Totally mad!

Over the last six months I've worked from the offices of Aish Uk trying to set up a business that would make Aish some much needed dosh!!

They had a practically empty office in a second building, with a few more months on the lease to go. The agreement was that they would give me the space, to seat potentially upto 25 employees, computers, unlimited usage of telephones and internet.

In return, I would use my own resources, with the goal of building a business that would be sustainable, and provide Aish much needed charity money.

We tried three different businesses, and at times had up to fifteen people working, but we were not having the breakthrough we hoped for. To be frank, I'm no Bill Gates, but to be fair, we also have been in the thick of the biggest recession since the 1929 Wall Street crash!

The business is still going strong, growing, and T-G making money, but not in the hundreds of thousands...

The lease of the office is now nearly up, and normal people would be let go of the vision, but like Reb Noach z'l taught us "never give up!!". "Believe in the impossible!", "Why ask Hashem for peanuts when you can ask for millions??! He wants to give to you! He's your father!!"

So this evening in the early hours another idea has come to me that can potentially make a million dollars for charity very quickly. With Reb Noach echoing in my head I'm thinking why just $1 million?? $5 million!

Rabbi Naftali Schiff, perhaps the reason why I'm religious, and the driving force behind Aish Uk today, said to me after agreeing to my proposal, "You'll have success eventually, because like me, you are totally mad!!"

What made Reb Noach so totally unbelievable, awesome and unique was that his "madness" was his utter sanity and complete pristine clarity! He had such a clear mind that he seemed literally mad!!

The more clear a concept is in your mind, the more you are able to be real with it and live upto it. The less likely you are to go along with your feelings, take the easy route, and end up depressed.

Reb Noach was the happiest man around! He so clearly understood that Hashem was the Creator and guiding everything, that he truly felt that life was gorgeous always.

Every orange, every breath, every moment, was utterly gorgeous, because it was so clear to him that it was a gift from Hashem, and all He wants is for us to get pleasure from it!

When someone who truly loves you like crazy gives you an orange, that orange is now a totally different entity to you! What else can we do for Hashem other than get tremendous pleasure in his supernal gifts?

Now that Reb Noach has moved onto the next world there is no one to say "life is gorgeous" like he did.