
A young girl once asked me, ‘Rebbitzen, do you mind if I ask you a personal question? You are always smiling, where does your smile begin? In your lips or in your heart?’ I thought about it.
“It begins in my lips. I give my very best to the other person, even though my heart may not be feeling it. Then it travels to the other persons heart and from there, it comes back and warms my heart.”
“Smile with two eyes.”
“Call your parents and wish them a good Shabbos. Look up from your cellphone when a grandparent enters the room.”
She spoke about Shalosh Seudos. Do you know why it’s so special? Friday night we have a meal. Who wouldn’t want such a meal? Candllight, hot food. What a way to end the week.
Shabbos morning, it’s nice, it’s wonderful, we enjoy. But Sholosh Seudos on Shabbos afternoon? Who wants to eat? You’re full.
That meal, you eat for Hashem. That meal you eat because it gives Hashem pleasure, its not for your stomach, for your pleasure.
You know, in my neighborhood, on Shabbos afternoon, I give a talk about the Parsha (Torah portion of the week.) Afterwards I walk home. And it’s a long walk.
When I get home, I’m tired. I’m a widow, I live alone, I would like to take a rest. But you know what I do? I take my two little challah rolls and I make a bracha on them and I eat – for my King. I eat for Him and I recite a Psalm.
“G-d is my Shepherd I shall not lack…..”
The Rebbitzen cried as she spoke.
She begged and she pleaded. She rebuked us and she loved us.
“ I love you all, you are all my children.” Tears fell from her eyes and her voice crackled and sighed. She blessed us again and again, as if no amount of blessing would be good enough for us.
And then, from an audience that had been held by her every word for a heart stopping hour, she left - to the thunderous applause of 400 wide awake souls.
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On the first day of the trip, Benzion challlenged us. He said, "You don't even know how lucky you are to be in the Old City. You know how the Kosel, gives you goose bumps you when you're there, how your feel so close to G-d? Well, you can have that every day!"
To join the Minyan club is to say, "I want to get the most I can out of this trip even if it means getting up a little early."
You know, how you start your day makes all the difference. Starting out with the Kosel is like dipping in a mikva of love and having the droplets of Hashem's presence with you all day.
There was a theme to the morning. Benzion woke the students up by singing in the hallways. I had told the students that I sing my kids awake in the morning, but this was the first time they expereinced it.
We always wake up with song - Modeh Ani - but I took it for granted. Said Courtney, "If I got woken up like this every morning, I'd be in such a better mood all day!"
Funny, how the its the little things affect us. Another girl, Stephanie, asked to learn the morning blessings, and later on , at breakfast we learned one of the morning songs the children sing.
"Oh every morning, when I'm through sleeping
I open up my eyes and say
Thank you Hashem, for my Neshama (soul)
and for giving me a brand new day"
Afternoon-
After a morning of thought-provoking classes it was time to go out. As we headed towards the tunnel that lead to our bus,we passed by a man and woman with a cart laden with food. From a glance, it seemed like they had a family celebration planned and they were bringing the food from the market.
This was an enormous task and it was probably the cheapest way that the could provide for the event. Many people here don't have cars, they travel by bus and shop in their local mini market. Generally if someone would buy as much as they did, they would come home in a taxi.
But not today. Today they pushed the wagon, bumping up and down as it rolled over the worn stone. Bump! With one bump too many, the goods all went rolling, scattering in every direction.
In a blink, a flash mob of kindness erupted, and people from all directions came streaming to help him. As they picked up the juice bottles and rolls, we counted ELEVEN people who came to help them! That's what I call The Holy Land Special. Where a stranger is just you, living a different life.
Evening-
Our evening's stop was at the Me'aras Hamachpaila; The place where Adam and Eve, Abraham, Sara, Issac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah are buried.
It's a funny thing here in Israel - you go to graves. We're intimate with the dead. Especially our great ones. They live on in the wisdom they taught us and in the example that informs our daily life.
Going to a gravesite as an activity sounds morbid - but in fact its a festive, hopeful occasion! When we were in Tsfat there was live music playing at the top of the cemetery hill!
And that's not at all unusual. When we were at the Tomb of Rachel, the wife of Akiva, there was snacks and nuts put out for us to enjoy. I wouldn't say it's a light atmosphere, but it's a unifying, hopeful feeling being there.
Prayer has been a theme on this trip. Which isn't to say that the students aren't enjoying each others company and a good beer. Or that there isn't singing, laughing, and joking.
