Woodcut print of The Torah carved by Loren Kantor

By Loren Kantor

My paternal grandfather was a Torah scribe. He spent his days carefully drawing the Hebrew letters that made up the Torah, the most sacred of Jewish texts. Writing on thin parchment paper made from the skin of a kosher animal, he began by carefully marking thin pencil lines that served as a guide. He then dipped a feather quill into an inkwell and scrawled each Hebrew letter abiding by the calligraphic guidelines of Ktav Ashurit (Ashurite Script).

Each Torah contained exactly 304,805 letters scribed on about 80 sheets of parchment. Only black ink made from gallnut juice and gum was acceptable. The height and width of each letter had to be perfect. Small mistakes could be scraped away and redrawn unless a mistake was made writing the name of God in which case he’d have to start over since God’s name could not be erased. If one letter was missing or appeared smudged then the Torah was considered invalid or not kosher.

The scribing of a Torah took up to one year. Once scribed, each sheet of parchment was sewn together to form a continuous scroll. The Torah was then sewn onto wooden rollers called Eitzei Chayim (trees of life). The Torah was dressed and shipped to a designated synagogue where it was blessed and dedicated in a sacred ceremony.

As you can imagine, my grandfather was a serious man. Scribes were supposed to be devoted and pure. He started each day with a Mikvah, a ritual bath in a sacred pool found in a synagogue. The immersion in water was a purification ritual to cleanse the scribe before he channeled sacred text. After praying that his holy work would be imbued with sanctity, he began each day of writing.

My grandfather was a survivor. He’d escaped the Nazis by moving his wife and son (my father) from Austria to Portugal in 1933. After the war, he gathered his savings and sent my father to America. My father settled in Los Angeles and brought his parents to the states in 1954. They lived in the Fairfax District, the hub of the Los Angeles Orthodox Jewish community.

Growing up, I spent many weekends at my grandparent’s home with my brother and sister. We were allowed to play in the backyard or run around the house. The only area off limits was my grandfather’s study. He was doing “important work” we were told and he needed his privacy.

My brother and I were curious about my grandfather’s secret work. We were always sneaking behind him, trying to scare him, to divert his attention. He did not take kindly to these interruptions. He would scream in a mixture of German and Yiddish and threaten to throw a paperweight or a heavy book at us. On one occasion he threw a chair. Presumably this nullified his purity for the day.

At the end of his workday, he finally relaxed. He’d make himself a cup of tea and watch cartoons with my siblings and I. Often he’d read comic books, laughing at his beloved Katzenjammer Kids and their juvenile hijinks.

Once I asked my grandfather what is was he did in his study.  “I work for God,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“I write God’s story so we don’t forget who He is.”

He could tell by the look on my face I didn’t understand.

“You know the Hebrew letters, Alpeh, Bet, Gimel? They are living things. They are the building blocks of creation. Like oxygen and hydrogen, God formed the world through combinations of the Hebrew letters.”

He reached for a sheet of paper and scrawled the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. “This is Aleph,” he said. “It tells us that God is one, that He is the Master. It is silent, it is never spoken because the true name of God is never spoken. Aleph stands for Adam the first man, for Abraham who taught us there is only One God and for Abba the Hebrew word for Father.”

“Look at Aleph,” he said. “It stands strong and upright. It is perfectly balanced, it cannot be toppled like God cannot be toppled. Hebrew is read right to left. Aleph is looking at Bet, the second letter. And Bet, it is looking at Gimmel, the third letter. What does this tell us? It says God is looking after us and it is our job to look after our neighbor. We do not see God but he is always present, right next to us. You understand?”

“Yes,” I told him though I didn’t.

“You learn your Hebrew,” he told me. “And you will learn the secrets of God. It’s all in there. In the letters.”

As I got older, my grandfather and I grew apart.  He conversed with my father in German or Yiddish. Often I’d hear my name sprinkled accusingly as if I’d done something wrong. When I stopped watching cartoons and reading comics he no longer knew how to relate to me. I couldn’t relate to him either. He seemed distant and antiquated, a relic from another time and place.

He died in 1986. In his lifetime, he scribed more than two dozen Torahs. While our family sat Shiva, the week-long mourning period after his death, a stream of rabbis paid their respects. They patted me on the head and spoke glowingly of my grandfather. I smiled and nodded but I couldn’t wait to get out of there and be back with my friends.

