Lymphoma Update

In May I was diagnosed with Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma Stage 2.  Since then my blogging has been very light.

I wish I had better news to tell, but after months of Chemo therapy it is not gone.  I will be going to more tests and a biopsy next week.

I ask for your prayers and hopefully we can get rid of this cancer soon!

To My Readers

I am so sorry that I haven't been able to post often.  3 weeks ago I was diagnosed with Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma Stage 2.  And have started Chemo therapy.  I am sorry but as I fight this disease I find many things that I would be blogging about not really important to me right now.

It is NOT that I've given up the battle for our rights and against Islam, but I am concentrating my energies towards my personal battle with the Cancer.

With God's help and a the best medical team at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital (In conjunction with Loyola Medical School) I will beat this disease.  And for the record although the building needs a major overhaul, the staff at Hines VA is the finest men and women in medicine I have ever met.  God Bless them all.  They are what a VA should run like.

Please keep me in your prayers.

Katie Norcross
aka Findalis

Prayers For The Victims

24 Dead
100+ Wounded

A school demolished and children missing.

Pray for them all!

Calling for prayers for a fellow blogger and his wife: Urgent and please read!

This from my good friend Patriot USA at Patriot's Corner

This is a call for prayer.

I am posting this on behalf of a fellow blogger whom I have never met.

He goes by the name Cool Change. His wife and best friend has been dealt a most serious blow that could happen to anyone of us. CC's wife was just diagnosed with advanced stage four cancer.

If you would be so kind as to go to his site, Tranquility Lost and leave a note of encouragement for CC and wife. They are going to war and if you are so inclined, please pray for CC's wife, him and all who may be in their family.

Personally, I do not know anyone who has not been touched by cancer.

The power of prayer, no words can describe what prayer can do.

Thanks for your prayers and time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please take a minute or two and say a prayer for this woman and her family.  Stage 4 cancer is almost always terminal, thus both she and her family are facing the final journey.  With your prayers, this family can face whatever is to come upon them.


Thank you!

Prayers Are Needed!

For the people who have been hurt, killed and left homeless from this weekend's rash of tornadoes.  Take a moment or two for a short prayer for them.

Prayers Needed

For the people of Mexico

A strong, long magnitude 7.6 earthquake with an epicenter in Guerrero state shook central southern Mexico on Tuesday, swaying buildings in Mexico City and sending frightened workers and residents into the streets.

The U.S. Geological Survey set the intensity at 7.6 and said the epicenter was 11 miles underground. Mexico's National Seismological Survey said the temblor had an epicenter southwest of Ometepec.

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard's Twitter account said the water system and other "strategic services" were not experiencing problems.

Source

May they have a minimum of damage and no loss of life.

Our Prayers Are With You

To all the people in the path of Tropical Storm Lee.  May G-d keep you safe from harm.  May this storm bring needed rain without the flooding and damage that other storms have brought.

Stay safe and dry.

A Prayer

For those in the Path of Hurricane Irene.

May G-d protect you and your family from harm.
May you endure this storm safely,
May you discover that you have a home to return to.

Stay safe and dry.

Good Night Irene by the Weavers

Amber Alert: Leibby Kletzky UPDATED

 UPDATE:

 The The dismembered body of Leibby Kletzky has been found.

The dismembered body of a missing Hasidic boy was found early Wednesday morning in two locations in Brooklyn, N.Y., -- including stuffed in a suitcase left in a Dumpster -- and police say they have a suspect in custody.

Authorities took the man into custody Wednesday after 9-year-old Leibby Kletzky's remains were allegedly found in a refrigerator inside the man's home. Other body parts believed to be those of the boy were found by detectives wrapped in a black plastic garbage bag, inside a red suitcase that had been tossed into a trash bin in another neighborhood in Brooklyn, according to police.

Full Story

My prayers are with the Kletzky family.  May they receive comfort in this time of grief for them.


*******************************************************************************

It has been over 24 hours since Leibby Kletzky, Age 9 was last seen.

Leibby Kletzky

The search is still on after over 2000 people took to the streets late Monday evening, July 11th, in a frantic search for a missing 9-year old Borough Park boy. Now that 24 hours have passed, the case has been turned over to the FBI and an "amber alert" has been issued nationwide for the missing child.