But when I analyze it, it's the times of prayer, with the morning start by the Wall, that have opened this up to be a hugely connecting experience.
Rabbi David Aaron is a spiritual visionary and master educator who has invested over 3 decades delving into life’s BIGGEST question marks and sharing Torah’s transformational wisdom to adults and young adults. He has emerged as the ‘God expert’ simply because he has dared to ask and answer the most difficult questions that he/ALL people have and/or struggle with about God’s existence and their own.
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Rabbi Aaron teases us into letting go, if only for a moment, of our unspoken disappointments with God and ourselves. He slowly peels away the layers of confusion and mis-education and offers us a glimpse of the joy and personal power that a true, working belief in God and ourselves can provide.
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For too many reasons to count, my favorite place in the whole world is the Old City of Jerusalem. If I just sit still for a moment I am back there; Jews from every country and ethnicity converging together, tasting ice cream and falafel and most of all tasting home. Everyone there is family and every stone is the story of your life. It was there that I met David Aaron. Well, I didn't actually meet him in person then - that would come years later. There, I met him through his book, The G-d Powered Life. In the mystical ways of Old Jerusalem, I happened upon a man who happened to be his student who happened to have his books available and I happened to fall in love with them. In a small nook on an ancient stone bench I read. And read. And read. And none of what I read felt new. But all of it made me feel new. It's like when your brain is oxygenated. You have clarity. Everything is sharp. Your mind is on fire and you know exactly what to do next. I bought ten books. I gave away nine. I have lent out the one copy that I have left too many times to count. I even brought it with me when I went to train as a Life Coach. The training was on Shabbos and I wanted some Torah to learn. Over lunch break I sat with my fellow CTI members and we learned Kabbalah as explained by Rabbi David Aaron. And now he has blown me away again. Constantly changing, constantly producing, he has found a new way to teach and it's powerful! By using animation to illustrate the deepest concepts, it clicks effortlessly into your psyche. Cartoons are cool, cartoons are fun, and now, cartoons are really, really deep and mind blowing! After a 3 minute video you can magically and effortlessly explain and understand G-d, the meaning of life and life after death. Don't believe me? Watch them and see! One thing that I love about Rabbi Aaron's work is that its Universal. It speaks to everyone. I mean, how many Rabbis can speak about Kabbalah on E! Entertainment! That's how truth works. It resonates with everyone. Watch Rabbi Aaron's videos - you'll love his work and be amazed at how much it all makes gorgeous exquisite sense. I posted a lot here in case you are snowed in:) Visit to his website for many more. PS. I would highly recommend his book the G-d Powered Life. If I ever have an online store - that book is going to be in it! PPS. I showed some of these to my kids - what a great learning tool! The depth kind of went over their heads but the message is there for when they need it. After you watch the videos leave a comment and let me know which was your favorite! 
"...And the biggest lie of all, is that we tell ourselves we don't need friends." ( A personal quote from a talk I gave recently.) I was not totally surprised, but still taken aback at the amount of feedback related directly to that comment.
We lead these unnatural lives going from home, to car, to work, to errands and carpool, speaking to people for the most part in terms of transactions. "How much does this cost?" "Thank you for watching my child" " Can you volunteer for this event?"
And the cost is enormous. We're lonely, and isolated and that stunts our social interactions even when we're in a sea of people.
I've been through many evolutions with the topic of friends, growing with it as I get older. I share it with you here, because maybe we're not that different from one another.
I've always been surrounded by people and involved in community. But being with people and developing intimate relationships is not the same thing.
How do we go from interacting with dozens of people each day to creating meaningful relationships?
[Note to dear old friends - This is a generalization. Thank G-d, I've been blessed to have you in my life and as I've grown, my ability to be a friend has grown too.]
(Again, trust issues - I could give to someone without having to share myself.)
Around ten years ago, my newly widowed sister in law, Chev, moved to Baltimore so that she could be near family. Being in her presence, basking in that unconditional, respectful, deeply intimate relationship opened things up for me. I began to be willing to relate at a deeper level, to bring more of myself to the friendship then a plate of cookies.
However, after being gifted that lesson, two years later she got married to her amazing husband, Paul and moved away to South Africa.
So there I was. And I needed to make friends.
And I was ready.
I began making coffee dates. I realized that one of the reasons (aside for deep familial love) that my friendship with Chev grew was because we spent every Shabbos together. I needed to physically spend time with people if I was going to become friends with them.
So onwards I forged. If I had a great conversation with someone I would invite them out for a coffee sometime the next week. At the time it took a lot of courage.
