The story is told of King Midas who was granted one wish of his choosing. Being fond of treasure, he asked that whatever he touched would be turned into gold. With his wish granted, he began to touch everything that was common and watch it transform before his eyes. Cups, spoons, chairs and metal coins all now glittered and sparkled with golden brilliance. His delight with his new ability was soon turned to frustration and sorrow as he began to realize that he could not control this gift, for when he embraced his only daughter she turned into a lifeless statue of gold.

We have all imagined what we would do, should we be given the opportunity to have one wish granted. Some would ask for great sums of money; others would request houses or land; and maybe others would ask for fame and notoriety. Maturity teaches, however, that granted wishes are the object of childhood fantasies, and are the fodder for fairy tales and the imagination. It is mainly through hard work and diligent labor that we can attain the things that we desire.

There is something to be said though, of seeking God for favor and asking Him for specific blessings. The Bible indicates that God delights in, and longs for, our petitions and prayers. Unfortunately, some may have been led to believe that they will not receive the things that they request from God. His word assures us, however, that appropriate asking nets appropriate responses.

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).

To those who may argue that prayers are useless, James 4:2 cautions “You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it. And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your own pleasures.”

There is a need then, for the petitioner to make the kinds of requests that please God and secure His ready answer. Purely selfish motives will not be rewarded. When the intent is for the benefit of others and the glory of God, there is an opportunity for success.

In 1 Kings chapter three, Solomon was the newly established king of Israel. In succeeding his father, David, he differentiated himself from his brothers, Absalom and Adonijah. Rather than presumption and arrogance, he displays reverence and humility. He worships God and prays for wisdom to lead the nation.

In a dream one night (verse 5), God appeared to him and urged him, “Ask, what shall I give you?”

Solomon’s answer exposed his sincerity.

“Therefore, give to your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?” (verse 9).

It is recorded that God was pleased with Solomon’s request and granted him superior wisdom along with wealth and honor.

Our encouragement comes from knowing that, despite our inabilities and inadequacies, God stands ready to give us divine support to manage whatever tasks lay before us. In our weakness, He is able to provide strength, and cause us to succeed where others may expect us to fail. But we must ask Him, and believe that He will give us what we need. It is time to align our desires with His design, and to pursue His purposes in our living. Then we can be free to make our requests with the confidence that He will answer affirmatively. Like the mothers of the church in our faith, tradition would say, “tell Him what you need!”

Bishop Patrick L. Kelly is the pastor of Cathedral Church of God, 365 S. Dixie Hwy., Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. 954-427-0302.

By Gary Curreri

Pompano Beach baseball coach Joe Giummule said pitching and defense was his team’s strong suit as they advanced to the Class 5A state semifinals for the first time in school history.

Golden Tornadoes’ junior pitcher Trevor Kniskern took the mound against defending state champion Jacksonville Bolles and allowed the first two batters to score before settling down and pitched a gem.

Unfortunately for Kniskern and his teammates, Bolles went on to secure a 2-1 victory over Pompano Beach and then dispatched Bishop Moore, 7-2 in the title game the following day at Hammond Stadium in Ft. Myers to capture their second straight state championship. It was also Kniskern’s first setback in 12 decisions.

“They gave us a good right jab in the first inning,” Giummule said. “We weathered the storm, and I guess we just ran out of gas.”

Kniskern gave up all three of his hits to the first five batters he faced – good for two Bolles runs – but retired 14 consecutive batters from the end of the first to the sixth inning.

Bolles’ Max Ferguson and Austin Knight, both Tennessee commits, reached on a single and double, respectively. Ferguson scored on an RBI groundout by Brendon O’Neil, and a ground rule double by University of Virginia commit Hunter Barco double drove in Knight.

“I felt a little awkward [in the first inning],” said Kniskern, a Pepperdine commit. “Their whole lineup is pretty decent. I just had to work through the count, start off strong – changeup, fastball – work ahead. That first inning was a little bumpy, and after that I was settling in.”

The Tornadoes (24-4) got a run back in the second when senior left fielder Austin Carney doubled down the left field line to score junior shortstop Chase Costello.

Giummule said his team practiced coming from behind and winning a state championship since the first day of practice, so when the Tornadoes came up in the bottom of the seventh, he was confident.

The Tornadoes threatened in the bottom of the seventh as pinch hitter Alex Skirvin walked and senior catcher Jeremy Davis singled down the left field line and advanced to second on the throw to third base putting the potential tying and winning runs in scoring position.

