A PERSONAL NOTE BLOG

Renewal

5/15/2023

BS"D
I, like just about everyone else, am "emerging" from the virtual hibernation of the last years. This Pesach I went to Eretz Yisroel for the first time since the year before the "crisis". It was, of course, wonderful to see my dear family after such a long separation!
It's truly a time of Renewal, including for Kavanah Kards.
B"H a wonderful woman is now helping to spread our word--contacting yeshivas and schools to offer them for lessons and projects, taking them wherever she goes (even weddings!), showing and telling everyone who will listen about them. And they are listening!
I got a beautiful handwritten note with a donation that said "Thanks so much for the Kavanah Kards. They changed my davening l'tova! May you be gebetntched with kol tov, always only good, gezunt, parnasah."
It's impossible to express how meaningful a few words can be, but I'm sure you know what I mean.
Bringing others closer to Hashem is life changing for everyone involved. It keeps on growing, adding meaning to life.
Hopefully, you will jump into the stream of this beautiful mitzvah and add Kavanah Kards to your day, week, month. Share them with people, put them on your Shabbos table, include them in wedding gifts, invitations and mishloach monos, and feel your simcha increasing along with the mitzvahs accruing in your mitzvah "bank account". See Hashem's nachas ruach as He rains down His brachos on you for bringing others closer to Him.
Yours in Kavanah!

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Reflecting on the Past -- Recipe for Future Success

1/24/2021

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BS"D
It's almost a year since my last blog post. It's not because there was nothing to write about. On the contrary, the past year was FILLED with things calling us to come closer to Hashem. The issue was missing my creative spark to convey it to you.
Baruch Hashem, I was blessed with safety and with health.
It was that my attention was distracted with so many "crises", from the virus to the election and everything that ensued.
The result was a lot of inner growth, especially in emunah, Baruch Hashem, leading to this new blog post.
The importance of turning to Hashem at EVERY time, not only in the midst of crisis, has emerged as the primary message that I have for you.
In fact, every single day that seems routine is the perfect time to further dedicate yourself to doing just that. And it's only through reflecting on the absolutely upside year that we have all had that magnifies the truth of this point.
After all, who would ever have thought last Chanukah that the world, as we knew it, was virtually about to cease? What were we worried about and focusing on then?
How important is that to us today?
So, what is my understanding and advice?
Try to incorporate into your daily life as much as you can the things which have shown to create a spiritual "chemistry" by turning you to Hashem then Hashem turns toward you (and ask Hashem to help you do it) :
1. Thank Hashem for your problems as often as you can; it is an exercise in emunah.
As Rabbi Shalom Arush encourages: say thank-you for your problems half an hour a day, and if you have big problems, do it for 6 hours. Sing and dance!
2. Teshuva: it's the only thing we can do in the present that changes the past, which then changes our future. Teshuva, though, is a complex thing. There is the halachic aspect and there is the "where do I start?" aspect. For over 25 years I have been blessed to work on a guided teshuva "script" which helps to do it. The simplest format is included at the end of the blog. If you would like support with doing it or would like the full 22 step process, please fill out a contact or email me directly at transforminglife@gmail.com. This is offered without charge.
3. Before doing any mitzvah fulfill "mitzvas tzrichas kavanah" (see the Kavanah of Mitzvohs in the Gallery.) That is to think or say "I am fulfilling the mitzvah of _____, as Hashem commanded."
4. Concentrate on the meanings of Hashem's names during tefillah and brachos (get and use Kavanah Kards)
5. Send the positive emotions of forgiveness, acceptance, compassion, gratitude and love to yourself and others--especially people that are hardest to do it with. It takes just seconds and you get back continuous flow of increased success, happiness and all good. Especially have compassion for the people who are your shaliach of pain--they have an awful mission, after all.
Wishing you the greatest hatzlacha l'tova in every way and would love to know what you notice when you do these things.

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Purim--seeing Hashem in our Lives

3/8/2020

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BS"D
Purim is a time that I always am blessed to see Hashem in my life in such a beautiful way, and this year is no exception.
Usually, a week or so before, I start to get an idea for my annual Purim Poem. I just "hear" it in my head. This year I noticed that nothing was coming, despite my awareness that Purim was fast approaching. It didn't cause me any concern, just notice.
Two days before Purim, I was preparing to return to New York from visiting my daughter in Florida. I couldn't seem to settle down to go to sleep.
Then it happened! The words started FLOWing (I'll explain more) and I wrote,. Around 2 am I finished and then got to sleep.
A little fact checking and a tweak here and there, and here it is for you.
Enjoy!
See more about FLOW below the poem.

