Overdue library books

"A high school librarian in Phoenix says a former student at the school returned two overdue books checked out 51 years ago along with a $1,000 money order to cover the fines.
....Bordine says the money will buy more books, and the overdue books will be returned to the shelves."
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091114/ap_on_re_us/us_odd_overdue_books

I found this story amazing. Finally someone accepting responsibility in this day and age. Yes, I know various politicians have stepped up to the podium and admitted guilt, but that was after they were pushed to the wall with incriminating evidence surfacing at a rapid fire rate.

Who is claiming responsibility for the Fort Hood attack?

“Every man has his breaking point,” said military doctors in World War II, believing that more than 90 days of continuous combat could turn any soldier into a psychiatric casualty.
....“All these people have been under a tremendous amount of stress,” said Dr. Stephen Sonnenberg, a psychiatrist and adjunct professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, speaking of soldiers and those who treat them. “They are holding the stress for everybody.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/weekinreview/08goode.html
Reading the New York Times article entitled When Soldiers Snap, it seems that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan shouldn't be tried for the murder of 13 people. Rather, he should be awarded a medal for holding the stress for so long.

The F.B.I. shouldn't be held responsible, either. Nor should the government or the army, as they all have justifiable excuses.
So, unfortunately, the story about the person who accepted responsibility to correct a mistake from half a century ago certainly stands out as one of exemplary behavior, witnessed less and less these days in the era of passing the buck.

Lashon Hara Lamed Heh - go to Gehinnom the easy way

"A Simple Jew asks:
Are you aware of any tikkunim that a person can do to help the neshoma of a Jewish person who was cremated instead of buried in accordance with Jewish law?
Akiva of Mystical Paths answers:
Oy oy oy. A similar question came to me in somewhat recently, though in that case it was about a suicide. G-d help us, when referring to a neshama (a soul) who already took such an action (such as suicide, G-d preserve us from such thoughts, or an intentional choice of inappropriate burial) and a desire to help them beyond this world, the true answer is that one must go to the top experts in such matters to address this question. This is particularly important because wrongly judging the circumstances of such a difficult matter can result in ineffective solutions or even, G-d forbid, negatively influencing the heavenly court. By doing our best to judge such a situation in as positive light as possible, considering all extenuating circumstances, we hand the neshama possible defenses and merits before the heavenly court."

http://asimplejew.blogspot.com/2006/12/tikkunim-for-cremation.html

Just because it made the papers, doesn't mean it's true. Vehamaven Yavin. Let's judge favorably so that we will merit to be judged favorably by the heavenly court.

A world of opposites

On November 3, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H. Res. 867 condemning UN commissioned Goldstone Report by a vote of 344 to36. The resolution was introduced on October 23, 2009 and was co-sponsored by House Foreign Affairs Committee senior members Reps. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.).
The resolution "Called on the President and the Secretary of State to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the `Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict' in multilateral fora."
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/HouseRes867.html

Last night, I read a post on a blog by a "rabbi" who urged writing letters of accolade to those representatives who voted against the resolution and letters voicing displeasure to those representatives who voted for the resolution condemning the Goldstone Report.
I must say, that after reading the post, I was ashamed that I hadn't thought of thanking those representatives who had the moral clarity to vote for the resolution. So, I found a list of those congressman who voted for the resolution and plan to do the opposite of the suggestion that was posted. I am sorry that it took the blog author's words to plant the idea in my head that I should show appreciation to those who stood up to the Goldstone report and reminded the world of the following facts.

... Whereas the resolution pre-judged the outcome of its investigation, by one-sidedly mandating the `fact-finding mission' to `investigate all violations of international human rights law and International Humanitarian Law by . . . Israel, against the Palestinian people . . . particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, due to the current aggression';
Whereas the mandate of the `fact-finding mission' makes no mention of the relentless rocket and mortar attacks, which numbered in the thousands and spanned a period of eight years, by Hamas and other violent militant groups in Gaza against civilian targets in Israel, that necessitated Israel's defensive measures;
Whereas the `fact-finding mission' included a member who, before joining the mission, had already declared Israel guilty of committing atrocities in Operation Cast Lead by signing a public letter on January 11, 2009, published in the Sunday Times, that called Israel's actions `war crimes';...