Pompano junior center fielder Mike Schuler, who earlier in the game made a diving catch in center field to keep the game close, hit a slow chopper up the middle that Ferguson handled and threw to first to get him by a step and end the game.

“The second baseman made a helluva play and he was out by half a step,” Giummule said. “Sometimes baseball isn’t fair. We deserved to win the game. We made tremendous play after tremendous play, as did they. We were just on the short end of the stick today.”

The Tornadoes reached states for the first time by knocking off powerhouse Miami Pace 9-0 in a regional final before other regional wins over Cardinal Gibbons and LaBelle. Pompano Beach is only three years removed from a stretch of four consecutive losing seasons.

Giummule believes his team can reach the state championship game next year.

“If things go as they have in the past, we should be right back in this spot next year,” he said. “From that starting line-up, we lose two starters, our catcher and our left fielder and we return our juniors and a lot of our pitching staff. You got to have some breaks and you got to stay healthy and there is no doubt in my mind that we will be back in this position. We just have to stay healthy.”

By Cinema Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

The Mummy’s Tomb starring Lon Chaney Jr. was featured on Svengoolie last Saturday night. Despite being filmed over 75 years ago, there is a creepy charm to this flick that features likeable victims and nightmarish visualization. Much like Disney’s Marvel and Star Wars franchises, Universal Pictures has mined their classic monster domain and has created their own dark universe franchise. The Mummy starring Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe is the first film of a projected series, much like Marvel’s Avengers franchise.

The 2017 The Mummy starts off with good intentions. This new mummy is a female (Sofia Boutella) who has a sibling jealousy with her baby brother. She is buried alive. Five thousand years later, a soldier of fortune named Nick (Tom Cruise) stumbles across the tomb and the evil she-mummy is unleashed in Iraq. The mummy goes to London and Nick meets Henry (Russell Crowe), a curator for all things monsters.

If a monster maven like Guillermo Del Toro had been involved, The Mummy would have been a memorable movie. The best action scenes occur early in the story and the last third of the film drags with repetitive action in the dark. A fight scene between Cruise and Crowe is marred by two other action sequences that occur at the same time. I love my classic monsters, but The Mummy does not jump start Universal Picture’s new universe.

Fortunately, Megan Leavey has finally arrived on the big screen. Based on a true story, New Yorker Megan Leavey (Kate Mara) has an attitude problem. She joins the United States Marines and becomes a Corporal. Having been a K-9 handler for the military police, Megan develops a special relationship with Rex, a dog who also has an attitude problem. The dog and the soldier develop a special relationship.

Rex and Megan go on two tours in Iraq before President George Bush ordered “the surge.” During the second tour, Megan and Rex are injured by an explosive device. Megan is sent home to recover, but Rex continues to serve in the war on terror. Despite having the comforts of home, Megan suffers from PTSD and longs to be reunited with Rex.

Megan Leavey is an emotional roller coaster ride from laughter to tears. Megan is Rex’s master, despite the fact that little Kate Mara could ride Rex like a pony. As the title character, she captures the authenticity of being a soldier. She is a stoic character with strength, but with real vulnerability. Given the audience reaction, Megan Leavey is easily the best movie on the big screen today.

Past Life opens Friday, June 16. Set in 1977, Past Life is directed by Avi Nesher and is based on the story of Israeli composer Ella Milch-Sheriff. It follows the life of her character and that of her sister, a journalist. The siblings uncover secrets about their father during World War II. There may be a Skype Q&A with Milch-Sheriff on Sunday, June 18 at the Living Room Theater, at Florida Atlantic University at 777 Glades Rd. For more information about theater, www.fau.livingroomtheaters.com.

“In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” — (Acts 2:17 and Joel 2:28 NRSV)

On Pentecost Sunday, we read Acts 2, as we always do, and heard Peter quote Joel 2:28 in his message to the pilgrims at Jerusalem. Among the many things I loved about his words, or Joel’s words, or God’s word, to be more exact, was the intergenerational vision of the church. Recognizing the gifts of the elderly and the young, the Holy Spirit definitely saw generations as interdependent. And, I have to say, there is a growing recognition within my denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, that cross-generational ministry is God’s vision for the church.

