Welcome to Pantufla-Pillowpharm...The Blog!: November 2014

Day 2, Rosh Hashanah, and Beyond....

We last left off, Niel and I went to the hotel and zonked out. The bad news is that it was only 8pm local time, so we both woke up at 2am...then again at 4am...then again at 7am. The good news is we didn't have much to do other than sleep and eat until Rosh Hashanah starts in the evening.

SO! What's for breakfast? Glad you asked. Let's mosey on down to the dining area to see what's available.

If you love dairy, you'll love Israel. Their fat percentages are in the odd numbers (3% milk, 5% milk). The moo juice is yummy in coffee. If you notice the little parfait styled cups, these delicious treats are called FROOP. It's Israeli yogurt with the unmixed fruit on top. I am addicted to this stuff, specifically the Peach/Passion Fruit Froop. They don't have it here in the States. If you find it, let me know ASAP!!!!!

Here is our daily breakfast. Starting from bottom left going clockwise: Froop, bowl of Tuna (the fish was oily and salty kinda like and anchovy...delish) and Green Olives. The containers are Roasted Eggplant in Spicy Tomato Sauce, Dolmas, Lemons, Hummus, Beets, sliced Oranges, slice of Marble Cake, piece of toast (the butter is to DIE FOR), hard boiled Egg and Tomato/Cucumber salad.

Now I will demonstrate how to make a Israeli "Vegetarian" breakfast wrap.

First take some...(wait for it)...HUMMUS and schmear...

Then take some Israeli salad, or as they call it in Israel, "salad" and ploop some pieces onto the Hummus...Hummus is the food mason's mortar.

Take the ends of the Chicken or Turkey breast, fold at the top, then inhale. I know I wrote it was "Vegetarian", but I never said it was Vegan :p

After breakfast, we took another snooze. As you'll see from the schedule below, we'll need it.

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Here is our schedule for the first part of the High Holy Days. I think of it as a Dr. David Bowman/ James Bond mash-up. I'll explain the movie references later and will include a great explanation from Rav Berg. For now, we start with Rosh Hashanah. Let's go to the Kabbalah Center!

They must have known we were coming.

As you enter the Kabbalah Center, here is a quaint display of our center's history. Allow me to digress a bit, so you know why it is we drink this kool-aid...

Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag (1885—1954) or Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag also known as the Baal Ha-Sulam "Author of the Ladder"

Rabbi Ashlag started Yeshivah Kol Yehuda in Israel (a precursor of the US Kabbalah Centres) which was founded in 1922.

Ashlag's only mission in life was to connect people to the teachings of Torah for a happier, more fulfilled life. I love reading this guy's books and recommend "The Wisdom of Truth" by Michael Berg. He could take the most complex of human issues or emotions and explain them with simplicity...and THEN, offer solutions on how to end calamity, both small and great. This guy rocks my socks.

Rabbi Yehudah Tzvi Brandwein

Ok, now this guy...

He ran Yeshiva Kol Yehuda (Ashlag's school) and, get this, served as the chief rabbi for the Histadrut - the Israeli labor union! That's like Billy Graham as the chief pastor of the Teamsters! Anyhoo, "this guy" brought many secular Israelis back to Judaism (hence the B.G.ref).

In 1962 Rabbi Brandwein met Rabbi Philip Berg, a family relative. Rabbi Berg became his closest disciple and eventually his successor. Their close relationship is documented in handwritten letters between R' Brandwein and R' Berg called Beloved of My Soul by Michael Berg.

Which now brings us to these two.

Karen Berg did the unthinkable when she told Rav Berg she wanted to study Kabbalah and he did the unimaginable when he decided to teach her and then run "the center" along with her. Today, the continuation of teachings as well as revealing new truths about our Universe are available to every single person, regardless of gender or beliefs. It all leads to one single truth: Love thy neighbor as thy self - it's not just a nice phrase, it's a technological tool (there's that James Bond ref. creeping in).

Rav Berg transitioned to non-physical on Sept. 16th 2013.

We miss his "physical" presence, but his whole gig was teaching Immortality and he truly achieved it. Tons of audio and video recordings from years past where played at his Hilulah . His teachings on Nano technology are in books or on the center's student site. His method is to break something down to it's most basic core. You'll have to re-read certain paragraphs, but once you GET IT, it doesn't leave you.

Back to Rosh Hashanah!

We start the holiday at sundown. We usually start in the "War Room" or synagogue with prayers and blessings. I call it "The Opening Ceremonies". I didn't get any pictures because I was volunteering as greeter/sign-in at the door (the blessing of being a gentile in the center ;).

I snuck downstairs to the dining area to get a quick picture of the set up. The Holiday Meal is one of the many technologies used to connect to the Light of the Creator.

It's also a great place to observe that theme I mentioned in the previous blog about the "Flip Side"

In the meantime, enjoy the loverly table décor.

The foods pictured here are specific technological tools to the holiday and helps us to make a direct connection to energies available at during Rosh Hashanah

Apples and Honey for a sweet New Year. During these two days, Apples and Honey draw down the blessing of Sweetness onto our lives, so eat as much as you can.

The Fish Head (rolly polly) is our desire to connect to the "God Head"; the Pomegranate Seeds are for abundance of prosperity as well as many opportunities for transformation; the rest are root veggies that have hidden names (i.e.Yiddish the word for Carrots, meren, means to multiply). They help us connect to the energy of terra firma.

