Today is my Hebrew birthday. I was born 26th July, 1997; and as per the ancient Hebrew way of calculating days and seasons, it was the 21 Tammuz 5757. This day occurs this year on 10th July, 2023 aka the day that I upload this account.
In the year 2020, when covid hit the earth and the destined events ensued, it was when I discovered the roots and the beginnings of my faith. I started to find the answers to the many WHY's I had but received zero sensible responses from many people I once knew.
Like why do this, why not do that, etc. I started to discern spiritual things beyond this physical sphere.
It’s smoothly been roughly 3 years since I started on this walk with the Creator and I have gained perspective and understanding on certain very potent realities that exist as I live.
I thought it would be good to jot down a quick 26-point list of my gleanings that rocked or rolled my world after going back to keeping God's instructions in the Torah. My list is in no particular order of importance throughout, except the last one is the MOST important.
Stick till the end to find some personal snapshots of my day and a love-note worded very lovingly and thoughtfully by my awesome husband! That is at the very end, if you want to skip the long read, scroll to the end to see it.
Here I go.
1. Life is beyond the here and now. The choices you make are uber important. Don’t slack and take it for granted.
I came to discover that life is all about choices. I have complete control of making the choices involving ME — which means saying yes to what I find right and rejecting what I find wrong or amiss.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 JPS Tanakh 1985
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life—if you and your offspring would live— by loving HASHEM your God, heeding His commands, and holding fast to Him. For thereby you shall have life and shall long endure upon the soil that HASHEM swore to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them."
I don’t think we understand the importance of choices and the repercussions they hold to the life we lead and the people we become. We take it easy and slack on small stuff and this attitude slides into the important decisions we make and overall we lose touch of who we are and how it got this way.
But I found a way out. And that is to make the best choices I can. To follow a fixed blueprint that helps me know what’s in limits and what’s off, I follow the commandments of the written Torah in the first 5 Books of the Tanakh — The Law of God given through Moses — the charter that spells out the best way to live this earthly existence and thrive.
I think where most of us get discouraged along the way is that we feel that what’s the point of all this? Anyway there’s sorrow and pain and besides, let’s enjoy the here and now for who knows what tomorrow holds. At our time we anyway die and it's all finished…
But that is a faulty notion to hold. The earth is a test and how we perform determines our score and what becomes of us on the result day, which is the judgment day. On the basis of our performance we go to heaven or the underground, which is the Sheol in Hebrew.
Proverbs 23:17-18 JPS Tanakh 1917
"Let not thy heart envy sinners, But be in the fear of HASHEM all the day; For surely there is a future; And thy hope shall not be cut off."
2. In life, you cannot be on 2 boats. You will be pulled and stretched thin by both sides, leaving you nowhere but drowning in the end.
Choose your side and seize life. Otherwise you will cease living.
I made my pick. My husband has made his. We chose this life. We chose this path. We are not sorry.
Joshua 24: 15 JPS Tanakh 1985
“Now, therefore, revere HASHEM and serve Him with undivided loyalty; put away the gods that your forefathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve HASHEM. Or, if you are loath to serve HASHEM, choose this day which ones you are going to serve—the gods that your forefathers served beyond the Euphrates, or those of the Amorites in whose land you are settled; but I and my household will serve HASHEM.”
Being stuck in the middle of 2 beliefs is the worst thing you can do to yourself. Not having clarity of the vision of the road ahead can lead to fatality.
Don’t kid yourself or lie to yourself. Even worse, don’t try to please people who are as mortal as you are and who don’t always know better.
Proverbs 16: 25 JPS Tanakh 1985
"A road may seem right to a man, But in the end it is a road to death."
3. Life and Death, Good and Bad is all in the Creator's hand.
Isaiah 45:7 JPS Tanakh 1917
"I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am HASHEM, that does all these things."
It’s a simple truth yet tough to grapple with at times. It’s easy to accept that good things come from His throne. But, the bad things we can never attribute to Him lest we start to hate Him.
But we just don’t understand in our limited understanding and perceptions how He can even transform the bad stuff that happens to us to turn out for the good. How the end result is always perfection. Even though we don’t see it and understand it at all because it is so painful. It’s not easy to see it through.
But once you do, you know how He is great and amazing and how you were shortsighted and silly to assume the worst.
Isaiah 55:8 JPS Tanakh 1985
"For My plans are not your plans, Nor are My ways your ways —declares HASHEM. But as the heavens are high above the earth, So are My ways high above your ways, And My plans above your plans.