How'd it go?
Okay.
The coffee dates were nice enough but I forgot something key - you have to get together a second time!
Somehow I just thought a friendship would morph straight from the muffins at the bagel shop. That's not how it works. I still have a special connection with the people I spent time with, but we didn't ever explore the relationship further.
Then I met Aviva. Her kids were homeschooling at the time and it was the first I'd ever heard of it. My heart was exploding with the idea.
I called her the next day and asked her for information. And the next and the next. I began to home-school my kids. I would have done with her the same as I did with my other new friends; lost touch, not taken it further.
Except, that one fine day she knocked on the door, came over with her (then) 6 kids and spent the afternoon.
And a day or two later she invited my kids over.
I mean it when I say this, if she would not have made the effort our new friendship would have withered away into nothingness instead of lasting for all these years. I learned so much from that.
It make seem awkward, but that's how it's done. To get to know a person takes actual time investment.
Above all, in these fast paced times, don't wait for a better time to pursue a friendship. There is no better time. The time is now:)
I'm glad I grew up without taboos - Judaism and life are just layers of one fabric and we approach both simultaneously with G-d's will as the guiding force.
What does G-d want? How does He want us to navigate this world of technology?
The answer, I believe is different for everyone. The main thing is to ask the question.
We can't let this thing of tremendous power in our lives step in and take over without first deciding whether and where it's welcome.
Let's talk about our kids and technology.
It's a big conversation. But I figure I'll go first and tell you my approach as it relates to children.I'd love to hear yours. My kids ages are 5, 6, 10, 11,13, 14, 15 and 17.
The way we see it, there are 4 things kids do with the computer.
1. Schoolwork
2. Emai
l
3.Games
4. Interesting and or educational websites.
As far as schoolwork goes our kids have to do what they have to do. Usually it's not much more than writing out a report. One son has a teacher that has them doing these 6 hour lab reports on excel. They enjoy all the typing but they're not doing it on their own computer. They use mine.
You may think that's inconvenient It is.
But it reminds me of a friend who used to have 5 Tv's. I mean, it's not great when a family sits around watching TV - but at least they're together. Once you start getting more Tv's because it's inconvenient and everyone needs to watch their own show, the whole thing disintegrates. It goes from family entertainment to "me time."
And check out where we're at. Now we've gotten to the point where everyone needs their own everything. (Phone, Ipod, laptop etc) So yes, it's inconvenient, but we believe that having more computers wouldn't solve the issue. It would create new ones.
Our oldest daughter, Batya has her own laptop now that she attends an online college. And thank G-d, she uses it wisely. She got it when she was 16, right around that time she also got a phone which was necessary because she began working.
She grew up knowing principles about computer use and we trust her. If she gets off balance, being on the computer too much, she reroutes. I'm really glad we waited to give her both the phone and the computer.
Email. Our kids all have email accounts and they really enjoy using them to email friends and distant cousins. Our Bubby moved to Israel and my daughter loves keeping in touch with her. A typical thing you'll hear in my house is "Mommy, can I use the computer?" and I'll say "Yes, for twenty minutes, just email and skype." We have their passwords but unless something is VERY amiss we don't check on them.
We look at email at it as less of a necessity for them, but more to get that computer time out of their system. It's a fun little entertainment. One problem is that I don't always keep track of the twenty minutes and it can turn in to 45 minutes in a flash. It's not great.
Games. Games are where we're the most strict. Despite all those lovely educational games - there's way more damage possible, then good. 
Games are most often a solitary experience, promoting selfishness, me time and lack of interaction with family members.
Games are addictive and they're built to be that way; letting you win just enough that you'll want to play more, but making you lose just enough that it's still a challenge.
Games are designed to lure you in to a fake world with graphics and fantasy and keep you there for as long as they can and when it gets boring, have you buy the second addition.
Games promote escapism - immersing in a world where you build up points and castles and weapons gear all the while actually building.....NOTHING. You never walk a way from a game having accomplished anything.
We actually had a time in our family when I let the kids each have twenty minutes of game time and it was a disaster! Keep 
in mind I have 8 kids! It became a whole afternoon of my turn as well as general dissatisfaction.
(Parents who like Jump Start and other educational games - I hear you. They have a place - but remember those are educational tools disguised as games. Most programs are time draining, exploitative pits disguised as games. And even grown men fall into them.)
If this all sounds strong - guess what. It's not even half as strong as I feel!
I want great kids- not dead heads! 
