My dad sacrificed everything for our family.

He always dreamed of a Cadillac, his symbol of success.

The best money I ever spent was making that dream his reality.

#Relationships

The post Robert Herjavec Paused His World for Peace appeared first on Good News!.

Humans are yet to understand the true spirit of religion. In an ancient temple, a number of pigeons lived on the roof. When renovation of the temple began before the annual temple festival the pigeons relocated to a nearby Church. The pigeons already nesting in the Church happily accommodated the migrants.

When Christmas was nearing, the Church was given a facelift, All the pigeons had to look for another place. They found shelter in a Mosque nearby, The pigeons in the Mosque welcomed them. Then it was Ramadan time and the Mosque was to be repainted, All the pigeons now came back to the same ancient temple.

One day the pigeons on the rooftop could see communal clashes below in the market square.

A baby pigeon asked his mother, “Who are these people?”  The mother replied; they are “Human beings.” The baby asked, “Why are they fighting with each other…?”

The mother replied ” Humans who come to this temple to worship are ‘Hindus’, those going to Church are ‘Christians,’ and the people who go to Mosque are ‘Muslims’. The Baby pigeon was confused, “Why is it so? When we were in the Temple we were Pigeons, when we were in the church we remained Pigeons and when we were in the Mosque, we were were still called Pigeons. Similarly aren’t they’Humans’ wherever they go?”

The mother Pigeon said, “You, me and all our Pigeon friends have experienced the true spirit of God which is why we are live together peacefully.
Most humans are yet to experience God. Which is why they fight and kill each other.”

No wonder Pigeons are a universal symbol of peace.

The post Pigeons – A Universal Symbol of Peace appeared first on Good News!.

How many of us can remember a heartwarming story that was read or hard during the past several weeks?
Well, here’s one: (Thank you to Barry Elkins for bringing it to our attention)
(JTA) — (New York Jewish Week via JTA) — In January of 1943, Irma Lauscher, a teacher at the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, smuggled a tree into the camp so that the Jewish children imprisoned by the Nazis could celebrate Tu B’Shevat in a secret ceremony. The children used their water rations to nurture the sapling.

Of the 15,000 children who were imprisoned in Theresienstadt during the Holocaust, fewer than 200 survived. But the tree was still standing when the camp was liberated in 1945, and a sign was placed at its base marking it as a symbol of resilience.

“As the branches of this tree, so the branches of our people!” said the sign under the tree, which survivors named “The Tree of Life.” Lauscher, who survived the Holocaust, eventually was buried alongside the original tree.

In the 1980s, branch saplings were cut from the tree and planted in Jerusalem, as well as in San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia to accompany a traveling exhibit of treasures nearly lost in the Holocaust.

Now, New York City — home to the largest community of Holocaust survivors and their descendants of any city outside Israel — will also nurture a descendant of the original tree. Dr. Roger Pomerantz, a Jewish philanthropist who owns a farm in Pennsylvania that holds seven trees grown from cuttings of the original tree, has donated one to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City.

“The Children’s Tree,” as it will be known, will be unveiled to the public today during a dedication ceremony held jointly by the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the Battery Park City Authority. Currently 15 feet tall, the silver maple tree will have a permanent home in the park.

“We want everybody in Battery Park City to be able to walk by and see a piece of history,” Jack Kliger, the president and CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, told the New York Jewish Week. “To not only remember but to understand what resilience means in the face of tremendous odds.”

Calling the project “a labor of love,” Kliger said transporting the tree involved hiring a horticulturist to uproot the tree from Pennsylvania and working with Battery Park City Authority to find the right space for the tree.

As at Theresienstadt, the tree will be cared for by children — in this case, students at PS/IS 276: The Battery Park City School, a public elementary and middle school located just across the street from the museum. In collaboration with the museum, the school will make the tree part of an ongoing curriculum in Holocaust education.

“They were planting a tree that would live in a world that they would not live in, as sort of a physical expression of belief in the future and a form of spiritual resistance,” said Michael Berenbaum, a Holocaust historian who was instrumental in the transplant of the tree to New York, of the imprisoned children who cared for the original Tree of Life.

“Now their legacy can continue,” he added.

“Resilience is represented by both humans as well as trees,” Kliger said, comparing their abilities to survive as well as endure such a long, roundabout journey to New York.

Speakers at the ceremony will include Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. representative to the United Nations; Theresienstadt survivor Fred Terna; Czech Consul General Arnošt Kareš; and Battery Park City Authority President and CEO B.J. Jones. The student choir at PS/IS 276 will also perform.

The post A tree that survived the Holocaust gains a new life in New York City appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Author: Julia Gergely

The post A Heartwarming Story, Jewish Survival… appeared first on Good News!.

Why is this the best cause ever and why is it a great idea to support it?

Give to the Givers.

Think about this. Who looks after you and your loved ones? We call them the Givers. The people in our community that have that special gift of being able to help and change the lives of others when they are in need. They’re the teachers, social workers, nurses and caretakers that you depend on.

What happens when one of these Givers faces an incident and loses everything? Who is there for them? The Segulah Circle was created as a way to help the Givers that are most in need. With the aim of helping them so that they can get back to doing what they do best. Helping you.

A project of the LSS Chesed fund, the Segulah Circle is an ongoing commitment to provide support to our fellow community members in the spirirt of a Segulah, “an action to change ones fortune”.

Please donate and Give to the Givers
(DONATE link: https://www.lss.org/form/segulah-circle-project.html)

To learn more about the Segulah Circle, head to www.thesegulahcircle.com

The post “Best Cause ever….give to the givers” appeared first on Good News!.