So Tisha B'av is over.......Now What?

To start, I want to introduce myself. The name is hillel KAPS. Thats honestly all you need to know about me for right now. Everything else is for a different post.

Tisha B'av has now been over for around 2 hours or so and I think the big question is....... ( assuming that we connected to ANYTHING over this Tisha B'av)....... What is still with us?

I feel that once we break our fast and get back into the normal swing of things, it seems to be much harder to keep any and all messages that we may have gotten over the course of the day.

I myself watched numerous documentaries about the Destruction of the First and Second Beis Hamikdash and of the Holocaust and although I definitely gained a lot over the course of the day I highly doubt that I even grazed the tip of how large our nations loss was, and still is!

The root of this problem without even getting into the suffering of the holocaust is that we can't even begin to fathom what the Beis Hamikdash was for the Jewish People. As far as we know it was a mansion where Jewish people would go to bring offerings to G-d.

"Thats nice and all but big deal! We seem to be getting along at least somewhat fine these days except for a choice few that have it rougher than us!"

This is what being in Golus is.
I once heard a Mashal (a Parable) to explain to us what it means to be in exile.
A Man once came to the Chofetz Chaim ( I believe) and told him what we just said previously. He said "Whats the big deal about this "Golus" thing?  I'm doing fine, never been better! What do I need Mashiach for?"
          The Chofetz Chaim extinguished the lights in the room and asked the man "Can you see?"
The Man answered "Obviously not!"
          The Chofetz Chaim waited a few moments and then asked the man again if he could see.
The Man's answer was in the affirmative because his eyes had now had a chance to adjust to the darkness.
          The Chofetz Chaim explained that THIS is behind what he is saying! When the Golus first started it was a source of sadness to every Jew because they had seen how far they had managed to sink, but now that our generation has gotten used to it to such a degree we can't come close to understanding what being in a "Golus" really means.

This is only proved more and more by everything that I've seen online during Tisha B'av.
I myself am a big user of Social Media. Over Tisha B'av  I barely posted online at all, except to share a few videos that I came across on Aish.com that I thought might be inspirational for others as it was for me. For the couple of times from right before Tisha B'av that I popped online, its actually sad to see what was out there. Everything from jokes about eating as much as you can before the fast, to jokes being posted on the fast itself, to countdowns, to pictures of food posted with a caption of "Getting Hungry?". I was actually in a bit of shock. Now, I don't think that anybody that did this type of posting was being malicious, nor do I think that they were writing it up to try and take people out of the "Tisha B'av Spirit", I do think though that the reason for all of this is just plain ignorance, If we can't understand what we lost doesn't that make it hard to keep in that spirit? I know for sure for me it was hard but I didn't end up going that route, probably just because i was able to keep myself occupied through other means (lots of inspirational videos, stories, articles, etc.) But if we think about it, as sad as it might seem according to that reason, it actually makes a lot of sense.

This much I think I can tell you.....
There's been many tragedies in the Jewish World in the last few years. Some recent, Some not so recent. I don't need to point any specific ones out because they are all here for the same reason, To Wake Us Up!  We need to understand that If G-d feels the need to give us such a strong "Wake-Up Call", it's because we are being similar to a person sleeping so soundly that it takes pushing him off the bed, or dousing him with cold water (or both) to actually get him to wake up. In general, its a wake up call to become better people  inside ourselves, in our interactions with others, and mostly in our relationship with G-d.

As far as the Beis Hamikdash - With all these tragedies in mind its important to understand that the Beis Hamikdash was the exact opposite of these. NO Jews being hurt let alone being killed, NO Jews being mocked or humiliated, NO Jews being blamed for things. The world was at peace in a certain sense and although through the times of the 1st and the 2nd Beis Hamikdash the peace was broken, The 3rd Beis Hamikdash which is being build right now even as I write all this will put a complete and final end to all Pain,Sadness,War,Injuries,Death, and the list goes on and on. There is much more to say on the topic and I hope to possibly share more on this topic with everyone but the main thing to take out of this post is this.......

No matter how many tzedakas we give to, how many funds we start, how many people we help, how many tears we cry, how many tefilos we say,  in order to stop any forms of sadness.........

If we do everything we can in order for Mashiach to come and bring the Beis Hamikdash with him, All that peace will come along with it. Even if we can never fully understand what the Beis Hamikdash was until we have our 3rd one, we should at least keep in mind that whatever it is, all the peace and happiness we could ever hope for is coming with it.

I hope everyone had a meaningful fast and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to do so below.

Hillel Kaps
-www.hillelkaps.blogspot.com

In Memory of Leibby Kletzky a"h

I have been walking around like a zombie today and unable to function like a normal person since waking up to the news of Leibby's brutal murder. As a parent, and more importantly a person with feelings, I am shaken to the core that this is the outcome of the past 2 days of searching. It is not our place to question Hashem, or to try to dissect the story to see how the outcome could have been different. If it was the will of Hashem that Leibby be found safe and sound, he would have been found safe and sound. As far as his family, I cannot even begin to imagine what they are going through right now.

As the day has progressed, I have been thinking what can we take out from this story and how can we learn from this horrific story. I came up with 2 things to take from it:

1. There was a tremendous display of achdus in the Jewish Community in NY and worldwide. This is something that is a total zechus to Leibby. Why does it have to stop? Why can we not continue to have achdus with all the other yidden we know. It doesn't make a difference what hat or yarmulka (and even those who don't) we wear, we are all the Chosen people and we are all brothers in all situations. I have seen unbelievable displays of achdus in Chicago in good times as well, and there is no reason why this cannot be done worldwide.

