Respectful Disagreement

your writing likewise takes my breath away and what returns to me is the other parts of our journey: Wadi Rum. thank you,

I feel the depths of what you wrote, about the meanderings of conversation, about Nature, the nature of that love itself, respectful disagreement. What emanates from a soul place.

I find this relevant here. I am so glad I came to this now, on a dark and stormy night. Thank you.

As usual you take my breath away.

Walked into the narrow canyon at 9 am in the sunny brightness of day. Walked out at 7 pm in the blackness and chill of night. 12 hours flies by fast when you are in Awe.

Similarly, there is the Awe of the Seven Pillars of Wisdom further south at Wadi Rum. It is said that Lawrence of Arabia saw this site and fell in love with the desert nation. Awe and the rest is history.

I know that this article is not intended to be a travelogue, but through Nature a respectful dialogue can emerge. Every nation has its own beauty. If one speaks in the midst of natural grandeur, agreements are more possible. It is like any two people starting a contentious conversation by talking about the weather. It starts things off on a positive note whether the weather is fair or foul. Travel, nature, and the weather can also be used to end respectful disagreements on a positive note.

I have been once with my sister. It is an amazing place of intricate carved red rock facades that look like a movie set, covering the outside of empty rooms and the buildings have intriguing titles like The Treasury. There is an aqueduct constructed with great skill to gather water and it is said this incredible architectural wonder was built by the Nabateans and used as a stopping place for the many traders on the Silk Route. Wadi Musa where Moses is said to have stopped is not far away. One enters Petra through a key hole shaped opening called The Siq. There are ongoing excavations in the area by archaeologists at Brown University. Competent guides are available to give tours and historical overviews of the uses of many of these buildings over history, such as for worship and other purposes. Originally it seems the unadorned interiors were mostly empty. Petra was the site of the Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. It is a mysterious and beautiful place invoking awe.

Petra has been alotted as one of the 7 wonders of the world. It is an amazing territory with The Treasury as the highlight. You n might as well give it 8 hours of walking around. The area is controlled by the Bedouins. Throughout Egypt and Jordan, the Bedouins have created a strong economy especially in tourism.

petra is in the south. What will also astonish you is Mt. Nebo where the Jordanians have spruced up the mountaintop and cite it as the resting place of Moses. We Jews of course know that Moses stood on Nebo and looked over the Jordan River into The Promised Land. Unlike the Jordanians , we don;t know the actual resting place of Moses.

Moral of the story, enjoy traveling the Middle-East but do not believe all that you hear.

All alphabets are sacred. The manual creation by calligraphy and handwriting is an art, and if so practised is a sacred art, and those who do this, will say this. I know a calligrapher, and she says, there is something powerful about making the letters and in practising her art. She is not Jewish, but her art, involves also of course, the Hebrew letters, and ALL alphabets.

The word Calligraphy contains the English CALL, and it's a calling. As sofer and sefer are related words. I KNOW this. And C as in SEE and ALL. G_d created a universe out of the alphabet(s) and in crossing Babel, as I do, this gate opens wider and wider, and it is beautiful.

I will also say, what are you waiting for, with respect to Moshiach. Maybe the message is right here, on Chabad, and we must ALL move forward in concert, in concerted effort to work for a better world. The time IS NOW.

This Symphony HAS a conductor. It is G_d moving us all. That IS the message. The Moshiach is a messenger of hope, of tikkun.

brings me to my knees. Today I told a friend
who is also a colleague I had a strong sense
there is an adventure that will take us to Jordan, to Petra. She was astonished as her sister had called to say she is going to Petra.
My friend called her sister so I could discover this is really true and it is! I could be overwhelmed by the speed and constancy of these connects but I am totally centered/grounded and I know I am recording the most amazing story ever told.

I go to G-d, the author of my days and I say to you all with awe:one day you will look to your very own story with the same joy of discovery and love. I also say it isn't over when it's over. I have no doubt. G-d wrote the entire script. Heed the words we utter on Yom Kippur. The Book of Life Is the Book of Love.

The Sefer Torah can only be handwritten, which means that skill will not cease, at least not until the arrival of Moshiach. It takes a special hand to produce each letter.

Other than the Sefer Torah, like it or not, handwriting will continue to decline as technology advances in speeding up our world of correspondence.

Good Shabbos all !

There is something about letters, big and small. There are people who say there is a science to signatures made by hand, and I know there was such study, perhaps more, years ago. I believe handwriting and calligraphy is becoming a lost art, and that there is a powerful connect in making the letters that is spiritual in nature. I mourn that we are losing this. Many rely on type.Certainly there is a deep mystic significance to letters as is written.I am glad the art of the Sofer in scribing Torah is deeply revered as I do believe this is a great thing, and should be preserved and always honored. It is a spiritual connection to the ineffable. I feel it. Those who spend time doing this are often deeply spiritual and feel this connectivity. The more time I spend just meditating on letters, the more I see, and I say there is a great spiritual truth to this.

The universe it is said, arose from the aleph bet and I do perceive this. It's an amazement that never stops giving.

r h small case understood.

In Chabad forums and where confusion will not be caused, i use i.

you may see how i is consistent with r h , and enjoy using it. If this will not serve your purposes, it's trivial. It works for me. At the same time, i use capital letters in my initials and name and am not about to change that. Chabad uses Anonymous, and i am not going to put any effort into changing that. Luckily in my email address, my name is smaller case. How providential is that. It would bug me if that was not the case, no pun intended. i would not have gone through the effort to change it.

i understand your poetry and you very well, and enjoy both. i did not care for poetry in school, and my marks showed it.

I doubt if any one can prove the existence of G-d, except one has to go on faith that He exists. And only by a deep reverence for Him and His Creation, one would come to know Him, as He would I believe reveal Himself to those who seek Him with all their heart and being. and not believing but just grasp onto any theory that is thrown out there, what hope is there in that. I believe one would need to trust G-d completely to know that He will accomplish what He has set out to do. G-d bless