That being said, this wasn’t the way it has always been. I may have exacerbated that problem by some of the actions I took, not by accident, but very much on purpose. I separated the worship service into two. One service I called “traditional” and the other service I called “contemporary.” One service was a little more liturgical with the organ being the primary instrument. The second service was a little less liturgical and included guitars, drums, keyboards and singers. Naturally, I envisioned the older members would attend the “traditional” and the younger members would attend the “contemporary.” Every once in awhile, we would create cross-generational events, such as picnics, potlucks and, of course, the annual meeting.

At first, everybody fell in line with their age appropriate service. Peaceful coexistence and cooperation was maintained. But, as time went on, surprises started to occur.

The first surprise came with two elderly members who stopped attending the “traditional” worship service because they were, in their words, tired of the hymns. They liked guitars and drums, and they appreciated being surrounded by younger members.

At first, I thought that this was not going to end well. How would the young members receive them? Some chose the contemporary service specifically because of the younger population and now my service was beginning to “gray.” Well, as surprises go, the young people loved this couple. In fact, when the husband died, my 18-year-old daughter was beside herself in grief. His funeral was well-attended by the members of the youth group and the Praise Band played the music. His wife was delighted.

The second surprise came with a young family that attended the “traditional” service. The three young kids were all elementary age and the husband and wife were actually quite a bit younger than me. After the service was over, I took them aside and assured them that we had younger members and they attended the “contemporary” service. Looking back at this, I am ashamed to admit it. But the wife smiled and said, “Thanks, we prefer this service.”

Later, when the family attended the new member class, the wife shared what she appreciated about the church. She said, “With my parents in Illinois and my husband’s parents in Washington, we knew our kids would miss out not having their grandparents around. But the people we worship with are like grandparents to my children and we love it.”

As time went by, the contemporary service started to age and the traditional service started to get younger. The ages became less relevant and the services really distinguished themselves by style alone, as opposed to age preference.

One of the many things I love about Zion is that the young and older members truly do love each other. I may explore different styles of worship, but not to separate the ages. And I am exploring a Sunday School curriculum that is cross-generational in nature.

The Holy Spirit surprised the disciples, who spoke in different languages to the pilgrims who travelled to Jerusalem on Pentecost. The way the Holy Spirit chose to speak was in a manner that honored the diversity of cultures. Each heard the message in the language they spoke. And what was the message they heard? It was a cross-generational message honoring the elderly and the young.

May we be surprised by the Spirit and may those walls that separate the ages come tumbling down.

Pastor Gross is a pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, located at 959 SE 6 Ave., Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. For more information, call 954-421-3146 or visit www.zion-lutheran.org.

For over 30 years, softball enthusiasts have been coming out to play in the Deerfield Over 50 Softball games. For 22 years, their home was Pioneer Park and then they moved to Westside Park, now called Oveta McKeithen Recreational Complex. Right now, they have 92 players, ranging in age from 50 to 87 years old.

Dr. Arnold Elkind, one of the players, said teams are made up depending on how many people show up for these pick up games. They play on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to noon. They modify the game in order to ensure safety. It is slow pitch as well.

“We play three days a week and we have beer on Fridays,” said Elkind, adding that they tend to do more for someone’s birthday and also have a yearly Valentine’s Day dance at Century Village.

They also get sponsors for their tournaments. They just had a one-pitch tournament on May 17 with the Kraeer-Becker team coming in first, Duffy’s coming in 2nd and Advanced Auto Parts coming in third.

Interested in playing? It is only $45 a year. For more information, call Commissioner Denis Tranchida at 954-647-1621.

The box office records broken by Wonder Woman reveal that many people preferred pure escapism last weekend. The film will be remembered as saving the DC Comic movie franchise, which featured decent box office but lousy critical acclaim, unlike arch rival Marvel’s multiple motion picture box office juggernaut. Wonder Woman has its flaws (mostly an overkill of computerized special effects in a showdown with the master villain that is unnecessary), but the story is good, the lead characters are multidimensional with visual scenes that will invoke an emotional response.

With a nod to Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code, the new film opens with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) going to work in the Paris Louvre Museum. When a Wayne Enterprises courier gives her a secret briefcase, Diana sees a picture of her alter ego, Wonder Woman, taken a century ago during World War I.

We flashback to Diana’s youth on Themyscira, the home of Amazon female warriors. Diana is the daughter of Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), who shelters her offspring from the darkness of the world. When Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crash lands his plane near her home, the Kaiser Germans pursue the aviator. After Diana rescues Steve, the Germans start a battle with the Amazon Women … not a wise move.

