El Mar

Life has to be blue like the Mediterranean.
Greeks say, the Aegean sea is like a butter - soft and still. All you have to do to close your eyes and let your body free in its waves... I dream of the sea very often and it is the only thing I will miss for ever.

What makes one appreciate the beauty of G-d's creation, what is beauty anyway?
Beauty lies in the sea, in its bluest waves, in the clearest sky, in the shiniest sun rising and setting. You sit by the sea and feel golden rays on your shoulders, on your face and keep smiling. It is burning and leaving freckles on your nose but you still sit there, smile and feel the smell of your sunburned skin... You are becoming one with the sea, the sun, the sky...

Mar Adentro is a movie by Alejandro Amenabar, Chile born director with passionate spirit and melancholic view I would say. I imagine him as one of the lonesome characters from Marquez's novels... There is one remarkable scene in the movie - flying over the green forests, mountains, rivers, feeling the horizon, breathing fresh air and achieving the "highest" point - the sea, the blue giant with most marvelous shape and colour in the world. Not only you see, but feel and realize that it is the sea inside making you move and live, it is the sea blustering in your veins, running through your blood and your heart trying to jump out the chest.

This is my sea, the sea inside me.
El Mar.
Mar adentro.

SMILE!

Beautiful midrasha girls in Antwerp for Sukkot

Yesterday we had a great guest speaker Chaya Levine, councellor from Israel. She's originally from the Usa, amazing personality. She spoke about foremother Sarah and her beauty. When she asked why does everyone want to be beautiful, no-one could answer. Maybe because we all live in a different place than the whole world - midrasha in Berlin, separated from the vanity and all. We all feel beautiful and don't really care about the world standards. Anyways, I said that probably beauty is that what shines out from inside and you can see it in one's eyes. You know what I mean.

Ok, I've always known that I am beautiful, at least I'm quite cute. It seems that beauty was created by G-d to bring us joy, with beauty we cheer others, we attract people in a good way and make them feel comfortable. For me beautiful person is the one, who smiles and never forgets to greet others. It means that beauty's not only a material thing, but something deep and great, like of that Sarah Imeinu had got.

So Chaya agreed. True beauty is in the way one behaves - with modesty, dignity and recognition that all is given by G-d.

I love shiurs like this. I'd love to be a councellor myself one day, it's so excited talking with the girls, sharing your experience and looking into their eyes and see how beautiful they are.

Most important thing for me was her words: "Smile is a mitzvah!"
You know I'm so fond of smiling, but since yesterday I've been smiling lot more with all my heart, because I can feel I'm doing right thing and cheering up others who'd like to be smiled :)

SMILE & FEEL HAPPY!