Last seen at 5 pm on Monday leaving the Boyaner Day Camp on 44th Street and 12th Avenue, Leibby Kletzky was on his way to meet his mother and has not been seen since. The reward for information leading to his return has been upped to $100,000.

CBS 2′s Sean Hennessey reported on new surveillance videos that may be leads, one showing Leibby leaving his day camp and walking past his 15th Avenue home. Another, police say, shows him walking behind a man. They think he may have followed the man in the opposite direction and gotten into the man's gold-colored car. The boy's father watched the video and confirmed that it was the missing boy.

According to detailed reports from the "VozIzNeias" web site; volunteers from the Boro Park, Flatbush and Williamsburg Jewish auxiliary police known as the Shomrim, joined forces with the New York Police Department, including K9 and aviation units on Tuesday night as they combed streets, alleys and backyards in search of the missing boy, who was wearing a grey and light blue striped shirt, navy pants, black sneakers and a knapsack bearing the words “Nechmod Day Camp” at the time of his disappearance.

In just hours, the streets of Boro Park were plastered with posters of Leibby and Shomrim is going house to house in the area. Automated calls have gone out to residents asking them to check their property for the missing boy.

Volunteers thought they had a lead when they discovered a bag from Nechmod Day Camp under a car, but it was determined to be a disposable bag and not relevant to the case.

Leibby Kletzky

Tuesday morning, the search has intensified and volunteers hoped that as stores opened for the day they would be able to acquire more security tapes from nearby businesses to provide more clues to the whereabouts of the missing boy. Additionally, volunteers searched stores to determine if Leibby was accidentally locked inside one of the stores, but to no avail.

Shomrim are circling the streets of Boro Park, with loudspeakers on their vehicles, asking anyone who has any information regarding the whereabouts of Leibby Kletzky to please contact them immediately.

Volunteers will also be on hand when the Boyan Day Camp opens Wednesday morning at 9:30 AM, in case the boy returns there.

“We are requesting that everyone stay alert,” said Chaim Deutsch of Flatbush Shomrim.. “If anyone sees anything at all, they are requested to call us at 718- 871-6666.”

Anyone who is able to help out can come to the command center at 15th Avenue and 57th Street in Boro Park.

A Facebook post by Kristin Thorne, a reporter for CBS News states “I’ve never seen such a community effort to find a missing child.”

“We have 2,000 people searching for the kid. We went through every backyard, every front yard, every possibility,” search coordinator Shaya Lichtenstein told WCBS 880′s Mike Xirinachs.

Meanwhile, as of Tuesday morning, Boro Park Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn), along with two anonymous community leaders are offering a $100,000 reward, upped from $25,000, to anyone with information leading to the safe return of the nine-year-old boy.

“This is every parent’s and every community’s worst nightmare,” said Hikind. “Anyone with credible information of Leibby’s whereabouts should immediately contact the authorities. NYPD and the Shomrim are working in tandem to bring about Leibby’s safe return.”

“Somebody had to have seen something,” remarked Hikind. “Even the tiniest detail that may seem irrelevant to you could be a vital piece of information.”

Rabbis and community leaders and asking that everyone daven for the safe return of Yehudah ben Itta Esther.

Editor's note: Fern Sidman, our NY correspondent, joined the search team and is writing from there. Last update: 1a.m. NY time.

Leibby Kletzky

Prayers are being requested for the safe return of Leibby Kletzky and the Kletzky family.

Terror From Above!

Terror in the form of a tornado.
Terror to a town named Joplin, MO
116 dead, hundreds hurt, without homes.  Without clothes, without the basic comforts we take for granted.
Pray for the survivors and those mourning the loss of loved ones!
Pray for a speedy recovery for Joplin, MO!!! _

Posted from ANDROID!!!

He Blesses The IDF

With terror attacks happening on a weekly basis, the IDF is called to defend and retaliate on Israel's foes.

Dov Hoschander wrote this lovely piece.The Hebrew is simple and clear, "He blesses the soldiers of the army of the defense of Israel (Israel Defense Forces - IDF), who protects our land."

H/T A Soldier's Mother

Hu Yivarech - A Song for the IDF Soldiers



May G-d bless and watch over the soldiers of Israel.

Let Your Prayers Ring Out!

For the People of Christchurch, New Zealand. As of writing this at least 65 people are dead, hundreds maybe thousands wounded.  Destruction on a massive scale.

