Is Dying a Form of Liberation?

We live in a time where turbulence happens almost everyday and mass suicide is not an uncommon matter nowadays. Dying, to some people, is a form of liberation. Also, this concept has its root in paying too much of an attention to the life after. This is when people start to think that that place is a better place, when one starts to think that the world afterlife is a place that will fulfill our need... This is one big no no; Our Sages have never said such a thing to us.

There is three categories of time: past, present, and future (if you say there is more than this, it might be true as I did not take physics, so sorry for that if I am wrong). What is past? Things that have already pass by, happenings which are now bygones, things to be learnt from and forgotten. There is no need to dwell in the past, we only have to look forward.

What is the future then? The future is the time when we cannot predict and cannot foresee. We can only plan to do the best in the future but actually we do not have the power to influence the future as nobody will know what will happen in the future. Only G-d knows. What can we do then? Plan well and do your best, then leave everything to HaShem. HaShem will help those that help themselves and HaShem will know who tried his best or not...

What is the present then? Well, as the name implies, this is, really, your present, a gift. This is when you can truly make changes and truly make this world a better place. Hillel the Elder says, ‘If not now, when?’. This epitomises the way of HaShem, if not the present, when it will be done. No one can change the past and no one can change the future. What can one truly do is to change the present...

This applies same to the above question, is dying a form of liberation? No! Why? King David says this ‘Dead man cannot praise You (HaShem) from the grave...’. When you think that by dying you are liberated, you are actually trying to escape reality and worst of all, responsibility. If you think that dying is elevating yourself to a better world, then you are downright selfish.

Why is that so? Try imagine this situation; just because I wanted a new phone, I trade my old phone for a new one; then you are happy and I am happy but is this an act of pious deeds? You will tell me instantly ‘what the heck?’ but when you apply the same thing to the condition above, treating death as liberation of life, you are no where far from that mobile trader.

Just because you are fed up with life does not mean that you have the right to escape from this seemingly hopeless world. Have you done your part in making this world a better place? You might say that I am just an individual what can I do? Remember this; HaShem turns a killer and a stummer into a greatest Prophet of all, Moshe!

Live in this world, know that everything has an inherent G-dliness in them. This is up to us to discover them. No one say that this is easy but if you never try, you will neve know.

What should I do? Stretch out your hand and touch everything and see everything, G-d is to be found anywhere. Appreciate the qualities of everything in your life, even the lowliest of all, the rock, sang a song to HaShem (Psalms 148).

Image retrieved from http://www.kellydelay.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/to-heaven-web.jpg

Psalms in Its Original Majesty!

Shalom,

Thought to have been lost in time, the original tune of the Psalms as sung by the Levitical choir has now been reconstructed! Baruch HaShem. It is a long time ago the tune of the Psalms has been restored to its original majesty and I just know it this morning! I really felt ashamed for this. Haha.

The restorer is known as Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura, a very talented and precise musician composer. She notes that the Te'amim symbols are not only for accents while chanting but also for musical notation and gestures etc. This enables her to reconstruct the ancient melody of the Psalms.

This is where you can get further details:
http://www.rakkav.com/kdhinc/pages/suzanne.htm

They even included a link to download her complete work! Neat!

Published Siddur

Shalom,

I have my Siddur published through cafepress.com. It is now available in my online store and it is ready for purchase! The free edition is still here to be published though but I hope that I can have some side income for myself. Guys, if you like this site, have a look at my Siddur and if you can afford, support this blog by purchasing this inspirational Prayerbook. However, we do have to remember that we are not commanded to pray and prayers are completely voluntary. The Siddur is just a guideline and is fully inspired by Rabbinical ideas.

Think of it as a Tzedekah, I priced it at only USD10.99.

The book contains 62 pages and listed the basic liturgy we need everyday. I have included some of the blog posts as well so as to help all of you in your spiritual journey.

However, bear in mind that I am not a certified Noachide. The idea of publishing my Siddur came after I remember my struggle as a Noachide back then, when I am gasping my air out for a prayerbook.