I never formally learned Hebrew. But when I turned 30, I developed a fascination with the Hebrew letters. I began drawing them and studying their lines and curves and perfect harmony. These days I carve woodcuts of the Hebrew letters. I haven’t learned the secrets of God.  But like my grandfather said, it’s all in there. In the letters.

Author Bio

Loren Kantor is a Los Angeles based writer and woodcut artist.  He teaches creative writing and printmaking.  You can see his original woodcuts on his blog: woodcutting fool blogspot.com

Positive Psychology is a relatively recent field of psychology that attempts to uncover what makes people happy and what factors improve their emotional well-being. Rather than finding answers based on pathology, it looks at a variety of circumstances that allow people to succeed and feel better about themselves, along with managing stress more effectively.

Historical Background

Early beliefs related to Positive Psychology can be traced back to the theories of humanistic psychologists such as Abraham Maslow, who was less interested in pathological factors and more on a healthy mindset. However, it was not until 1998 that it became established as a mainstream concept. Founded by psychologist Martin Seligman, he used his American Psychological Association presidency as a platform for bringing these ideas to the forefront. 

Seligman became inspired to help start this new field of psychology as a result of his daughter. As he considered which parental techniques would be best for raising his young child. He had a clear understanding about the role that pathology plays in terms of psychological health but less about how to encourage mental strength, determination and emotional well-being. As a result, he wanted to help grow this area of research.

What Positive Psychology Seeks to Achieve

The purpose of Positive Psychology is to find out what makes humans prosper. It examines questions like, “What factors lead to happiness?” “How do positive emotions impact health?” and “What can people do to become more resilient?” 

Thus far, this branch of psychology has already been making great contributions. For instance, it has been well-established that when an individual experiences negative emotions such as sadness, stress or anger, it has a profoundly negative effect on our health, even leading to chronic stress and increasing the likelihood of developing heart disease. On the other hand, findings related to Positive Psychology indicate that positive emotions can actually reverse these outcomes. 

Usage in Stress Management

Positive Psychology has uncovered a large number of positive emotional states that can lead to better emotional health, strength and feelings of satisfaction. Below are just a few of them.

Flow

Think back to a moment where you were so engaged in something – whether it is work you enjoy or a hobby – that you lost track of time. This is referred to as “flow” and is something we can all relate to. So get out there and find an activity that has your complete attention!

Gratitude

If you appreciate what you have, you will feel happier and more fulfilled. In fact, both having what you want and enjoying the fact that you have it makes you feel grateful. Being mindful of this everyday – for example, by keeping a journal – also helps. Ultimately, by appreciating things, you feel more alive and just feel better overall. 

Mindfulness

This involves being aware of the present and fully accepting one’s emotions, thoughts and senses unconditionally. It takes some amount of effort to master this, but it is worth it. 

Optimism

As cliché as it might seem, there is a lot of truth in the notion that people think optimistically rather than pessimistically will find more joy. It is really up to the individual to decide they want to be optimists; it is just a matter of striving to make this attitude a part of our everyday thinking. 

Spirituality

Whichever path you choose, developing a sense of spirituality can give your life more purpose, and it also gives you the strength to deal with stress. Praying and meditating are common ways to foster spirituality. As an added benefit, involving yourself with like-minded spiritual groups and institutions is a great way to find social support. 

Move Forward

Utilizing these strategies and behaviors can help you reach the next stage of self-development. You can become a happier, more complete person by focusing on the things you enjoy in life. 

What is “positive affect?” This is when you harness the power of positivity in everything whether it is interacting with others or responding to life’s challenges. On the other hand, “negative affect” involves confronting things with a negative attitude including the environment and relationships. Although these states are opposites, they operate independently from one another. Thus, it is possible to experience both at the same level – whether at high or low levels – or high in just one. 

Positive Affect and Stress

Along with positive affect, there are other traits that people who feel happy possess, such as feeling successful, being extraverted and having an optimistic outlook. However, positive affect is not merely the result of a happy life, it also causes it. In particular, positive affect can lead to less stress. So how can you combat stress? By either pursuing positive affect or finding ways to improve your mood. The impact of being able to develop greater resilience towards stress should not be understated. It works as something of a virtuous cycle – If you feel positive, you build up more resistance to stress which in turn makes it easier to experience positive affect. 