4. Don’t be afraid to go the unconventional route when the whole herd is heading swiftly to their own decimation. Make the choice to navigate the steering in a way it stays on track, lest you swerve your way towards destruction.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to not sway away from the way. I have come to witness firsthand that the path of truth is really very circumscribed. Many imposters and religions are invented to take me away from the undisputed and only truth.
Isaiah 30:9-11 JPS Tanakh 1985
"For it is a rebellious people, Faithless children, Children who refused to heed The instruction of HASHEM; Who said to the seers, “Do not see,” To the prophets, “Do not prophesy truth to us; Speak to us falsehoods, Prophesy delusions. Leave the way! Get off the path! Let us hear no more About the Holy One of Israel!”
I used to feel secure, borderline complacent, (when I did not actually see the message and judgments of the Torah), of the fact that there are 1 Billion people being “saved” under the covering of an unverified doctrine of "grace". Until I realized that is a different religion preaching a different message of polytheism, very unlike Judaism, but a poor and shoddy copy.
It’s only a remnant that’s always been preserved and after this groundbreaking awareness, I pay careful attention to my own ways and patterns to be on the path of Torah-truth and not be tricked into worshipping a man out of guilt and a Roman document 'claiming' to be Scripture. To then be delusional to think I’ll be saved if I go on sinning and not following the commandments of God in every act and intent.
Proverbs 16:2 JPS Tanakh 1985
"All the ways of a man seem right to him, But HASHEM probes motives."
5. Don’t make every move to expect a win. Yes, it’s important to win, but sometimes perceived losses are just temporary stepping stones to the big win that’s coming for you.
Losing is subjective. Many moves you make may look like setbacks and losses to the ones on the outside and to your opponents.
But if you stick strong to the path and maintain your strong character, even the worst losses that should’ve taken you out will turn itself around and be a badge of your victory in time to come.
Let your competitors celebrate. They’ll be in for a rude awakening when you are on the peak of the mountain looking down at their shoddy attempt of celebrating too soon and their expressions will be worth capturing!
Psalms 37:12-16 JPS Tanakh 1985
"The wicked man schemes against the righteous, and gnashes his teeth at him. HASHEM laughs at him, for He knows that his day will come. The wicked draw their swords, bend their bows, to bring down the lowly and needy, to slaughter upright men. Their swords shall pierce their own hearts, and their bows shall be broken. Better the little that the righteous man has than the great abundance of the wicked."
6. Value the ones inside. Don’t care too much about the ones on the outside. Be human, be fair, but don’t be cataclysmic by petting snakes and expecting to not be stung by their venom. Let the snakes be where they are, in their holes, leaking venom and you stay where you are, in shalom.
It took me a good while to get accustomed to knowing who’s for me and who’s not. Who belongs on the inside to eat at my table and who deserves to be kicked down the staircase.
As harsh as it may sound, I saw how many people were very clear about the insiders and outsiders in their lives. They displayed that through their behavior, prioritizing their close ones and treating as second-class citizens the ones whom they considered outsiders.
When I say insiders and outsiders, I mean:
Insiders — The ones who are truly loyal to you no matter what. The ones who will never speak a word against you in your absence. The ones who know your heart. The ones who stand by you when life is tough. The ones who are always there, in the good times, and most importantly in the bad ones. The ones whose heart is clean and right with you, who love you and wish to see you win, grow and exceed in your life.
Outsiders — The ones who hate your guts. The ones who would want to see you perish completely, forget the wins and the ups. The ones who would annihilate you themselves if they could. The ones who hate your autonomy and free choice. The ones who cannot stand your viewpoints and shudder at the thought of you gaining something valuable that they think ‘could’ve’ been theirs. The ones who will always be on any team that’s opposite you.
As you can read, the insiders are the good guys. The loyal and trustworthy.
On the other hand, the bad guys wish nothing but death for you. But that’s not even the worst part.
What’s worse is that they will FEIGN and PRETEND to be on the inside, wishing the best for you, when in reality, all they want to do is gather your weaknesses and keep you confused if they’re for you or not. Whereas they are clear about their intentions all along.
My husband Joel and I take an unwavering stand on this one by keeping the ones inside close and the ones outside far from us, never to see them again. And that's our choice and it’s serving us pretty well rather than some half-hearted fake show to put on smiles and hugs while your heart is to compete and kill.