Jumping to conclusions

When Canada's transport minister decided to name his cat Thatcher, he likely never thought it would cause quite the stir it did during a gala dinner earlier this week.
During a tribute to Canada's military in Toronto, some 1,700 luminaries, including Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, were in the middle of dinner Tuesday night when smart phones throughout the room began to buzz with the news: "Lady Thatcher has passed away."
Dinner chatter abruptly veered to expressions of shock and reminiscences of Margaret Thatcher, the 84-year-old former British prime minister, as news of her apparent passing spread like wildfire.
Harper's aide Dimitri Soudas,.. was dispatched to confirm the news and start preparing an official statement.
Soudas immediately e-mailed his contacts....They had no idea what he was talking about.
Lady Thatcher, they informed an embarrassed Soudas, was still very much alive.
About 20 minutes after the rumor mill started churning, a corrective e-mail message began to circulate among the diners at the hall.
Turns out it was Transport Minister John Baird's beloved 16-year-old cat, whom he'd named Thatcher out of admiration for one of his political heroes, who had ceased to be.
Soudas is said to have quipped since: "If the cat wasn't dead, I'd have killed it by now." http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/pets/2009/11/14/2009-11-14_thatcher_the_cat_died__not_britains_former_prime_minister_margaret_thatcher.html#ixzz0Wr8JjtSB

The following is part of an email I received from the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation.

We have learned that if someone says, “This isn’t loshon hora. I would say it right in front of him!” the Torah still classifies the statement as loshon hora and we are not permitted to believe it.
Now the Chofetz Chaim takes the case one step further. What if the speaker actually does say the loshon hora in front of the other person? For example, Reuven says in Shimon’s presence, “I saw with my own eyes how Shimon cheated on yesterday’s exam.” Shimon responds with silence. Can we interpret his silence as admission of guilt?
The Chofetz Chaim says that we cannot surmise that the information is true, because there can be a host of reasons why Shimon would stay quiet in such a situation, even if the information were not true. For example, Shimon might reason that people are more likely to believe Reuven’s words which were said about him in his presence, than to believe his denial. Or, he might be silent simply because he wants to avoid conflict.
The Chofetz Chaim suggests that the person may have chosen to be counted among the “those who suffer insult.” He is alluding to an important Talmudic teaching (Shabbos 88b):
“Those who suffer insult but do not insult (in response), who hear their disgrace but do not reply, who perform (God’s will) out of love and are happy in suffering, regarding them the verse states ‘But they who love Him (God) shall be as the sun going forth in its might’ ” (Shoftim 5:31). As the commentators explain, this means that those who bear insult in silence will not be diminished because of this1, while their antagonists will be humbled in the end.
The Torah demands that we never jump to conclusions, even when matters seem as clear as day. The case of one who is silent in the face of insult is an excellent illustration of this truth.

Chayei Sarah

Yechiel Shaffer askes the question as to why two parshiot in Sefer Bereishit have the titles Parshat "Chayei Sarah" and Parshat "Vayechi", referring to life, when, in actuality, these parshiot deal with the deaths of Sarah and Avraham (in Chayei Sarah) and Yosef (in Vayechi).
He answers the question in the following manner.
"In Melachim I, Chapter 3, we read of the famous dream of Shlomo Hamelech. In it Hashem allows Shlomo to ask for whatever he wants. Shlomo asks for only one thing, wisdom, and Hashem grants him this. Furthermore, Hashem grants Shlomo everything else that he could have asked for, including long life. We know that Shlomo only lived for 52 years; how is this a "long life"? We can explain that life is not only measured in physical terms but also in spiritual terms, which is where life is really lived. Shlomo was granted a reward of long life in Olam Habah (the World to Come), not in Olam Hazeh (this world).
In Pirkei Avot, there is a famous statement of Rabbi Yaakov: "This world is like a lobby before Olam Habah; prepare yourself in the lobby so that you may enter the banquet hall" (4:21). This means that every person must prepare himself in this world by keeping Torah and Mitzvot so that he can enter Olam Habah and take part in the "wonderful banquet" that is waiting there for him. This is when life really begins."
Read more:
http://koltorah.org/volume-10/chayei-sarah

Have a good Shabbos and I'll leave you with a song of tribute to Sarah Imeinu, a true "Eishet Chayil."

