A Blessed Week for All of You, My Friends! Mon, 23 July 2018 = 11th of Av, 5778

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Blessed are You, Lord

Baruch atah Adonai

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our God, King of the

Universe,

Elohenu melekh ha'olam

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who has granted us life, sustained and

enabled us to reach this occasion.

shehecheyanu vekiymanu vehigi'anu lazman hazeh.

"One Day's Human Story is a First-Person Singular Gift to All Humankind!"--Yoel Nitzarim a la Eliezer Wiesel (z"l)

For the meaning of a human story, one has to look no further than the author's personal history, life intention, and the historical context. In the now, we live: right in the moment, this moment, Amen! Each individual creates his or her human story every day whether knowingly or not. No one else needs to write this story; the writer provides all of the material in the way that life follows a certain biographical blueprint, that is, a personal, unique circadian rhythm. He or she who dares to bring philosophical rendition to the day's narrative becomes the sole amanuensis, as the Holy One's assistant, of the title, plot, setting, characters, theme(s), glossary, and thesis statement.

A Jerusalem Story

According to the renowned Jewish author and scholar Prof. Robert S. Wistrich, ([?"?]z"l: Heb.: of blessed memory), the most seminal role of the Jewish people is for the Jewish people and nation to bring light unto the nations in order to help the world recognize the role of G-d in our lives as human beings.--"Anti-Semisitsm and Jewish Destiny," The Jerusalem Post, 20/5/2015

Recently, I had a personal scare--truly a fear that I would very possibly die sometime this summer. Herein is the story. I must admit that the loss of American intellectual Dr. Charles Krauthammer (z"l) at the end of last month was so alarming to me because he died of cancer at age sixty-eight, a contemporary to me! I respected this gifted writer and political commentator, a Pulitzer Prize Winner, for his profound insights and wise contributions to the social media regarding the state of affairs particularly Israel.

About four months ago I started using a mouthwash that contained stannous fluoride on a daily basis. Within two weeks the entire lining of my mouth changed complexion and color fromm a natural flesh-complected, variegated tone to a dark-gray, almost black smooth, bleak, ominous, almost amorphous cavern! On March 7th, my dentist of 4 1/2 years in Jerusalem told me I needed a biopsy: in actuality, she screamed the term at top of her lungs not once, but twice, right in my face. When she told me her asking price--almost half of my monthly rent!-- for such an extreme test, I asked why I needed it. Her response was evasive a one as I have ever heard in my life: "I don't know! Maybe there is a serious problem." My response was a resounding no! "I feel fine. I have no pain in my mouth. I have no symptoms of a serious problem anywhere on my person!" Then she demanded that I find another sentist who would do a biopsy for less money. I found such a person who "claimed" to be a specialist in oral issues, including potentially fatal diseases.

On April 29th, this "specialist" examined my mouth and told me the very same thing that the dentist had told me with a twist: "You need to go to a top specilist to find the answer at Hadassah Hospital as soon as possible!"

I felt good! I felt myself! I did not feel ill! I was OK! So, "What's up?" What was the problem?

Then . . . I recalled a trip my family and I had made to Quebec City some twenty-seven years ago during the summer of 1991. We had flown to Montreal from O'Hare Airport in Chicago. There we rented a car and drove to Quebec City through majestic, primeval, pristine, lush, immemorial, unforgettable vegetation, a grand forest. The drive was extremely beautiful! I can recollect the stunning foliage; magnificent animals, especially the deer; and the incredibly tall, dynamic, pine trees. However, the panorama and scenery changed suddenly at one point. We were pravelling due north in this forst, and as in a complete solar eclipse, the entire lanscape turned virtually black; the color of the bark on the trees became an unnatural deathly, moribund, denatured, dark-gray. I remember almost losing control of the steering wheel, for the intensity of the paradigmatic change in living scope in the lanscape caused my senses to virtually shut-down!I also remember that our conversation between my wife and four-year-old daughtyer and I almost shut-down spontaneously as well. And then we discerned patches of green on some randomly disparate trees. Slowly, slowly we espied "healthy" foliafe in the distance, almost on the horizon. The greem imaes brought relief to what seemed a virulent, unaccountable devastation where G-d's kingdom of glory should have appeared in the natural setting of abundance and consummate majesty. ACID RAIN! Alas, the culprit! I do remember thinking to myself, My L-rd, why has Your human creation destroyed such unadulterated beauty in this idyllic setting?

Back to my problem, I realized via memory and what the founder of logotherapy Dr. Viktor E. Frankl once termed "crabbing" (what a pilot does in maneuvering an airplane to adjust for the influence of the wind on one's reaching the destined destination in over-reaching the desired site) to solve my health issue. I stopped using the mouthwash on June 1st! Within three days, the lining of my mouth had improved from a dismal night to a blessed pre-dawn in complexion! Within a mouth, the entire oral cavity had repaired itself into a healthy-looking ORAL UNIVERSE! By the time I appeared in the chair of my third and newest dentist--my present dentist--on July 10th, I felt rejuvenated! When she told me that my oral cavity appeared healthy, I smiled from ear to ear!

Faith, my friends, in our ability to reason why we live in this world is so critical for our continued survival as the human race. Blief in the One G-d is the first and foremost step. Me He grant us continued strength to face our daily challenges . . . .