Lech Lecha

My name is Lech.
The Poles nod in understanding - we know the beginning of the Polish state...

A long time ago, in a certain Slavic settlement, there lived three brothers, Lech, Czech and Rus. They lived under a great holy oak, from which a holy spring gushed, from which a holy horse drank. The brothers lived in harmony with each other and with nature, in everything listening to the old and wise priest, who knew everything about nature, people, life and the world. He healed, advised and interpreted dreams, both young and old. The brothers once dreamed of horses, and the priest told them that these dreams would soon come true. When they were young men, their father gave them three foals, which they were to take care of so that they would serve them. The priest of the settlement gave them another, white horse. He ordered them to set off on a journey and follow this particular horse until they reached the great northern temple.

Source HERE.

Still it is not a popular name in Poland, personally I never met another Lech. Significant point might be that there was no Catholic Saint of this name, my parents had to give me a second, "proper" name for Baptism.

In my case, the case has been going on for 2 generations. End of XIX century, my grandparents lived in Mazovia, in the Russian partition of Poland, it was a period of tightening restrictions, and there was also information about discrimination against people of Polish origin in the German partition. My grandmother as some form of protest, decided to give her children old Slavic names - Ludmiła (1892), Lech (1897), Ziemowit (1902).
I was born in 1941, under German occupation, my Mother recalled that by giving me this name my Parents gave themselves courage.

So I am Lech ... Lecha...

Lech Lecha...

80 years passed and then, 2 years ago,  I experienced a shock.

In mid-2023, I became subscriber of The Jewish Independent Media. I found it quiet interesting and balanced in its opinions.
At the end of October 2023, I read a message in the newsletter that shocked me - this week is Parashat Lech Lecha...

What is this???
Here you are...

Please click on the above photo...
So - Lech Lecha - simply means - go forth to the land that I have destined for you.

Wait a minute... and what did the priest order the legendary brothers - to set off on their journey... to the north.

It obviously reminded me of the name given to Poland by some countries:
- Iran - لهستان - Lahastan.
- Turkye used similar name for many years but then changed to Polonya.

And one more thing - the word Lech - it definitely does not sound Slavic to me - Listek, Leszek, Zlechic, Szlachcic are different, but Lech - long L and guttural CH/H - I got used to this during my two-year stay in Middle East.

On this basis, I have developed my own fantasy...
The beginning of the 7th century, the lands that once belonged to the Canaanites, Philistines, Israelites are taken over by Muslims. Mass emigration of Jews begins - to Spain, Syria, Turkey, Greece.

The Khazar tribe is formed in Turkey - CLICK - and there is a mention of  conversion to Judaism

It seems logical to me that in this situation the Khazars recited the Torah and the words they heard from God - Lech Lecha.

And the other side of the coin - these very words signalled the approach of the Khazars to the Slavs, it seems natural that they thought that the newcomers were introducing themselves by giving their name - Lech.

I wonder how I - Lech - should respond to this brotherly call.

So far I fill the waiting time with numerous Lech Lecha entertainments:

Bingo!

Song..

Play - HERE .

Crossword...

Most tasty I left to the end...

Note: this year Parshat Lech Lecha comes on 1st of November.

P.S. The YouTube channel offers dozens of videos on this topic - some very interesting - CLICK.

Silly

 Another day starting with Wordle...

Statistics justify this opinion...

I played this game 702 times - failed 31 times, succeeded 671 times and look what a beautiful distribution od results :)

Emotional Female

Emotional Female by Yumiko Kadota
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I had trouble to get an idea - what sort of book it is?
There were dozens of incidents described in details, they were about the same person, but somehow they did not made a story.
What was missing?
I think the title spells it out.

I could not finish this book.  

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XPray

 I thought I could tick off this year's Christmas, but last Sunday a new element was added.

The weather was beautiful, clear skies, sun but only to keep the mood up, temperature 24C.
No wonder I went for a walk shortly after returning from Sunday mass.
The shortest of my home-based walking routes, a little over half an hour's walk.

I have walked this route many times and my attention was drawn several times to the singing coming from one of the apartments.
Few weeks ago  I heard a very loud, beautiful singing. A female voice, maybe even two. It sounded somehow natural, not like from the radio or TV. There was no one in front of the door at that time.
Usually an elderly man often sat on a chair in front of the door, sometimes a younger woman brought him something to drink. I came to the conclusion that it was probably the daughter living with her father who needed care.
As is the case here in the neighborhood, we always waved our hands at each other in a friendly manner.

Last Sunday both tenants were at the door, we waved to each other and I deliberately slowed down to have a chance to ask about the songs.
It worked, the lady approached me, I noticed that she was quite handsome, I asked about the songs.
- Oh yes, we must have been singing psalms.
In turn, she asked about my health and of course I mentioned the hospital visit.

She thought for a moment... and can I pray for you?
It somehow suited both the weather and the Sunday mood, I agreed with a smile.
The lady put her hand on my shoulder, opened her eyes wider and so wide and began...
"God, who brought this man into this world, who cared for his existence in the mother's womb, who... ... do not let him lose his strength and health just now..."