Of course we have to have this yummy braided goodness. Let me hear ya "Challah"

Oh man, Israeli's love their varieties of "Salat". From the top, Beets,

Baba ghanoush, spicy tomato sauce, cabbage and greens with pomegranate seeds

A fellow Kabbalah student once explained to me, "You don't come to the center for a casual holiday meal". Holiday meals are an opportunity to test your kabbalah skills. Sitting 12 people at a table that fits a comfortable 8 while taking up every inch of space on the table BEFORE the actual dinner arrives...oh! and we serve ourselves, so deciding who will go to the kitchen to get food is tons of fun. Every one of your buttons will get pushed. You will be tested. The good news is every test you pass, you get to keep that Light and the food is always amazing. It's my favorite time to catch up with old friends or meet new ones at the table.

It's Dinner Time!

About mid meal, one of the teachers will give us some consciousness. It'll relate to the meal and what we should be meditating on while eating.

Dr. Masaru Emoto stated that by singing a song after a meal, the vibrations from that song will resonate to the water molecules in your body, thus converting all your food's molecules into "Happiness" as you digest. On a deep level, it must be why we sing our thanks to God after the meal. Here's just a small sampling. Enjoy and Good Night!

(^__^)

Day 3 & 4 Rosh Hashanah

Before we move on, I'm going to use excerpts from Rav Berg's "Days of Power" to explain as best as possible, what is happening during R.H.

"..."The true spiritual body is as transparent as the wind. The soul and the spiritual body can shed their physical body. This action, in which the inner quality separates from the exterior is called, "Sawing" (nesirah in Hebrew). And it is this, rather than the Shofar or the prayers, that is the true focal point of R.H. Everything else is a means of achieving Sawing."..."According to Kabbalistic teaching, when Satan stands before the Supernal Courts and enumerates a person's sins, he looks down and sees that person's body cast away without life, for it's soul and inner quality have left during the process of Sawing. But if this is true, what is the point of judging a dead person? The reason is that once this viewing takes place, Satan withdraws, disregards the person, and moves onto the next."...

...Armed with that knowledge, The Wienceks are ready for court!

Using the metaphor of the Light Bulb, the women and men sit separately during the Torah reading because we are acting as two poles using the Torah scroll as the filament. The more we restrict, the brighter the Light.

The Men's side.

Opening of the Ark. This is where the Torah scrolls and Crowns are kept.

Placing the Crown on the Torah scroll.

Torah Crown and David's Shield

Here's a zoomed in look at the beautiful details on the crown and shield. 12 Lions holding up a Star of David. I love the bells.

Some consciousness about the portion we're reading. On the first day, we read about Sarah and how God blessed her with a child. By scanning the Hebrew letters and hearing it read aloud, we connect to the energy of Restoration.

On the second day, we read about The Binding of Isaac. By scanning/hearing, we connect to the energy of Sharing.

The Torah scroll is opened and turned 360 degrees. On a spiritual level, it's making a circle, which completes a cycle. On a practical level, this way everyone gets a chance to see the scroll.

You'll notice the small wand pointing at the Torah scroll. The wand is called a Yad and is in the shape of a hand pointing the right index finger.

Pretty much this is the last picture I took.

For two solid days, it felt like Dr. David Bowman going through the space/time/color vortex. It started sometime after the meal and we didn't emerge until Friday night. I wanted to get pictures of the Shofar blowing, but the energy you get from the connection in Israel is powerful, so I didn't even realize I'd forgotten to take a picture until we reached the 101 Shofar Blow. Sorry folks :(

(^__^)

Shana Tova! We've completed the first step in the process of creating our "New Year".

L’Shana Tova, So To Speak: The implications of having two New Year’s

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Let's take a break and check out more sights in Tel Aviv.

First order of business was to get our grub on. When I Google Mapped our hotel for surrounding restaurants, I noticed a Mexican place across the street called Mexicana. I was excited to sample Israel's take on, what I consider, one of my native cuisines.

Ok, this is funny, considering Israeli's eat a lot of their food wrapped, but it explains how to eat a taco and burrito. Starting at the top right square going left: Do not dip your tortilla in...(wait for it) HUMMUS; do not tear your tortilla in sections like a Pita; do not unroll your burrito/taco and the last one I don't remember. Bottom row right to left: DO keep your burrito folded; not sure about the second one; take your taco and fold it in half or roll it like a burrito; now shove in mouth. Cute!

These were Coconut and Mango Margharita Smoothies offered as samples. Tasty

Ta-Da! Mexican food. It was actually pretty good. I asked the waiter if the owner was Mexican and he said no. Just two Israeli guys went to Mexico and loved the food so much, they opened a restaurant and try to keep it as authentic as possible. They flavorings are good, but Limes are not native to Israel. I ordered the Chili Lime Rice and he said that most Israelis don't order it since they haven't acquired a taste for Lime...yet! I'm one of the few who order it (apparently rice is not a big staple in Israel either) so it was made special for me :)

Since Mexican food is a novelty to the Middle East, I'll let you guess the price of this platter of tacos(not including the rice)? If you said $16.00, then you would be correct! With the rice and the beer, the whole bill was only $40.00, but it's Mexican food! We ate, we larfed at the bill, and decided to stick to less expensive indigenous nutrients.

Wet naps and toothpicks...DUH!

Time for another episode of "Niel and Sandra's Digestive Stroll Down Shlomo Lahat Promenade"

Let's head down south the coast this time.

One of the words that I learned to read right away was "Shwarma". These stands are the Starbucks of Israel (btw, there is no Starbucks in Israel because their own coffee is so good).

We were just discussing how we would eventually need a laundry to warsh our unmentionables. Right next door is a sandwich shop so you can chow while washin' undies.