Hypocrisy is what we detest.
You’ll be called "evil" and "selfish" for drawing the boundary lines up and clear, but who cares? You’ll be dead if you don’t.
Leviticus 20:26 JPS Tanakh 1985
"You shall be holy to Me, for I HASHEM am holy, and I have set you apart from other peoples to be Mine."
7. The 26k gold and silver is great, but value wisdom and understanding over everything. It doesn’t come with a price tag; but I can tell you it's priceless.
I got this one from the invaluable words of King Solomon who was wealthier than the richest billionaires we know today.
Proverbs 8:10-11 JPS Tanakh 1985
"Accept my discipline rather than silver, Knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; No goods can equal her."
I used to be a materialist and I still like to have things that make my life easier but time and again I try to keep myself in check so that my life does not become about these things. In the pursuit of wisdom is the way of life.
8. Make the best choice you can at any given point. The outcome if it’s the right choice is not up to you. You’re responsible to make the best choice you can, not the right one.
It’s tough to make decisions. Especially when we are overwhelmed to make the right one.
But ancient Jewish wisdom has helped me with this one.
“I am to make the best choice I can, not the right one. I’ll never know the outcome of every choice. But I can rest knowing I chose the best choice I could and leave the rest to the Almighty to decide the end.”
This makes the process of making choices easier and cuts out the anxiety and stress.
Proverbs 9:10 JPS Tanakh 1985
"The beginning of wisdom is fear of HASHEM, And knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
9. Know your value, weigh what you bring to the table with an honest estimation, and don’t ever settle for anything below that.
Be honest about your worth and the skills you possess. Don’t settle for just about anything that’s thrown your way.
The people who have made it big did not get there by licking every sole of every shoe to be where they are now.
You have to know your worth. No one will tell it to you. There’ll be plenty to demotivate you and undervalue you. But no one will push you up.
Know how valuable an asset you are and reject anything and everything how many ever times to not accept that false truth being projected onto you.
I Samuel 17:42-47 JPS Tanakh 1985
"When the Philistine caught sight of David, he scorned him, for he was but a boy, ruddy and handsome. And the Philistine called out to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods; and the Philistine said to David, “Come here, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.” David replied to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come against you in the name of HASHEM of Hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day HASHEM will deliver you into my hands. I will kill you and cut off your head; and I will give the carcasses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. All the earth shall know that there is a God in Israel. And this whole assembly shall know that HASHEM can give victory without sword or spear. For the battle is HASHEM’s, and He will deliver you into our hands.”
King David knew himself. Even more, he knew His God. He did not stay quiet and listen to the yapping of Goliath.
He silenced Goliaths vain babblings with his cutting through words of nothing but the honest truth, and eventually the slingshot in his skull and the victory was his and Israel’s.
The naysayers will speak a lot of high and mighty things trying to speak defeat and a contrary truth into your mind.
Silence them with the truth. Like King David.
Proverbs 22:29 JPS Tanakh 1985
"See a man skilled at his work— He shall attend upon kings; He shall not attend upon obscure men."
10. Chase the good things in life. For me, it’s the pearls of Torah.
This one needs no explanation. The Torah is the charter we follow to live our lives to avoid confusion and perversion as we exist. We find the commandments beautiful and sensible in every way and as we live this way, it becomes clearer as to why King David loved the Torah so much and how he kept his wayward heart to stay in the chase of God's own heart by following each and every word of the Torah.
Psalms 119:4-35 JPS Tanakh 1985
"You have commanded that Your precepts be kept diligently. Would that my ways were firm in keeping Your laws; then I would not be ashamed when I regard all Your commandments. I will praise You with a sincere heart as I learn Your just rules. I will keep Your laws; do not utterly forsake me. How can a young man keep his way pure?— by holding to Your word. I have turned to You with all my heart; do not let me stray from Your commandments. In my heart I treasure Your promise; therefore I do not sin against You. Blessed are You, O HASHEM; train me in Your laws. With my lips I rehearse all the rules You proclaimed. I rejoice over the way of Your decrees as over all riches. I study Your precepts; I regard Your ways; I take delight in Your laws; I will not neglect Your word. Deal kindly with Your servant, that I may live to keep Your word. Open my eyes, that I may perceive the wonders of Your teaching. I am only a sojourner in the land; do not hide Your commandments from me. My soul is consumed with longing for Your rules at all times. You blast the accursed insolent ones who stray from Your commandments. I have declared my way, and You have answered me; train me in Your laws. Make me understand the way of Your precepts, that I may study Your wondrous acts. I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set Your rules before me. Give me understanding, that I may observe Your teaching and keep it wholeheartedly. Lead me in the path of Your commandments, for that is my concern."