The whole world is against us

The following is part of a speech given this week at the Swedish Paliament.
Earlier this year a friendly David Cup tennis match in Malmö had to be played without a live audience since the mayor of the host city explained that he "could not guarantee the safety of the event." He also admitted that he "very much disliked the behavior of the Israeli army during Operation Cast Lead" and that he could "well understand the crowd that had gathered outside the match to shout anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish slogans." A small solidarity event in support for Israel had to be broken up "because the police could not guarantee their safety." Later an Israeli tennis player explained that "it felt odd to be able to play professional tennis in Qatar and Dubai but not in Malmö."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1257770033431&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

In a Ynet article, Eitan Haber describes the growing sense of isolation Israel is facing.

Israelis who watch every news update and show great interest in current events have been experiencing a sense of freefall lately; everything seems to be collapsing, certainly in respect to the world’s attitude to us. We are back to the good old “the whole world is against us” tune: The UN, Turkey, the US, the Goldstone report. Who isn’t against us these days?
The easiest solution common among many Israelis is to utter the following: They’re all anti-Semites and they should all go to hell. God will save us from them.
Those who count on God only are happy people. They are only concerned about not missing a prayer session; the rest is not in our hands anyway. Those who believe that everyone is an anti-Semite and that they simply hate us and will be against us regardless of anything are not as happy. In their view, and based on their experience, the gentiles will end up losing and the Jews will end up winning. Just look at all the nations and states that no longer exist; look at them and look at us.
Read more:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3799991,00.html

Mr. Haber doesn't provide a solution and I certainly won't try to come up with one. But saying a prayer can't hurt.
Oseh shalom bimromav. Hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu. V'al kol Yisrael V'imru, v'imru amen.

Supernatural solutions

A retired Rikers Island guard who thought he'd won $1,500 in the lottery got an amazing surprise when he went to cash it in -- the ticket was actually worth a cool $6 million.
Norris Henry, 76, of Amityville, LI, said the confusion came because his wife misread the numbers on his Oct. 14 Lotto ticket, leading him to believe he'd gotten only five of the six numbers.
When he showed his ticket to a lottery official, "She got a chair and told me, 'You better sit down because you might pass out on me,' " Henry said at a press conference yesterday.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/big_lotto_winner_shock_uPzhQx6YcKkgWJ8gWiMQIL#ixzz0WaBykdNF

Rabbi K. Was preparing for this week's Tehilim shiur and came across an interesting thought.

"As for me, upon G-d shall I call and Hashem will save me." (Psalms 55:17)
Rabbi K. asked why the Psalmist used two different names for G-d in the above verse. One reason is that the numerical calculation of the word "Elokim" is the same as the word הטבעִ(the nature) while the word "Hashem" signifies that G-d was, is and will always be. "Hashem" is beyond the natural laws.
He further learned a unique explanation to the saying that earning a living is as difficult as the parting of the Red Sea. When the Israelites reached the waters, they prayed to G-d to save them. They never imagined a supernatural salvation like having the waters split for them. So too, when it comes to earning a living, sometimes our parnassah comes from unexpected sources and from somewhere we could never have imagined, with our limited human thinking.
The very same evening that Rabbi K. had been preparing his shiur, a man from Israel came to the rabbi's door and poured his heart out that he had no job and was collecting money for his family.
Two days later, the man met the rabbi and told him his problems had been solved. He had met a man in the synagogue who had arrived from Israel a few days before. When he found out about the man's situation, the Israeli stranger offered him a job.
The rabbi was flabbergasted. It was as if the hand of G-d directed the two men to meet in a synagogue in Europe, thus providing the auspicious outcome for the poor individual.
The lesson for us is clear. We shouldn't despair. With our limited understanding, we can't see a way out of our problems. We pray to "Elokim" but "Hashem" answers, in a way that is completely unexpected, like winning a lottery.