On the other hand, negative affect can result in a vicious cycle in which your experiences of negative affect make it more difficult to deal with stress, which results in stronger feelings of negative affect. For this reason, it is essential to work on maintaining a positive outlook and focus on the joys of life. Keep in mind that these feelings are not just about finding immediate gratification in the now; it is about a long-term objective of living a stress-free, happier life. Working on those behaviors that foster positive affect is worthwhile, and luckily, it is not difficult to increase positive affect if you just try.

Ways to Cultivate Positive Affect

Positive affect is not something that you can create overnight; it takes time and effort to achieve. Although it is true that some individuals’ brains are hardwired to give off positive emotions as a key part of their being, there are nonetheless steps that everybody can take to change their habits and experience positive affect with greater frequency, which will result in positive emotions that feel even better. So what can you do? Among other things, we can start by changing the way we think and avoid putting ourselves in situations in which we might have negative experiences. 

Here are some other strategies you can use to increase positive affect:

Keep a journal in which you record your positive thoughts. In particular, focus on the things that you appreciate the most. By doing this, you will experience higher levels of positive affect, and these feelings will continue in the long term. 

Allow yourself to enjoy the things you love. If you make it a point to plan experiences that make you feel good, you will increase your feelings of positive affect along with all of the other positive things that come with it. Make sure to incorporate new pleasures into your life from time to time to keep things interesting.

Pick up a hobby. While you might not think you have time for new hobbies, it is essential that you put them into your schedule. Along with increasing positive affect, it serves to distract your mind from life’s stresses, and you will feel like you have accomplished something.

Practice metta meditation. Mediation in itself is an effective way to manage stress, but metta medication is an especially good way. It involves sending kindness, goodwill and warm feelings to others by silently repeating positive expressions to yourself. 

Exercise – but do it in a way that you enjoy! It goes without saying that physical activity is one of the ultimate ways to relieve stress. The tricky part is staying motivated, which is why you should take up an activity that is fun. It does not even have to be anything intensive. You do not have to learn how to play basketball or kick box. It can be as simple as going for regular walks with a friend. 

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Bio: Tim Case is a freelance writer at Place-4-Papers.com. He is an author of Positive Psychology: The Key to Unlocking Happiness? and many other articles. He is dedicated to educating and inspiring the world on how to become a better yourself. 

By Stephen Chong

Currently, we have a ‘new paradigm’ affecting the way we do business in the world. The Coronavirus is reshaping the way business happens in fashions that have only begun to emerge on a global scale. How we face this challenge will have a profound influence on our future for years to come, said author, speaker and trainer Stephen Chong.  

Cast your minds back a short number of years to when we used to take our photos to chemists for processing. We had Kodachrome reeled into the rear of our cameras. Now, of course, everything is digital and uploaded to memory sticks and the cloud, continued Stephen Chong.

Many people’s lives were upended by this dramatic and external change, well beyond the scope of affected individuals’ capacity to do anything about it,’ affirmed Stephen Chong.  

“Yet, as leaders of business and community, how we view this current global challenge will have a profound effect on our businesses and the lives of many.” 

“Leaders cannot just sit on their hands and let the forces buffet them from pillar to post. It is essential that they make changes that will cause them to forge ahead. To grow and prosper … Change often brings such opportunity.”

For me, one solution lies in PERSPECTIVE. It’s a marvelous tool of invention.

Our perspective is the creator of our perception. In other words, how we look at something creates how we see it and therefore determines our experience of it.  

“If a child looks into a dark room at night with fear, that is how they will see it and that will be the child’s experience of the room. If we view our current circumstances as hard, difficult or unendurable then that will be how we see it and again, that will be our experience.”

We are, indeed, the creators of our own ‘perspective’, but what is even more problematical, is that we allow others (aka, newspapers, politicians, negative people) to unduly influence or corrupt our own perspective on things.

But, there is a solution … Challenge your perspective before you start DOING! Widen your perspective. Make it bigger, deeper, more profound.

For example:

How am I looking at this situation?

Yes, this is tough, but I’ve been there before. I’m capable …

Let’s see this problem from another direction …

Who can I talk to who will challenge the way I’m looking at things?

How do I deal with the facts NOT the fear?

Or, more specifically:

What is our target audience? Can it be expanded?

What is our target audience’s ‘specific un-met need’? Are we meeting that ‘un-met’ need?