FYI, Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm in the Book of Psalms and it is about the Law (Torah) from start to finish. A poetic delight by King David.
It’s good to like the good things money can buy. But to attain the actual storehouse of the loot called wisdom (which is unparalleled by far) is only upto the Father and the ones He chooses and sets apart.
It’s good to use your time to build on your skills to take on the world. But what’s best is to lead life in a way to constantly pursue timeless wisdom. Wisdom that doesn’t change with the advent of every new invention and advancement.
It’s a sure foundation to those who trust in it.
Wisdom will guide you when all the worldly know-how you squabbled for will fail. A strong a reliable fortress and a timeless shield with no chinks.
Proverbs 3:1-7 JPS Tanakh 1985
"My son, do not forget my teaching, But let your mind retain my commandments; For they will bestow on you length of days, Years of life and well-being. Let fidelity and steadfastness not leave you; Bind them about your throat, Write them on the tablet of your mind, And you will find favor and approbation In the eyes of God and man. Trust in HASHEM with all your heart, And do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths smooth. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear HASHEM and shun evil."
11. In all certainty, pledging to speak the truth. There’s no magician and there’s no magic in higher spheres of life.
Darkness brings for many crafty tales and trifles, called the occult. Need for forbidden knowledge and wisdom other than the Torah is the reason death was brought into the earth.
Its the fallacious desire for the wrong thing, getting you to speed your car off the cliff, into the abyss of bondage.
In higher realms of light and truth there’s no mystical power greater than obedience. It’s as basic and benign as it sounds. Not obedience to a tyrannical regime, but to the Creator by obeying His instruction, and doing as He says. But it’s definitely going to require the will of an ox to hold strong on the path to obeying the right thing.
Surviving the path with all its snakes and scorpions may be likened with a miracle or magic as you may call it, but its not impossible, and it is surely rewarding.
It's trust and faith in the ways of the Most High through and through. The occult is weak, relying on it is a sure shot way to be disconnected from the Creator. It may work for the moment, but the whole point is to not disobey the Creator. The dark powers don't save.
Deuteronomy 29:29 JPS Tanakh 1985
"Concealed acts concern HASHEM our God; but with overt acts, it is for us and our children ever to apply all the provisions of this Teaching."
12. Cherish the happy times. They last as long as the rainbow in the sky after a good shower. Live every moment of it unapologetically and unabashedly, look, the rainbow’s already fading…
As you live life, there will be many good times. But many bad ones arrive to cloud your joy.
So, when you have a good time, don’t stop for no one and don’t feel guilty or sorry for being grateful and enjoying your blessings. It’s the portion of your cup. Enjoy it to the fullest.
Ecclesiastes 5:17 JPS Tanakh 1985
"Only this, I have found, is a real good: that one should eat and drink and get pleasure with all the gains he makes under the sun, during the numbered days of life that God has given him; for that is his portion."
13. The bad times last longer. Or at least it feeeeeels longer because we don’t have tolerance for discomfort and unfamiliarity. Don’t sulk, don’t grumble, it’s showing blatant disrespect and ingratitude to the Creator who shows you some pretty awesome rainbows too.
Numbers 14:27 JPS Tanakh 1985
“How much longer shall that wicked community keep muttering against Me? Very well, I have heeded the incessant muttering of the Israelites against Me."
The bad times often cause us to fret, grumble and murmur words of entitlement.
It must not be so.
The Creator does not like grumbling and complaining. And yet falling prey to this attitude is something we all are susceptible to.
When I grumble, what I am doing is essentially showing that the Creator is not in control — that I am not in approval of the cards I am dealt. When we have unshakeable confidence in the Father (Hebrew: Bitachon), our bad circumstances will never determine our mood or mindset. Our confidence is in Him and He will not leave us to our end but will be with us through it.
Ecclesiastes 7:14 JPS Tanakh 1985
"So in a time of good fortune enjoy the good fortune; and in a time of misfortune, reflect: The one no less than the other was God’s doing; consequently, man may find no fault with Him."