The Flow is another wonderful example of Hashem's "partnership" in my life.
It "happened" seemingly by coincidence, although we all know there are no coincidences.
A friend felt inspired to do something for Klal, so she got a small group of women together about 6 weeks ago on a motzei Shabbos to discuss it. What we came up with was to send love to ourselves and to others, including someone that it's hard to do that with, as well as to Klal and Hashem.
What has unfolded since starting is what I call The Flow--sending forgiveness, acceptance, compassion, gratitude and love to ourselves, our family and more. I send out text and email "reminders" daily.
What I have seen, and what others are reporting is noticeable increase of "FLOW" in life, B"H. It could be in something as seemingly simple as getting parking spaces more easily,to improvement in relationships, health and many other kinds of success.
My explanation is that the opposite of FLOW is FORCE: having to try hard, struggle, etc. By increasing the positive FROM you, it increases the positive TO you (the Law of Attraction).
I am posting it here for you to download and use. There are 2 versions; the longer one has explanations and directions. The short one is just the steps.
Why don't you try it for 30 days and see what happens? And please share it with others. It doesn't take millions of people to create change. Who knows how much your effort will bring to change the world?
I am delighted to support you in any way, including daily reminders. Just contact me at transforminglife@gmail.com.
Hatzlacha!

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Dynamic vs "Conveyor Belt" Judaism

2/21/2019

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Jewish women all over the world are preparing for a very special event next week-- the Geula Event, with gatherings in cities all over the world to create a force for geula.
Kavanah Kards were listed among the resources, and several organizers requested them for their event.
One of the women I spoke with said something that struck a cord which prompted this blog post. She said that without the meaning conveyed to our religious lives, we risk falling into "conveyor belt" Judaism--going through the motions like so many around us, but without the heart.
What a striking concept! It really spoke to me.
In truth, this is exactly what Mindful Mitzvahs and Kavanah Kards is all about--elevating the mundane and giving it "heart".
It's a simple concept. Every day for the next 40 days:
1. Say the Daily Kavanah Declaration every morning to declare your intentions when saying Hashem's names throughout the day.
2. Focus on the meanings of Hashem's names as given on Kavanah Kards as often as possible.
3. Think or say as often as you can before a doing mitzvah, "I am fulfilling the mitzvah of ____, as Hashem commanded"
4. Thank Hashem for your problems, acknowledging thereby that, while you don't know why you need this problem, Hashem, Who is perfect and does everything for your best through His love for you, knows why you need it, and you are declaring your faith in Him.
5. Whenever you feel you need to, do teshuva for anything you thought or did that didn't model the above.
Imagine the ripple effect throughout Klal for every person who does this--who lives Torah and their relationship with Hashem dynamically and mindfully, instead of living "conveyer belt" Judaism.
Download the Mindful Mitzvahs pamphlet to help and inspire you .

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Thank Hashem for your problems--very powerful!

1/24/2019

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For quite a long time I had been thanking Hashem every morning for being able to see with each eye, hear with each ear, smell, taste, feel and being able to walk. I started doing it after hearing Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein talk about his gratitude practice.
Also, I had more recently adopted the practice of thanking Hashem for my problems, as described in "Say Thank-you and See Miracles", by Rabbi Shalom Arush.
Then in the summer I fell.
VERY painful when it happened, but once my arm was in a sling, there was no more pain. Not even when I slept.
So I was sure it wasn't broken.
Twelve days later my chiropractor told me to get X-rays.
It WAS broken and I needed surgery.
I won't describe my utter panic at the thought of it all. But I wanted to walk my talk, so I started to thank Hashem for it. Frankly, though, it was puzzling.
Here I had already BEEN thanking Hashem for being able to walk normally and independently, and I fell, breaking my arm.
Plus, I kept hearing horror stories from people about their pain after surgery, while the bone was healing and with physical therapy.
Astoundingly, though, I had NONE--not with the surgery, bone healing, or physical therapy.
And, to the astonishment of the surgeon, my arm was totally healed in just three months!
So, what I realized was that, although I NEEDED to have a broken arm and surgery, Hashem blessed me that I DIDN'T need to have pain and that I had such a fast healing.
That is the power of gratitude!

