Sunday, September 28, 2008
Rosh Hashanah message
Some words for Rosh Hashana
Some little gems written, for a year almost past
Some can't believe it went by so fast
Some luckily gaze up, others less fortunate gaze down
Some anticipate the Shechinah in it's magestic white gown
Some got rich, others fell poor
Some ate less and, some bought more
Some saw the truth and some lived a lie
Some really changed and some didn't try
Some searched for meaning, gave their souls some healing
Some changed the world, consealed till the day of redeeming
Some cherished time and others rationalise
Sometimes we rationalise our lies
Some were born, parents blessed with a kid
Some prayed every day for success with their bid
Some were lost and some moved up
Some sat by Hashems house, drinking knowledge from his cup
To life to life, inscribe us in your book
Don't judge us for death, take one last look
Your angels walk this world, downtrodden and worn
The yetzer challenges all and does his work in all forms
But with your help Hashem, we'd return every day
This one day of Judgment, don't turn us away
For we know there is life, there is recompence there is hope
Another year of tasks, we're sure we can cope
Inscribe us in your book for a year sweet and new
Of teshuva, tzedaka and tephilla, mitztvot precious to me and you
Let your judgment be favourable, let it not make us shiver
Trust your people, your nation, to be strong and deliver
Shana Tova to you all and Refuah Shleymah to all those who need our prayers.
Jonny Wilks
Some little gems written, for a year almost past
Some can't believe it went by so fast
Some luckily gaze up, others less fortunate gaze down
Some anticipate the Shechinah in it's magestic white gown
Some got rich, others fell poor
Some ate less and, some bought more
Some saw the truth and some lived a lie
Some really changed and some didn't try
Some searched for meaning, gave their souls some healing
Some changed the world, consealed till the day of redeeming
Some cherished time and others rationalise
Sometimes we rationalise our lies
Some were born, parents blessed with a kid
Some prayed every day for success with their bid
Some were lost and some moved up
Some sat by Hashems house, drinking knowledge from his cup
To life to life, inscribe us in your book
Don't judge us for death, take one last look
Your angels walk this world, downtrodden and worn
The yetzer challenges all and does his work in all forms
But with your help Hashem, we'd return every day
This one day of Judgment, don't turn us away
For we know there is life, there is recompence there is hope
Another year of tasks, we're sure we can cope
Inscribe us in your book for a year sweet and new
Of teshuva, tzedaka and tephilla, mitztvot precious to me and you
Let your judgment be favourable, let it not make us shiver
Trust your people, your nation, to be strong and deliver
Shana Tova to you all and Refuah Shleymah to all those who need our prayers.
Jonny Wilks
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Shabbat invites in England... is it just me?
Evening all.
The other evening my wife and I were talking about Shabbat and the fact that we don't get invited out as much as maybe one would like.
It just so happens that one night last week I had to go out quite late in the evening to get some petrol lest my wife be careless in the morning. On my way back, I happened to be passing past a maariv at our local Kollel. I parked up and whilst walking to the Kollel heard a beep from a passing car in my direction. Turing, I noticed it was one of my ex neighbours - a nice guy who I rarely talked too.
After a little small talk (I really was getting late for maariv) I mentioned that we hadn't seen each other for Shabbat recently. So I said "oh, you must come over for Shabbat" to which my neighbour said for get that... we always come to you... you MUST come to us....
silence.....
smiles at each other.....
I now have a bigger smile on may face...
silence......
OK----- So here is what's going on in my head. I'll replay the above to you...
So I said "oh, you must come over for Shabbat"(why don't you invite us?) to which my neighbour said for get that... we always come to you... you MUST come to us....
silence..... (I know this...why don't you invite us then?)
smiles at each other..... (why don't you invite us... I'm not kidding man!)
I now have a bigger smile on may face... (why are YOU smiling?)
silence...... (did you really mean to invite us)
In the end I said... Shabbat... Shabbat lunch will be great!! lets do it, we will come to you - what time is good? 12? 12:30???
Well talk about not being British... I felt so free, so non conventional.
It was great. We said goodby and I was left with the impression that we'd get a facebook invite.
I never did get an invite but thank Hashem, we are eating at my ex chevrutahs.
