After the horrific events in Paris this month, I’ve been having a difficult time choosing what to share about Judaism that might interest you, our reader. In my last post, I wrote about some of the rituals we have to mourn someone’s passing and the actions we take to help their souls ascend to heaven.
I wrote that G-d is always in charge and has a plan that we cannot see; that out of tragedy comes opportunities for us to bring positive energies into our world…to nurture and sustain these energies until they become embedded in our society and way of life.
I concluded with this question: What will you do today to honour those who have died, to bring merit to their souls and help them on their ascent to heaven?
But we don’t need to wait for tragedies to occur to bring positive energy into the world. We can do things every day for ourselves and for others. In Judaism, bring positive energy into the world is a mitzvah. This word is commonly understood as ‘a good deed’, but it is far more than that. Though mitzvot (the plural form of mitzvah), we bring holiness into everyday actions—we bring heaven down to earth.
Here are five things that you can do today to generate positive energy in honour of those who have passed. Have the person or people in your mind when you do these actions.
1) Whatever your faith, study some scripture for ten minutes a day. Read the text and then the commentary. If your book has no commentary, you can search on the internet. Find a website with a positive tone; one that challenges you to go beyond what you’ve learned from your family and religious leader.
2) If you can, find out what charities and causes they supported. Then, donate some of your time or money to that cause in their name. If you don’t know what they would have supported, donate to an organization that is focused on making the world a better place through feeding and healing people, saving animals or the enironment.
3) Donate blood in someone’s honour to help save another life. The most wonderful thing about donating blood is that you don’t know who will receive it. In Canada you can find out how to donate from the Canadian Blood Services https://www.blood.ca/. You know what they say: It’s in you to give.
4) Teach someone something that will help them reach their potential. When do, think of someone who mentored you and do it on their behalf.
5) Sponsor a meal in your place of worship, school lunch-program, a transition house, shelter or soup-kitchen. If you have the opportunity, share a positive story about the person who’s memory you are honouring.
Through scientific research and anecdotal evidence we know that prayer and positive acts create more positive energy in this physical world. In Judaism, we believe the energies we create in this world have an effect in the world to come.
So I ask again… What will you do today to honour those who have died, to bring merit to their souls and help them on their ascent to heaven?
Fiona Prince is a Communications coach, facilitator and teacher in Victoria, BC. She worships at Chabad Family Shul and teaches at the Hebrew School.
You can read more articles from our interfaith blig, Spiritually Speaking HERE