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August 24th, 2018

8/24/2018

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Why are Mindful Mitzvahs~Kavanah Kards the way to a better new year?

8/14/2018

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BS"D

With Elul upon us, everyone's mind is increasingly focused on Rosh Hashana & Yom Kippur and doing all we can to be blessed for a good year.

I just finished watching a wonderful talk by Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky (“Suspending our Disbelief” https://torahanytime.com/#/lectures?v=65567) about what inspires people and how to improve their connection to Hashem.

He ended with thoughts about how we can make a meaningful improvement during Elul, saying the best way is to commit to something that will not be too hard, so we will stick with it. He talked about two Torah greats--Reb Yisroel Salanter and Rav Shach.

Rabbi Orlovsky quoted Reb Yisroel Salanter as saying, not to take on big things, take on small ones, and that Rav Shach, Rosh haYeshiva of Ponovez, said he took on that on Shabbos he would bentch with a bentcher, not by heart--he chose something that was doable.

Mindful Mitzvahs is a perfect thing to take on--anyone can do it!
1. Every day say at least one bracha focusing on the meaning of Hashem's name. Optimally, also say the daily Kavanah Declaration in the morning
2. Every day do at least one mitzvah with thinking or saying before, "I am fulfilling the mitzvah of ____, as Hashem commanded"  (optional. add: as a zechus for Klal Yisroel.)
3.Thank Hashem for your problems (as Rabbi Shalom Arush says in his seforim Garden of Gratitude and Say Thank-you And See Miracles)
4. Consider things to help others come closer to Hashem (fulfilling that mitzvah, as Hashem commanded), such as sharing Kavanah Kards and Mindful Mitzvahs. Every time someone does, you get great schar.

As Rabbi Orlovsky says, you don't need to turn your life upside down. Simply do whatever Mindful Mitzvahs you can for the next 40 days--and hopefully ongoing. And, if you can do 2 a day, so much the better!

The Mindful Mitzvahs Pamphlet and Kavana of Mitzvahs have all the information to help you. Share it too. Of course, you can get Kavanah Kards to use and share. Just let us know.

Here are comments from some people who have been doing Mindful Mitzvahs:

You mentioned to me last year the idea of thanking Hashem when something goes wrong, and I thought that was a bit much for me, but I've actually tried it and it does work for me - as long as I can say it from a place of acceptance and not bitterness. So thank you for the idea and the chizuk! -Queens, NY

When I started the first 40 days I think I told you about the hashgacha that got me to do it but aside from that I also received some Rav Arush mini books I had ordered around the same time and they gave me a jolt about some health issues that I needed to get on top of.

In general most people are happy to participate in the project and some are quite enthusiastic, like I said one of the rabbis here jumped on it and found the issue about think or say vs. just say before mitzvot and it's a credit to the devoted population that frequents his father's shul!

Plus there was the other story in the winter when I went to a small women's event and started giving out the cards and someone I knew was excited as she had started to work on this area of avoda in her life. Then the Chabad Dayan here, incorporated the whole idea of the kavanah behind the words of a beracha into his discussion about the Rambam, without even knowing we had brought the visual aid of the cards themselves! This leads me to the idea that these cards do more than just getting individuals to improve our avoda but it's uniting different communities of Jews to work together in unity to get closer to Hashem. - Montreal

Rabbi Wallerstein said in a shiur I watched recently that it is not the gadolim, but the average person who will bring Moshiach through their tehillim and other things to come closer to Hashem.

Mindful Mitzvahs is just such an opportunity and NOW is the perfect time to take it!

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Hashem loves the French speaking Jewish people!