A Torah Response to Terrorism

Close to a year after the tragic deaths in Mumbai, the Jewish response to terrorism is to bring light to the world - dedicating a Sefer Torah in memory of the victims.

http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=22311

Happy endings

Rabbi Binyomin Pruzansky wrote an article about his recollections of Rav Kviat z"l, who was niftar this week. The following incident demonstrates what marriage is all about.

"I was once walking with Rav Kviat back to his bungalow after the camp davened Minchah. As we approached the bungalow, his rebbetzin came out and told him that she would get him his light jacket to wear for lunch. He, in turn, replied, “No, it’s okay. I will get it myself.” She insisted and went back inside the bungalow to get him his light jacket. She took his heavier jacket, which he wore to Minchah, and the two of them then walked towards the dining room.
The next day, after Minchah, I was walking Rav Kviat back to his bungalow while talking to him in learning. Once again, as we approached his bungalow, the rebbetzin emerged and offered to get him his light jacket. Again, Rav Kviat replied that he would get it himself, and his wife again insisted on following through with her offer.
The next day, yet again I was walking Rav Kviat after Minchah, and I saw the same scene about to unfold. The rebbetzin said, “I will get you your light jacket to wear at lunch,” but before Rav Kviat could answer, I piped up and said, “I don’t understand. Why does the rosh yeshiva go through the same routine every day? First the rebbetzin offers to get the rosh yeshiva’s jacket, and then the rosh yeshiva says he will get it himself. Why even bother to offer if you know the rebbetzin is going to get it anyway?”
Rav Kviat smiled and said, “You think that marriage is fifty-fifty? You are making a big mistake. Marriage is 100 percent and 100 percent. Both the husband and the wife must always do their all for each other.”
Read more: http://matzav.com/everybody-needs-a-rebbi-rav-dovid-kviat-ztl

And speaking about marriage, here is a happy ending to an incident which occurred to a couple who recently celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary.
"Sanitation workers sorted through 10 tons of trash to recover a wedding ring accidentally thrown away by a New Jersey couple.
Bridget Pericolo had placed the ring in a cup that her husband, Angelo, threw out with the garbage before leaving for work. When he realized the mistake, he contacted the town's sanitation supervisor, who suggested coming by the Parsippany dump. "
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/wedding_ring_found_in_tons_of_trash_4Up2J9O735anCXg8D1cUhN#ixzz0WaBgP2Vx

UN General Assembly Resolution 181

Taking steps towards statehood? The Palestinian Authority is looking into the possibility of turning to the Security Council and urging it to adopt a resolution recognizing the Palestinian state’s borders, senior Fatah member Mohammad Dahlan said Tuesday.
The PA will seek a state in line with the 1967 borders, including east Jerusalem, Dahlan said. He added that all options were open at this time, including the possibility of a unilateral declaration of Palestinian independence.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3803402,00.html

Mr. Dahlan - your people had a chance for a state years ago and the offer was rejected, leading to the deaths of countless innocent people.

UN General Assembly Resolution 181
Adopted on November 29, 1947

...Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem, set forth in Part III of this Plan, shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948. The boundaries of the Arab State, the Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem shall be as described in Parts II and III below.

Serve Hashem with happiness

This morning, I received the following image in an email with the caption "A smile from heaven."
Let's give G-d a reason to smile on us.
Yesterday, I listened to a lecture by Rabbi Z. Wallerstein about the art of giving. He said that marriage is not about give and take, but rather about give and give.
He then went on to speak about our relationship with G-d. During Shemoneh Esrei, we normally beseech Hashem with all sorts of requests for financial security, good health and the like. The rabbi suggested that we take the opportunity to give back to Hashem. We can try to bring about a kiddush Hashem as a method to give back to G-d and repay all the kindness bestowed upon us.

Sticking with your tradition

For those of you who can't wait till next Chodesh Elul to hear the sounds of the shofar, you may be interested in a new piece of music that was first performed in October.