Disobeying her mother’s orders, Diana takes Steve to London so that he can report his findings; the Germans have new chemical weapons they want to unleash on the front lines of battle. Being a fish out of water, Diana tries to adjust to the contemporary culture that features high heels, petticoats and slow dancing.

These character-building moments between Diana and Steve are the best parts of Wonder Woman. Director Patty Jenkins slows down the story momentum for these key romantic scenes, which helps build audience empathy for these two people who respect each other. These scenes provide a breather for the audience, which makes some of the action highlights more bearable.

This is Gal Gadot’s movie from start to finish, besides being a beautiful Wonder Woman, she manages to convey both intelligence and naivete. Portraying Steve Trevor as a spy, Chris Pine is able to portray multiple characters while maintaining classic World War I heroism. Given the recent terrorist attacks in Great Britain, Wonder Woman’s last scene closes with an unexpected poignancy.

It is June and the summer Blockbuster season is in full force with good escapist fare like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man Tell No Tales and Wonder Woman. Also see a real ‘wonder woman’ in the film Megan Leavey, which opens this weekend starring Kate Mara and Rex the Dog.

A study was conducted to measure the resiliency of young students. Researchers were curious to learn how a child would respond to increasingly difficult tasks based upon whether the child’s behavior or innate ability is praised.

Children who were praised for their innate ability, such as affirming that they did well because they are smart, bore unexpected results: This common method of encouragement actually caused many children to shy away from more difficult tasks. Since the value was placed on “being smart,” they skipped on more challenging tasks because they didn’t know if they were capable; so why risk it by trying something and possibly failing and losing the status of being “smart.”

Conversely, children who had their behavior praised yielded opposite results. Many in this participating group welcomed the next challenge. They had nothing to prove, or more accurately, to lose. If they failed, it wasn’t attached to their personhood — their capability. Instead of believing they weren’t smart enough, they believed with more effort they could be successful.

Here’s the thing: God says to commit our plans to Him, so bending to His will not (try) to force God to bend to ours. And we’re also challenged to live a life worthy of our calling. Both these things present us with real challenges and dangers. Yet, this group of graduates has grown up in a world where everyone from first place to last receives a trophy; expectations such as driving or having a summer job have diminished and failure is the worst possible thing, ever! In essence, we constantly affirm, “You are special and you deserve to be treated like royalty.”

Yet, at the same time, we struggle to grasp why a staggering percentage of graduates leave the church … why so few commit to their decision to follow Jesus that they made at age 7.

The root of the issue is identity. The call to follow Jesus is the exact opposite of what they’ve been taught to believe about themselves. We’ve missed the opportunity to pour into them that they have a God that created them, cares for them, adopted them and will never leave them. This message has been replaced with participation ribbons.

But, it’s not too late. God is a patient and loving God who desires all to come to Him. We need not to lose hope, but cling to it.

Here are three things your graduate can do to live the life worthy of their calling.

1. Allow your graduate to experience failure. They have been protected from the discomfort of failure and now are woefully unprepared not only for the real world, but God’s call. This summer is the perfect time for graduates to experience failure and recognize it’s not that bad. Learning how to fail is essential to trying what’s destined to fail without divine intervention, but they’ll never know all that God has for them if they are too scared to try.

2. Help your graduate commit their plans to the Lord. Set aside some intentional time with your graduate to study the Word. Stop asking them what they want to be or where they want to go to college. Challenge them to discover how God has specifically gifted them, in this given context, to live wholly for God and then seek His guidance for the best course to fulfill that role.

3. Remind your graduates of their identity in Christ. Teachers, coaches, mentors, etc., are important figures in your graduates’ life; but, if you value worldly identities: status, power, image and wealth identity, the efforts of the others’ voices will quickly be drowned out. Whether wealthy or not, or somewhere in the middle, don’t miss the opportunity to teach on identity and stewardship.

Join me in praying for your graduates, that they shake off any identities keeping them from following God’s risky and challenging plan for their life; that they allow the Spirit to remind them; that they are fearfully and wonderfully made, a child of His, able to do all things through Christ who straightens them.

C.J. Wetzler is the NextGen pastor at The Church at Deerfield Beach. Before transitioning into full-time ministry, CJ was a commercial airline captain and high school leadership and science teacher. For questions or comments he can be reached at cj@dfb.church.

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach High School senior Taletrius “TJ” Bradley was just days from graduation when his life was cut short in a tragic single-car accident on Sunday morning.