I have included a sample page from my Siddur. This is the page for the preparation of Morning Prayers (click for a larger view).

However, this Siddur is not exhaustive as there is yet a lot of prayers to be inserted. However, this basic Siddur can be a useful guide for composing your own prayer. For Noachides, we can compose prayers to our needs. There is one specific book of Tehillim (Psalms) that I would like to use: the Artcroll Tehillim.

I hope that this could be a major funding for me to further my studies in Judaic field. Please help if you can, there is nothing to lose ;-). If you want to have a glimpse what is inside, there is a softcopy in my Google group. Everyone is welcome to join in, regardless of your religious affiliation. Come and learn together!

To enter my group, click on the Google Group link on the right hand side and if you want to purchase my Siddur, Click Here!

However, due to some issues, the siddur has been temporarily removed from the webshop. I will upload it back when we settled the issue. In the meantime, settle with the electronice version first. It is free!

Psalm 110

¹A Psalm of David. {N}
The LORD saith unto my lord:

'Sit thou at My right hand,

until I make thine enemies thy footstool.'

²The rod of thy strength the LORD will send out of Zion:

'Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.'

³Thy people offer themselves willingly in the day of thy warfare; {N}
in adornments of holiness, from the womb, from the dawn, thine is the dew of youth.

⁴The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent: 'Thou art a priest for ever {N}
after the manner of Melchizedek (or a Righteous King)'

⁵The lord at Thy right hand doth crush kings in the day of His (God's) wrath.

⁶He will judge among the nations;

He filleth it with dead bodies,

He crusheth the head over a wide land.

⁷He will drink of the brook in the way;

therefore will he lift up the head. {P}

The above Psalm is included in the Morning Shacharit yesterday.

Well, this Psalm has a very deep and obscure meaning, speakers often changes and the meaning of verse three is often uncertain.

However, I would like to offer my suggestion and as I have said, this is MY opinion, do check with an authorised person about my 'commentaries'. Correct me if I am wrong.

The 'Commentaries'

This is generally an Oracle, spoken by a prophet (Anonymous?) to King David and he rendered it as a Psalm for the service of God in recitation. The Rabbi classified this as a royal Psalm, meaning, it is connected to the Davidic Dynasty. Often, most people interpret this in favour of the future Moshiach but Radak gave opinion against this. The major theme is David himself but the minor theme might be related to the Moshiach.

In my opinion, this Psalm is referred to King David Himself. In verse 1 , the most confusing term is this: 'The LORD said to my lord'. If David is writing this, what is Kind David saying? This make much more sense if a Prophet is telling King David an Oracle, and King David used it to compose a Psalm. Hence, The LORD (God) Said to my lord (David).

The subsequent meaning of the sentence i.e. the speech of God is quite plain, that King David will gain victory over his enemy.

Verse 2 signifies that God Will Give the ruling sceptre (the rod) to David (from Zion) and he will rule his enemy.

Verse 3 is the most complicated verse. Mostly do not know the meaning of the Hebrew because of too much ambiguity. This might be the meaning, I offer a paraphrase:

“Your people (Yisrael), will come forward voluntarily on your day of Battle. They are like those that just emerged from the womb, clothed in majestic Holiness, like a newly born. They are, too, like from the dawn as liken to the sun just 'born', a new babe. As the morn brings dew too, your people will also be like the dew of youth; as dew appears in the morning, freshly born. Also, like the dew of youth, the beginning of youth. Your people will possess the vigour of youth, newly-bloomed.”

Verse 4 describe that David will be a priest forever, like a rightful king (Melchitzedek), Decreed by God.

The subsequent verses signifies that God will always have David by His Right Hand. By this power, David will justify wicked nations. The last verse (v 7) tells that he (David) will drink from the stream in the way (along the way or in his way). What does this mean? The land is as though his (David's) and he drinks 'leisurely' (as told he drink from the streams along the way). This signifies victory in his part, and he hold his head up as victorious.