WHAT IS JUDEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION?

After we moved to our new office last week, I decided to use our regular office meeting this week, which has been on Zoom for the last three years, as an excuse to bring everyone together to the office for a reunion. When I told my wife about this, her response was that we have at least two reasons why we cannot have this meeting. The first one is that Thursday (the day of our meetings), is the Jewish holiday of Passover. And the second reason is that on Friday is the Christian holiday, Good Friday, which relates to Passover, during which Jesus and his disciples had the Last Supper – the Passover celebration.

This gave me the thought to check the meaning of the term Judeo-Christian Tradition. Though Yeshua or Joshua in English, who became christened as Jesus was born Jewish; his message, which was based on the Torah, was adopted by over 2.2 billion Christians. And the message was very simple, “Love Your Neighbor as Thyself”(Leviticus 19:18); (Mark 12:31).

I recently read an article about Isaac Newton. He was Christian, a professor at Holy Trinity College in Cambridge University, and did not believe in the concept of Holy Trinity. He learned the Hebrew language to enable him to read original Hebrew Scriptures. After that, he came to the realization that the world follows harmony established by God, as it was manifested in the Torah. This is probably the best way to describe the Judeo-Christian tradition.

As for our office meeting, my wife was right again. We postponed it until next week. Meanwhile, as to any celebration, enjoy these three bouquets of flowers and share with a friend!

CHANGING PLACES – CHANGING LUCK

After renting a large office full of people for many years, the time came for a change. When the Corona-19 virus started, all our employees began working remotely from home. I continued coming to the office. After a while, some of my colleagues joined me as well. Interest rates stayed low, and we were very busy. And then, almost overnight, rates went up, and the refinancing business came to a standstill. We still had a year left on our lease and ten salaries to pay. We had a few choices. Being seventy-six, we easily could retire and close the company, or we could work from home and let our “extra” employees go. Instead, I decided to keep going and focus on helping real estate agents find more qualifying buyers.

To do that, I started the Money Solutions Academy. Originally it was intended as short interviews with different professionals posted on YouTube, and then we added live seminars in our office. After almost forty years in the mortgage business, I am a firm believer that as long as I move forward, “the forward” will come to me. The interest rate will eventually come down; meanwhile, we can help many real estate agents to make a good living and help clients buy homes, while prices declined. As a result, we decided to keep going.

There is a Hebrew saying, “Changing places – Changing luck”. We found a smaller office in the building next door, where we will have enough room for our employees help their clients and the space to keep doing seminars. And also, enough walls to have my photo gallery. You are invited.

Our new address is:
333 Gellert Blvd., Ste. #114, Daly City, CA 94015

Please enjoy these three images from my photo collection. You can also see more of my images at: thehealingimages.com and mannykagan.smugmug.com. Enjoy and Share with a Friend!

WHAT ARE WEEDS?

In the dictionary, the word weed is defined as “a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually a vigorous growth.” I decided to explore the subject of weeds after noticing a huge bush, like a weed, growing in my neighbors’ front yard. Before the house was sold, there was a green lawn, which was removed during construction.

In the book “Wild about Weeds. Garden Design with Rebel Plants”, I found a lot of interesting information. Weeds follow the principle outlined by Aristotle, “nature abhors a vacuum”. Basically, the only way to get rid of weeds is to eliminate the roots, which can be challenging if not impossible. For me, weeds are an invasive species and I try to get rid of them in our yard, which can be quite challenging, but I do not mind it, since it is very good exercise.

Weeds, which often have beautiful flowers, can be contained and controlled. Online I learned about 41 flowering weeds. Writing this essay brought to mind a story. “A priest was walking by a house and saw the gardener removing weeds. ‘The Good Lord gave you a beautiful garden’, he said to the gardener. ‘Well, you should have seen it before, when the Good Lord had it to himself’, the gardener answered. The three beautiful flowers I am sharing with you are flowering weeds.

Enjoy and share it with a friend !

WHY THE COLOR GREEN?

Today, March 17^th, is St. Patrick’s Day. You may have wondered why the color green is part of the holiday’s theme. A simple answer is that traditionally green represents the Catholics of Ireland, the color orange – Protestants, and white symbolizes peace between the two religions, which is represented in the flag of Ireland.

The question is, “Why is drinking alcohol such a big part of celebrating on St. Patrick’s Day?” Of course, Irish people did not invent the tradition of drinking over a holiday. As I mentioned last week, Jews were commanded to get drunk long before St. Patrick’s Day. There is evidence that brewing alcohol was dated from 7000 to 6600 BC. I read that the history of the world had changed after brewing was discovered. Early humans were hunter-gatherers. Men hunted, women prepared food, took care of children and planted food. And after realizing that food can be converted into alcohol, men took over agriculture and, as they say, the rest is history.

