Lifting Spirits in South OC; The Circle in Action
From the mailbox:
Almost 3 years ago I faced a spiritual crisis in my life. I was in great emotional pain and all the years of personal therapy were not helping me to find a solution of how I could heal this situation. During this time I was at a Bar Mitzvah and the Rabbi spoke of the importance of forgiveness. After the ceremony I walked up and to my surprise I asked the Rabbi if I could speak with him. (At that time Judaism was not the first place I sought spiritual enlightenment.)
I told him my story and my struggle with forgiving those that had hurt me so deeply and yet told by one of the commandments that I was to honor them. He told me that the Rabbi’s had spent many years asking this same question and came to the belief that you forgive 3 times. These words were the beginning of my rebirth of my Judaic soul. I spent over a year meeting with this Rabbi on a monthly basis and looking deeper at my relationship with G-d and His place in my life.
A year ago I met Rabbi Marcus. My father who is in a retirement home kept telling me about this Rabbi who came to visit him at the home. Thinking he was delusional I did not pursue it. He kept telling me the Rabbi wanted to talk with me and gave me his phone number.
Reluctantly I called Rabbi Marcus. Why reluctantly? He was a Chabad Rabbi and I had been “taught and told” these people were radicals. Rabbi and I spoke and we agreed to meet. Feeling this would be best for my relationship with my dad I agreed to meet with him. Little did I know this would be the beginning of an amazing journey that would take me to a spiritual place I only dreamed I could get to.
At the first meeting I told Rabbi my truth about my relationship with my family and what I had been taught by my other Rabbi. Surprisingly he understood what I was saying and agreed with what I had been doing and encouraged me to continue to what was working for me and added that my only job as a son was to be a dutiful child. This was the relief I had been looking for.
Wanting to give something back I offered to provide services for free to any member who needed it. Rabbi invited me to study the Torah with him in order to understand the Chabad. I agreed to do this. Thus began a weekly study where it has become more of a deep personal relationship between 2 men of different lifestyles and lives intersecting and learning more about us while bringing me closer to my Judaic soul.
Today the reason G-d brought Rabbi Marcus into my life became clearer then it ever has. Due to an increased workload I have been unable to meet regularly with Rabbi as I had. In the midst of a painful experience I contacted Rabbi to share with him what was going on. He told me my emotional child was hurt and not to take what had occurred personally. Within moments I remembered what I had learned mere weeks ago about what Moses had stated when he came down from the mountain. “Thou shall not worship any other G-d but one.”
In this one moment a light came over me. I said to Rabbi, “I need to remember, that by giving others power I am forsaking the one and only G-d I pray to.” He laughed and said, “You are half way there.” I thanked him for once again being there when I needed spiritual solace and a reminder that in the end it always comes down to my letting go and letting G-d.
Everyday I sit and listen as people share their pain and joy with me. Everyday I use what I have been taught to help people find their own spiritual healing even if they are not aware of it. I am blessed that I chose to stop listening to the tapes that have been running all my life and started listening the one true voice G-d.
Keep it simple
Keep it spiritual