The Baal Shem Tov taught, “Forgetfulness leads to exile, while remembrance is the secret of redemption.”
Coming home to yourself will be a journey of loving intent, don’t give up! This post delivers my remembrance and redemption. It began on Shavuot 2023 after visiting the grave of nine ancestors buried at Mount Nebo Miami. It was updated after I began to heal from chronic lyme disease and will complete when I leave my body. May it help you in some way.
I’ll begin with a very brief explanation of the message that all Rabbi’s aspire to teach and weave messages of my own story afterward. I hope and pray it touches your soul, inspires you to do hitbedodut (personal relationship with a higher power) and is supportive for you to embrace your Tikkun (your healing and redemption).
The Five Books of Moses are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
The theme of the first book of Genesis is defined by G*d’s creation of our soul. In the book of Exodus, G*d tells Moses “I am that I am” and we designed the essence of its meaning by connecting metaphorically to “G*d”. In the Book of Leviticus, G*d forgives, gives instructions and teaches us to align our intentions to do our best with our struggles. The Book of Numbers illustrates G*d sharing peace and presence in the land of Canaan and we are led to refine our accomplishments and goals. And last but not least, in the context of the Book of Deuteronomy, we live divinely with our lesson and gift in loving G*d. All that being said, using The Roadmap while navigating the text of religious studies is a life long joy (and often struggle) for myself and my clients. Below you will read how I frame my past, present and future with Torah.
The Five Books of Melinda: defined, designed, aligned and refined to the divine.
FYI: red script is clickable images, blue is links.
Genesis / G*d’s creation story / Defined:
My parents met on Miami Beach where they grew up. My childhood was typical; we were provided for in a somewhat safe and loving stable home. I am the only and youngest daughter of three children. I have two older brothers. My father became a patrolman for the Miami Beach Police before I was born and a Lieutenant, head of narcotics and in charge of the vice squad when I was in grade school. Mom volunteered for politicians over the years as well as for the Council for International Visitors, inviting dignitaries from all over the world into our home. We were a reform jewish family and I found the reform setting BORING! My two older brothers had Bar Mitzvah’s yet it was decided by my parents that I would not have a Bat Mitzvah. The following Summer, my father wasn’t living at home and my mother cried all summer. Nobody said anything to me and I was very confused as to what was going on. I’d later learned that my entire family would diligently keep my fathers affair a secret. The following summer my parents sent me on a life changing tour of Israel. I was fifteen years old and we toured all over Israel during the summer before the Yom Kippur war. Planes were flying loud and proud everywhere we went. That experience was a defining moment in my life. From my dad I mostly learned that home was a “sort of” safe sanctuary, yet the world outside was probably unsafe. From mom I learned that inviting cultural differences of the world were a heartening experience and would build bridges of faith and friendship. Yet emotional suppression was the norm. One summer, I believe in my sixteenth year, I had rode my bicycle to Greynold’s Park in North Miami Beach on the weekends with friends. I remember seeing many “hippies” dancing freely to music, swooning in love and the smell of marijuana was drifting about. I kept my distance for fear of getting the smell on my clothing yet felt very interested in their swooning lifestyle. I would revisit that lifestyle when mature enough during my 50’s.
Exodus / God tells Moses I am That I am / Designed:
The summer of my 19th year I had a brief yet beautiful “first love“with a bright and blond (not stupid) young man by the name of Jonathan Colby. His Hebrew name (Yonatan) means G*d has Given. G*d gave me a warm and wonderful reflection of pure and innocent love with this beautiful man. In the fall we went our separate ways, to different colleges. During the college years both of my brothers married non jewish women, had children and both transitioned from jobs to entrepreneurial successes in business. They created good fortune and prosperity in their lives. My eldest brother Jeff left the Miami Beach Police Department to become a well recognized and sought after for police test preparation as a Leader in Public Safety. My middle brother left one of the Big Eight Accounting Firms to write comedy and began with the well known comedy hit “Ace Ventura Pet Detective“. He also shared in the screenplay with Tom Shadyac and Jim Carey. Both would become instrumental in my motivation to succeed, despite the obstacles in front of me.
