Nothing much to do with mysticism, but some friendly parenting advice: If you have a small child having a temper tantrum, even the dreaded "melt down" temper tantrum, and you feel your blood pressure rising and you're about to lose control....play this on your computer for the little tyke and all will be well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-tQalNGY6k
If youtube changes the link, just search "hamster dance".

Warning, if your child loves it and asks you to play it four hundred times, you may feel your blood pressure rising and you're about to lose control......

We are putting up our Succah at the moment and things are going well. Yehuda, our oldest was up (too late) attaching some lights. Purple lights. Yes, he's the frum Hollister boy.

If you didn't see my article on jewishinstlouis.org on Yom Kippur, here it is:

Yom Kippur and the Loss of a Loved One

Yom Kippur is one of the more somber days of the year, spent in fasting, prayer, and repentance, and is marked by many as a special day for Yizkor, the prayer that people say in the synagogue for loved ones who have passed away. Some may shed a tear for those souls that have passed on; missing them, but a tear is also something to be happy about.

Tears for those we love show that there is love. While we lament a large funeral with many people crying, the truth is that it is much sadder to see a funeral where there is nobody crying. If a person leaves this world without anyone who cares, well that’s testament to the type of person they were. It’s a tear of sadness and a tear of joy at the same time. It’s terrible to lose someone you love and it’s even more terrible that someone is lost to nobody because nobody loved him/her.

On Yom Kippur, we are focusing on what life is all about. We recognize that pain in life is sometimes the proof that life is meaningful. As 17^th C. French writer Jean de La Bruyere is quoted, “Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think.” If you feel, then life is real and therefore painful. If you think, without feeling, you can find humor in almost anything. After every tragedy the comedians can come up with something funny. “Remember the great career O.J. had with the Buffalo Bills? Imagine what he could have done with the Sabres.” A catatonic who doesn’t know that the world is at war doesn’t have to be concerned. We are happy that we are aware of the problems of the world. We are not happy about the problems, but we are happy to be aware.

If you look at the news, you have the option of finding out what is new in Iraq, Iran, Korea, Syria, Lebanon, Darfur, Afghanistan, or any of the other places where people’s lives are being shattered or altered drastically. Even if you feel incapable of changing the situation you can pray for them. Or you can skip the world news and go straight to Britney’s custody case or how a man got bitten by a rattle snake by stuffing it into his mouth to impress his girlfriend. Nowadays entertainment seems to be mixed up with politics. What people are curious about and what is important in the grand scheme of things should be clearly separated. You need to know what terrorist threats are being made. You don’t need to know what new perfume ad may be banned. Of course if you want to read celebrity gossip all day, it’s a free country.

What is ultimately important in our lives is our relationship with the Almighty. He loves us. He wants what’s best for us. He’s behind every event in your life. Therefore every event is meaningful and important. Every event good or bad is somehow in your best interest, maybe as a challenge, maybe as a message, maybe as a test, but every event is designed for your benefit.

Even death, which to an atheist might be considered the worst calamity possible, to us is merely the transition from the world of doing to the world of being one with the Infinite. This is why sometimes a sage about to die will ask his students to dance, to show that this world is temporary and we belong in the next. For the soul that leaves, death is not a tragedy. The soul moves on to a more revealed place of reality and oneness with God.

We do believe in reincarnation. There is always a chance a soul may come back again for some unresolved issues, but we don’t know all the rules regarding which souls come back and when. One thing we do know is that sooner or later a soul must go to the World of Truth, and that it is a world of pure goodness and pleasure. Some Eastern religions think they have a handle on these rules. A recent news report said that China is trying to regulate which Tibetan souls are permitted to return.

The government of China, which claims control of Tibet despite the region's vigorous culture of independence, announced in August that it would henceforth require Tibet's "living Buddhas" (special clergy believed to be continuously reincarnated) to get permission from China's religious affairs officials before submitting their souls to be embodied in the future. The government acted, it said, because the reincarnation process needed to be managed better.

Personally, I plan on leaving the whole reincarnation thing up to God. Of course next incarnation I might be a Chinese official. I guess when we get up there we will find out more details about how God organizes all this back and forth from one realm to the other.

It seems everyone is into recycling these days, even God.

May you be sealed for good things for the coming year.