When I replied to Joel's post, wherein he says he knows that money is the answer, that he could pray all he wants and did and all he received was a few mitsvot in the next life it said to me that he did not think G-d was the answer to anything in this world. That you really cannot depend on G-d to answer prayer and therefore you need money to avoid suffering. I could not bear to hear of his sufferings and including G-d in with those who would not help him or treat him right. G-d is not that shallow, cold, or unloving. And because he said he was a praying man, that he must be at least semi-religious and not just a secular Zionist. And because I know first hand a great deal about suffering, I wanted to express how much G-d does more than just give us a few mitsvot in the next life. (And I did choose willingly to suffer many of my sufferings, if not all --depending on how you look at it.) Before I came to the spiritual maturity I am at today, I went through all the same mindsets about G-d and suffering as most others, and all the same emotions, feelings and questions about G-d. But I suffer now because I want to because I know the good that will come from it. I suffer now because I want one prayer so much that I would suffer everything all over again and more for that blessing. I also know that G-d is not going to let me suffer any more than what I can handle. And just because I suffer doesn't mean I don't get blessed as well. And one of those blessings was being delivered from someone assaulting me and if G-d would deliver on my prayer via the miraculous that He would do the same for Joel. Am I better than Joel that G-d should answer my prayers and not his, no G-d desires good for all of us. So #25 I don't necessarily know that I was trying to be inspiring, just trying to state facts and to try and communicate to Joel that I care about him and am concerned about him being a disabled solider and his country neglecting him and that G-d most definately cares about him, and that he should not give up on G-d so easily and just accept from G-d a few mitsvot in the next life, that G-d can give Him blessings, too, in this life, and not just spiritual blessings. That maybe money is used to pay the electric bill, but prayer can be the start of where that money comes from to pay that electic bill. That money was not going to keep someone from assaulting me, especially if money was not what they were after. And money is not going to bring about a cure for a medical condition if you need the cure now and the cure won't be discovered until 10 years after your death. So maybe Joel should change his mind that money is the answer to everything, but that maybe G-d is. That maybe he should not talk or think about G-d as if G-d were small and that maybe in his future prayers he might approach G-d more with the idea that G-d is BIG and does BIG things, not just small things, but ALL things.

The editors of the magazine are to blame here -- the article itself mostly makes sense, but the offensive title and the opening paragraphs about real estate deals were obviously contrived to drum up controversy and sell magazines. They have no shame.