6/10/2018

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My favorite thing to write about is the awesome way Hashem shows so clearly how much He loves and wants Kavanah Kards Mindful Mitzvahs.
The new French cards are no exception.
A wonderful lady in Montreal who gives out Kavanah Kards suggested some time ago that we do them in French. Great suggestion, but the wily SA (sitra achra) worked overtime to prevent it from happening.
First I put out requests for someone to help translate, and then there was a stalled attempt at getting someone I knew to do it for me (I was stalled!)
One day, I received an excited email from the same Montreal woman that she had gone into a yeshiva and saw some! She attached a picture of one, and it did look like the business card size English one. WOW! How awesome!
Aimee (her name) contacted the person who had taken it upon herself to do the translation, and got her to send me the file. BUT Aimee didn't stop there. No, she and her husband decided to take it upon themselves to make the French card like the other Kavanah Kards.
In brief, I put her in touch with my graphic designer, and she did the card in our 2 x 4 format with the French translation.
Then there was the printing. Aimee and her husband contacted several printers in Canada, and found out that the price of my printer "angel" was a fraction of the cost. They decided to go ahead with printing 5000 of the flower card in NY, and sent me the money. About 10 days ago I picked them up.
How to get them to Montreal..... SO EXPENSIVE.
Aimee knew someone whose mother was coming in from Montreal and she said she would take back a shoe box size package. But there were five TIMES that amount to get to her!
Hashem to the rescue: while speaking with my oldest son before Shabbos, I told him the story of trying to get the French cards to Montreal. He said his brother-in-law, who lives in Montreal, was coming in for my grandson's Bar Mitzvah this week!
Of course, I contacted him immediately and he said he would be happy to take as many as would fit in his car back after the Bar Mitzvah and that he would be coming in again a week later and take the rest!
I thanked Aimee's friend and told her that Hashem sent a ride for the cards, but that she got the schar for being willing to take some, and "I'm fulfilling the mitzvah of Hakores ha'tov as Hashem commanded (Mitzvas tzrichas kavana)" by thanking Hashem for being the wonderful "President" of the Kavanah Kards project and making it all possible, AGAIN!
That's not the end of the story, though.
I made a web page for the French cards, musing that it "should" be in French (but we know I can't "do" French). After an email exchange with Aimee, she sent the translation complete with accent marks, and I was able to put it onto the page. After I uploaded it, I thought about formatting, and "decided" to make it centered. A minute later I got an email from Aimee that she "had the same idea". What a coincidence! Of course, Hashem sent us both the same idea. How amazing, as usual!
Thanks, dear reader, for reading this, and for spreading the word and supporting Mindful Mitzvahs, Kavanah Kards and kavana of mitzvahs and our newest "French family member" to help Klal Yisroel.
May your Mitzvah bank account be filled to overflowing with the schar of helping bring others closer to Hashem (and for using them yourself!)
Bracha v'hatzlacha

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It's all in Hashem's hands

5/14/2018

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BS"D

For a couple of years, I've dreamed about Kavanah Kards being given out at the Torah U'Mesorah Convention. This year, with my focus firmly fixed on children having the right kavanah and enthusiasm from the outset, I decided to explore the possibility.
The best way to get exposure was to get Kavanah Kards into the hands of the convention participants. First there was the Torah U'Mesorah fee for doing that.
Not so bad...they said I could have an envelope with materials put into the package that every participant received for a reasonable fee.
Next there was the matter of what to put in the envelope.
For a minute I thought about trying to get an assembly line of grandchildren to put them together. SIXTEEN HUNDRED? What was I thinking? I had cold sweats even thinking about all the terrible possibilities.
Not possible.
I called my "best friend" at the printer I use for a quote.
He said we would have to have everything in hand in TWO DAYS in order to get it to the convention by the required day!!!!
Okay, so let's do it.
Jumping the gun....
He asked me what I wanted in the envelope.
Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.
Would anyone want Yiddish? Probably not.
Called Torah U'Mesorah.
I was wrong. LOTS of Yiddish schools attend.
OK, so English & Yiddish.
Counting all the English & Yiddish materials, there would be twelve pieces, plus a cover letter. It could fit into a half flat envelope. Sixteen hundred times 12 is over 19,000 cards!
Baruch Hashem, I had almost everything I needed, but there was NO way I could drag the heavy boxes back down the steps and into my car to get them back to the printer. He said he would have some guys pick them up (he really gets a LOT of zechus for his part in helping so many Yidden come closer to Hashem.
Next decision: What to print on the envelope.
I struggled with a couple of ideas, and thankfully the printer gave me his advice, which I gratefully took.
Then he wanted the cover letter right away. Oye, what should it say?
Hashem poured the words out of my fingers into the computer.
A bit of kvetching it, then I "gave it over to Hashem" that it was right.
True to his word, two men from the printer were there the next day taking dozens of boxes to the shop. Fortunately, Hashem had previously helped me figure out that 100 cards measure two inches, so that I was able to estimate how many had to go into each box.
There were "little" crises, like not having enough of two items, but my printer malach didn't blink an eye--he did it in house.
Miraculously, 1600 printed envelopes with 12 Kavanah Kard items and a cover letter were delivered to the hotel in Pennsylvania a day before they were due!
The bill? It seemed like a lot in my mind, but Hashem already sent help. A wonderful supporter had already made a sizeable donation several months before, so part was just waiting. Then two of my wonderful children gave me another generous chunk, B"H. Some more funds came from supporters of Rabbi Garfinkel's work, and some extra clients helped with part of the remainder, so the rest was my investment in Olam Haba.
Now it is up to Hashem to open the minds of the schools that went to the convention to realize and bring Kavanah Kards into their schools.
Now I'm fulfilling the mitzvah of emunah and bitachon as Hashem commanded!

