New Outlook on Life

After reading and hearing about the terrible tragedy in Israel, which we have all been affected by, I cannot go back to a regular post. All the nitty gritty rants and details and nuisances seem so miniscule. These are small narishkeits in the game of life. These are not the things that matter. 

I saw this post on Facebook & it seems to sum it all up. 

I

This morning I woke up at the crack of dawn. I ushered myself out of bed so I could hastily don my Tefillin. But this morning was different than any other.. I didn't don them for the simple reason (alone) that we as Jews are commanded to do so, nor did I skip my way to Shul like an excited Bar Mitzvah boy putting them on for the first time; but I was in fact eager. Eager to wrap myself in the same phylacteries that Rabbi Akiva was burned and skinned in alive. The same tradition that has driven us through persecution for centuries. The same straps that have forced us into hiding in Spain. The same boxes that my great grandfather was caught in and for that gassed to his death in Nazi Germany. THE SAME TEFILLIN THAT 4 OF OUR BROTHERS WARM BLOOD ARE SOAKED IN BECAUSE THEY WERE SLAUGHTERED JUST HOURS AGO FOR MERELY BEING FAITHFUL AND OBSERVANT JEWS... Today, I wear my Tefillin not only as a observant Jew, but as a torchbearer, a symbol of continuity, a sign of prevalence, a message to all those who call themselves anti-Israel (you are anti-Semitic, don't fool yourself) that we shall treck forward, we wont be deterred nor frightened. Am Yisrael Chai. When you (or if you decide to perhaps) put on your Tefillin today, think of those who sacrificed their lives in them while we have the opportunity to connect to G-d without having to fear. Think of the beautiful chance we receive from G-d every morning to greet him and ask for our needs. And last but not least, think and say a prayer for the wounded men who were in that synagogue who are currently in critical condition and the 4 widows and 26 orphans who are left behind... May G-d avenge their blood. ברוך דיין האמת.