I've been reading lately about the Planet that was recently discovered that is said to be made of diamonds. Something about pressure over time and a carbon base and lots of other details that are in the link below, but the bottom line is that where our beautiful planet is blue and made up of mostly water.... this newly discovered planet is made from diamonds.
Makes me think how amazing it is that here is case where life imitates art. And, more so of how sparkly and beautiful that in these days of Moshiach revealing itself we find a planet made from diamonds.
It reminds me of the story that we used to tell when people came to our Chabad House on Friday Nights around the Shabbos table about the man who was shipwrecked on an island. I'm sure you have most likely heard one or more versions of it. It's a Chelm like tale, told long or with a shortened Cliff Notes version.
The gist is a poor man goes on a journey to find money to support his family. There's a storm, a big storm and he finds himself awake on a beach, shipwrecked. Okay, some people end up in the belly of a whale like Jonah and others like this Chelmite ends up on a tropical beach ala Gilligan but without Ginger and the Captain. He sees in the sunshine what looks to be a big, bright diamond laying in the sand. He gets up, runs over, thirsty and tired and in a rush to stuff the perfect, large diamond in his pocket. As he walks a little in search of food he sees another diamond, and yet another diamond. He stuffs his pockets with these special diamonds, the answer to his prayers for parnosa, for money and riches. Somehow, someway he will find his way off the island, get home to his family and they will be rich like kings. Richer than kings even with jewels galore. Suddenly a man appears and comes to help him, seems it is an island populated by friendly people who want to help him. They see he is weighted down by the diamonds and they tell him to throw them out and make his load easier. He can't, he went on this journey in search of riches and God led him to this island. They feel bad for the misguided soul and explain that on this island what is rich and valuable is chicken shmaltz, chicken fat. He laughs, back home in Chelm that is about all they have, here they have DIAMONDS. Everyone laughs at him and feels sorry for him. Bit by bit, overtime he begins to look at the world through their eyes and begins to crave chicken fat and works hard, makes money and begins to acquire chicken fat, lots and lots of chicken fats. He becomes very wealthy, he has a warehouse filled just with chicken fat. The diamonds get lost in the bottom of his drawers. After all, everywhere he goes he finds diamonds in the street, in the field and on the beach. Finally.....after much time goes by.... he is rich enough to build a ship, find a crew and set sail back for his home. He fills up his suitcases and boxes with chicken fat as much as he can take back with him. He arranges to come back at a later date and transport the rest of his chicken fat home with him. He is so excited to see his wife, his family and to show them how rich he became while he was away and how he will now be able to provide a wonderful life for them. The ship is finally built, it sets sail and after weeks go by he is in sight of the his home town. People see a ship on the horizon they have never seen before and are very excited and run down to the docks hoping it is their long, lost friend who was lost at sea or some new traveler who is rich like a King from the looks of his ship. People look through their telescope and see their old long, lost friend at the Chelm and run to get his wife. As the ship gets closer and closer people begin to hold their nose, there is this HORRIBLE smell they can smell already on the docks before the ship even makes it into port. People run away from this horrible smell. His wife is left at the dock, holding her nose but excited to see her long, lost husband. When he gets off the ship, he tells her how rich he is and how they are set for life and shows her his beautiful ship. She asks how he made so much money. He explains how he was shipwrecked and almost died and how he found the diamonds and walked for miles and miles until he found this man who helped him. He explains how he found a career and prospered and was able to build this ship and come home with his fortune. She begs to see the diamonds. He tells her, "What diamonds, those worthless stones??" He explains how he left the diamonds to make more room for his chicken fat. She screams, "CHICKEN FAT??? CHICKEN FAT????" And, he is confused because he is now rich with chicken fat, while away he forgot the value of diamonds.
The moral of the story being that our neshoma.... soul comes down to Earth to do mitzvahs, to do good deeds. That is the purpose we were here for and sometimes we get distracted by other things that other people value and we become convinced we are here for something else... like collecting chicken fat instead of diamonds.
We all come down to earth, this beautiful planet with the purpose of doing mitzos; good deeds that bring down Godliness onto Planet Earth. We look around, we see the sunshine and the beaches and we spread our arms and look around and smile at the beauty. The snow falls and we suddenly need to take long walks in the snow and wonder what it would be like to ski down frozen slopes at high speeds. Surfing the waves and riding the slopes there is always something to do. We take time away from our goal here and there in minutes and hours that turn to days and weeks. We can get up early and go to the nursing home and visit with elderly people or we can do it next week when there isn't a Dolphins game or a Jets game or a special concert at the park. We can learn some Tanya or we can learn how to snowmobile, the choice is up to us and how much of a balance we want in our lives is our decision. That is the free will that we were all given when we come down to play on Planet Earth. Party hardy 24/7 365 days a year or party here and there and do some mitzvos along the way.