Bradley, 19, was driving a 2017 red Corvette that his mother had rented for her son so he could attend the Plantation High School prom in style.

Early Sunday morning, Bradley lost control of the vehicle, which flipped, and both he and his passenger, Demetrius Palmer, were ejected from the front seat of the vehicle off State Road 7 and Sunrise Boulevard.

Bradley, a wide receiver for the Bucks (10-3) who lost in the state Class 5A semifinals to the eventual state champion, Miami Southridge, died Tuesday morning from brain injuries he had suffered in the crash. Palmer, 17, a standout defensive back of the Bucks football team, is in critical condition at Broward Health Medical Center, according to Deerfield Beach head coach Jevon Glenn.

“It’s really hard to see life kind of be snatched away really at the beginning for him,” said Glenn, who added that Bradley dropped off his prom date and picked Palmer up just prior to the accident. Bradley has just received test scores that would have qualified him for college and was closing in on a decision, according to Glenn.

Glenn told the Miami Herald on Tuesday that Palmer was “not in the clear yet.”

“He’s showing signs of progress,” Glenn said. “He’s got some head injuries, but they’re continuing to do brain scans and so far they’ve been coming back good. But obviously with all the swelling and things they’re going to keep him sedated so they can keep monitoring him. They’re monitoring him and he’s got movement,” Glenn said. “We’re just really waiting on him to wake up and come out of it.”

Pompano Junior lifeguard meeting

There will be a mandatory parents meeting for those interested in being part of the Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguard program June 1 at the Civic Center, 1801 NE 6 St., Pompano Beach.

The meeting, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., will take place in the large auditorium, immediately behind the reception area.

Among the items that will be discussed include a complete itinerary of the summer program, along with information regarding uniform, competition dates, social events, and other rules and regulations. The coaching staff and administrative personnel will also be present.

“We will have two vendors attend in case athletes wish to purchase swim suits, goggles, caps, and other swimming-related paraphernalia,” said Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguard Association President Nemia L. Schulte. “We encourage all Juniors and Grommets to attend this meeting so that they can try on the shirts, rash guards, swim suits, etc. to ensure proper fitting.”

For more information on the program, contact Schulte at nemia2000@aol.com.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

With less than expected box office revenue and mixed reviews from mainstream movie critics, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales still took the box office crown for Memorial Day Weekend. Yet, according to a popular critical website, RottenTomatoes.com, the paying public likes this fifth Pirate movie more than critics getting a free screening.

Dead Men Tell No Tales features a young Henry Turner locating his father, Will Turner, (Orlando Bloom) who is the current cursed Captain of the Flying Dutchman, the ship that ferries souls to Fiddler’s Green. The son claims that if he can locate the Trident of Poseidon, he can free his father from his curse. The barnacle-faced Will Turner rejects such an offer, especially if it means involving Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp).

A decade passes and a grown Henry (Brenton Thwaites) is still searching for the Trident of Poseidon. His ship is raided by the ghostly Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), a ghost with a score to settle with Captain Jack. A pirate on hard times yet again, Sparrow has become a landlubber with a dry-docked crew. Henry and Jack eventually meet in prison, where they encounter Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario-Davis), an astronomer who is accused of witchcraft.

The plot unfurls like a lapping wave as Jack, Carina and Henry confront Captain Salazar. Eventually, Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) enters the scene in search of his own treasure. Along the way, sea battles, sword battles and zombie sharks add spice to this film.

If this is the final Pirates of the Caribbean film, this Disney franchise closes on a high note. While not slowing down story momentum, this fifth installment answers lingering questions from the previous four movies. While the climax bogs down with too much reliance on computerized special effects, there is enough creative visualization in the earlier scenes to hold one’s interest in the movie.

It is the colorful character interactions that drive this motion picture. The bickering between Jack and Barbossa is as refreshing as the new kids, Carina and Henry.

Captain Salazar is the best antagonist since Davy Jones, who makes an effective cameo that might drive a sixth movie, if there is one.

With Baywatch bombing at the box office, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales has proven to be the most sea-worthy movie on the big screen. For those interested in more realistic drama, keep your eyes peeled for Megan Levy, a true story of an American Marine in Iraq who develops a special relationship with a combat dog.

Was there Torah before Torah was given? It says in Zohar (Teruma) that G-d looked into the Torah and created the world. What does that mean? There are many stories in Torah that imply that, indeed, there was a Torah before the Torah was given:

• Noach bringing in different number of kosher animals … How did he know which were kosher?