Meanwhile I swooned my way through college at University of Florida, managed to get average grades, graduated with a degree in finance and soon after college; met and swooned with my former spouse on the dance floor. The day after our wedding he began work at a new job and eventually built a “rare coin” business due to his love of history and precious metals. Five years later we had two children; a boy and a girl. He traveled alot and came home hung over most of the time and I’d wondered if this was my destiny. Four years into the marriage Hurricane Andrew blew our home away and I knew the hurricane was G*d’s way of telling me something. Months later we moved to an orthodox area and I was desperate for a new phase of spiritual maturation and healing. It was obvious that the observance of Torah would become my medicine and it lasted for almost a dozen years. Meanwhile our business model expanded into precious diamonds, fine watches and other collectibles. As I learned Hebrew in synagogue, I never felt loved as the crown jewel in my marriage and that is the ultimate goal of a Bashert. I wondered if this is all that HaShem designed for us and on May 5th, 2005 (555) I received a call from the jail telling me my former spouse was incarcerated for multiple legal infractions. On that very night I held myself (and him) responsible forming boundaries that I hoped that he would hold himself responsible to. I gave him 90 days to do so and on the 91st day, I got my answer. He wasn’t ready so I filed for divorce. At this time our two teenage children , went from Maimonides Day School to public school and I knew I needed to get very busy designing our Exodus; theirs for college and mine for wherever G*d would lead me. I knew from my father and brothers that my destiny would be unique. I just didn’t know that becoming a Rabbi (a teacher) was part of G*d’s plan.
To see if you are a good fit to work with Melinda, begin by booking a 15 minute discovery session.
Leviticus / God forgives and gives instructions / Aligned:
My choice to love myself and bring shalom b’ahava (peace in my heart) to my children were in motion. I became a Kundalini Yoga teacher while going through the divorce. That training offered me the awareness to merge the Lilith and Eve energies within. To further heal I studied Buddhism, Taoism, Vedic Astrology, QiGong, Vibrational Medicine, Jewish Energy Healing, Kabbalah, Ho’oponopono, Paganism, Veganism and let reverence with God come into my soul. To further assist, I had the great fortune of working at an integrative medical clinic and five elements spa . Sadly it closed and I was let go. I worked per diem to help a Law Firm I had worked for early in my marriage to solve their theft issue. When that job was complete, I started my first entrepreneur experience with a business card that said Yoga Solutions. I offered bookkeeping and balance to businesses and also taught Kundalini Yoga. Then I wanted to become a Life Coach and for my dissertation I wrote The Roadmap and called myself a Core Life Coach. With my love of dance I created and tried to lead groups of conscious dancers with what I called Freedom Dance but my hip told me to stop. By my 50th birthday I wrote “The Roadmap to a Purposeful and Prosperous Life” and gave it to my family as a gift. Unbeknownst to me, my brother told me that one paragraph would upset my mom so I re-wrote it and published it as Seven Steps To a Peaceful Heart After Divorce. Writing the story helped me let go and writing yours can do the same. It was around that time that I met Rabbi Gabriel Cousens, MD He has been a teacher in healing arts and meeting him, I felt more aligned with G*d. Leviticus and his book “Torah as a Guide to Enlightenment” brought me closer to myself! I attend his weekly Peaceful Meditations as often as I can and thank G*d every day for his presence in my life!
Numbers / God shares peace and presence in the land of Canaan / Refined:
By early 2009 I was invited to partake in a Gaiadon Heart meditation weekend and because it included Kabbalah, I accepted. In that weekend the base of my skull opened with a vortex of warm spiritual energy during the Kabbalah meditation and my body was activated by the light of its teachings. Two months later, on May 14, 2009, in honor of Mothers Day and Israel Independence Day, I received my ordination after apprenticing with a local Rabbi Loring Frank whom I met at a new years day celebration on Miami Beach. I was offered this ordination, similar to the way rabbi’s became rabbi’s before there were rabbinical schools. This felt like a perfect beginning to my redemption. Two months after my ordination I moved out of the “family” home the same weekend the kids went to college. In the crash of the housing market, I lost my nest egg (in lieu of alimony). I am a Levite and Levites are wanderers, so I let go. At a Passover Seder led by Rabbi Frank, I met a man named Edward who offered to gift me a 52 page Business and Marketing Plan. Edward didn’t realize I had more work to do, which involved healing the feminine. Edward passed away, sadly, in 2021. May his memory be a blessing.
