Thank you for hearing me
Thank you for hearing me
Thank you for hearing me
Thank you for hearing me

Thank you for loving me
Thank you for loving me
Thank you for loving me
Thank you for loving me

Thank you for seeing me
Thank you for seeing me
Thank you for seeing me
Thank you for seeing me

And for not leaving me
And for not leaving me
And for not leaving me
And for not leaving me

Thank you for staying with me
Thank you for staying with me
Thank you for staying with me
Thank you for staying with me

Thanks for not hurting me
Thanks for not hurting me
Thanks for not hurting me
Thanks for not hurting me

You are gentle with me
You are gentle with me
You are gentle with me
You are gentle with me

Thanks for silence with me
Thanks for silence with me
Thanks for silence with me
Thanks for silence with me

Thank you for holding me
And saying "I could be"
Thank you for saying "Baby"
Thank you for holding me

Thank you for helping me
Thank you for helping me
Thank you for helping me
Thank you, thank you for helping me

Thank you for breaking my heart
Thank you for tearing me apart
Now I've a strong, strong heart
Thank you for breaking my heart

I'll give you countless amounts of outright
Acceptance if you want it. I will give you
Encouragment to choose the path that you want if you need it.

You can speak of anger and doubts,
Your fears and freak-outs and I'll hold it.
You can share your so-called
Shamefilled accounts of times in your life and I won't judge it.

And there are no strings attached to it
You owe me nothing for giving the love that I give.
You owe me nothing for caring the way that I have.
I give you thanks for receiving, it's my privilege,
And you owe me nothing in return.

You can ask for space for yourself
And only yourself and I'll grant it.
You can ask for freedom as well
Or time to travel and you'll have it.

You can ask to live by yourself
Or love someone else and I'll support it.
You can ask for anything you want
Anything at all and I'll understand it.

And there are no strings attached to it
You owe me nothing for giving the love that I give.
You owe me nothing for caring the way that I have.
I give you thanks for receiving, it's my privilege,
And you owe me nothing in return.

I bet you're wonderin' when
The next payback shoe will eventually drop.
I bet you're wonderin' when my conditional police will force you to cough up.
I bet you're wonderin' how far you now have danc-ed your way back into debt.

This is the only kind of love
As I understand it
That there really is.
You can express your deepest of truths
Even if it means I'll lose you and I'll hear it.

You can fall into the abyss
On the way to your bliss
I'll empathize with.
You can say that you'll have to skip town
To chase your passion and I'll hear it.
You can even hit rock bottom have a mid-life chrisis and I'll hold it.

And there are no strings attached to it
You owe me nothin' for giving the love that I give.
You owe me nothin' for caring the way that I have.
I give you thanks for receiving, it's my privilege,
And you owe me nothing in return.

You owe me nothin' for giving the love that I give.
You owe me nothin' for caring the way that I have.
I give you thanks for receiving, it's my privilege,
And you owe me nothing in return.

Never forget who you are
Little star
Never forget how to dream
Butterfly

God gave a present to me
Made of flesh and bones
My life, my soul
You make my spirit whole

Never forget who you are
Little star
Shining brighter than all the stars in the sky
Never forget how to dream
Butterfly
Never forget where you come from
From love

You are a treasure to me
You are my star
You breathe new life
Into my broken heart

Never forget who you are
Little star
Never forget how to dream
Butterfly

May the angels protect you
And sadness forget you
Little star

There's no reason to weep
Lay your head down to sleep
Little star

May goodness surround you
My love I have found you
Little star

Shining bright

You breathe new life
Into my broken heart

Never forget who you are
(Whispered:) Little star
Shining brighter than all the stars in the sky
Never forget how to dream
Butterfly
Flying higher than all the birds in the sky

Little star
Little star
Little star
From love

When I was very young
Nothing really mattered to me
But making myself happy
I was the only one

Now that I am grown
Everything's changed
I'll never be the same
Because of you

Nothing really matters
Love is all we need
Everything I give you
All comes back to me

Looking at my life
It's very clear to me
I lived so selfishly
I was the only one

I realize
That nobody wins
Something is ending
And something begins

Nothing takes the past away
Like the future
Nothing makes the darkness go
Like the light

You're shelter from the storm
Give me comfort in your arms

 

Things haven't been the same
Since you came into my life
You found a way to touch my soul
And I'm never, ever, ever gonna let it go

Happiness lies in your own hand
It took me much too long to understand
How it could be
Until you shared your secret with me

Something's comin' over, mmm mmm
Something's comin' over, mmm mmm
Something's comin' over me
My baby's got a secret

You gave me back the paradise
That I thought I lost for good
You helped me find the reasons why
It took me by surprise that you understood

You knew all along
What I never wanted to say
Until I learned to love myself
I was never ever lovin' anybody else

There are too many questions
There is not one solution
There is no resurrection
There is so much confusion

And the love profusion
You make me feel
You make me know
And the love vibration
You make me feel
You make it shine

There are too many options
There is no consolation
I have lost my illusions
What I want is an explanation

And the love profusion
You make me feel
You make me know
And the love direction
You make me feel
You make me shine
You make me feel
You make me shine
You make me feel

I got you under my skin...