What's the moshul.... speak truth and avoid falsehood (you may just get tested from those you least expect it
Shabbat Shalom
Jonny)
The other evening my wife and I were talking about Shabbat and the fact that we don't get invited out as much as maybe one would like.
It just so happens that one night last week I had to go out quite late in the evening to get some petrol lest my wife be careless in the morning. On my way back, I happened to be passing past a maariv at our local Kollel. I parked up and whilst walking to the Kollel heard a beep from a passing car in my direction. Turing, I noticed it was one of my ex neighbours - a nice guy who I rarely talked too.
After a little small talk (I really was getting late for maariv) I mentioned that we hadn't seen each other for Shabbat recently. So I said "oh, you must come over for Shabbat" to which my neighbour said for get that... we always come to you... you MUST come to us....
silence.....
smiles at each other.....
I now have a bigger smile on may face...
silence......
OK----- So here is what's going on in my head. I'll replay the above to you...
So I said "oh, you must come over for Shabbat"(why don't you invite us?) to which my neighbour said for get that... we always come to you... you MUST come to us....
silence..... (I know this...why don't you invite us then?)
smiles at each other..... (why don't you invite us... I'm not kidding man!)
I now have a bigger smile on may face... (why are YOU smiling?)
silence...... (did you really mean to invite us)
In the end I said... Shabbat... Shabbat lunch will be great!! lets do it, we will come to you - what time is good? 12? 12:30???
Well talk about not being British... I felt so free, so non conventional.
It was great. We said goodby and I was left with the impression that we'd get a facebook invite.
I never did get an invite but thank Hashem, we are eating at my ex chevrutahs.
What's the moshul.... speak truth and avoid falsehood (you may just get tested from those you least expect it
Shabbat Shalom
Jonny)
Monday, November 12, 2007
A long time coming
Evening guys.
I can't believe it's been four months since I last wrote on this blog.
In truth, I stopped writing form many reasons but one reason in particular was that I didn't want to write fro the sake of writing. Initially I started this blog to keep people updated on the progress of this site. The site has stayed the same now for some while and I guess this is wher I should end it. But I thought to myself, may be, just maybe i should turn this blog into my own one. I'll reference the site from time to time, but think I'll write a little about my thoughts, advice and concerns. Your free to read on...
I can't believe it's been four months since I last wrote on this blog.
In truth, I stopped writing form many reasons but one reason in particular was that I didn't want to write fro the sake of writing. Initially I started this blog to keep people updated on the progress of this site. The site has stayed the same now for some while and I guess this is wher I should end it. But I thought to myself, may be, just maybe i should turn this blog into my own one. I'll reference the site from time to time, but think I'll write a little about my thoughts, advice and concerns. Your free to read on...
Friday, July 27, 2007
A befitting Dvar Torah
Hi all,
Thought I would share this Dvar Torah with you all.
Wishing you a peacful Shabbat and Refuah Shleymah to friends and family
Shabbat Shalom
Jonny
*****************************
Weekly Parasha Insights by Rabbi Eli Mansour
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Parashat VaEtchanan- What Happens to Unanswered Prayers?
The Torah tells in the opening verses of Parashat Vaethanan that Moshe pleaded with God to allow him to cross the Jordan River with Benei Yisrael and enter the Land of Israel. However, despite Moshe's
impassioned pleas, God denied him permission to enter the land, and commanded him not to continue praying for this matter. The Sages tell us that Moshe uttered no fewer than 515 prayers in requesting permission to enter the Land of Israel. This number is alluded to in the Parasha's opening word - "vaethanan" ("I pleaded") - which has the numerical value of 515 (6+1+400+8+50+ 50=515). The obvious question arises, if God knew that He would not grant Moshe's request, and that He would ultimately instruct Moshe to discontinue his prayers, why did He wait for Moshe to complete 515 prayers? Why did He not interrupt Moshe immediately as he began praying, and thus spare him the time and effort he invested in reciting the additional 514 prayers?