14. Use your time wisely. Don’t procrastinate. It takes just 20 minutes or less to get done with washing all of the utensils.
I am innately a lazy person. I can succumb to endless scroll sessions on my phone. I can laze around putting off work that I need to take care of to maintain order.
I wish to get better at it. I will constantly push myself and I know that showing up daily and doing the same things will soon settle and become second nature and a habit that’s here to stay.
Proverbs 6:6-11 JPS Tanakh 1985
"Lazybones, go to the ant; Study its ways and learn. Without leaders, officers, or rulers, It lays up its stores during the summer, Gathers in its food at the harvest. How long will you lie there, lazybones; When will you wake from your sleep? A bit more sleep, a bit more slumber, A bit more hugging yourself in bed, And poverty will come calling upon you, And want, like a man with a shield."
15. Take your time to discover what you’re good at. What you’re world class at. What sets you apart from the rest. What you can do with your eyes shut and still win by a margin. And then work to improve and get better at that.
Don’t cheat yourself short of the process. You’re living this life for the first time. It’s okay to go slow and to know yourself and find yourself. Show up everyday and see where you can contribute best to the rest of your fellow humans and do that.
If you won’t excel at something and be happy, it won’t matter if there’s boatloads of cash on that path, it will never fulfill.
Try to be a worthy asset wherever you choose to contribute and to the ones who feel stuck at their work, try to make your existing roles more exciting and try to bring life into that. Constantly seek to improve your surroundings and circumstances and satisfaction will follow.
Keep building on your skills. Grow your talents. Expand your horizons. Widen your reach. Don’t stagnate. Do well for yourself, you just have this life. Work to make it shine.
Take this encouragement and search for ways to make your life better. Do anything that will bring you contentment — be it finding yourself a partner, getting married, starting a new venture, learning a new hobby.
I once read an interesting thing. It said that in the Hebrew language, there is no word for ‘retirement’ and when there’s no word for it, it’s a concept or idea that doesn’t exist. And that’s pretty cool. You don’t need to reach an age and then press the brakes.
You can go on and on until you can and that doesn’t have to mean work. It can mean anything you want it to mean.
Invest in yourself. Stay committed to growing.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 JPS Tanakh 1985
"A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven..."
16. Hard work is subjective. Most people work very hard and yet are the lowest in the pyramid, that is unfortunate. But you do your best and don’t sweat it. Sometimes it’s okay to take it easy.
Life is tough for us in this era of technological boom. It was tough in the ancient days, and it’s tough now.
Put in your best work in the hours of your work schedule and then switch off to the important elements of your life — nurturing your family, nurturing yourself. It’s necessary for a good and healthy life and mindset.
Proverbs 23:4-5 JPS Tanakh 1985
"Do not toil to gain wealth; Have the sense to desist. You see it, then it is gone; It grows wings and flies away, Like an eagle, heavenward."
We call it the "work-love balance" and our fun visual rendering for it can be viewed — here <
17. Speaking of which, the Sabbath day is stressfully important. Ironic that it involves no stress on that day. It’s a treat. A gift from the Father to His children. A luxurious little every week vacation where He meets with us. A day that rejuvenates and charges up the batteries for an uphill battle the following week.
Almost all of the world follows the current Gregorian calendar and takes their holidays on Sunday. They have different holidays and festivals, but it’s not so for us who follow Torah.
We strictly follow only the feast days of Hashem stated in Leviticus 23, and the Sabbath is one such feast which comes every week to greet us.
On this day we refrain from all forms of regular work — be it household work, business and work talks and activities, cooking to a great extent, washing clothes, just about anything regular you do on a normal day. We completely rest and spend the time with our families and soak in Torah study and get ample rest for the week to come, which begins on Sunday for us, the day we work the hardest.
Saturday is the seventh day even as per the secular Gregorian calendar, and Sunday is the first day of the week.
The imposter religion states the Sabbath day has been changed to Sunday, but that is a blatant deviation from the truth, only so they can worship the sun on that day.
So, as for us, we keep the Sabbath in our home on Friday evening at sunset to the sunset of Saturday evening, as it was meant to be kept. It’s a beautiful day and we cherish it so much that all our worldly commitments go off on that day and we go into our shells of rest, only to show up and perform harder for the remaining days.
Exodus 31: 16-17 JPS Tanakh 1985
"The Israelite people shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout the ages as a covenant for all time: it shall be a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel. For in six days HASHEM made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and was refreshed."