There is no comprehension
There is real isolation
There is so much destruction
What I want is a celebration

I got you under my skin...

I got you under my skin...

And the love profusion
You make me feel
You make me know
And the love intention
You make me feel
You make me shine
You make me feel
You make me shine
You make me feel

I got you under my skin...

And I know I can feel bad
When I get in a bad mood
And the world can look so sad
Only you make me feel good

 

“MARSH”

 

Hebrew, Russian, English, French, Spanish, Turkish, Croatian… you name it! The languages spoken by Bnei Baruch students are so many that it is hard to keep track of them all. Our languages are the codes we use for getting messages across, to let the others know what it is that we think or feel. Whether they are, ideas or sensations, we always rely on language to express them. Everything ends up as a sentence.

 

Though there are times when words are not enough, when no word we know, in any language, is able to explain, not even express, what is inside our hearts & souls. Words are useless then. It is not that we had run out of words, it is that what we felt inside ourselves was so… so… so… that we could not find the words to describe it, what to do know? This time we intend to 'talk' in a different way, not with words, not to minds, but to hearts & souls.

 

The search for that 'new' language led us to different paths, music and dance. Our paths were also physically distant, and mine even made a drastic turn a while ago. But as we have learnt, everything led us up to the day when our paths met and a very special friendship started.  And from that friendship, a 'complicity' based on a mutual desire started. Excitement, fear, nervousness, admiration, more fear, are just some of the emotions that we have felt through so many sleepless night thinking on how  to say what our friends makes us feel.

 

And it is true, no exaggerations, what you make us feel is so unbelievable that it demands to be expressed. Due to the lack of words or definitions we turned to sounds and moves to express ourselves. You are not to analyze them, nor try to understand them, just let them in, inside your hearts. Feel them, because by doing so, you will be feeling us, feeling what you make us feel.  So, please, stop thinking and, at least for a couple of minutes, start feeling.

 

Feel us in NY!

 

We have been told that there is no time, motion or space in the Spiritual World. A good example for space as an illusion of our material world can be found in the ARI Online World English Virtual Group this Group came out as one of the fruits of the ARI Online Kabbalah Retreat held in St. Louis, Missouri, last November. For many, this retreat was the first live interaction we had, with our instructors and our virtual classmates. We knew many names, we recognized some faces, but it was our souls who reunited. We knew we had gotten home. We all came back to our hometowns being different, feeling ourselves as part of something that we may have not been sure how to explain but that covered up for all our lacks, and necessities.

We knew we could not, should not, let that sensation diminish, nor les fade away. Therefore by the hand of Rob Taylor, Susan Morales-Kosinec and all of ARI Online team we got on board on a project that might have sounded a Little ambitious back then, has now become a reality. A reality that goes beyond the one that our five senses allow us to perceive, we are a group of 131 people in 17 countries whose hearts overturned into a union that for those outside of it may seem hard to understand.

It is not a virtual group in which there´s only information sent through e-mail, it goes far beyond. Weekly meetings are held, as separated groups, men and women, as well as mixed ones. During these meeting articles are analyzed, texts are studied, dissemination projects are organized and the tools for dealing with our material lives through following the laws of the Upper World are given to us.

For the dissemination projects, the group is divided into regions, each one has its own Regional Manager. The Men’s Group and the Women’s Group also have members who are in charge of contact’s list, projects coordination, and organization.

No need to say that even though many of us have not yet met personally, it has not been an obstacle for us to feel connectedness, support, love for and by the group. Some of us were lucky and got the chance to attend the Congress in Israel. There we could see again the ones we had met in St. Louis, and also had the amazing opportunity of physically meeting friends with whom we had already had virtual contact for months. Those friends who could not attend the Congress were always within us, in our hearts and intentions. Rob Taylor held virtual meetings at dawn from his hotel room and the communication via e-mail and IM services was also pretty intense.

The meetings after the Congress have been more intense, the goal is clearer, the intention stronger, and the distance shorter. Our next step is the New York Congress. Just as we did for the Congress in Israel, we have already started our preparation. That is our next goal, to see each other in New York, but not only to see each other, but to be ready for what is gonna happen there, and whatever it may be, and as we have done before, allow it to take us to build new goals as a group and as individuals. We will keep climbing up the ladder because we have witnessed that time zone, distance nationalities, language, cultures are not an obstacle for us, quite the opposite, they are our fuel, bringing us closer, uniting us more and more. Because this group is made of bodies, but of souls who feel one another and intertwine to create one big soul.

