On Heaven and Earth: Garden of Eden; Pardes; Paradise

So the Jew, the Christian, the Muslim, the Buddhist …… and the non-believer die and go up in front of God and say now that we are here and know that there is something after death we are ready to go to Heaven. Why would God let us into Heaven when we could not take care of the Garden and Paradise he gave us here on Earth? Should he let us in to mar another Pardes? By not being able to live in harmony with and in control of God’s Creation on Earth we do not show the maturity to live and reach a higher level of existence.

On Seudah Shlishit and other meals

The other day I sat in at a Seudah Shlishit and since it is close to Rosh Hashanah (a Jewish New Year) the Rabbi discussed the question of whose responsibility it is to blow and hear the Shofar (horn). At the end of this insightful discussion on responsibilities, I noticed that lots of people who participated in the Seuda left food on the table to be discarded; some even left bread. It is important to recognize that it is God’s gift to give and maintain life through food. We should not instinctively or by habit throw away left over food. Every person has the responsibility to eat only the food that he/she needs to maintain life. If you have left over food you must first make your best effort to make sure the leftover food goes to the needy or other life (animals) and only if you cannot find a way to donate it in a way that maintains life, dispose of it by recycling. But on the matter of food you Bless, like the bread roll, you have the responsibility to make sure any left over food goes towards another of God’s Creation. So please take only what you need.