Kickoff to Elul!

Here's an article to get you thinking about TESHUVA!!!!!!


There are three Hebrew synonyms: "Selichah," "Mechilah," and "Kapparah," all related to the idea of "forgiveness." What does each mean?
"Selichah," usually translated as "forgiveness" is the first step which must be taken if someone has committed a sin, whether it be against G-d or against Man. To ask for forgiveness is to say to the "injured" party, "I am sorry for what I did; I sincerely regret having done it, and I will never do it again." The appropriate response to this request is to believe that the petitioner is sincere and "open the door" for him or her to "come in." A person who refuses to do this is considered a cruel person.
Man blowing shofar and Kotel background adapted from a painting by Michel Schwartz.


"Mechilah," usually translated as "wiping away" is the response to the request "Can we put our relationship back on the level which it was on before I sinned against you?" A positive response to this is difficult, but within the G-dly powers given the human being, and is required.
"Kapparah," is usually translated as "atonement," as in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This is the response to the person who says, "My conscience will not let me live with myself, because of what I did to you and to our relationship." To respond positively to this is beyond human capacity. It is only G-d Who can reach inside a person and say "Be comforted." "Kapparah" is the climax of this three-part process, and is accomplished on Yom Kippurim.
1."Tomer Devorah" is a work by Rabbi Moshe Cordovero on the Attributes of G-d.

MAY YOU BE BLESSED WITH SUCCESSFUL TESHUVA!

Enjoy the Last Days of Summer!

Ah, those lazy days of summer - well, not for long! For those of you who are Shabbat-observant, you may have noticed that Shabbat is getting earlier again! What a year - we have been through so much together. For me, this must have been the fastest year of my life - shouldn't it be about May right now?

Well, for those of you who are still operating as if you just stowed away those cozy sweaters, WAKE UP! Time to squeeze the last juicy moments out of summer before we break out the stew recipes again.

If you joined me for my last show, Making the Most of Summer's End, you may have wondered where you can find all that great info on Halacha (Jewish law) pertaining to traveling (yes, there is Jewish law on this, too!). Visit the great people at Chabad.org for all the answers.

"But Malkah", you say, "I was so caught up with everything going on in Israel this summer, I don't have the time or resources to go on a big fancy trip - how can I provide some summer fun for the kids in the days before school starts."

Well, I sympathize. So here's a list of tips for providing a day of memorable summer fun for the little ones, courtesy of KidsDomain.com. Organize something just for your kids, for your extended family, for the whole neighborhood, or for your community center or synagogue:

Send them on a scavenger hunt. Your child can do this activity alone, with a friend or in teams, says Lisa Hall, director of the Eastern Start School Age Program in Oriskany, N.Y. Give your child a list of items to find in nature, such as a rock, dandelion, leaf or something a bird would eat. Have the kids draw pictures of what they find and finish the hunt by tallying up how many things they ticked off the list.

Chalk it up to fun. An inexpensive box of colored chalk can keep the kids busy for hours. Have younger kids draw pictures on the sidewalk or driveway. For the older children, try a game of Tic Tac Toe or hopscotch: draw a hopscotch pattern with eight squares. Players toss a marker (try a stone or button) into a square and then hop over it on one foot.

Bet on bug races. See how many critters the kids can spot—without actually picking them up--in the backyard for a short time period, such as five minutes, says Penny Warner, author of Kids Outdoor Parties (Meadowbrook Press). “Add up how many bugs they see and give them a sketch pad to sketch as many as they can. Then have them share their artwork.”

Knock ’em over with backyard bowling. Find household items that will tumble over easily, such as empty cereal boxes, empty soda cans and small stuffed toys and align them in a row like bowling pins, suggests Warner. Then, using a smaller ball for older kids and a bigger ball for the young ones, have the children roll the ball. They score a point for each object they knock down.

