Posted on Facrebook May 13, 2026
There’s something strange and wonderful about social media. You’re inside an intense reality, sometimes far from home, in the reserves, and at the same time, the world keeps moving, and the network reminds everyone that it’s your birthday. You wake up in the morning, maybe on a thin mattress or in some improvised room, open your phone, and a wave of messages and blessings washes over you.
I believe in the power of blessings. Not just as nice words, but as something real, something that can move the heart, open space, heal, connect. And I’m grateful, for every blessing I receive, and for the privilege of blessing others.
“Modeh Ani
Before You and to You
For all the kindness and the truth and the good and the bad and the good
That You have done with me
And with my household
And with my relatives and my friends and with my people
And with my land, and with all the world and humanity
Which You created.” (Meir Ariel)
“You said: day pursues day, and night—night.
Behold, days are coming—you said in your heart.
You saw evenings and mornings passing by your window,
And you said: there is nothing new under the sun.
And behold, you have come into your days, you have grown old and full,
Your days are numbered, and their count is doubly precious.
And you will know: every day is a last day under the sun,
And you will know: every day is new under the sun.”
(Songs of the End of the Road / Leah Goldberg)
“It has been told to you, human being, what is good,
and what God asks of you:
only to do justice, to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God.”
(Micah 6:8)
On this day, I simply want to say thank you from the heart. To all the people in my life: My family, my amazing children, my parents, my community and friends, my colleagues in work and in the reserves, and the hundreds of people whose paths have crossed mine over the years. Each and every one of you is a meaningful part of who I am today.
Thank you to this land, and to our country, every day I learn something new about it and about the people in it, and every day I find myself falling in love again.
I want to offer a blessing to all of us: that we may see each day as if it were our last under the sun, but also as a first day, new, open, full of possibility. That we may know how to see the good, to understand what is asked of us, to do good, and to give and receive deep love. And that we may do all of this with humility, “walking humbly.” And may we merit the blessing from my Bar Mitzvah portion, Bechukotai:
{4} I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall give their fruit.
{5} Your threshing shall overtake the vintage, and the vintage shall overtake the sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell securely in your land
{6} I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down with none to frighten you; I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and no sword shall pass through your land.
{7} You shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
{8} Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
{9} I will turn toward you, make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will uphold My covenant with you.
Stories of the power of blessings:
Haim Sabato, The Dawning of the Day: A Jerusalem Tale, Translated b Yaacob Dweck, The Toby Press 2006. Pp 11.
An hour before sunset he [Ezra Siman Tov] would finish his work and take his leave of the owner. “Peace, blessing, and goodness, Yehezkel. Sleep in Peace.” Always the same formulation. There are many greetings in Jerusalem; each one has its specific time and place. The greeting upon meeting a friend differs from the one recited upon departure; the one in the morning differs from the one in the evening; those on festivals differ from those offered during a normal weekday. The one greeted also knows the proper response. If someone wishes him, “sleep in peace” he responds “awake in great mercy”; if someone bless him on a festival by saying, “may you merit many years,” he replies, “may you merit a long life, may your days extend”. to the blessing, “A peaceful Sabbath,” he responds, “Peace and good blessings”; to “Good morning,” he says, “to the master as well”; to “Bless Him who heals the slick,” “may He and His name be blessed”, to Welcome,” “welcome to those who greet us.” In short, from the way a man greets his fellow man, one can tell if he is a native of Jerusalem.
“Remember us for life” (Hasidic tale):
A certain Hasid used to come each year to the Seer of Lublin to spend Rosh Hashanah with his rabbi.
One year, when he arrived, the Seer instructed him to return home immediately and spend the holiday there.
The Hasid was shaken and did not understand. His rabbi would usually welcome him warmly, why send him away now?
His heart filled with worry, but he had no choice; he took leave and began his journey home.
On the way, he stayed at an inn. A group of Hasidim passed through on their way to Lublin for Rosh Hashanah.
He told them his story, and they invited him to join them for the evening meal.
They sat together and drank “l’chaim,” as was the custom.
In the morning, they persuaded him to return with them to Lublin. They even promised to speak on his behalf.
He agreed and went back.
When they came before the Seer to receive his greeting, he stood among them.
The Seer blessed him with peace, showing no anger that he had not obeyed. On the contrary, he seemed glad he had returned.
Then the Seer said:
“Now I see that the teaching of the Midrash is true, that when Jews sit together and drink ‘l’chaim,’ the Holy One forgives their sins.This man, judgment had been set upon him, and I saw that death had been decreed for him. Since I could not overturn the decree, I sent him home so he might part from his family. But now I see that when he joined this group, sat with them, and they drank ‘l’chaim’ together, the harsh judgment was sweetened, and the decree was annulled