I was amazed and surprised to see this corroborated by Rabbi Shimshon Pincus z'l in his book Nefesh Chaya)
He writes that although movies are a topic in themselves, a worse thing is video games. He writes that the greatest gift that Hashem gave us is Life. By wasting time, putting effort into illusions and fantasy, we are not simply misusing life, we are taking precious moments and throwing them back into G-d's face. Here, I don't need these. Down the toilet they go.
This goes against everything we're trying to instill in the children.
Exceptions. Being that games are harmful but not evil there is room for exceptions For example for a child who is sick in the hospital a feeling of accomplishment may be just what he needs and solitaire is his only option. A video game would be a great way to ease the loneliness when someone can't be with him. Another example, a working single mother with an only child. There may be times when the child needs to have fun and the mom simply can't be the number one entertainment all day.
For us, the exception came when a child of ours was having a terrible time with school, friends and adolescence. We bought her a DS with a game and had her earn additional games with her grades. She was at a very low point and was really struggling. So we offered her some time after to school to use her DS every day and decompress. She sometimes chose to use it later on instead and that was fine.
We still didn't want her to be at the computer. One game at a time (while SO uncool!) was a precaution against over preoccupation.
Why am I so strict? Actually, if you know me, I'm the last person you'd call strict. We do parties and have a million friends over. The kids often stay up way past their bedtime and have built their own bonfires since they're 6.
But this topic is different. In this topic, I'm fighting for their neshama, for their souls and for their character. I need to be strict. And I know that when they grow a little older they will have more independence and will most likely make choices for themselves that have more flexibility to them. But it's my job to set standard in my house.
That's why if they're at a friend's house, I don't say a word about them not playing video games. They can and they do.
And if you walk into my house there's a nice likelihood that the kids will ask for your phone because they want to play games on it. I know its out there- but I'd like them to at least have consciousness about it.
Awhile back we bought $70 of toy figurines from the lovely family on a nearby army base. The toys were in such great condition, I had to ask the mother, "why doesn't your son want these?"She said, "Oh, he's bored with them, now he only plays video games." Her son was five!
And how much easier is it to take a family trip when the kids have their ears plugged and their hands busy. Ah - peace.
But at what price? At the price of memories, great laughs, pass back the Pringles! and car games. And kids pick the weirdest times to bring up important subjects, like right when you 're about to exit to your destination.
You want to be there for that moment.
You don't want to miss it as the child stuffs back in their earplugs (headphones) and stuffs the topic deep into his subconscious to fester and one day explode to the surface.
What do you let your kids see? How often? How much freedom do they have? That's for each parent do decide, but the main thing is to have a filter and or monitoring system. Also, I would challenge if anything beats reading a book.
A lot has been spoken about filters and they're really important, but as you can see what concerns us more is not just the content but the medium. There are only a few hours left to the day after the children come home from school. Those are our parenting hours. And I know it's hard, and I fall sometimes too, allowing more than I should, we really are all maxed out. But here's our big chance to build relationships, be present and teach them how to be present without needing an outside crutch.
How do my kids feel? Overall they understand what we're trying to do. They have varying amounts of frustration because computers are so much fun and they want a piece of the action!
It doesn't help that I'm on the computer so many nights! with maturity comes a deeper understanding. I would even dare to say that they occasionally feel lucky. The middle schoolers have the hardest time with our boundaries because it makes them significantly less cool - and that's tough.
But we're still chugging away. It's not easy. I call it barely holding on - there's not much out there that supports this. There are those who don't have internet at all, yes. But among those who do - I haven't heard any of this be much of a topic.
The actual detox reminds me of a trip I took long ago. I had to be out of the country with my three kids by myself for a month. I managed okay. I really thought I was doing great. But when I got home, I walked into my apartment and burst into tears. All that pent up emotion just burst through.
Our bodies, they manage - even when we're rough on them. But when we give them a break, when we stop masking thecompromised state - it bursts into tears. And out comes all the bad stuff.
my Diet Coke!
Its only now that I'm ready that I can make changes. And even now - I'm not fully open. I know that there are many levels of clean and healthful eating, but I'm taking it one step at a time.
What stuck with me from the video's that I watched (Fat, Sick and Nearly dead and Hungry For Change) was two bits of info that I had never really integrated.
First of all, the idea that every single fruit and vegetable has tremendous nutritional value. though I'm stating the obvious, it wasn't until I saw the vitamin chart that I realized that even something as light and humble as a piece of celery or an onion gives us so much. 
Thanks to all my Fb friends for your advice and encouragement!