Wake Up Tomorrow Morning – from the Grave?! 5 Points for Thought

Waking Up from the Grave

Imagine a situation where each one of us, about 7 billion people in the world, enters a grave every night and sleeps there for 8 hours. The next morning, some of us wake up and rise, and some - do not... Those who wake up in the morning - how happy and excited they are! It makes sense.

Wait, but what kind of person would voluntarily enter a grave, and lie there as if dead for several hours? Why would a sane person do this?

Yet, without realizing it, we all do it. Every night, we enter a grave and lie there as if dead, some of us wake in the morning and some do not... What am I talking about?

The grave - is the bed. Most of us are fortunate to wake up from the "grave" every morning, blessed be His name forever!

A sleeping person is "not with us". The sleeping person is not aware of things happening around them: you talk to him - he doesn't answer, doesn't hear, doesn't see! You touch him lightly - he doesn't feel. You can insult him or make him laugh - he doesn't react... Even his muscles are relaxed: if we try to stand a sleeping person on their feet - they will fall down.

Wait, what's happening here? Where does the person "disappear" to? Where does he "go"? The body disconnects from what is happening around it - it's an amazing wonder.

The wonder increases if you think about the awakening process. Note: A person sleeps for eight hours, disconnected from the world, from reality, from themselves, and suddenly, at an inexplicable moment, he "returns" to himself and to his surroundings. How does awareness suddenly return to him when he wakes up from sleep? Where did the "awareness" disappear to? It's truly like rising from the grave!

The very state of sleep is inherently a supernatural state, a miracle! So too is the incredible and incomprehensible transition between wakefulness and sleep - from a state of "life" to a kind of "death"! Who controls this transition? Who created this incomprehensible mechanism that brings us back to life every morning?

We've all heard of people who went to sleep and did not wake up from their night's sleep.

So thank you, Creator of the world, for every day of the miracle of the resurrection of the dead! Thank you for returning my soul to me every morning, after I lay as if dead in the grave all night!

Seal of King Hezekiah

A sensational discovery: the seal of King Hezekiah has been found! Evidence of bustling Jewish life around 3,000 years ago!

The seal was found in archaeological excavations near the Temple Mount, and along with it, 33 other seals were found, some bearing inscriptions in Hebrew. It is a significant find, as never before has a seal of a king of Israel or Judah been found.

Dr. Mazar, a researcher from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, first exposed the seal of a king from Israel or Judah in scientific archaeological excavations. On the impression is written in ancient Hebrew: "Belonging to Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of Judah", meaning a declaration of ownership: it belongs to Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of Judah.

Friends, in the backdrop of ownership claims over the area, any such discovery supports the arguments for ancient Jewish presence in Jerusalem. Archaeology speaks for itself when archaeologists research and discover Hebrew inscriptions, for example, referring to officials of the kingdom and many other findings.

The history of Jerusalem is made up of such discoveries, which have stood the test of history, proving to the entire world that Jerusalem is the home of the Jewish people. Such a discovery strengthens our sense of belonging to the Land of Israel.

If the Torah is a forgery, if Jerusalem isn't connected to the Jewish people, then who is the bored individual who engraved a Hebrew inscription on a seal and took the trouble to "plant" this seal in the Temple Mount compound? What is his interest? Why was this seal found along with other archaeological finds related to the Jewish people, precisely in this compound and not in Tel Aviv, for example? And how do the archaeological findings align with what is written in the Bible?

Boredom

Shabbat day, around 9 in the morning, I took a short walk with my daughters to the playground. There, a group of elderly people, at least 70 years old and above, were gathered around a table, some standing and watching enthusiastically as their friends sat and played... dominoes!

I was surprised: a group of elderly people over 70 on Shabbat morning, with all their interest being dominoes - could it be?! It's not pleasant to say, but I felt sadness and pity for them.

Is this how you choose to live the rest of your days? Isn't it a waste of time? Maybe I'm surprising you, and perhaps you've forgotten, but by the nature of reality, you don't have much time left to waste! Life is short, is this how you want to pass the time until the end of your days? Is this the proper schedule? Does this provide you with satisfaction and a sense of achievement? Meaning? Is it possible to waste the last years of life on dominoes? Time equals life!