It's important to enjoy the diverse beauty of Earth that the Rebbe referred to as"variegated as to climate and physical features" (Lag B'Omer 3731). We can travel far and wide to see the mountains, to see the oceans and the Great Plains in between but along our way it is important we remember who we are and why we are here. To say a brocho in San Angelo where we light the Shabbos candles and welcomed in Shabbos in a roadside motel. Saying the brocho at the beach when we see far off in the distance a rainbow or we experience a tropical thunderstorm. On a journey we might have a choice between dancing all night at a disco or spending a few hours visiting a grandparent before going out to enjoy the blues and jazz of New Orleans. Wherever we go we take ourselves and our mission and our purpose. It is so easy get lost at the beach or we can remember who we are and why we are there and sew our lives into a beautiful quilt that was for the sake of Hashem.
Just as we need to open up our eyes and see the beauty of the world, so do we need to open up our minds and know that we are standing on the precipe of a new world order of Geulah and Moshiach. We need to remember why we are here and not get distracted by the ways of the others around us that are not on the same spiritual level and who can only see the goshmious of money spent on foolishness in the same way that the man from Chelm forgot he was there to find his fortune in diamonds not chicken fat.
Okay, sometimes chicken fat does smells good. It entices us to taste a bit of the onions on the challah that were sauteeing in the shmaltz. It smells so good we forget we were counting points on weight watchers and had really, really, really decided last week to start being only a Vegan or giving up gluten which is lurking in the challah. But after a long sea voyage what would you rather have spoiled chicken fat or a bag full of diamonds?
We make a plan on Sunday night for the week and by Wednesday our food diaries have gone from infinite details to "ate lunch, sushi and too many cookies" to giving up Erev Shabbos or preparing a healthy broccoli salad and making two kugels instead.
Such is the nature of human beings, we are so easily led astray by the scents and sweets of the world, by the desire to escape from our problems and dance the night away under the influence of a way too fattening but oh so delicious pina colada. In the morning we wonder why we stayed up so late, why we drank so much and what happened to our Sunday night game plan.
It's good to stop and smell the roses along the way, but drinking a pitcher of margaritas is not necessarily what Hashem had in mind.
In 5729 the Rebbe addressed the Convention of Neshei and told the women to remember to "Turn Away from Evil" and to "Do Good" and it's something that we find ourselves having to do every day in lots of different ways. Go out with a friend and celebrate their birthday and order a Pina Colada and make a brocho and stop at one, sip it slowly, enjoy it. Make a resolution to do something this new year to increase in kindness or goodness, give more charity. Weave the mitzvos into your life and never lose sight of your goals. The women went into the desert with their tambourines, they danced, they didn't forget them at home in the hustle and bustle of leaving Egypt. They took jewelry with them that was later used for the Holy Temple. They carried the sanctuary with them through the desert, they didn't leave it behind like the poor man from Chelm who left the diamonds on the sand to bring back more chicken fat to his family.
Planet Earth is a beautiful planet, made more beautiful by the acts of goodness and kindness and the revelation of Geulah. Out there somewhere is a planet made of diamonds just like the story we have always told about the shipwrecked man from Chelm.
Life imitates art, there is nothing new under the sun and yet somehow it's almost a proof that there is always a little truth in those funky, funny stories of the men from Chelm.
We can only wonder as the reporter who wrote the story about what other wondrous things that lie out there before us as Geulah is realized every day in small ways until we can see the reality of Moshiach in our daily lives.
Maybe on that planet sushi is the monetary measure of their world? Can't you just see it? California Roll is a five dollar bill, but a Dragon Roll is a worth a ten dollar bill. Who knows?
Wishing you a year of revealed miracles and wonders with some music for dancing, fine wine while dining and the chance to do mitzvos that you can find time for such as giving a friend a ride that takes us out of our way a bit or maybe that was the way we were supposed to go all along? Give a smile with your charity and give the gift of time to a friend who needs to see you and needs to smile. Those are the true jewels that we mine as we go through our life and present to Hashem.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110825141632.htm
A planet made of diamonds? Who knew? I suppose the man from Chelm knew ....
Had he only kept his eye on the goal line and remembered the rules of the game he might have remembered what was important in life and what was fool's gold.
Keep your eyes and minds open and live in the golden world of Geulah, not in the darkness of depression or addiction to the wrong things. Our turquoise and emerald planet with it's many different lands and climates is a pretty amazing place to live in, don't forget why we are here.
We all come down to earth, this beautiful planet with the purpose of doing mitzos; good deeds that bring down Godliness onto Planet Earth. We look around, we see the sunshine and the beaches and we spread our arms and look around and smile at the beauty. The snow falls and we suddenly need to take long walks in the snow and wonder what it would be like to ski down frozen slopes at high speeds. Surfing the waves and riding the slopes there is always something to do. We take time away from our goal here and there in minutes and hours that turn to days and weeks. We can get up early and go to the nursing home and visit with elderly people or we can do it next week when there isn't a Dolphins game or a Jets game or a special concert at the park. We can learn some Tanya or we can learn how to snowmobile, the choice is up to us and how much of a balance we want in our lives is our decision. That is the free will that we were all given when we come down to play on Planet Earth. Party hardy 24/7 365 days a year or party here and there and do some mitzvos along the way.