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The Sitra Achra vs Kavanah Kards--a true story!

4/17/2018

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BS"D

We know, of course, that the sitra achra opposes everything we do to grow in kedusha, but recently, I got a big glimpse of it. Here's what happened...
While I was in Eretz Yisroel for Pesach (a glorious time, by the way, Baruch Hashem), I got a website contact form from someone who wanted more than 1000 Kavanah Kards, Mindful Mitzvahs Pamphlets and Kavana of Mitzvohs cards in English and Hebrew. He wrote that he runs the Pirchei there and that his wife is starting a wonderful new project in their shul for mothers and daughters.
I was thrilled, of course, at the opportunity to help someone who would be bringing so many people closer to Hashem! I emailed him back that I was excited to send them when I returned to NY after Pesach.
Last week, before Shabbos, I received a follow-up email--had I had a chance to send them out?
Enough jet lag. It was time.
I emailed him that I would take care of it that day, b'li neder then looked in my email for the original Contact Form for the list of what he requested and address to send them to.
Not there.
Hmm.
I searched for "Pirchei", "Pennsylvania", everything I could think of.
Nothing.
Hmm.
Then I looked in the email trash, thinking perhaps I had inadvertently pushed some sort of link that sucked it out of my inbox.
Nothing.
Hmmmmmm
I searched in the computer file where I keep notes on every request.
Nothing.
Hmmm
I checked my text messages. Nothing...
Looked in another email account inbox & trash. Nothing...
I sent him an email apologizing, explaining the mysterious disappearance of his contact form and requesting that he please resend it so I could put the package together.
Two days with nothing, nothing, NOTHING.
Hmmm.
Then I started getting worried. Was I hallucinating? Losing my memory? My mind?
I even started to imagine that maybe it was a prank..
None of that helped, of course.
Finally I gave it over to the Boss with emunah and bitachon (Hashem is having this happen for a reason), hakores hatov (Thank-You, Hashem for the opportunity to have emunah & bitachon), kavei el Hashem (Hashem, I really want to do this mitzvah, but I can only do it with your help)
Suddenly, "I got an idea" (thank-you Hashem): maybe it's somewhere on the website. But where? I do all the design and maintenance now, but didn't know how to find where that information was stored.
I finally gave credit to the sitra achra for doing such a superb job and showing me, once again, how big a threat Mindful Mitzvahs and Kavanah Kards are to his "job" of separating people from kedusha.
Suddenly, there it was tucked away in a link I don't know if I can even find again.
Immediately I copied the needed information, put together the package and took it to the post office with a ride from a friend (my car had a dead battery from an energy drain--encore from the sitra achra?).
Fifteen pounds of closeness to Hashem on it's way, at last!
What a lesson on how much the sitra achra can interfere with our positive intentions.

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<<Previous

Renewal

Reflecting on the Past -- Recipe for Future Success

Purim--seeing Hashem in our Lives

Dynamic vs "Conveyor Belt" Judaism

Thank Hashem for your problems--very powerful!

August 24th, 2018

Why are Mindful Mitzvahs~Kavanah Kards the way to a better new year?

Hashem loves the French speaking Jewish people!

It's all in Hashem's hands

The Sitra Achra vs Kavanah Kards--a true story!

The pen in the "hand" of Hashem

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