A person at the end of their life, literally in the last minutes of their life - if suddenly Elijah the prophet appeared and said to him: "Perhaps I can get you one more hour to live, what will you give me in return?", he would respond like this: "I'll give you whatever you want! Take my car, my house, as much money as you want - just give me one more hour of life!"...

On the other hand, in the middle of life, a person can waste an hour idly without batting an eyelid, simply doing nothing. He can just sit on the balcony and stare, or watch TV shows all day.

What is the difference between an hour in the middle of life and an hour at the end of life? Why, at the end of life, for the same hour, is a person willing to give all their possessions, whereas in the middle of life they waste this hour for nothing? After all, it's just as precious, it's the same 60 minutes!

All of us in this world are occupied with nonsense and burn our precious time on conversations and chatter, on news that in two days nobody will care about, on things that bring us no benefit whatsoever. We all have a golden opportunity, we have a treasure - our time. We must dedicate our precious time to the most important thing, to true and eternal benefit - to Torah, mitzvot, and good deeds - eternal possessions.

Are we properly utilizing our short stay in this world? A wise person utilizes every moment in their life to understand what the meaning of life is and what their role is in this temporary world.

To the Playground

One day on my way to the playground with my little daughter, I saw a parent walking with his son, also two years old, like us - to the playground. They walked on the parallel sidewalk whenever the child strayed from the path, his father redirected him to the right way.

Every time the father redirected his son walking here or there, the little boy reacted with displeasure, got upset... Once it was a stone he was about to trip over. The other time the child veered toward the road, and the father prevented him from the danger of stepping onto the road. Another time the child was interested in a spider on the side of the road, and again the father redirected his son, to the child's loud disappointment. But the father knew that dealing with the spider could endanger his son's health.

The father let his son walk forward toward the playground, but each time the father saw an obstacle on the way, he redirected his son from the straight path, and when he saw the son getting involved "along the way" with things that could harm him, he returned him to the straight path.

If we look closely, that's how our lives are. The Creator of the world watches over us, that we walk on the safe and straight path.

A person misses the bus and reacts in frustration, worried about the delay... but the Creator of the world watches from above and says: "It wasn't good for you to get on that bus, my dear son, I saved you from an accident"...

A person desires to marry a certain woman, but she is not interested. He is disappointed and in distress, but the Creator of the world signals from above: "She is not suitable for you, she will "make your life miserable" and you will end up divorced in the end... I am preparing another woman for you, the one suitable for you. Don't worry"...

The Creator of the world navigates our lives. Let us always remember: every time we want something, make efforts, and it doesn't work out, it means the Creator of the world is preventing it from us – for our own good, and He directs us to another path, straighter and better, without obstacles and dangers. Where to? Directly to the "playground"...

Hashem – Even in the Furniture Store

When a person forgets that there is a Creator of the world - an ultimate manager who watches and controls every moment in this wonderful world we live in - he falls into unnecessary sadness and anger.

Ask someone - do you believe? "Sure! I pray, observe Shabbat, keep kosher..." But usually, they forget what faith means. Faith - means knowing there is a Creator of the world and trusting that He watches over you and does everything for your benefit.

Example: A person enters a furniture store and buys a new living room set for 10,000 shekels.

(Photo: shutterstock)

A week later, he sees precisely the same living room set - same model, same leather color, everything the same except for the price - 5,000 shekels... That person is boiling with anger: "Why did the seller deceive him? Why did he charge him double the price? 5000 shekels went to this swindler, and he wishes him many "blessings"...

Let's examine, what causes his anger? His lack of faith. If he truly believed that Hashem runs the world, that He brought him to buy the living room set for 10,000 shekels instead of 5,000 shekels, he wouldn't get angry!

A believer knows that this didn't just happen! Because this money would have had to be spent anyway - if not on the living room set, it would be spent on car repairs or dentist fees.

The Creator of the world manages the world, and He is also... in the furniture store. And if you believed that even this was caused by Hashem, you wouldn't be angry, but you would start jumping and rejoicing... because everything is for your good!