What/Where is our business ‘beachhead’? Can it be expanded?

We’ve got an established client base. Can we get them to come back? Can we get their referrals/recommendations?

How can we help support our clients through this time of challenge?

… and many more.

“Time is short, the water is rising. As a leader, it’s time to challenge your current perspective,” said Stephen Chong.

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 Stephen Chong M.Ed. is a highly sought-after Coach/Trainer, Speaker, and Author. In his coaching work, Stephen focuses on imparting the essential envisioning and goal-setting skills that bring out the best in executives, managers and staff in the modern workplace.  

He has established a considerable reputation for designing and delivering quality coaching and training programs, evidenced in the many courses he has written, such as: Enhanced leadership skills; Effective communication; Conflict resolution; Living on the edge of your comfort zone; Effective time management, Overcoming the obstacles and many more.

Stephen Chong’s latest book, Bodies of Consequence is now available on Amazon and Kindle.

For more information on Stephen, please visit www.stephenchong.com.au

Note: The following piece written by Rob Schwartz, PLSRt, BLSRt  was reprinted with permission  and originally published on https://yoursoulsplan.com/index.php/about-robert/coronavirus-channeling:

Recently, I had a channeling done for me personally about the coronavirus. Since so many of you have asked me what I know about the virus, I’ve decided to make the channeling available to all. You may read it below. The channeling has not been edited, so please excuse incorrect punctuation and excess verbiage. The channeled consciousness is a collective of ascended masters. Kathy, the person who channeled this, is available to do private channelings and can be reached at kathleenl_22@hotmail.com

Be well and stay safe.

With love, Rob

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March 16, 2020

To Rob,

It is obvious in these last years that the shift in consciousness is upon the earth in a very big way. The rise within energies of light has brought about the scattering of those things that have been hidden within the darkness; the attempts at hiding the truth has been paramount within the lives of those who want to hold the status quo. The screaming untruths have been what one could call the protesting of this light that has entered every area of society, of religion, politics; calling forth equality within gender, race, sexuality and much much more. The shift within humanity from fear to love is what you are viewing and what you are also viewing are those things that humanity as a whole do NOT want thus leading them towards what it is they do want. A tipping point as destined was reached in November of 2019 and in accordance with the frequencies ‘scheduled’ to hit the earth the year, 2020 appeared. This was to be/is the time within time when the shift in consciousness from fear to love will be actualized as the vibration/frequency/energy is far far more powerful than the fear you are viewing. There are two things at work here as these two messages to mankind are what have held them in a position to maintain that fear within them cellularly as to say humanity has been of a specific fearful vibration that is collectively being pulled from their very cells. Firstly that great fear of death and secondly that universal fear of survival. Enter the coronavirus as it mirrors that anxiety of holding a fear of dying. It continues to talk of impending death even though the numbers do not reflect it, the message is clearly one of the greatest fears within the cells of mankind………….death.

Secondly the virus is causing a worldwide panic in terms of a falling stock market that to many represent the death/elimination of their survival symbols; their jobs, their bank accounts, their 401Ks as it is causing a flush of fear within the word ‘MONEY’. In real terms it is a fear of the future. How will I survive without the guarantees of safety and security and the world is saying that there are no guarantees. How scary. And that’s the point to feel the scary, the fear as it is rising within the body and being released/transmuted into the calm and peace and expanse within the heart that love brings. The fear that is resonating with the human form and cells as is being brought forth collectively through the presentation of this virus is for its movement OUT of the body as the higher vibrations/frequencies of love begin to enter for it has already entered the earth and as such that created the timing for the bodies of mankind to correspond to the earth that they walk upon. Every human who entered the earth held within their body that same vibration that the earth herself held as the body is an extension of the earth. The body is simply what is animated by the soul/creator source energy. When the earth began this movement into 5D, what stood upon her (humanity) began to feel this push for the higher frequency of love and light but the fear fought heavily to maintain its position and now the fear cannot maintain as it is being reflected by this “Deadly Pandemic” that is changing everyone’s way of life and that is the point of it…………..to change humanity. Simply put 3D is fear and 5D is love. Love or the light has already come alive on the surface of the earth which includes her inhabitants that live upon her as it is their time to choose their destinies. Do they fight to maintain that fear that tells them things must not change or do they allow that love to come alive and forth into their lives. This is where free will is exercised. This vibration will not be stopped which tells you that love has arrived and it will fully support you if you surrender to it. We can see that far more than the majority do at this time as well we can tell you that a year from now the world will not be as before. Many will ‘come around’ after a very dark night of the soul experience just as many have as they then began assisting others. Many will fight to maintain a history that is just gone, no more to be relived and many others will not accept this new way of life and will succumb to the fear only to be rushed with love as they pass away and gain understanding. Some will return, others will assist from above so to speak.