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – A powerful earthquake slammed New Zealand's already-bruised city of Christchurch on Tuesday, killing at least 65 people, and sending rescuers scrambling to help people trapped under collapsed buildings.

The 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the country's second-largest city around lunchtime, collapsing buildings and sending bricks and other heavy debris toppling into busy city streets. It was the second major quake to strike Christchurch in the past five months.

Prime Minister John Key told reporters that the death toll was at least 65, and was expected to rise further.

Video footage showed some multi-storey buildings collapsed in on themselves, and others with walls that had collapsed into the streets, strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. Sidewalks and roads were cracked and split, and thousands of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared. Groups of people helped victims clutching bleedings wounds, and others were carried to private vehicles in makeshift stretchers fashioned from rugs or bits of debris.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city center. Troops were deployed to help people get out and to throw up a security cordon around the stricken area, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English said.

Full story

 

The first quake of 6.3 hit 6 hours ago, followed by 5.6 20 minutes later, a 5.5 aftershock hit 4 hours later.

Major Earthquake has hit Christchurch, New Zealand



The damage is massive, as is the loss of life.  But unlike Haiti, the people of New Zealand are luckier. New Zealand is a rich nation, with good hospitals and a support service ranked at one of the best in the world. To be injured or homeless there is less of a hardship than those in Haiti went through and still have to endure.

Remember to say a prayer or two for these people.  And hope that the death count stays low.

Your Prayers Are Needed!

For the people of Haiti.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. This is surprising considering the natural beauty of the island of Hispaniola it shares with the Dominican Republic.  A series of dictators and 2 centuries of bad government brought this nation to this state of poverty.

Add to that the fact that the island of Hispaniola is directly in the path of Hurricanes entering the Caribbean Sea, yesterday's 7.0 Earthquake was rubbing salt into the wounds.

If you want to help you can donate via the American Red Cross here.  You can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross relief for Haiti.

It is widely known through out the world that Americans are the most generous people in the world.  This disaster is in our own backyard, not thousands of miles away.  Open up your wallets for these our neighbors.

And keep them in your prayers, the authorities believe that the death toll will climb into the tens of thousands.

Scroll down for newer posts.

Day 13!

I am amazed with myself at times.

Yesterday was a bad day. The craving for a cigarette was so bad that I almost ran out and bought a pack. What stopped me was the pouring rain. I didn't want to get wet, so I suffered and DID NOT SMOKE.

Nicotine is like a Demon. A Demon will do anything in its power to entrap you. Yet it will try to destroy you if you attempt to leave or destroy it. The same is true of Smoking. It will love and cherish you, until you try to break the habit. Then it turns on you, torturing you physically and mentally until you give in to its demands or are free of it (just like a terrorist).

So to help me fight this Demon, I turn to G-d for guidance and help, to friends and family for support and prayers, and to on-line sites that encourage me to keep fighting. Sites like TheQuitNet.

If you are trying to quit smoking or just thinking of it, give them a look-see.

And to help me and anyone else fighting the Demon called Nicotine, this song is for you!

Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger

12 Days!

That is 12 days without a smoke!

In the past I have tried many products and devices to help me quit. They worked only as long as I used the product or device. Now I am doing this Cold Turkey and it is working.

Each day I will post my progress and if it is getting easier or worse for me. I hope that by doing this a smoker can get the courage to quit. It isn't easy to do, but it can be done!

If you need help you can find it at QuitNet. They have been helping me through the hard days.

I ask for your patience (my temper wears thin), your prayers (I haven't killed anyone yet) and your support.

Thank you,

Findalis

Prayers for Israel and the IDF

Hat tip to Yid With LID


Being here in the US I feel disconnected from my friends and family in Israel. Other than blogging about Operation Cast Lead, I feel helpless at times. Not knowing what to do, how to help.

These are the times I turn to God. In His hands I place my troubles and woes, my thanks and joys. And I know that it is His will that moves this world.

In this time of turmoil prayer helps.

Prayer for The State of Israel

Our Father in Heaven, Rock and Redeemer of the people Israel; Bless the State of Israel, with its promise of redemption. Shield it with Your love; spread over it the shelter of Your peace. Guide its leaders and advisers with Your light and Your truth. Help them with Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of those who defend our Holy Land. Deliver them; crown their efforts with triumph. Bless the land with peace, and its inhabitants with lasting joy. And let us say: Amen.