Play Kick the Can. A variation on Hide and Seek, this game works best with at least three kids. One person is designated “it” and will guard the “can” (an empty coffee can or ball) which is set in an open space. While the other players hide, the “it” counts to 20 (or higher) and then tries to find and tag the other players. If captured, players must go to “jail”. Any player who hasn’t been caught can run in and kick the can, setting all of the captured players free. If the “it” finds everyone, he wins the game.

Create an outdoor canvas. Hang an old sheet on a clothesline or tape paper to a fence for your budding artist to paint on. Encourage them to try painting with different kinds of brushes, says Warner. “Try dipping grass into paint and swishing it on paper, then try painting with a leaf or a twig. The kids can also try painting rocks and creating little people or bugs with them.”

Host a mini-Olympics. Get the kids competing in running and wheelbarrow races, obstacle courses, water balloon tosses and jumping competitions, suggests Hall. Finish off the fun with a mini-Olympic awards ceremony to honour all of the athletes. Buy medals at the local dollar store or make your own with construction paper, coloured pencils and string.

Now just whip up a pitcher of margaritas, gather the rest of the moms, and EVERYONE is having the best day-long summer vacation ever!

Little Ways to Fix the World

Well, it seems that the cease-fire in Israel is on. While some people may see this is a good thing (hey - who likes war?), I see this is a complete disaster and a miserable failure on the part of our government. UN resolution 1701 will rebuild Lebanon, not disarm Hizbullah, and will place Lebanese troops and Europeans on the border of Israel to "protect us" (gee, I feel so safe). If I were a resident of the North, I might consider selling my house - who could return home to the safety of a Hizbullah "promise" not to fire rockets?

ARGH!!!!

The first piece of advice in relationship to this news would be to BOMBARD the Prime Minister's office, and the offices of all his cronies in the cabinet and in the Knesset, demanding that they resign - what a travesty they have wrought on our country.

The second piece of advice is that we just can't control everything. I know this isn't a revolutionary and original piece of advice, but sometimes we just have to suffice with our limited realm of influence. In Judaism, we understand that acts of kindness, goodness and friendship, can affect more than just our immediate surroundings - they can indeed lift up the situation of the entire Jewish people, of the entire world!

With that in mind, those of you who are depressed about the situation in Israel and who feel a little bit ineffective and small at the moment, consider taking a different tack, and affecting Israel through private acts of kindness. Here are some tips on being a good neighbor from the wonderful magazine, Family Circle:

• Be quirky. Out-of-the-ordinary ideas, like a Baltimore neighborhood's annual croquet tournament, often draw people out of their shells. "Afterward, we drink champagne punch, nibble on finger food and chicken kabobs, and schmooze," says Mary Medland. Try this similar idea: Spread a mini-golf game throughout your neighborhood, with a different hole on each person's front lawn.
• Write a newsletter worth reading. Include city-related news that affects your neighborhood, discuss projects everyone can be involved in, promote a House of the Month, etc. Include classifieds (free, of course) for everything from items for sale to baby-sitting services.
• Always say hello. In the post office, grocery store or as people drive by your house, a quick smile and nod to strangers builds bonds. "We all long to connect with people and be valued in life. It helps us think, I have meaning here, I have a place here," says Leslie Levine, author of Will This Place Ever Feel Like Home? (Contemporary Books).
• When Judi Kirkwood's son was unexpectedly hospitalized for a few weeks, her Madison, Wisconsin, neighbors decided to mow her lawn all summer. "They wanted us to have one less thing to worry about," she says.
• Find a buddy. Ask the woman who always jogs by if she'd like company a few mornings a week -- you'll make a friend and get fit at the same time.

Sometimes we can't affect the big things as much as we'd like. But if we focus on the little things, maybe soon, we'll notice big changes. With G-d's help!!

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!

Well folks, I've donated the very best of everything that I have to the war effort in the Land of Israel:







My husband, Yishai. Please pray for the safe and healthy return of YISHAI YAAKOV ben TZIONA. May Hashem bless him with courage and might, protection and life, for him and for all of our Jewish brothers who have put themselves in harm's way for the Jewish people. AMEN!