Those as yourself, one called a lightworker have prepared for this moment all your life. This IS the time you came for; to stand in your light knowing that this fearful moment on earth is not yours. You are the observer of the situation as you perch yourself within the 5D position that has called you for so long. Oh you will bounce between worlds/dimensions as the fear is very strong and can be viewed and read of daily/hourly. But as you observe remember you came to anchor this light that is causing so much chaos as that is how this old world is breaking down but through the efforts and dedication to your own plan and destiny. Your research, observations and many acquaintances have brought you many remembrances of who you truly are but in this time you will feel the peace, the calm, the beauty and love within real emotion of who it is you are. You are a human being that is animated by the love of god/creative source as you ARE the animator and to know that is your graduation, your homecoming, your greatest of all design and desires, your dream come true to be alive and well, in peace and compassion at the greatest moment earth has ever known; to assist others to their memories at this time of consciousness shift, that shift from fear to love is beyond words as there are no 3D wording or explanations to be found.

This virus in purpose is to assist humanity to bring forth from within their bodies the fear that has lived there since the beginning of their time upon this land in all the forms that they have entered. To live without fear is to LIVE and that is what is taking place. There are those as yourself who will transmute the last vestiges of fear as you are of the awakened ones, there are those who will surrender and in a twinkling enter the state of compassion remembering ‘from somewhere’ that love wins out over fear. There are those that will come kicking and screaming to their declaration that they will accept love for fear is just too painful to maintain and many other scenarios will take place within the minds and bodies of the precious earthlings who are making this shift. Others will take their bodies of fear ‘off land’ and pass away. All is perfection and in 5D that is known.

Now the virus itself had an origin somewhere ‘other’ than what has been told. It’s original purpose was to bring about a vector that could be managed and maintained and utilized to control humanity. It was a very ‘high level’ plan as there were those with such power and wealth that had within this last decade seen the writing on the wall as to the awakening that was taking place and determined that this must end so their reasoning was to concoct this virus in a lab and hold it until such time as/that they could begin the manipulation and maintenance of their power for those that have ‘ruled the earth’ so to speak with their positions of power and wealth, these families that are known by name could not accept the demise of all that which they have ever known in terms of their god like system of belief in themselves. So as this virus was created to be held as a chip that they could bargain with, something happened and it became unleashed by someone of a scientific mind with no association nor affiliation with those who paid for this ‘project’, in fact for the most part he didn’t even know of its purpose simply working in tandem with other scientist getting paid handsomely. He projected it onto a piece of paper and took that paper out of the lab only to toss it and have someone, one other person touch it. Now he himself walked freely of symptoms as did the one who touched the paper and relayed it onto those who in plan began this spread. To even think this was a mistake is to maintain the mentality of ‘accidents happen’ but of course its purpose was as described to you, to begin a journey of the grand shift in consciousness that fear accelerates. So this story although seemingly fantastic is merely the manner in/of which the world began her movement into love and only in time will further facts come forth but it is not a dramatic experience rather it was one that could be called a mistake when in reality it was that one scientist who with an open heart began the process of this time in time when mankind enters into a new reality.

Now we would like to say one more thing to you and that is this: you are cherished by those of us and there are many who have loved you, guided you and observed your struggles and achievements with what you could envision as such great pride for never did you lose direction nor devotion to your most beautiful plan. Even in your darkest moment in this lifetime to date you held on, held steady and overcame those forces of fear that you carried within you. It really truly is time to celebrate even as you look outward and see this gripping fear all around for that is the signal that the time is here to elevate your memories into the knowing that all is perfection, there is no need to even feel that chill of death as that is washing from you. In fact you have lived death most of your life in fear of it. It is your time to begin to live in the rhapsody of your own music, your heart beating in the symphony of your life’s motions. It is your time to stand firmly in the love you are of and KNOW your life’s purpose, your life’s dream is upon you.

Peace