Kisses from Hashem - share yours!

mommy3b2c

Fri, Sep 01 2017, 2:00 pm

marina wrote:

Of course not. Hashem doesn't care. I am not somehow more special than the 30,000 children under 5 that die each day world wide from preventable causes like hunger, malaria, etc. If Hashem wants to kiss someone, He should prob just start with them.

But recounting all the good things, no matter how minor, makes me appreciate everything and makes me happier Smile

* a friend made me breakfast today
* my secretary came to work when I didn't expect her to
* My clothes still fit even though I gained 5 lbs.
* I gained 5lbs because people love me and feed me
* I have fun things planned for the weekend
* Prison Break made another season
* I'm reading a great book- The Fault in Our Stars
* I made good food for shabbos
* Trump might get impeached
* My plan to get my kids more interested in learning is working
* I found a great deal on a sleeper sofa
* I figured out that Starbucks can make my iced coffee into a shake
* My job doesn't care if I sleep in, like today
* my sister is planning a labor day bbq with all my friends and some new pple too
* weather is supposed to be warm next week - maybe I'll go to the beach!
* My wifi monitoring device wasn't working, but the company sent me an easy fix
* my college daughter handled her broken-printer situation well and all by herself
* I saw so many videos on FB of people helping strangers in Houston.

More next time!

Totally agree to the new season of prison break! The tears I cried when they visited Michaels grave....

But putting that aside, I truly feel sad that you think Hashem doesn't care about you and about all those little dying children. He does care. It is true that it seems like He doesn't because he is all powerful so why wouldn't He just save them? But we just don't know the answer because the world we live in is only half a world. And we just can't understand the other half until we die. It's a real catch 22...
but I talk to G-d all the time about minor things like parking spots and missing car keys. And He does answer me. It's not a coincidence.

amother

Denim

Sat, Sep 02 2017, 8:59 pm

mommy3b2c wrote:

[u]

What do you mean "he answers me"?

amother

Sienna

Sat, Sep 02 2017, 9:47 pm

amother wrote:

Wait a minute Marina. If you don't believe in hashgacha protis, a concept elaborated on many times in the gemarah, why do you post questions on very "hot topic" gemaros here on imamother? Like, why do you care if an amorah goes to a citoy and asks someone to marry him for a day, and how this reflects on the Torah view point on marriage? I have no problem with starting discussions about any topic in Torah, but if you don't believe in more foundational concepts in the gamarah, why care so much about the controversial topics?

The concept as hashgacha pratis as it is being developed in this thread is rejected by the rishonim. In sefer hachinuch we are told that understanding that Hashem is actively involved in a leaf falling from a tree is רחוק הרבה מין השכל. Far from intelligent. Rather, hashgacha pratis is used to describe events that effect who civilisations (and tzadikim). It is not until the Baal Shem Tov that hashgacha pratis is described as it is being used here. (See the Rambam for example).

There are many conceptions of hashgacha pratis is yiddishkeit and Marina's is certainly an accepted (If not the dominant) one up until the last 300 years or so.

nanny24/7

Sat, Sep 02 2017, 9:52 pm

amother wrote:

Wait a minute Marina. If you don't believe in hashgacha protis, a concept elaborated on many times in the gemarah, why do you post questions on very "hot topic" gemaros here on imamother? Like, why do you care if an amorah goes to a city and asks someone to marry him for a day, and how this reflects on the Torah view point on marriage? I have no problem with starting discussions about any topic in Torah, but if you don't believe in more foundational concepts in the gamarah, why care so much about the controversial topics?

I am not agreeing or disagreeing with anyone on this thread but feel very uncomfortable about how you are using amother to bash someone anonymously.
Isn't that against the rules of imamother?
And do you think you have a right to embarrass someone like that for the sake of sticking up for what you believe is Torah values?
I hope not.

amother

Orchid

Sat, Sep 02 2017, 10:21 pm

nanny24/7 wrote:

Not intended as a bash, and not sticking up for "what I believe is Torah values.". Genuinely interested. But I'll delete my post since you find it offensive.

amother

Denim

Sat, Sep 02 2017, 11:13 pm

livinginflatbus wrote:

Sometimes things happen and its hard to see the hand of hashem and we get angry and dissillusioned . But I find that when I put my trust in Him he always helps me even if I can't always see it right away. Also feeling that hashem is always on your side and orchestrates everything makes for a more supportive quality life