"Gathering of Souls"

 

As I thought this morning i was gonna work a lot on translations, I went to the kitchen to get a new cup of coffee.

On the way back to my bedroom, I decided to make a stop at the storage room and look for some movies a friend had asked me to borrow.

I immediately knew I was opening the wrong box, but I did not stop.

There they were, staring at me… pictures.

Without thinking I began to get them out of the box. What I was to find was obvious, but it did not stop me.

I selected some, asked my dad for nails and a hammer and walked into my bedroom. I spent all morning setting them on the naked blue and grey walls.

I did hesitate a little about setting his picture. I sat a t stare at them, thinking, recalling,  smiling, missing…

Out of the blue I just took one of them and set them next to the door.

Do I miss him?

I guess  I do, to some extent.

But what I miss the most is the 'me' that I was when with him.

That 'me' that he discovered, and set free out of the depths of my souls.

Therefore I decided to not only set that picture but another two.

Why?

Because they are a reminder of who I was, what I did, what I corrected, and what I still need to correct.

But most significantly as a reminder of what true love feels like.

 

Just one kiss on my lips
Was all it took to seal the future
Just one look from your eyes
Was like a certain kind of torture

Once upon a time
There was a boy and there was a man
Just one touch from your hands
Was all it took to make me falter

Forbidden love
Are we supposed to be together

Forbidden love
We sealed our destiny forever
Forbidden love

Just one smile on your face
Was all it took to change my fortune
Just one word from your mouth
Was all I needed to be certain

There was a boy and there was a man
Hearts that intertwine
They lived in a different kind of world

Just one kiss [Five]
Just one touch [Four]
Just one look [Three]
Just one love [Two]
[One]

 

 

Group work

I had never liked working as of part  groups or teams, not at school, not at home. No need to say,  my social life was almost non-existent. When with people, I always felt uncomfortable, i didn't know why but I never liked it.

Now I understand the reasons why. I used to feel as if my feelings, emotions and ideas were exposed to the other members. I did not like that feeling. There was always the feel of shame and guilt that I could never explain, I didn't want them to look at it.

As time passed I longed for belonging, I needed to feel part of something but i still couldn't handle to let go of the feelings of shame of guilt which grew bigger and bigger as I grew older.

What I was hiding is not important anymore because it is now gone. The Light took that darkness away, all i had to do was trust It. Today i can say i have found my group, my team.  Since the moment I took the plane I knew I was meeting them. I was not scared of them looking at me, what i was scared of was leaving them, being without them, left alone in the world again.

This group makes me feel like home, I am physically away from them but we all know we are part of it. That is what makes us wake up every morning, our unity. There's no individuals anymore, there's no I, me, or myself… we are just one soul working for our common purpose.

 

Why was I running away?  I was looking for peace, I was looking for love, I was looking for a place called home. And I used to believe it was something that somebody would give me all of them. How wrong I was, but I didn't know it back then. I was too busy building dreams of a perfect tomorrow, doing nothing with today. 

 

I finally understood that I don't need to be with someone in a romantic sense to be loved. I  felt, and still feel, so much love from all of us there.

It also allowed me to re-open the channels of receiving love that were if not totally closed, at least getting clogged. my family is the most important thing in my life, and my love for them will fuel me and inspire me to do great. and also the love of the Kli is the biggest battery ever.

If a man comes along, he will be welcomed.

If he doesn't he won't, he won't be missed.

 

This is what i wrote as the Cover Letter of my resume:

 

… If we go back to the Babel story, why were languages created? What was their purpose? To cause division, to separate humans so that they could not unite and work in common goals. Languages have served that purpose for many years, but our world and civilization have gotten to a point in history when we need to unify.

…

By learning a foreign language we are able to capture the essence of the speech. We can truly and fully understand

other people and in the same way we are able to express ourselves in ways that our mother tongue may not allow us

to. Understanding and expressing reduce the distance and separation created in Babel, increase unity and make the

world a better place.

 

 

It is interesting to point out that as I was relating it to the group The Rav mentioned it during one of his lectures. And the thought kept spinning in my head since he mentioned it up until the moment we left.

I wanted to say something about it on the microphone, but the emotions where too overwhelming. 

 

We are living proof that what happened in Babel can be reversed.

We broke the barriers of language.

We were able to communicate, and sometimes words were no needed. Just by looking into our eyes we could sense each other.

We broke the barriers of territory.

We came from places far away, and even though we are not sharing the same physical space anymore,  we are still together.

We understood outside the theory what bonding with the neighbor is.

We 'knew' who we were. All the names we have read got out of the screen and hugged us. It was not meeting new people, we were reuniting with our brothers and sisters, yes, brothers and sisters…

we are family.