Shabbat Shalom!

As this week's Torah portion is Emor ("speak") and we read one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible (Leviticus 23), I couldn't pass up the chance to do a post about Shabbat, the Sabbath.
FAQ's About Shabbat:

When is Shabbat?
Shabbat begins every Friday evening at sundown and ends after the sunset on Saturday.


Why from sundown to sundown?
That's the order God created the days in. "And the evening and the morning was the first day..."
Also, we always go from "darkness" to "light"; never the opposite.

Who is the Sabbath for?
Read Leviticus 23. God says that they are HIS Shabbats, and He is giving them a sign to His people. If you are one of God's people, then you are invited to join in the rest of the Lord!

You talk a lot about Shabbat dinner. How is that any different from a regular dinner?
Honestly, everything is different at Shabbat dinner! We prepare our best and favorite foods, we say prayers of thanksgiving, we read Scripture, we light special candles, we drink special wine or juice, we eat special bread, and we sing special songs as a family. In a way, it's like having Thanksgiving every week! If you have never experienced a Shabbat dinner, I encourage you to find a way to do so.

What do you do on Saturday?
People celebrate Shabbat different ways. My family usually goes to our fellowship in the morning and eat lunch there; then we come home and take a nice long nap or read the Bible together. We avoid work and focus on resting in the Lord. It truly is an island in time!

Well, that's about all I have time for now, but please feel free to ask any other questions! These are simply the ones I get most often.

Shabbat Shalom! (Have a peaceful Sabbath!)

Thanks to Allposters.com for the picture!

Frugal Friday: How I "Roll"

I get this question a lot (and I mean almost everyday, from at least one reader!):

Okay, Jen, it's great that you're getting all these toothbrushes and body wash for free from CVS. But what about the basics...stuff like toilet paper???

Well, my friends, there are many ways to CVS, as I have stated many times. I don't knock the way other people "CVS" but I'd like to share how I do it, which includes stuff like baking soda, thermometers, and yes, toilet paper!

I look at the items that are generating Extra Bucks as my means of buying other things that I am really in need of. The $/$$ coupons plus manufacturer coupons tell me how much that I have to "spend" on the things I "need." (I use most of the FREE items as well, I just might not "need" them at the moment.)

Here's an example. Today I needed a thermometer. I felt very feverish, and am tired of not having one at my house. So I looked at the ECB items and what coupons I had so that I could buy one. I happened to have a $3/$15 and two 50 cent off coupons for the Colgate 360 toothbrushes. That means I have $4 to "spend" right?

Then I remembered that on the Kiss/Broadway nail products deal, I could "make" $1. So now I know that I can get a thermometer that costs around $5, without depleting myself of any ECB's.

And that is what I did. Today I spent 77 cents on a $5 thermometer, two toothbrushes, and two bottles of nail glue...and still have the same amount of ECB's.

That is why I personally don't "grow" my stash of ECB's into large amounts. I generally have between $15 and $25 ECB's at any given time, depending if I have done a CVS Advisor survey recently or if I ended up burning some on something.

Basically, I spend less than $1 every time I buy paper towels and toilet paper...something that has really made a difference in our budget! I used to spend at least $10 -$12 every time I bought the two items.

And that, my friends, is just another reason I am so thankful for CVS!

How do you CVS? Any other ideas for getting the "necessities" of life?

Go back to Biblical Womanhood for other great Frugal Friday ideas!

Happy Birthday Israel!

I'm a little under the weather, so this won't be the in-depth post I had planned but I had to say something. Today is the modern state of Israel's 60th birthday!

In all reality, Israel is much, much older than 60 years old...dating back thousands of years. However, 60 years ago today was the day that the UN voted for the establishment of the modern state of Israel as the Jewish homeland. From the very first day, the surrounding nations have railed against this tiny nation. But the people of Israel have always prevailed.

Why?

Because the God of Israel is stronger, mightier, and more faithful than all the "gods" of the other nations combined!

Am Yisrael Chai! The People of Israel Live...because the God of Israel lives!

For more, read here, here and here.

FREE 8 x 10 photo print at Walgreen's!

Tomorrow ONLY, you can upload a photo and get a FREE 8 x 10 at Walgreen's. Follow this link to do so.

Speaking of Mother's Day, which is this Sunday (May 11), do you have any good frugal ideas on presents for your mom? Please share!

I already got mine, but I can't talk about it on here yet because my mother reads my blog (I love you Mom!). I'll post what I got her later in the week, as I mailed it to her yesterday and she should receive it soon! Hope you like it Momma...hehe!

And I will bring them back...

A few days ago I started, for the fifth time, re-reading Israel My Beloved by Kay Arthur. It is my favorite novel, and probably my second favorite book after the Bible. Although this book reads like a great work of fiction, full of passion and suspense, it is based on reality which makes it all the more relevant!

Using metaphors, Kay Arthur tells the story of history, between God and His people. Although the historical section of the book is amazingly detailed yet interesting, the part that I most treasure is regarding the present. In the book, the main character Sarah (Israel) is promised that although she has been unfaithful to her Husband, with great love He will draw her back.

This is so exciting, as we are seeing this exact thing happen before our very eyes. Actually today was dubbed "International Aliyah Day" because so many new immigrants from all over the world will be landing on Israeli soil today! Baruch HaShem (Praise God)!