It's important to enjoy the diverse beauty of Earth that the Rebbe referred to as"variegated as to climate and physical features" (Lag B'Omer 3731). We can travel far and wide to see the mountains, to see the oceans and the Great Plains in between but along our way it is important we remember who we are and why we are here. To say a brocho in San Angelo where we light the Shabbos candles and welcomed in Shabbos in a roadside motel. Saying the brocho at the beach when we see far off in the distance a rainbow or we experience a tropical thunderstorm. On a journey we might have a choice between dancing all night at a disco or spending a few hours visiting a grandparent before going out to enjoy the blues and jazz of New Orleans. Wherever we go we take ourselves and our mission and our purpose. It is so easy get lost at the beach or we can remember who we are and why we are there and sew our lives into a beautiful quilt that was for the sake of Hashem.
Just as we need to open up our eyes and see the beauty of the world, so do we need to open up our minds and know that we are standing on the precipe of a new world order of Geulah and Moshiach. We need to remember why we are here and not get distracted by the ways of the others around us that are not on the same spiritual level and who can only see the goshmious of money spent on foolishness in the same way that the man from Chelm forgot he was there to find his fortune in diamonds not chicken fat.
Okay, sometimes chicken fat does smells good. It entices us to taste a bit of the onions on the challah that were sauteeing in the shmaltz. It smells so good we forget we were counting points on weight watchers and had really, really, really decided last week to start being only a Vegan or giving up gluten which is lurking in the challah. But after a long sea voyage what would you rather have spoiled chicken fat or a bag full of diamonds?
We make a plan on Sunday night for the week and by Wednesday our food diaries have gone from infinite details to "ate lunch, sushi and too many cookies" to giving up Erev Shabbos or preparing a healthy broccoli salad and making two kugels instead.
Such is the nature of human beings, we are so easily led astray by the scents and sweets of the world, by the desire to escape from our problems and dance the night away under the influence of a way too fattening but oh so delicious pina colada. In the morning we wonder why we stayed up so late, why we drank so much and what happened to our Sunday night game plan.
It's good to stop and smell the roses along the way, but drinking a pitcher of margaritas is not necessarily what Hashem had in mind.
In 5729 the Rebbe addressed the Convention of Neshei and told the women to remember to "Turn Away from Evil" and to "Do Good" and it's something that we find ourselves having to do every day in lots of different ways. Go out with a friend and celebrate their birthday and order a Pina Colada and make a brocho and stop at one, sip it slowly, enjoy it. Make a resolution to do something this new year to increase in kindness or goodness, give more charity. Weave the mitzvos into your life and never lose sight of your goals. The women went into the desert with their tambourines, they danced, they didn't forget them at home in the hustle and bustle of leaving Egypt. They took jewelry with them that was later used for the Holy Temple. They carried the sanctuary with them through the desert, they didn't leave it behind like the poor man from Chelm who left the diamonds on the sand to bring back more chicken fat to his family.
Planet Earth is a beautiful planet, made more beautiful by the acts of goodness and kindness and the revelation of Geulah. Out there somewhere is a planet made of diamonds just like the story we have always told about the shipwrecked man from Chelm.
Life imitates art, there is nothing new under the sun and yet somehow it's almost a proof that there is always a little truth in those funky, funny stories of the men from Chelm.
We can only wonder as the reporter who wrote the story about what other wondrous things that lie out there before us as Geulah is realized every day in small ways until we can see the reality of Moshiach in our daily lives.
Maybe on that planet sushi is the monetary measure of their world? Can't you just see it? California Roll is a five dollar bill, but a Dragon Roll is a worth a ten dollar bill. Who knows?
Wishing you a year of revealed miracles and wonders with some music for dancing, fine wine while dining and the chance to do mitzvos that you can find time for such as giving a friend a ride that takes us out of our way a bit or maybe that was the way we were supposed to go all along? Give a smile with your charity and give the gift of time to a friend who needs to see you and needs to smile. Those are the true jewels that we mine as we go through our life and present to Hashem.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110825141632.htm
A planet made of diamonds? Who knew? I suppose the man from Chelm knew ....
Had he only kept his eye on the goal line and remembered the rules of the game he might have remembered what was important in life and what was fool's gold.
Keep your eyes and minds open and live in the golden world of Geulah, not in the darkness of depression or addiction to the wrong things. Our turquoise and emerald planet with it's many different lands and climates is a pretty amazing place to live in, don't forget why we are here.
ACTS OF GOODNESS AND KINDNESS
BRING MOSHIACH
Keep it in mind as we enter 5772!
L'Shana Tova
Bracha