18. If you don’t believe in something, don’t hesitate for a moment to take a stand against it. Boldly and unapologetically. You have your free will. Use it wisely.
In life, there will be many times when you feel tempted to cheat yourself of your personal charter and values. Where you’ll feel compelled to compromise or else there’ll be no other way…Many will take it upon themselves to get you to submit and fall behind the very things you don't want to, out of your own free choice.
But bowing down in the face of an oppressive megalomaniacal tyrant or a controlling narcissistic entity is never the answer. Most times they will act victimized like you did them wrong by choosing to take a stance contrary to theirs.
For us, when we came to know the truth of the Abrahamic faith, Judaism, after the Father showed it to us, we sat down and researched. We were born in catholic households and so we came to read up about the entire history of how the catholic church came about, the past events of the 1st century world, the Byzantine empire, the unwarranted hate of the church and endless persecutions and crimes towards the Jewish people, the great misdeeds of Constantine, the formation of the catholic religion and their statement of faith and ideals.
For us, it screamed ONE BIG CONFUSION CRAFTED to take into captivity the regular masses and their gullibility of not knowing what the Tanakh said. It shouted a money-hogging machinery that looked to benefit itself on the grounds of capitalizing on emotions like 'guilt' and mint money better than the best note-minting factory.
It invented its own doctrines. Pushed the inerrant Word of God to the side. Made Jesus to be the poster boy for lawlessness and liberty. Made the Pope the star of the show preceding God. Gave priests the title of 'fathers'. Replaced Israel with the ‘church’. Pushed aside Torah observances to promote the worship of Mary and the saints. Nibbled their way into people’s pockets through guilt-laden sermons and pulpit speeches that lacked any iota of truth. Added to the murders and rapes of not just adults, but children by the very corrupt portion of the church. And above all, rip off the story of the Tanakh and recreate their own fables and brand it as "new" to attempt to dispossess the actual and only Truth (Tanakh).
This "pulpit of pedophilia" calls you to be an "altar-server" and then molests you and upon raising your voice as an innocent young lad neutralizes the matter by cutting shady deals with your household.
All these things we could not ignore and we had to take a stance to step aside from this 'faith' we were born into, because it just did not make any sense and we did not want to willfully go against the Father and face His wrath. It was just our personal choice after what we read and personally experienced in the institutions.
Boldly and firmly stepping away is what we chose to do.
Making our stance clear as to why we would not have any part with the corrupt portion of the church, and the church altogether, alongside any religious institution not standing for the true message of the Tanakh, to not be joined to their destruction - because to all wickedness there is an end. Brutality, corruption, murder, rapes, pedophilia, lies, deceit, thievery under the guise of righteousness will be condemned by the ones who can see past this lying and stealing machinery and all we can do is speak our truth and not contribute a penny more to the money plates of beads and baubles.
Jeremiah 51:45 JPS Tanakh 1985
"Depart from there, O My people, Save your lives, each of you, From the furious anger of HASHEM."
19. Sometimes you don’t need 4 lemons, but you need to squeeze a single lemon properly. Make the most out of this concept called Singularity.
As I said, it angers me how the corrupt portion of the church has outlandishly robbed the Jewish Tanakh and forged their way in, to make it sound 'appealing and liberal' to the extent that it is a different message altogether now, which somehow always ends up accusing the Jews killing their guy.
They have taken the liberty to re-brand the Jewish Tanakh and called it "old", only to go ahead and overthrow the monotheism that the Tanakh holds to, to worship a line-up of humans, or pseudo-gods by added fables to the end of the book.
Other than the Tanakh, I view everything else as confusing archives of tales in the scribbled journals of a select-few imaginative, crafty crooks with a costume.
I mention this only and solely because the catholic church holds to the Tanakh (atleast an edited manuscript of it), alongside the extra-terrestrial monologues as their principle charter and monotheism as the crux of their faith but preaches everything contrary to it.
Deuteronomy 4:2 JPS Tanakh 1985
"You shall not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, but keep the commandments of HASHEM your God that I enjoin upon you."
20. I reckon that the truth is sharper when my words are blunt. The truth is preeminent, nothing comes a close second.
I speak the sharp and cutting truth, as does my husband, because we would rather have it that someone would’ve told it to us, and it would’ve saved us so much of our time and money and the showing up every Sunday as gullible kids.
