Self Loving Jew

I had the pleasure of seeing Yohay Sponder live in Jerusalem. It was hilarious and fun, but even more than that, it was family. We are all a tribe, and we are there for each other, and the best part is to focus on uplifting each other. Forget about fighting narratives and self hating Jews. This is the new approach of our people, and I see it online on social media as well. Our keyboard warriors are using their energy to bring the Jewish people together. Unity is the secret sauce of our survival, and we have learned from history that the other side of that gives us many of our holiday themes, they tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat!

Like any family or good relationship, there are ups and downs, but the love is always there. We are very direct, say what we mean, even when it is not so nice. Then we laugh, we find humor in the darkness, because that is also a survival technique.

HOW TO BE A SELF LOVING JEW:

• GET TO KNOW YOUR ROOTS
• STUDY ABOUT YOUR HISTORY, ANCESTORS AND IMMEDIATE FAMILY
• CONNECT TO YOUR PURPOSE IN THIS WORLD, YOUR LIGHT IS UNIQUE AND ONLY YOU CAN DO IT YOUR WAY
• TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND CONNECT TO YOUR JEWISH TRIBE FOR STRENGTH, SUPPORT AND LOVE

What strengthens me is to deeply learn the Torah lesson of the week. The portion is Chukat, and I enjoy finding connection and relevance to our lives today. Then share it, whether it is with people you love, your community or publicly by writing or social media.  I want to know your thoughts and your interpretations. Discussion, dialogue and communication are how we contemplate our present state and how to move forward in life. Get out of your head, find ways to ground and turn off. How do I pour into myself? I treat myself with what brings me joy. I had the best time laughing at the Yohay Sponder show, and today I am going to a Kaballah Cafe Torah class, where I get food for the soul and a nice cup of coffee and a treat at Bagel Cafe. I enjoy bodywork, so at least once a month, a massage, chiropractic or whatever my body tells me I need. Listen to yourself, only you can know what you need. How do you pour into yourself?

“THE CALAMITY ITSELF IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY,” are the words that resonated from the online parsha lesson with Rabbi Moshe Levin from Los Angeles, California. There is always a rebirth, the sun rises again and keeping yourself in the mindset of renewal and creation is actually aligning with how the world works.

Another very important awareness is that we are human, and we have to forgive ourselves and start fresh. I just came back from the Kaballah Cafe, and realized I was not posting the Hayom Yom as I intended in honor of Eitan Ben Avrohom and Efrat and all of the hostages. It is amazing how we can walk away so inspired, and then life happens. Tuesday was the last day I posted it, Wednesday and Thursday were mentally and physically distracting. So even though I pray and do my movement in the morning, that part skipped my mind as I jumped into the busy week. So all we can do is keep learning, so we keep on getting inspired and reminded how important it is to share and motivate others. Forgive ourselves when we do not cross everything off of our to do list, and make a plan to make it a part of our day. I read somewhere about habit stacking, where you decide that after something you do all the time that is already a habit, like brushing your teeth, you can add something else that would also become automatic eventually.

God willing we will all be self loving Jews, focus on self care, and inspiring ourselves so we can pay it forward.

Happy 4th of July, God Bless America!

Shabbat Shalom

Enjoy the Hayom Yom from Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

https://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/hayomyom.asp?tdate=7/4/2025