Do not love half lovers.
Do not entertain half friends.
Do not indulge in works of the half talented.
Do not live half a life and do not die a half death.
If you choose silence, then be silent.
When you speak, do so until you are finished.
Do not silence yourself to say something.
And do not speak to be silent.
If you accept, then express it bluntly.
Do not mask it.
If you refuse, then be clear about it.
For an ambiguous refusal Is but a weak acceptance.
Do not accept half a solution.
Do not believe half-truths.
Do not dream half a dream.
Do not fantasise about half hopes.
Half a drink will not quench your thirst.
Half a meal will not satiate your hunger.
Half the way will get you nowhere.
Half an idea will bear you no results.
Your other half is not the one you love.
It is you in another time yet in the same space.
It is you when you are not.
Half a life is a life you didn’t live,
A word you have not said,
A smile you postponed,
A love you have not had,
A friendship you did not know,
To reach and not arrive,
Work and not work,
Attend only to be absent,
What makes you a stranger to the closest to you,
And they strangers to you.
The half is a mere moment of inability
But you are able for you are not half a being.
You are a whole that exists to live a life, not half a life.
- Khalil Gibran –
4 responses to “Khalil Gibran –”
The fast of Yom Kippor has ended. Karen, my wife, asked me what kโvanna shaped my prayers. Responded to her question by recalling the rebuke given to Moshe, the decree of his gโlut from the oath sworn land: โbecause you did not sanctify my Name in the eyes of the peopleโ. The ืืกืื foundation which the Mishkan and korbanot dedicated by the Cohonim stands: that a Central Government, which most essentially entails the Sanhedrin Federal lateral Common Law Court system, that the leaders of the Peoplesโ government, that these leaders strive to sanctify and make Holy the Name of HaShem in the eyes of the Cohen nation.
Had real difficulty distinguishing between the blessings:
ืืืืจืืฉืืื ืขืืจื ืืจืืืื ืชืฉืื ืืชืฉืื ืืชืืื ืืืฉืจ ืืืจืช, ืืื ื ืืืชื ืืงืจืื ืืืืื ื ืื ืื ืขืืื, ืืืกื ืืื ืืืจื ืืชืืื ืชืืื: ืืจืื ืืชื ืโ, ืืื ื ืืจืืฉืืื.
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ืืช ืฆืื ืืื ืขืืื ืืืจื ืชืฆืืื, ืืงืจื ื ืชืจืื ืืืฉืืขืชื, ืื ืืืฉืืขืชื ืงืืื ื ืื ืืืื: ืืจืื ืืชื ืโ, ืืฆืืื ืงืจื ืืฉืืขื.
For me, the Siddur shapes the kโvanna of the Yom Tov tefillah. Erev Yom Kippor placed tefillen of Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam, and remembered the sworn oaths which our forefathers swear at Gilgal and ShโCem under the leadership of Yehoshua the prophet. A person can not observe Avodat HaShem without striving to self actualize Torah defined tohor middot.
For modern Israelis, the Yom Kippor War casts a powerful shadow. To discuss the โ73 war, it seems to me that this requires understanding US pressure which forced Golda not to repeat the โ67 precedent. Why?
Posting an indictment against this or that Israeli general, based upon 20/20 hindsight, does not expose the conditions and causes for that war. Israeli war time political war decisions came under the shadow of Washington. Why did the Nixon Administration change the dollar from a gold/silver commodity based currency to a petro-dollar/fiat currency? This decision, how did it impact Nixonโs demand imposed upon Golda, not to make another โ67 surprise attack?
Why would OPEC oil producing countries agree to US regulations which restricted and regulated the sale of their own natural resources? As if Saudi Arabia existed as a State within the US Republic?! For OPEC countries to agree to restrict the sales of their oil and gas, limited strictly and only unto US Dollar sales requires research.
In 1971 France demanded gold or silver for their international dollars. OPEC oil/gas sales to countries abroad, which the Nixon/OPEC agreement limited purchase of OPEC oil/gas strictly to US Dollar purchases, this policy forced France to withdraw their demand upon the US, to supply them with gold or silver for their inter-national Dollar surplus.
What preconditions did the king of Saudi Arabia place upon acceptance of the petro-dollar US monopoly? Perhaps, a demand that Nixon would pressure Golda not to initiate the coming war? Why? The logic seems simple to me, Israel started the โ67 war and won. If Egypt and Syria along with other Arab States achieve a similar surprise attack, perhaps they would win the approaching war. This assumption proved false. But Israel, with a population of less than 3 million at the time, suffered 2665 killed in the Yom Kippor War!
The Syrian break through the Golan Heights terrified Golda into assuming that Israel would suffer a total defeat in the 3rd Arab States attempt, within the span of the latter half of the 20th century, to throw the Jews into the Sea. Another possible precondition placed by OPEC oil producing countries, by which OPEC submitted to US regulation of their own natural resources, a demand upon the US, that should OPEC impose an oil embargo against the West, that the US would not invade OPEC countries.
Follow the money. How would the Nixon Administration profit from such a deal? Previously mentioned the hostile economic policy of Paris. The oil embargo exponentially increased the price of oil. All countries who bought OPEC oil had to have international USD petro-dollars. This made Washington the money lender to the planet! Not only this, but Nixon imposed the โWindfall Profits taxโ upon domestic oil industries! Overnight the petro-dollar monopoly introduced more cash into the coffers of the US treasury than virtually any domestic private industry thus far taxed!
Therefore Nixon had a stake in the action, an ax to grind, when he demanded from Golda not to initiate the โ73 War!
Very interesting but Sir I have no idea what you are writing about. I am Australian ๐ Tea Lady. I must congratulate you on a superb penmanship. ๐
Beautiful. This is new for me. I love Kahlil Gibran ๐๐
Me too Ashok ๐ฏ๐ฏ