I’m not buying anyone trying to sell me on some fictitious fables of lunacy. I know the truth and I know where I stand. For me, truth is Torah and practicing its commands. I'm long gone away from my old traditions that I was born into; I’m never coming back.
Psalms 119:158-160 JPS Tanakh 1985
"I have seen traitors and loathed them, because they did not keep Your word in mind. See that I have loved Your precepts; O HASHEM, preserve me, as befits Your steadfast love. Truth is the essence of Your word; Your just rules are eternal."
21. Throw away the garb, unapologetically
Garb is our household slang for anything we consider garbage.
At the beginning of covid, we went on a garb hunt in our house to look for harmful toxic substances that were making their way into our bodies stealthily. (Read Me, Myself and Aisle and Conglomerate Poking Fun to know about what we threw out of our lives)
We threw out so many things that could potentially harm us and were not necessarily the best choices to consume or have anything to do with. From toothpaste to instant noodles, we threw out so many illicit substances and now we can safely say we are mindful about most things, little or major.
Through this course, we also stumbled upon how the Torah forbids the people of God to eat certain kinds of unclean meat — like pig, shrimp, prawn, lobster, crab, etc. — and how they also had to exit our lives and our kitchens for GOOD.
Most of this meat we anyway did not fancy or like, so it was easy to throw it out of our lives, but we realized how obedience to God counts in every matter. From what we eat to how we dress up; it all matters a lot.
Throwing out these substances was good enough to show obedience, but it also gives us a better chance to be safe from a host of scary diseases that research shows eating of swine meat opens a person up to.
A diet in accordance with Torah is a blessing.
Deuteronomy 14:8 JPS Tanakh 1985
"Also the swine—for although it has true hoofs, it does not bring up the cud—is unclean for you. You shall not eat of their flesh or touch their carcasses."
22. You cannot lose something that’s meant for you. What has to come your way will make its way to you, regardless of the blockages.
In life, it’s normal to win some and lose some.
Everyone’s great at winning. But in the course of losing, we tend to become bitter. But I came to find that what’s meant for me will make its way to me in ways mysterious. What’s meant to leave, will grow wings and fly away if it’s meant to be that way.
This gives me assurance and surety that I can never lose out on something that had to be mine, and I cannot control what’s not to be with me.
It eases my anxiety and makes me less stressed about making choices and decisions.
Proverbs 3:5-6 JPS Tanakh 1985
"Trust in HASHEM with all your heart, And do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths smooth."
23. Do not envy what someone else has. You don’t know a thing about their journey. Let them enjoy their wins and joys, you wait for what’s yours. Don’t covet, be jealous or be in want. Desire can kill. Wait for your turn, you have plenty to be grateful for.
Exodus 20:14 JPS Tanakh 1985
"You shall not covet your neighbor’s house: you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female slave, or his ox or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s."
There is a common thing among men. The prosperity of another causes a fire of envy and jealousy in the chest of another.
It’s like when you win, you’ve wronged someone else by taking it away from them. Like it could’ve been theirs but now you took it and it’s yours.
It’s a faulty mindset and it’s a petty thought.
I discovered through ancient Jewish wisdom that when you envy what someone else has — their position, their things, their status, etc., what you are essentially doing is telling God that He made a mistake, that you should’ve gotten it and God doesn’t know what He’s doing by giving it to the person you’re envious of.
It’s not trusting God to know best and not taking what is allotted to you and going your way. Rather camping up on someone’s else’s threshold to steal what’s been given them.
Absolute trust in God is when we accept the goods and the bads from God's hand with cheer and not look at what does not belong to us.
If your neighbor has a sports car, and you like it, you can definitely be motivated to go get the car for yourself by working hard. But lustfully just coveting what belongs to him and have what’s his for yourself is coveting.
Proverbs 27:4 JPS Tanakh 1985
"There is the cruelty of fury, the overflowing of anger, But who can withstand jealousy?”
24. The tags and labels don’t become true if they’re hurled at you repeatedly non-stop by unreliable witnesses.
As I navigated my life to adapt to my new beliefs, there were a bunch of entities that came about trying to spew their venom of lies, weaving their webs of deceit, afraid of the power leaving their loosening grips. They slandered me mercilessly, called me "evil" and "unsound" and a lot of other tags they invented out of their pocket of myths and fables; made me to be something I was not and threw muck at my image by saying contrary things to the truth of what I was actually doing.