Meira Warshauer has composed a concerto for shofar/trombone soloist and orchestra, called “Tekeeyah (a call)” which premiered last month with shofar/trombone soloist Haim Avitsur .
“The sound is meant to grab the heart and rally the person,” he said. “There’s so much this instrument is capable of producing that we miss when we only hear it go ‘Tah!’”
.....Warshauer’s exploration of the shofar mirrors her own journey through Judaism. Raised in South Carolina in a Reform Jewish home, she experimented with Eastern religions and meditation. She found comfort in the universal teachings of Sufism, which focuses on the healing vibrations of sound. At a Sufi music camp, she encountered a melody by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, “Return Again,” which motivated her to return to her own tradition. “I had never heard of Carlebach,” Warshauer said. Now, she said, she “sees the world through Jewish eyes. That’s the spiritual door for me. Music is the way I can communicate the wisdom of our tradition both for Jews and non-Jews. I can do that in an honest and enriching way because it is my tradition, I haven’t borrowed it.”
http://forward.com/articles/118648/

To listen to a piece of the concerto, click here.
Does the shofar blower need to say a brocho before his performance?

Every second counts

Kapitlach Tehilim and tears

Last week, I received an email from the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation asking to say Tehilim for a choson of 2 days who was on life-support and the doctors had given up hope. Last night, unfortunately, I received the tragic news of his demise.
A while ago, a woman from the neighborhood passed away after a short illness. People from all over the neighborhood were saying Tehilim for her, including many students of a school where she had worked as a librarian.
The woman's husband spoke to the students a short time later and explained to them that even though they hadn't seen a salvation after the many Perakim of Tehilim that were uttered, he assured them that their prayers ascended heavenwards. He told them that his wife passed away on Erev Shavuos, and it was only with divine assistance that she merited a speedy burial on the same day in Eretz Yisrael. The Tehilim helped bring about that the family of the woman could make the necessary arrangements to fly from Europe to Israel in a span of a short few hours and see that she was buried in Israel with a few minutes to spare so that they could usher in the Shavuot holiday.
Last night, Matzav reported about a question asked in the latest edition of "Dvar Hashem Zu Halacha” publication, which was presented to Maran Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv.

“In our times, it has become common that one who needs a yeshuah goes to the Kosel to daven for forty consecutive days. Is there any inyan in doing this?”
Rav Elyashiv responded that there is no basis for this. Every time one goes to the Kosel to daven, said Rav Elyashiv, his tefillos are accepted.
http://matzav.com/rav-elyashiv-theres-no-inyan-of-40-days-at-the-kosel

Part of a comment posted included the following:
The newly lemon freshioned invention of all the ladies and girls to say Perek Shira is ridiculous. Sure there is a holy m’kor for Perek Shira. So tell me, did your mother or grandmother say it? No.We should stick with the basics. “Al Titosh Toras Imecho”. They cried over the kapitlach tehillim they said. They said whenever they could, and how much they could.

Please pray for a refuah sheleima for Rav Mordechai Tzemach ben Mazal-Tov, the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel.
Let's hope that the Tehilim we recite achieve the desired results.

Fear of being politically incorrect

Two articles caught my eye this afternoon about people being afraid to be labeled "politically incorrect."
Army massacre fiend Nidal Malik Hasan reportedly tried to make contact with al Qaeda terrorists, something intelligence agencies were aware of months ago.
.... the Army should have booted the deeply disturbed Hasan the moment he showed any signs of extremism, said Lieberman, who heads the Senate's Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Hasan's classmates at the Uniformed Services University, the military college where he recently took master's courses, said they repeatedly griped to higher-ups about his constant anti-American rants.
One said he warned superiors that the raging Hasan was a "ticking time bomb" after he made a presentation defending Islamic suicide bombers.
Another classmate said he complained to five officers and two civilian faculty members.
He wrote in a document sent to Pentagon officials that fear in the military of being seen as politically incorrect prevented an "intellectually honest discussion of Islamic ideology" in the ranks.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/report_cia_aware_ft_hood_shooter_LjsDA0q4t3i0Yfyi4svk9M#ixzz0WNrbtGSI

Tel Aviv University students with nationalist views are afraid to speak out in class because of fears that their leftist professors will give them low grades, a professor said in an internal memo obtained by the Hebrew-language newspaper Haaretz. The newspaper has a strong left-wing slant, and the fact that it chose to disclose the memo was considered significant.
The memo quoted was written by Professor Nira Hativa, head of the university’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She wrote, "There is no small number of students of lecturers with left-wing views who complain bitterly that they are extremely offended by the presentation of materials that oppose their views, but are fearful of expressing contrary viewpoints in class, lest it harm their grades."
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/134305
Later in the day, as I was teaching my students the lyrics to My Way, this particular paragraph struck home.