• Avrohom, our forefather, fed his visiting angels matzo as part of their meal. It was Pesach. Isn’t Exodus an event that happened some 700 years later? What was he celebrating? They hadn’t rushed out of Egypt yet.

• Jacob put on Tefillin. In a very curious manner, the Torah tells us a story how he created spots on branches, and the Zohar says it was his way of putting on Tefillin.

• The famous Yeshiva that Jacob studied in on his way to his uncle was the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever, Noah’s sons. Were they studying the Talmud?

• Yehuda went before his family to build Yeshiva in Egypt. What did they study in his Yeshiva?

King David gives up an opportunity to kill Saul when he is chasing him. He says “the primordial analogy says, “Bad comes from bad people” … “See, I’m not bad.” With that, he refers to Torah. What does that mean? The Torah does not speak as an analogy. It speaks of fact, stories, laws, history, morals, etc. — very factually. And why primordial? Primordial means the first, preceding. Kabbalistically referring to the Being that always was — G-d. The Torah is an example or analogy for G-d.

What is an analogy? When trying to explain a topic which may be out of reach to the listeners, one will clothe his thought in a tangible example. When trying to explain a complicated mathematical equation, one may try with a simpler one first to give a handle with which to use. G-d is not relatable to the human creation. The Torah is the means which he provided us to then identify with Him.

The Talmud tells us it was heard in the Heavenly abode, lucky is the one who comes here with his Torah. The Torah that we study is material. The life of the world to come is holy and spiritual. How would bringing our material world Torah to the holy higher spheres help or be meritorious and anyway?

The answer is that the Torah we study here is an analogy for higher levels. If we have our Torah with us, we have an analogy with what to be able to understand higher and deeper levels. With each level that we advance, we enter another truth. But we also enter another analogy for an even higher truth. So the ultimate truth, permeating all planes, all levels, clothes itself in different analogies throughout that journey. When we understand the Torah on the first level we’ve understood and grasped the truth there. When we come to the second level, that first one is now only an example. When we reach the third level, the second level becomes only an analogy with which to understand the third. And so on and so forth. It’s the same with the Torah.

Jacob studying, putting on Tefillin, was not about the way we have it now. It was about the truth which Tefillin relates to us. Tefillin has a message — why black, why square, why these passages, why on your arms and your head? On one level, we can say it’s to bind us, our minds and our hearts, to G-d.

On a deeper level, we can say it is referring to two modes and methods of serving G-d and bringing out each one in its unique way. The arm one is bound, an active wording in the brocho. This refers to one’s emotions, which one does not have control over. They roam around; they react. One is not fully in control of them; therefore, we bind them as an active command to continuously ensure they are bound to the service of G-d. The mind one represents our intellect. We can control where our thoughts go. We allow them to develop as we choose. That’s why the Mitzvah is to have them on your head. It’s something you can control from the outset. So even though we speak of leather, paint, ink … we really refer to emotions, intellect, service of G-d — the same with all the other examples.

The actual story of the Torah is also the means to the deeper meaning behind it. There’s a story in the Talmud, of the sage Yonatan Ben Uziel, when he would study Torah, any bird that flew over him would burn [because he studied it at the level it was revealed on Mount Sinai].

Rabbi Mayor Schapiro, founder of Lublin yeshiva, explains two types of students. The first one would analyze the story asking what are the legal implications? Would he be liable to repay the bird? Was it a direct cause? Was it indirect? What stage of indirect was it, etc? The second student would look at him and say you missed the whole point. Although those are good questions, the point is the sanctity of the student of Hillel. The point is the holiness that he has attained. The story is only hinting to a much deeper reality.

When we study Torah, we need to be cognizant of this. We need to open our eyes to this duality that is within the Torah. It’s not about face value. It’s about what’s insinuated and being taught deeper. We need the simple understanding too. But we also need to open our eyes to the deeper realities of divine wisdom within. We need to recognize that these are all different words being used to express G-dliness. These are different clothing used to tell us of the divine reality.

The Torah being given changed nothing; it just gave us better expressions to be used for simplicity’s sake. We now put on real Tefillin and affect our emotional and intellectual service of G-d. The Torah is an analogy for the primordial being. Now go and study it.

Rabbi Tzvi Dechter is the Director of Chabad of the North Broward Beaches. For all upcoming events, please visit www.JewishLHP.com.