Do you love to sing? Do you love music? I do. I love all forms of creativity and creative expression as long as they are used in a beautiful way to increase goodness and kindness. I have many ideas to share about creativity and our creations that we are beginning to sell via this website. In the meantime, I would like to put this website in context.
The name of the website is Creations from Jerusalem. I thought it would be appropriate at this point to share a little about this special city. There is of course a special connection between song and Jerusalem. David HaMelech, King David composed his Tehillim (Psalms) which really are Songs of Praise to G-d. The Leviim would play various music and sing in the Holy Temple.
Of course, all we have at this time of the Holy Temple is the Western Wall which was built thanks to the donations that came from the poor.
Here are a few concepts brought to us from various sections of the Talmud.
“Ten measures of beauty descended to the world, nine were taken by Jerusalem”
(Talmud: Kiddushin 49b).
The beauty of Jerusalem is a very unusual one. A certain amount of it can only be sensed rather than seen. One has to refine who we are and appreciate what this world is about and what our purpose is in this world in order to really value the beauty of Jerusalem.
“Whoever did not see Jerusalem in its days of glory, never saw a beautiful city in their life” (Talmud: Succah 51b).
This second quote gives us a hint as to some of this splendor. Jerusalem in its glory of course would be at the time that the Temple stands on Temple Mount. A magnificent structure filled with blessings that could only be understood by internalizing that this is the connection between the physical and the spiritual. The building where G-d’s Presence dwelt and from where all blessings radiated to the rest of the world.
“To what does “In the city of Gold” refer? To the Golden Jerusalem (crown) like that that Rabbi Akiva made for his wife” (Talmud: Shabbat 59a).
One would have to know the story of Rabbi Akiva to understand this quote. If you are not familiar with the great Rabbi Akiva I encourage you to sign up to learn with Rabbi Eliyahu Shear.
“Jerusalem will only be redeemed through [the merit of giving] charity“
(Talmud: Shabbat 139a).
This last quote holds the key to our redemption. It is also a motivator for much of the work we do. While we were not able to develop an NGO / Amuta, we have turned to using our every skill to develop another way to earn what we need to build a special Torah centre here in Jerusalem. One of our projects is to empower widows and orphans. Currently we are exploring some new options for doing so. One goal with this website is to provide a portal for widows / orphans to sell items made by themselves to enable them to earn a livable income. There is no greater kindness than to assist a person to earn and be self sufficient.
Please sign up for our newsletter and support our efforts by purchasing the items in our store. If you would like to learn or increase your creativity, sign up for a creative group. We are in the process of structuring several groups in different age categories.
Before you go and browse our store, enjoy two versions of the beautiful song by Naomi Shemer “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav; Jerusalem of Gold” The first is sung by Yossi Azulay and the video shows some scenes of modern Jerusalem.
The second begins with Naomi Shemer explaining a little about the song that she wrote and putting it in context. The images here are from the light festival. Some beautiful effects.
I hope you have enjoyed the videos and that you will enjoy this website too.
This post is prepared for you by
Occupational Therapist, healing facilitator, certified infant massage instructor, freelance writer, author of “Healing Your Life Through Activity – An Occupational Therapist’s Story” and co-author of “Tuvia Finds His Freedom“.