Having received the plan, I continued with my purpose showing up at first as a Holistic Rabbi. Soon after I taught The Sacred Flirt at a Singles Event in Boca Raton, FL. Watch the class . I began to call myself a Tantric Rabbi because it resonated to my personal expression of energy. Around this time my daughter decided to leave college in Orlando and go to Bar Ilan University in Israel for one year. I wanted to see where she was going so I booked my flight to Israel and on that very same trip I spoke at the Jerusalem International Conference on Integrative Medicine. My subject was “Healing Sexual Energy with Advanced Kundalini”. Watch the teaching here. My lofty goal was to help “her” (all of Israel) heal. On my last Shabbat in Israel I stayed at Moshav Modi’in which is known as the Carlebach Moshav. I met a unique nazarite, Essence Bishop by the name of Jah Levi. His chosen name translates to God’s Heart and thus I felt the gift of a refinement in his presence. He invited me to visit him in Northern California and the following year I did so. I recognized him in myself. He was a perfect match for the times I was in. Through our union, I was and am still able to propel individuals towards a journey of inner truth, healthy sexuality as well as practical and continuous non-conforming growth. On that first visit I also sought to meet Rabbi Leah Novick, known as the Matriarch of Jewish Renewal and immediately developed a strong kindred spiritual connection. I recognized her in myself. I moved to Northern California in January 2012. My swooning in my own unique vibration brought about invitations to participate in a wide variety of spiritual communities, most of which was the expression of healing one way or another. Very thankful to my past for knowing what was destined for me and witnessed how sacred sexuality as well as the sex magic can rebuild and/or destroy lives. Definately not my jam or my purpose, but important lessons were learned.
Just before Valentine’s day in 2014 I was invited and accepted a private invitation to partake in the medicine by way of a potent hallucinogenic and psychoactive substance from the venomous excretion of a bufo toad. Before this invite, I had been offered and turned down numerous invitations for other shamanic experiences, clear in my knowing what I didn’t want. I was told by the shaman that I received a double dose because I’d awakened prematurely to the first dose by kicking her. After receiving the double dose of venom, I spent three days alone processing the medicine, also known as 5-ME-DMT. It is called “the God molecule”. It helped excavate issues from childhood, marriage and family that I didn’t know existed. My refinement felt as complete as I could go, having become my own Bashert.
Deuteronomy / Our lesson in loving G*d / Divine:
I returned to Florida in September of 2015, as my father was nearing his end of life. He died December 5th, 2015, on the night before Hanukkah. A few weeks later my knee swelled up something fierce. Six months later, with a knee that could barely bend, I performed my first wedding ceremony! Within a year I had a bad dream about my father and knew it was time to learn Jewish Ancestral Healing Meditation. Within two years I connected with my ancestors, healed those that weren’t thriving in the afterlife, brought blessings to myself, my family and future generations in my lineage. In addition, over the course of nine years, I would perform over 300 ceremonies and counsel hundreds more with The Roadmap to Everlasting Love. In response to the Hamas invasion in October 2023, I spoke about What Is Love (click to watch) for a Valentines day show on the Bad Jew Podcast. By April 2024, I would learn that I got bit by a tick while in California (2011-2015) and had been a resilient survivor of chronic Lyme disease. By the summer of 2024 and spoke about The Spiritual Convergence of Lyme Disease ; click to watch) on the Love, Home and Lyme Podcast and also spoke on Lyme and Beyond with Tanya about Lyme, Spirituality, and Finding a New Path.
To summarize my living legacy, my full Hebrew name is Mindel Bracha, which translates to Peaceful Blessings. I channel the divine with an abundance of revelations shared through ancestors, angels, matriarchs and patriarchs as well as ongoing visits with past and future parts of myself. Learn the art of The Roadmap to Everlasting Love and create what your soul seeks in this life.
With blessings,
Rabbi Melinda “Bracha” Bernstein
To see if you’re a good fit to work with Melinda, begin by booking a 15 minute discovery session.
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