I guess. I think I look at it from a different perspective that I believe is the reality. Maybe I'm wrong though, and I'd love to hear a real practical explanation, because I agree it would make life easier to see things your way. Unfortunately though, when I look around it's seems to be indisputably clear that the people who are davening and talking to hashem seem to be getting their desired responses on the same level as the people who completely shut hashem out of their lives. Is this point debatable? Do tragedies, adult singles, couples who can't have children, happen in greater numbers to the people who drive their cars on shabbos and eat pork on yom kippur? It seems silly to believe so. Even with regard to mundane things, do people who ask hashem for a parking spot find a spot more so then people who don't talk to g-d? It seems near impossible to reconcile the value of davening unless you either believe:

1. G-d is indeed a vending machine. I ask him for a parking spot and all of the sudden someone pulls out. If only others knew my secret they wouldn't have to keep circling the block.
2. Talking to hashem is good for the neshama. In other words you acknowledge that the people who davened and fasted last yom kippur weren't really better off then those who didn't. However after 120, we will get rewarded for it.

So either davening works and we get what we ask for, or davening doesn't work in this world, but it's a mitzvah. Is there another way of looking at this?

mommy3b2c

Sat, Sep 02 2017, 11:21 pm

amother wrote:

Yes there is. We can ask as much as we want. Sometimes He answers yes and sometimes He answers no. If I'm going to get mad at Him for the nos, I can at least recognize when he answers Yes too. And regarding people that don't ask for anything and get good things anyway, G-d gives us plenty of good things even when we don't ask for them. For whatever reason, He's choosing to give them good even though they didn't ask for it. Who knows? Maybe if they asked they'd get even more good.

amother

Denim

Sat, Sep 02 2017, 11:27 pm

mommy3b2c wrote:

Fair enough. Bottom line though: Do you believe there is any correlation between the tragedies that happened this past year with the amount people davened? In other words, did the people who davened suffer fewer tragedies and hardships than the people who didn't daven?

mommy3b2c

Sat, Sep 02 2017, 11:31 pm

amother wrote:

No. You can't compare between people. But.... the people who suffered tragedies may have suffered more if they didn't daven, or may have suffered less if they did daven. And the people who got good things may have gotten more if they did Daven, or less if they didn't Daven. G-ds face is hidden from us at this time, but He lets us catch small glimpses if you'll allow yourself to see them.

amother

Linen

Sat, Sep 02 2017, 11:42 pm

mommy3b2c wrote:

This
Also, sometimes Hashem takes tfillos, stores them and uses them in a time when we didn't daven at all.

My son has a beautiful voice. He wished to be accepted in a popular children's choir but it didnt happen. I told him that his tfillos wont go l'ibud.
The 'first shabbos' (!) after his Bar Mitzvah he was accepted as the steady bal tfila in a shabbos minyan.
I told him remember when you wanted to get into that choir so badly? Remember those tfilos? I'm not a navi but I believe that your tfilos then, helped you get this without putting a finger into cold water.

crust

Sat, Sep 02 2017, 11:45 pm

amother wrote:

What you are asking is a very old question.
Its tzadik vra lo vrasha vtov lo.

Rabbi Shaffer has a very thorough talk about this.

amother

Denim

Sat, Sep 02 2017, 11:48 pm

crust wrote:

What you are asking is a very old question.
Its tzadik vra lo vrasha vtov lo.

Rabbi Shaffer has a very thorough talk about this.

I realize it's an old question. It seems some people feel that on some level the question is resolved. If one believes that hashem openly takes care of tzadikim more than reshaim, then we've flipped the scripped and tzadik vra lo doesn'r apply as much, after all the tzadikim indeed have it better.

crust

Sat, Sep 02 2017, 11:58 pm

amother wrote:

I either dont understand your current post or I misunderstood your previous post.

Is your question why tragedies happen to people who daven? Or is your question if people who daven have it better?

In any case, I think both questions are very basic. Not saying I will go into answering them here, but just know that there are very clear answers to these questions if you are really looking for them.

amother

Yellow

Sun, Sep 03 2017, 2:39 am

I have a complicated relationship with my parents. They had difficult childhoods, and are emotionally unhealthy as a result. which makes them very imperfect parents who have caused me a lot of pain.

There's a "project" that I have to complete by Monday, and I've been stressing about it for months. It's a really, really big deal. Tonight, my father spent an hour helping me finish the last, most complicated part of it. When I sent him a thank you text afterwards, he replied by saying, "Gladly. That's what parents are all about."

I've been crying my eyes out since I received that text.

I am so lucky to have the parents that I have. They love me so much. Their lives are so difficult and painful- they could have used that as an excuse to be terrible people. Instead, they're trying so hard to be better than their parents were.

I don't know how people survive the agony that losing a parent must be. I want to hold my parents close and never let go.