A short but sweet prayer.

Psalm 142 - For the Warriors of Israel (IDF)

1 Maschil of David, when he was in the cave; a Prayer.

2 With my voice I cry unto the Lord; with my voice I make supplication unto the Lord.

3 I pour out my complaint before Him, I declare before Him my trouble;

4 When my spirit fainteth within me--Thou knowest my path--in the way wherein I walk have they hidden a snare for me.

5 Look on my right hand, and see, for there is no man that knoweth me; I have no way to flee; no man careth for my soul.

6 I have cried unto Thee, O the Lord; I have said: 'Thou art my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.'

7 Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors; for they are too strong for me.

8 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks unto Thy name; the righteous shall crown themselves because of me; for Thou wilt deal bountifully with me.

And of course for the people of Sderot, Beersheva, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and the Western Negev.

Psalm 130

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

I'm sure there are many other Psalms and prayers that one can recite. And I'm sure that God, the most High listens to our pleas. I pray that He will answer them with a resounding victory for the nation of Israel.

Muslims In A Near Riot, As Jews Pray For Their Soldiers.

I am not amazed at the reaction of the Muslim and Moonbat Dhimmi communities over the reaction to Operation Cast Lead. The protests have already started with the cries of: Holocaust, Genocide, Death to Israel (a favorite in Muslim nations especially Iran), and Innocent Civilians. They are especially loud in those Dhimmified nations of Great Britain, France and Canada.

Forty pro-Israel demonstrators opposite the Israel Consulate in Toronto yelled back at more than 700 pro-Arabs protesting Israel’s military operations in Gaza Sunday afternoon .

Khaled Mouammar, president of the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF), stated, “The massacre taking place in Gaza must stop. People are suffering and dying. There is an actual genocide taking place.”

The CAF president has previosly gone on record demanding that Canada boycott "the Apartheid State" and that his government should not criticize Hizbullah terrorists.

Police were busy keeping the groups from attacking each other. Other than minor scuffles, there were no incidents of violence between the groups. Additional pro-Arab demonstrations took place throughout Canada.

The Toronto pro-Arab organizers called on the Canadian government to condemn Israel’s actions. While Canada’s Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon has expressed concern about the escalating violence, he has nevertheless stated that Israel has the right to defend itself.

Full Story

The Canadian Arab Federation is very similiar to CAIR. In their news release they write:

This is a war crime on an industrial scale.
We call on the federal opposition parties to ask the Harper Government to condemn the Israeli massacre of the
Palestinian people in Gaza .
There will be a demonstration outside the Israeli Consulate in Toronto

No where do they mention the daily barrage of rockets their brethern in Gaza send into Israel. Only the retaliation that Israel is finally imposing on Gaza. Of course our friends at CAIR put out this statement:

“American Muslims join our fellow citizens who respect international law and the sanctity of human life in repudiating this massacre carried out using U.S. taxpayer-funded weapons.

“It must be clear by now that the only future offered to the Palestinian people by the outgoing administration was one of perpetual subjugation and humiliation at the hands of the Israeli occupiers. Unfortunately, our nation’s timid response to this tragic episode will only serve to fuel anti-American sentiments in the Muslim world.

“We therefore call on President-elect Obama to demonstrate his commitment to change our nation’s current one-sided Mideast policy by speaking out now in favor of peace and justice for all parties to this decades-long conflict.”

I see. It is ok for PalArabs to attack Israel, but let the Israelis fight back and then its cry foul! And the rest of the Muslim world is no exception.

Tens of thousands rally through Arab capitals calling for end to Israeli strikes in Gaza and in support of Hamas. In Beirut Hizbullah leader Nasrallah echoes calls for third intifada, while in Amman masses urge renewal of suicide bombings.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese Shiite protesters, chanting "Death to America, Death to Israel", massed in Beirut on Monday, calling for an end to Israeli strikes on Gaza that have killed 320 Palestinians.

Protesters in Lebanon.

In the Jordanian capital, Amman, about 20,000 people staged a demonstration organized by the mainstream Muslim Brotherhood, while in Cairo about 1,000 people rallied to show solidarity with Gaza Palestinians.

Full Story

A call to begin Suicide bombings, a call for more violence. But I don't see Jordan, Lebanon or Egypt sending their armies to fight Israel. As a matter of fact it seems that Arab unity is a myth.