I closed my eyes - an extremely strong, clear voice. In addition, a beautiful English accent, and strong words spoken in a very commanding way.
This must be heard by SOMEONE - I thought.

I noticed the hand resting on my shoulder.
I felt that it was a friendly hand, but I did not feel the flow of energy.
I will mention here that in our church there is one parishioner who sometimes touches me on the back in a friendly way and I feel the warmth flowing from his hand to me.
Our youngest granddaughter can do this too.

The lady finished her prayer, took her hand off my shoulder, I noticed that I had big tears in my eyes. I thanked her and went home breathing deeply.

And in the evening a guest came to us for dinner - our parish priest.
Very nice, we talked in a friendly way, he reminded us that the parish can help us in many practical situations.

And so the visit ended and I had a question:
- why didn't the priest offer me a blessing?

This is a very common behavior when meeting a sick person.
The priest knows that my attitude to faith is very skeptical, he knows that I do not receive communion, but this situation was specific.

So -  maybe the priest felt that someone had already prayed for me that day?

And was this lady praying to the same God?

XHosp

Saturday, 28/12 - noon - I'm home :)

So what? Everybody is.

Few words of explanation...

At the beginning of December I was feeling a considerable fatigue, which wouldn't go away. Even taking it for a walk didn't help.

Then next step came - I started feeling out of breath.
As a result, I didn't sleep the night before Christmas Eve because I had to strain really hard with every breath.
 I called "Nurse-on-Call" and she told me to contact my family doctor immediately (there was always an ambulance in the back-up, but I preferred to check simpler options).

The doctor saw me in half an hour, listened to my lungs, categorically recommended not to move from the chair and called an ambulance.
Before the ambulance arrived I managed to call my wife to prepare a bag with the necessary things for me.
The ambulance was kind enough to pull up to our house (300m away) and let me go home to say goodbye to my wife and collect my things. However, they definitely did not want to drive our car home.

In the hospital they performed number of tests and decided to keep me for few days in the cardiology department.In this situation, the family spent Christmas Eve without me, but they joined me and we sang few carols together.

In the cardiology department it was like this...

I got a single room, I noticed that more than half of the rooms were empty.

Diagnosis - water in the lungs, cause - heart failure.

Action - tablets to drink water, limit fluid consumption to 1.5 liters a day - for me this is rather normal, although recently I may have been drinking a bit more.

If this works, they will let me go home with a recommendation to see a cardiologist, whom they will inform about my case.

It worked - I got rid of a lot of water, which somehow insidiously gathered in me - although I noticed that my feet were swelling, I thought I would check it out after the holidays. I did not realize that at the same time I was gaining a lot of weight - now in two days I have lost 5.5 kg and I am back to normal

Here is a recommendation - weigh yourself every day and write down the result.

I am attaching a few hospital photos...

Nutrition - the portions were tiny, but it was enough for me.

Below - yesterday's dinner...

It was quite tasty, although the vegetables were a bit overcooked and of course everything was not very salty (but the goulash was seasoned quite well).

A portion of medicine - I took the pink ones regularly, the black ones were a multivitamin, they added the white ones - for dehydration.

On the Christmas Day I was visited by children and grandchildren,  they even brought me a Christmas cracker...

I was probably most moving around patient, I discovered a small asylum in the open air.

Unfortunately the air was not very nourishing, probably there was an air conditioning outlet nearby. Temperatures were variable - the first day of Christmas - 33C, the second - 36C, Friday - 18C.

There was a bookshelf..

But I brought some reading material with me - an exceptionally well-chosen reading material - entering the profession of a medical specialist in Australia. Maybe it was this reading that brought out the wolf from the forest?

Saturday, around 11, my wife picked me up from the hospital and we went to the supermarket to buy some fruit - I can now walk without getting out of breath.

I thank all the readers of this blog for your concern and kind words.

I wish you... good HEALTH - for the whole New Year.

Twilight of Democracy

Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism by Anne Applebaum
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Quite disappointing but maybe, knowing A. Applebaum's personal connections in Poland, I expected too much.
The author laments changes in political climate, mainly in Poland and USA but pays very little effort to analyse whether and how it is connected to serious socioeconomic changes in these countries.


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Powrót do Edenu

Powrot do Edenu by Agnieszka Burton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Bardzo dobrze napisana książka - wiele świetnie podanych informacji o Australii, i to również takich, które trudno znaleźć w powszechnie dostępnych źródłach, silne emocje międzyludzkie, atmosfera napięcia i niepewności.
Intuicja radziła mi dać tej książce minimum 4 gwiazdki - zimny umysł zredukował to do trzech.
Pozytywne argumenty podałem na wstępie.
A jakie były te negatywne?
Takie same...
Za dużo emocji - trudno mi znaleźć wytłumaczenie co tak łączyło Agnieszkę i Johna, że zdecydowała się przenieść z centrum Europy do chaty w gęstej puszczy i towarzystwa niezrównoważonych psychicznie osób.
Autorka jest zafascynowana Aborygeńską tradycją. Do tego wplata elementy hinduskiego i hippisowskiego mistycyzmu - trochę tego za dużo jak na mój logiczny umysł.

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