The Rabbis teach us that there is no such thing as a wasted or unanswered prayer. If a person prays for something and his request is not granted, he must not conclude that his prayer was recited in vain. God stores all our prayers in a "prayer bank" of sorts from where they are "withdrawn" at some later point, perhaps for somebody else, and perhaps only generations later. If a person prays for an ill patient Avraham Ben Sara, and the patient unfortunately does not survive his illness, those prayers will perhaps be effective in bringing a cure to another Avraham Ben Sara somewhere else in the world. During the years of the Communist movement, the children of many righteous Jews and Torah scholars abandoned Judaism and joined the atheistic Communists. Their parents recited untold numbers of prayers and shed rivers of tears asking
that their children should return to their heritage and traditions. Their prayers were not immediately answered, but many children and grandchildren of these Jewish Communists have returned to Jewish observance. The grandparents' prayers were not recited in vain; they were not meaningless. They were stored and preserved in the heavenly "prayer bank" and
ultimately succeeded in bringing scores of Jews back to Torah and Mitzvot.
For this reason, perhaps, God did not interrupt Moshe's prayers despite the fact that the decree was irreversible. He anticipated that in future generations, Benei Yisrael would face crisis and hardship and would lack sufficient merit to earn salvation. Moshe's 515 prayers were necessary to save the Jewish people when they would otherwise be unworthy of being saved. Who knows if our existence today is owed to the merit of Moshe's 515 prayers!
Never should a person despair from praying. Even if one's requests are not immediately granted, they will nevertheless have a meaningful impact and effect on somebody at some point in time. Every heartfelt prayer and every chapter of Tehillim is significant and beneficial -
regardless of whether we can immediately discern its impact.
Thought I would share this Dvar Torah with you all.
Wishing you a peacful Shabbat and Refuah Shleymah to friends and family
Shabbat Shalom
Jonny
*****************************
Weekly Parasha Insights by Rabbi Eli Mansour
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Parashat VaEtchanan- What Happens to Unanswered Prayers?
The Torah tells in the opening verses of Parashat Vaethanan that Moshe pleaded with God to allow him to cross the Jordan River with Benei Yisrael and enter the Land of Israel. However, despite Moshe's
impassioned pleas, God denied him permission to enter the land, and commanded him not to continue praying for this matter. The Sages tell us that Moshe uttered no fewer than 515 prayers in requesting permission to enter the Land of Israel. This number is alluded to in the Parasha's opening word - "vaethanan" ("I pleaded") - which has the numerical value of 515 (6+1+400+8+50+ 50=515). The obvious question arises, if God knew that He would not grant Moshe's request, and that He would ultimately instruct Moshe to discontinue his prayers, why did He wait for Moshe to complete 515 prayers? Why did He not interrupt Moshe immediately as he began praying, and thus spare him the time and effort he invested in reciting the additional 514 prayers?
The Rabbis teach us that there is no such thing as a wasted or unanswered prayer. If a person prays for something and his request is not granted, he must not conclude that his prayer was recited in vain. God stores all our prayers in a "prayer bank" of sorts from where they are "withdrawn" at some later point, perhaps for somebody else, and perhaps only generations later. If a person prays for an ill patient Avraham Ben Sara, and the patient unfortunately does not survive his illness, those prayers will perhaps be effective in bringing a cure to another Avraham Ben Sara somewhere else in the world. During the years of the Communist movement, the children of many righteous Jews and Torah scholars abandoned Judaism and joined the atheistic Communists. Their parents recited untold numbers of prayers and shed rivers of tears asking
that their children should return to their heritage and traditions. Their prayers were not immediately answered, but many children and grandchildren of these Jewish Communists have returned to Jewish observance. The grandparents' prayers were not recited in vain; they were not meaningless. They were stored and preserved in the heavenly "prayer bank" and
ultimately succeeded in bringing scores of Jews back to Torah and Mitzvot.
For this reason, perhaps, God did not interrupt Moshe's prayers despite the fact that the decree was irreversible. He anticipated that in future generations, Benei Yisrael would face crisis and hardship and would lack sufficient merit to earn salvation. Moshe's 515 prayers were necessary to save the Jewish people when they would otherwise be unworthy of being saved. Who knows if our existence today is owed to the merit of Moshe's 515 prayers!
Never should a person despair from praying. Even if one's requests are not immediately granted, they will nevertheless have a meaningful impact and effect on somebody at some point in time. Every heartfelt prayer and every chapter of Tehillim is significant and beneficial -
regardless of whether we can immediately discern its impact.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
It's been a while...
Hi Everyone.
The site has grown enormously since my last post. Unfortunately, Cholim numbers have continued to increase too.