Nevertheless, the patron saint of alcoholics is Venerable Malt Talbot, who was born in Dublin, Ireland. Whatever is your excuse, please drink responsibly. On St. Patrick’s Day, the color green is not only in alcoholic drinks and in the river in Chicago, some people use it as head coverings, as you can see in these three images.

Enjoy and Share with a Friend!

LUCK OR PROVIDENCE

After I decided on the title of today’s story, I looked up the meaning of providence, which is “the protective care of God or nature as a spiritual power.” It fits perfectly to the story of Jewish holiday Purim, which was celebrated starting last Monday evening and through Tuesday. The story is the celebration of what seemed as a lucky moment for Jews to survive in Persia, modern Iran, sometime around the year 357 BCE. The name Purim means casting lots in the sense of making a random selection. It seems to me that all of our lives is Purim.

We often are making decisions which are “random selections”, since we do not know what is going to be the outcome (some claim that the only thing which was not random for us to choose is our parents before we were born). At the same time we also are making conscious decisions which seem to give us expected results. Probably because they are guided by some mysterious forces, which belong to the realm of providence. There are a number of traditions, which make the Purim holiday special; one of them is dressing up, and the other one might surprise you – Commandment for Jews to get drunk until you cannot distinguish between Mordechai and Haman, or those who are good and not so good.

The three images are my encounters in the Congregation Chevra Thilim, the oldest synagogue in San Francisco, which was founded in 1892 during the celebration of Purim. The events, which happened long, long time ago, are still remembered and celebrated thanks to the Rabbi of the congregation Shlomi Zarchi and his wife Chani, as well as visiting Rabbi Shimon Margolin.

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WHERE ARE OUTSIDE LANDS?

In the last week’s post, I wrote about San Francisco’s Ocean Beach. When was the last time you visited this natural wonder, 3.5 miles of sand and waves? It is different every day, if not every hour, and it is always beautiful; not only the sunsets.

In the early days of San Francisco, it was known as part of “Outside Lands”. And then in 1884, the steam railroad started to bring people for the first amusement rides. The Cliff House, which opened in 1863 and Sutro Baths in 1896, drew thousands of visitors. Though Sutro Baths has been long gone, you can still enjoy beautiful views from the Cliff House restaurant.

Because of the cool weather and very cold water, most of the time the beach is not crowded.  But on sunny days the beach is packed. Thanks to Max, who can run along the beach leash free, we often come here. Hope to see you there next time. Meanwhile, enjoy these three images.

And do not forget to share with a friend!

FROM SAN FRANCISCO WITH LOVE

I wrote my first book of the “42 Encounters” series in 2016.
“42 Encounters in San Francisco” was an expression of my love and appreciation for the best city in the world. If you are reading newspapers and even ventured to certain areas of San Francisco, you might have perception of doom and gloom in those places. Yes, the city has serious issues; however, every loving family does. Therefore, I decided to publish a new book, “San Franciscans. Looking Forward Through Looking Back. 42 Encounters with City Builders.”

To assist myself and get a different perception, I joined author Gary Kamiya on a walk downtown titled Barbary Coast. We started in North Beach, crossed Chinatown, and ended up in the area used to be called the Barbary Coast. I visited and photographed these areas many times. And while walking through familiar streets, a smile of pleasure did not leave my face. Restaurants were full, shoppers were spending money. Perhaps there were fewer tourists, but Grant Street in China town had its share.

In the afternoon, Max took us for a walk along the beach on the Great Highway, which was closed for traffic. Where else, but San Francisco, can you spend the morning in the center of over 150 years of city history and the evening in front of the ocean? And at the same time, it is not about old buildings with memorial plaques, and not even remarkable man-made nature.

It is always about people. These three images are from one day journey. Enjoy and Share!

ENCOUNTERS IN GOLDEN GATE PARK

On Sunday afternoons, our labradoodle Max takes us for a walk. We have a number of destinations, preferably the areas where Max can run leash-free. It can be either Fort Funston or, weather permitted, along the ocean, since the road is closed for traffic on weekends. Also, there are very nice places in Golden Gate Park. One of them is around Stow Lake.

The lake is beautiful, but Max has to be on leash there, unless we cross a small bridge so he can chase squirrels. And then there is a walk from 25^th Avenue and Lincoln Way through the forest to a small lake. Our latest discovery is on Richmond side. This time we parked on Fulton Street, close to 11^th Avenue, where there is a trail leading through pine tree forest to the Rose Garden.

There are no roses though this time of the year… We continued our walk to John F. Kennedy Drive. Typically for a Sunday, there were no cars, and the sign pointed to JFK Promenade. Bicyclists, walkers, runners, dog walkers, even coyotes come here to have a good time. So did Max, and so did we. The three encounters I photographed on that day are the testimony that we are blessed to live in San Francisco and to have such a beautiful park.

Enjoy and Share with a Friend!