In a press conference held on Monday afternoon in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit responded to criticism by Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday, saying that "They have practically declared war on Egypt via several satellite stations. The Egyptian people reject and opposes this declaration."

"They want for there to be chaos in Egypt as there is in their country," Gheit said of Hizbullah.

"I tell this man [Nasrallah]: No, no! Our armed forces can defend our homeland from people like you. Your interest in creating chaos is not in the best interest of the area," he added.

The Egyptian foreign minister added that his country had tried to prevent the escalation in violence by asking Israel not to carry out an operation in the Gaza Strip.

Full Story

The only Muslim nation that is activily recruiting fighters (I will not give them the honorific of soldiers) is you guessed it: Iran.

Group of hardline clerics signs up volunteers to fight in Gaza Strip in response to IDF airstrikes that have killed at least 300 Palestinians. Tens of thousands take part in anti-Israel protest in Tehran.

The usual Iranian protest.

"From Monday the Combatant Clergy Society has activated its website for a week to register volunteers to fight against the Zionist regime (Israel) in either the military, financial or propaganda fields," the semi-official Fars news agency said.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a religious decree to Muslims around the world on Sunday, ordering them to defend Palestinians in Gaza against Israeli attacks "in any way possible".

A religious decree is an official statement by a high-ranking religious leader that commands Muslims to carry out its message. While there is no religious and legal force behind it, Khamenei is respected by many Iranian and non-Iranian Shiites.

Full Story

For those who do not speak Jihad, the words "defend Palestinians in Gaza against Israeli attack in any way possible" is a call to kill all the Jews in the world.

And what is the Jewish community doing? They pray. No riotous protests, no shouting Death to Hamas, none of the hatred that is being unleashed by Islam. They are praying.

Several hundred people arrived at the Western Wall on Sunday to attend a lighting of the eighth Hanukkah candle and say a prayer for the wellbeing of IDF soldiers and the residents of Israel's southern communities.

Israel launched a military operation in Gaza Saturday in response to the ongoing rocket attacks from the Strip.

Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Jerusalem District Police chief Maj.-Gen. Ilan Franco were also present at the event.

"On these days every Jew in Israel and across the world is obligated to say a prayer for the soldiers and residents who are facing such difficult times," Rabbi Amar told Ynet.

Praying at the Western Wall

Worshipers at the Wall said they also prayed for a successful outcome to the military operation in Gaza. "May the soldiers have a Hanukkah miracle," one participant stated.

Prayers not for peace, for that time has passed, but for victory. For an end to Hamas. For an end to the rockets.

May God hear the prayers of Israel in this time of war. May Israel's victory be swift and sweet!

I Know G-d's Address

A pile of letters (photo: Sasson Tiram)

So many people just pray to G-d. They ask for many things. To be healed of illness, for their businesses to prosper, for a good marriage for their children, for a son or daughter. I know I have prayed like this many times.

Letters categorized at Israel Postal Company

And I have sent messages to friends who live in Jerusalem to be placed in the Western Wall. For it is said that a prayer placed in the Western Wall will automatically be heard by G-d.

But I never knew G-d's mailing address, until now.

Dear God

The Israel Postal Company made a special delivery on Tuesday. In a festive ceremony held at the Western Wall, thousands of letters to God sent in from people from all over the world were placed between the ancient stones of the wall.

Director-General of the Postal Company Avi Hochman was in charge of the important delivery, along with the Western Wall's Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, who prayed for the senders and asked that their prayers be answered.

The Postal Company said that during the year all letters that are addressed to God are compiled in one package, and once a year a ceremony is held in which the letters are placed in the wall.

Before the letters are delivered, each envelope is opened and some of the letters are even read in order to save space, as some of the letters are actually addressed to the post's director-general asking him to get a message across to God.

In 2008 a significant rise in the number of letters sent to God was noted, which the Postal Company could not explain.

Twice a year, ahead of Rosh Hashanah and Passover, Western Wall employees clean out the wall from all the notes and letters and bury them in sealed bags on the Mount of Olives.

Rabbi Rabinowitz and Post's Hochman placing letters

For those of you who wish to send G-d a letter his address is simple:

God
Western Wall
Jerusalem, Israel

Make sure you put enough postage on the letter. And it will get to Him.

A letter being placed in the Western Wall