2. As parents, my wife and I try to be protective of our children, and teach them to be as safe as possible at all times. My kids know on the tip of their tongue "No, Go, Tell." I am not chas v'shalom trying to say that Leibby's parents did anything wrong, or that the murder could have been averted, but this is an eye opener for us and a reminder of what we need to do. Parents, safety is not a convenience, it's absolute. It's something you need to be aware and on top of, and to train your kids!

Bsuros tovos!

Shimmy

Great Book at a Greater Price!

So I work alongside a very talented cartoonist named David Sokoloff. He's had his works published in national newspapers, magazines, on the radio, etc. You name it, he's done it! He's even worked for Hallmark. Anyway, today he showed me a book he had just completed and boy is it a great one! Did I mention that David is a professional storyteller and clown? If anyone knows humor, David does.

Get a copy of cartoonist's David Sokoloff's new book, "The Tooth of the Monstersaurus" for only $12.00 + Shipping (or pick it up locally to defray the shipping cost).

Here is the book's sypnosis

Long ago, in a kingdom where one could still meet witches, giants, and dragons, the king lay desperately ill, struck down by the dreaded Six-Day Sickness. The only person who had any hope of king's recovery was his daughter, Princess Miri, who must enter the strange and dangerous Forest of Dreams to find a gigantic legendary monster whose teeth may have the secret power to save the king's life. With the help of Max the mouse and Barnaby the rabbit, Princess Miri sets out on an unforgettable adventure for the young and young-at-heart; where magic can be used for good or evil, and where courage, friendship and love are proven to be the greatest powers of all.

Send an email to achdus00@comcast.net if you're interested.

Check out more of David's work at davidsokoloff.com

Hello Everyone!

Hi Everyone!

Thanks to Daniel, I will be a guest blogger here from time to time. I have never blogged before, so I don't know where this will go, but I am willing to give it a try. If anyone has any topics they'd like me to cover, please feel free to comment below and let me know!

See Ya!

Shimmy

Conquering Stage Fright

Getting married to someone in the Midwest? Know someone who is? Well, I can sing at their's or your wedding.



Which leads me to my next topic.

Singing in public.

People tend to get scared when it comes to performing in front of a live audience, and understandably so. You're basically in front of a bunch of people listening and watching you, judging and crtiquing your every note and move.

That's Intense.

There are tricks of course.

Be prepared.

Close your eyes (but not too much)

Take a public speaking class.

Pretend everyone is naked (not usually the appropriate route and probably very distracting).

Pretend everyone is your parents (yikes! Great, now I have a ton of mothers telling me I'm doing something wrong).

The above options are great (for the most part), but what helped me was camp. Yes, I said it. Camp. As in day camp during the summer months. You see, we had something in camp called S&S (Skits & Songs), where we were forced to be actors in skits and dancers in choreographed songs.

The first song I ever danced on stage to was Hearts of Gold from the Solid Gold 3 album (linky for album). You can actually see me in this video (linky). At 2:50 into the video was my bunk's performance.

We've gotten better over the years at S&S and I went from camper and dancer to counselor and choreographer. Here, I continued to grow and helped campers overcome their fears of stage fright and learn teamwork. You can see the bunk I choreographed in this video at approx 13:30 minutes in (linky).

Now I no longer do either, for I had accomplished my fear of the spotlight and I act as the videographer and head counselor, helping other counselors assist their campers in overcoming their fears. This video was actually done by me (linky).

The name of the camp in the videos is Camp Achdus of Philadelphia (linky).

I'm actually in the process of redesigning the Camp's website, I just need to find someone affordable to develop and code it to make it work! Below you can see a preview of the new site.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment! Until next time.

Joke of the day: So I kept wondering why the object in the air was getting bigger and bigger... then it hit me.

Designing for Jews Worldwide

And now for my first non-music related post. I'm so excited! Can't you tell?

Okay, so a duck walks into a drug store and says "Gimme some ChapStick! And put in on my bill!"

Sorry about that.

Right, designing for Jews worldwide... I am one of the lucky few who has the opportunity to create designs on my computer at work for chinuch purposes. There's a lot more to it then you think. You might think that I can just create a cartoon of a boy and slap a kippah on him and BAM! He's Kosher. Not so fast my friend, we are dealing with some serious issues here. Your design is completely dependent on what sect of Judaism it's for.

Here's the list:

(C)Hassidim - Long Peyos for kids. Long Coats and Fur Hats for men. Also, you need to have Yiddish.

Sefardi (Israeli's) - Sefard verses for any "Brachot". That's right you need to use the tuf instead of the suf as well.

Ashkenaz - Ashkenaz verses for any "Brachos".

Modern Orthodox - Standard designs with colors

Charedi - Black and white, no mixing boys and girls

The list actually goes on further, but I don't want to bore you with the details. Designing for Jews of all affiliations requires patience and most importantly, it requires many many versions.

For those of you think that there should be no change in details, no matter who you give the design to, your insane!

Welcome to the world.

I'm not just talking about the Jewish world.

I'm talking about this crazy political society we live in.

Mainstream designers will design specifically for ethnicities or religions all the time. You will find in posters with Spanish text, that the majority of the people in it are, can you guess? Hispanic. Everyone has to gear to their target audience, I'm just lucky enough to do it for my own people :).

Believe it or not, I'm not complaining, I actually do enjoy what I do a lot. Here's a sample of my work. And no, I did not create many versions of this. (Click to Enlarge).

A Change of Pace

No longer will this blog be about music. It's going to be about everything and anything. Sure, there will be a lot of focus on music, because it's a major part of my life, but it will not be the only thing to write about. Frankly, Jewish music doesn't come out frequently enough, good Jewish music that is, for there to be enough to write about that everyone else hasn't covered yet. If you have some ideas for some topics to discuss, feel free to post it in the comments section.