Joyous Pascha to all!

Καλή Ανάσταση!

جيد القيامة

المسيح قام

Христос воскрес

Christ is risen!

Where there is no Elijah...

A beautiful story as told by Leonard Fein at the Jewish Daily Forward.

Here is a story of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, a story my mother, herself an eighth-generation descendant of the Besht, told me:

It happened that a disciple of the Besht came one day to the master and said: “I don’t understand. Every year, we have a wonderful Seder, we do everything we have been instructed to do, and every year, we open the door for Elijah — and he never arrives. How can this be? I feel we are spurned.”

The Besht considered his disciple’s complaint, and then told him to load a wagon with food, wine, matzos and also clothes and gifts for the children, and travel to a certain hut in a nearby village and spend the first two days of Pesach with the destitute family that lived there; it was there that he would certainly see Elijah.

The Hasid followed the Besht’s instructions punctiliously, and the next morning he arrived at the dilapidated hut in the nearby village. He was greeted warmly, his gifts were accepted with tears of gratitude, and that night, the entire family — mother, father, five children, along with their surprise guest, celebrated Pesach together.

Yet when the door was opened for Elijah — no Elijah.

Bitterly disappointed, the Hasid returned to the Besht and told him what had happened — and, more important, what had not happened. The Besht explained that Elijah must have been delayed, but that at Pesach time next year, the Hasid would surely encounter him. So he must at the time of the holiday return to the hut, once again with a wagon filled with food and gifts — but this time, before knocking on the door, he must first eavesdrop on the goings-on within the hut.

The Hasid did as told, putting his ear to the door before knocking. He heard the mother’s lament: “We have no food for the holiday. Nothing. How can we celebrate?” And he heard the father’s reply: “Not to worry! Don’t you remember that last year, Elijah came with all that we needed, and gifts for the children as well? Have faith; he will surely come on time once more.”

So ends the story, save for its moral: Hillel taught, “Where there is no man, be thou a man.” The Besht, through this story, taught, “Where there is no Elijah, be thou Elijah.” Bring closer the redemption.

A beautiful sentiment!

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Risque? O yes!
To the point? You bet!
Orthodox message? I believe so, actually....

Axios!

Axios! and many years to Bishop Svyatoslav (Shevchuk), reportedly elected Supreme Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church cf. Джерело публікації: risu.org.ua.

The Kyiv Post reports the following:

New head of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church elected
Today at 17:00 Interfax-Ukraine The new head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) was elected on Thursday by the Synod of Bishops, but his name is not to be disclosed until his candidacy is confirmed by the Vatican, a source close to the UGCC has told Interfax-Ukraine.

It was reported that on Thursday, participants in the electoral synod of the UGCC had conducted a vote under a simplified scheme, according to which the head of the church is elected by a simple majority vote. The first three days of the election produced no result, as two thirds of the vote was required for a victory.

The bishop elected as head of the UGCC, after confirmation from Rome, will take a vow to faithfully carry out his duties. He will take office after the enthronement, which, according to the Web site of the UGCC, is to be held in Kyiv on March 27.

Forty church bishops participated in the synod.

The election of a new head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was set after the Pope in February 2011 accepted the resignation of Cardinal Lubomir Husar as UGCC head, on health grounds.

Also, see

Ukrainian Catholic Bishops already elected a new head of UGCC

24-03-2011

On the fourth day of the Electoral Synod of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church bishops made ​​a choice, unoffical source informed RISU. However, there is no official confirmation of elections from the Vatican yet, and name of new head of UGCC is not disclosed. Now bishops are waiting for a response from the Apostolic See.

Source RISU

And if you read Ukrainian, check out this site.