Please note that there are a fairly large number of Cholim who have have no one davening for them. I do my best to daven for everyone but need your input too! If you have a spare 5 minutes every day, please say a prayer even if you don't know that person. It makes a huge difference.
We have constantly been working on the site behind the scenes and are trying to make improvements to the site. Please email me if you have any new suggestions.
Finally, there is another Jewish project I am working on. Can't say too much right now but if you have an easydaven user name and password, you will automatically have access to this site too so stay tuned.
Will be in touch soon.
Shavua tov
Jonny
The site has grown enormously since my last post. Unfortunately, Cholim numbers have continued to increase too.
Please note that there are a fairly large number of Cholim who have have no one davening for them. I do my best to daven for everyone but need your input too! If you have a spare 5 minutes every day, please say a prayer even if you don't know that person. It makes a huge difference.
We have constantly been working on the site behind the scenes and are trying to make improvements to the site. Please email me if you have any new suggestions.
Finally, there is another Jewish project I am working on. Can't say too much right now but if you have an easydaven user name and password, you will automatically have access to this site too so stay tuned.
Will be in touch soon.
Shavua tov
Jonny
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Big announcements and press releases
Hi Guys,
Apologies for not writing sooner - these months or so have been rather hectic.
Unfortunately, the site has started to grow in terms of Cholim numbers however our membership has also increased which is means more people are davening for refuahs.
In the next week or so, we will be having a number of articles in the local Jewish press and online so watch out for a pretty poor photo of me (i'm hoping that won't be included).
Myself and Justin (my programmer) have been thinkingof a number of different ways to expand easydaven. This would not be commercial expansion but simply other ways of allowing people to benefit from the site.
I will be forwarding an email shortly with all the suggestions we have had and invite you to give me your feedback and ideas.
On a final note, please look oout for a major change on the site that will be happening hopefully tonight.
I can't go into too much detail yet but I'm hoping the change will be well received.
Stay tune and please keep davening
Jonny
Apologies for not writing sooner - these months or so have been rather hectic.
Unfortunately, the site has started to grow in terms of Cholim numbers however our membership has also increased which is means more people are davening for refuahs.
In the next week or so, we will be having a number of articles in the local Jewish press and online so watch out for a pretty poor photo of me (i'm hoping that won't be included).
Myself and Justin (my programmer) have been thinkingof a number of different ways to expand easydaven. This would not be commercial expansion but simply other ways of allowing people to benefit from the site.
I will be forwarding an email shortly with all the suggestions we have had and invite you to give me your feedback and ideas.
On a final note, please look oout for a major change on the site that will be happening hopefully tonight.
I can't go into too much detail yet but I'm hoping the change will be well received.
Stay tune and please keep davening
Jonny
Monday, April 16, 2007
New instructions and vidoe welcome!
Hi guys,
This is my first post for sometime. I have been fairly busy with Easydaven and am glad to say the effort is paying off (not financially ;))
This quick blog update Is really just to give some tips to users about maximising their use of the site:
- When adding cholim (people who need prayers) please write something for the description. Generally, the more detail added, the moere people will daven. It may be a little disturbing but we are a voyeristic generation and detail sells. If you can stop for a moment before writing and think, I would like to try a create a mental image of the person (not too detailed re the illness) I believe this will help to attract people to daven for the cause.
- Adding an name to the website allows members to daven for that perosn. But why stop there? you can and should allow your friensa and family to daven for this person or peopl on EdgwareK or the like. You can do this by following thes steps:
- Login to your account
- Click on the 'view all names tab'
- Click on a choleh/ah's name
- Highlight the URL(web address) in the address field at the top of your window
- Right click the highlighted text and select 'copy'
- Open up an email programme (Gmail, yahoo, Hotmail etc)
- In a new email, rightclick and click 'paste'
- You can now forward this daven page to friends and family, or as your Edgwarek email post
Well I said this would be a quick blog and it is!
If you are in the Edgware, Hendon or Goldergreen area, be sure to pickup and Easydaven fridge magnet for friends and family!
And finally...
Yes, I have added a small video to the homepage that describes in essense what this site is about. You can link directly to this video or forwad it to peopl who may be interested in teh site but reluctant to sign up by suppling this link: http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=3833441389888643257&hl=en-GB
Will post soon...
Best regards
Jonny
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