Last night, my husband and another friend went to a major music festival in our city. The music artist we were watching was singing, "Jerusalem, if I forget you, let my right hand forget what it's supposed to do," a refrain that comes straight out of the Psalms. As he was singing, I looked around at the hundreds of people that probably don't even consider themselves "religious" mouthing those ancient words. Wow...

Yom HaShoah: Rembering the Holocaust

Today is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. People all over the globe are coming together, both Jew and non-Jew, to commemorate and honor the 6 million plus men, women and children who lost their lives. The first time that I really observed this day, I thought it was weird and it made me really uncomfortable. Why remember one of the most notorious events in the history of the world? The pictures, the film clips, the prayers that are read...it can be a little overwhelming, to say the least.
However, it's important to remember for a few reasons:
1) They deserve it. In Judaism, we remember a decedent every year by praying a certain prayer (not to them, but of praise to God) on the date of the anniversary of their passing. Many of those who perished in the Holocaust did not even receive a proper burial, and some of them are not even remembered in the database of names. We can remember them en masse on Yom HaShoah.
2) There is some repenting to do. I know a certain pastor who feels very heavy on his heart that the Church, as a whole, has still not repented for being a part of the Holocaust. Of course, there were many Christians who helped the Jews during this time, and there are many Christians now who have repented. Actually, there are countless Christians who were not even born at the time of the Holocaust, so why should they repent? Well, as this pastor says, there is a Biblical concept of "repenting on behalf of your people," and this is of huge importance if we ever are going to see the rift between the Jewish people and the Church close. No, not all of the Church was involved with the Nazi movement, but there was a large contingent that stood idly by while these horrible things were being done right before their eyes. The Holocaust is the pink elephant sitting in the middle of the Church's living room, and HaSatan likes it that way. However, we know that it is not God's will for there to be this huge gap between his flock. Today I pray for the Church, as a whole, to repent and ask forgiveness from both God and man, even if there was no personal involvement in what happened.
3) So that it doesn't happen again! There are those who would LOVE to see the Holocaust happen again, and there are those who are denying it ever happened. There are those who say that Hitler didn't finish the job. We can't think that we are safe just because we live in America, or that because the world is "more civilized" now. There are holocausts going on even now in Sudan, Darfur and many other places.

There are many lessons and stories that I could tell now. For sake of time I will end with this quote by Tzvi Freeman:

You ask me, "Why did G-d* allow it to happen?"
You recognize that everything in this world has purpose and meaning. Examine any aspect of His vast Creation, from the cosmos to the workings of the atom and you will see there must be a plan.
And so you ask, where does this fit into the plan? How could it?
I can only answer, painfully, G-d alone knows.
But what I cannot know, I need not know.
I need not know in order to fulfill that which my Creator has created me to do.
And that is, to change the world so this could never happen again.

*The Name of G-d is not spelled out by many Jews to show how sacred it is. I usually do write it out on here because I doubt that anyone prints out my blog, and also so that people don't become confused.

Shabbat Shalom!

Thanks to my husband for the picture. It was taken at Yad VaShem, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.

The Evil Tongue (Lashon Hara)

As we read through this week's Torah portion, Kedoshim ("Holy People" - Leviticus 19:1-20:27), I want to continue to highlight some of the teachings that God gave to His people. On Monday we talked about the concept of leaving the corners of the field for the poor to glean.

Today I want to speak of lashon hara, the "evil tongue." This concept is found in 19:16,

"Do not go around spreading slander among your people, but also don't stand idly by when your neighbor's life is at stake; I am the LORD." (CJB)

Basically, God is saying that speaking evil is a big deal to Him. We humans may take it lightly, thinking "everyone does it" or "sticks and stones may break bones, but names will never hurt them." God doesn't see it that way. He even compares speaking ill of others to murder!

Have you ever noticed when you are about to tell someone something that you shouldn't, your eyes light up and your pulse starts to race a little? It's exciting, and that's why we do it. However, that little chemical in our brain that is giving us a little pleasure for the moment is also mixed with pangs of guilt (i.e., the Holy Spirit) telling us that what we are doing is wrong.

Lashon hara is a powerful force. In the B'rit Chadasha (Renewed Covenant), James says that the tongue is like a little rudder that steers a huge ship. How true! There was a rabbi named Chofetz Chaim (1838-1933) that spent many years of his life studying and writing about lashon hara. In the introduction to Chofetz Chaim: A Lesson A Day, the authors state the following:

"Lashon hara is a weapon manufactured soley from words, yet the Torah considers the harm those words create to be massive. So sharp a wedge does lashon hara drive between a [person] and [God] that it even deprives him of Divine assistance in a time of need...

Lashon hara destroyed the Beis HaMikdash [the Temple] and keeps it in ruins today. The [Temple] was the Shechinah's dwelling place among [God's] chosen people...

Not only does lashon hara deprive a [person] of the fruits of his labors in Torah, it actually causes those [labors] to be exchanged for sins." (Chofetz Chaim: A Lesson A Day, quotes from pg. xxxi-xxxiii)

Try going on a "lashon hara" fast for even a day and see how difficult it is to not speak anything about another person. It is an awesome exercise, and every time I do it I learn to weigh my words very carefully. We should, of course, strive to do this always as we see that God considers it very serious. We don't always see the devastating effects of our words, but it is highly possible that something we say can ruin someone's life.

Be encouraged today that even though we cannot stop this fire of lashon hara in our own strength, but with God's help we can! We can do "all things through Messiah who strengthens us!"

Have a great day and don't forget to get your free drink at Carvel Ice Cream!

Thanks to the New York Times for the picture!