I believe every individual lives once. And they owe it to themselves to discover the truth firsthand and experience life on their own. Taking shade in the already grown banyan trees of their ancestry is good if they have the right beliefs which are grounded in truth, but if not, if things are not seeming right, an individual owes it to themselves to get out and see what’s the truth and get answers.
If I have to hang on this bogus curtain of superficiality and pretentious behaviors and tear it down on my way to the Truth, to expose its true wickedness, covert aggression and narcissistic abuse, then I'll do that with a little bit of a laughter.
It does not matter if others agree to what you believe or have come to find. If they don’t, they can continue to do their thing, and you do yours. Don’t settle under the pretext of guilt and tradition to live a life that’s paralyzing to you.
The tags and labels are not true. What the Father has to say about you will matter on the Last Day. Work towards that.
If everyone is walking each other home to death and destruction, you can choose to walk alone on a path of Torah truth, whose end is rivers and streams of life.
Always choose life. You have your own free will. Don't be sorry.
Psalms 1:1-4 JPS Tanakh 1985
"Happy is the man who has not followed the counsel of the wicked, or taken the path of sinners, or joined the company of the insolent; rather, the teaching of HASHEM is his delight, and he studies that teaching day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, whose foliage never fades, and whatever it produces thrives. Not so the wicked; rather, they are like chaff that wind blows away."
25. Uphold the WHOLE truth. You cannot hold one card up as ammunition to win when you have discarded all the other ones in the bin.
You gotta take the whole bag of truth and get going; and if not, leave the bag behind. Don’t dig in to take what’s profitable to you whilst leaving the apparently valueless stuff behind. That’s not smart, that’s just convenient and such an approach lacks any mettle to withstand.
For instance — you cannot hold up a card of “Honor your father and mother” to win an argument, and not keep the rest of the commandments which precede and follow it. You cannot hold up the "Sunday Sabbath" and alter the actual day of observance and disregard the first 2 commandments to not worship ANY detestable idol.
Uphold Torah fully. As you sow, so shall you reap.
Deuteronomy 8:2 JPS Tanakh 1985
"Remember the long way that HASHEM your God has made you travel in the wilderness these past forty years, that He might test you by hardships to learn what was in your hearts: whether you would keep His commandments or not."
26. Above all, honor the Father in ALL that you do, or don’t do. The way to honor him is to be obedient to His instructions as He stated for all His people — Israel, in the pages of Torah.
All His commandments are true. All His commandments stand. They will all see perfect fulfillment when the Heavenly Jerusalem is here, with the absolute rule of heaven, the Father and King of all, HASHEM.
Deuteronomy 10:12-15 JPS Tanakh 1985
"And now, O Israel, what does HASHEM your God demand of you?
Only this: to revere HASHEM your God, to walk only in His paths, to love Him, and to serve HASHEM your God with all your heart and soul, keeping HASHEM's commandments and laws, which I enjoin upon you today, for your good."
And that brings my list to an end.
I am fully aware of the fact that the letter does sound brutal and harsh in some areas — but that is the nature of truth — it cuts, it stings, it pains, but it’s what it is — No pretentiousness, no sugar-coating. Just the plain, simple truth as it is.
To live in a lie, as though it were truth, is like a gullible attempt at driving in darkness, at high octane speeds, expecting to not ram into a pole or a tree of the very false doctrine thudding down on to your very car.
Your car is your mind, drive with your headlights on, through the darkness and navigate with precision!
Here are some photos to mark this day in the photographic journal of my life. Enjoy the slideshow of memories by swiping right on the black arrow as you go!
And here is the poem written by the very charming, very talented, very awesomely gifted man, of the Most High — Joel, whom I am so happy to have as my husband, my crusading partner through life.
L’ Chaim 🥂
Birthday note
Like a love note
An endearing ease to my throat
A woman of poise and endurance
A beauteous pioneer to the Zecharyah cohort.
Like a patient lover
A chef with magical hands
So many delicacies plated,
A dazzling smile that has fans.
A meticulous eye
Like the needle to the thread
This great finesse at everything she does
Is definitely not limited to bread!
A talent house for a wife
My partner-in-crime
A no-brainer to be with her for life
Seizing many Forts in time.
Happiest 26 Hebrew Birthday to my pretty woman!
Cheers, To building a family together and never giving up!
🎂 🎉 🎉 ❤🥰
Once again, if you haven't watched my birthday video, click here <