For what is a man what has he got
If not himself then he has not
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way

Thanks to our forefather Abraham for saying the things he truly felt, to Mordechai, and to Judah the Maccabbee for daring to speak the words that had to be spoken, whatever the consequences.

Update: MK Michael Ben-Ari has said that he was turned down for a visa to America because of his arrest during an anti-disengagement demonstration in 2005.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/134322

Adon Olam

This morning, I read about two mistakes, one more costly than the other.
A tragic typo sent Queens firefighters barreling to a wrong address yesterday as three men died at the actual blaze three blocks away.
While trapped residents tried to escape the illegally converted house on 65th Street in Woodside at 2:45 a.m., the closest fire companies were on a "wild goose chase" on 62nd Street. That was because a 911 operator mistakenly entered a "2" in place of a "5," the fire union charged.
Two crucial minutes were lost while rerouting Engine Company 292 and Rescue Company 4 -- both located less than a half-mile from the fire.
..."If we arrived quicker, those people would have a better chance of surviving," said Leroy McGinnis, of the Uniformed Firefighters Association. "We believe the time difference could be up to 2½ minutes."
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/fatal_typo_RumIE1DnuFKFnBpZVPocKL#ixzz0WLTeHuTq
The second mistake was about the misspelling of a name.
Guardsman Janes, of 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards, was killed in an explosion while on foot patrol in Helmand province.
According to the Sun, his mother Jacqui was angry when she received the prime minister’s letter of condolence in which he appeared to misspell Guardsman Janes’s name, describing it as a "hastily scrawled insult".
http://www.rocketnews.com/2009/11/mother-attacks-pm-sympathy-letter/

A while later, I came across a beautiful rendition of the Adon Olam prayer.
The preface to the song is an explanation of the subject of the prayer. The musician begins my explaining the name of the Almighty.
"It is written with four letters. This is called the Tetragrammaton. The four letters spell all possible combinations of the verb to be and can be translated as ‘The One who was, is, and will be.'” .

The Tetragammaton - a perfect name for the Almighty - make no mistake about it.

Think before you speak

The following paragraphs are excerpts from a daily email from the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation.

There is a famous story about the Chofetz Chaim and another rav, who were traveling together. They stopped at an inn, where the hostess recognized the two prominent rabbanim and ushered them to a table reserved for distinguished guests. After they finished a satisfying meal, the hostess returned to the table and inquired, “Did you enjoy the food?”
The Chofetz Chaim’s companion replied, “It was very good. But the soup could have used a little more salt.”
When the hostess left, the Chofetz Chaim, obviously distressed, informed the rav that his words constituted loshon hora.
“Now the hostess will probably reprimand the cook, who is quite possibly a poor widow who must work to support her family.” The rav, however expressed his doubts that his seemingly benign comment could have such repercussions. The Chofetz Chaim then escorted him to the kitchen, where the two peered through the door and witnessed the hostess speaking harshly to the cook, a poor widow, who was in tears.
The rav hurried into the kitchen and said that the food had been quite good. He apologized to the cook and begged the hostess not to say anything more on account of his careless remark.
The moral is:
Think before you speak. Even a seemingly innocent comment has the potential to cause great harm.

In a nationwide test on shmiras haloshon for elementary school children, the question was posed: “What could you tell yourself that would help you to refrain from speaking loshon hora?” The most popular answer was, “By asking myself, ’How would I feel if I was in this person’s place?’ "
The innocence of children often allows them to see matters more objectively than adults.

The measure of my days

The following paragraphs are taken from an INN article entitled Rabbi Kook on Psalm 39: When Will I Die? by Chanan Morrison. It is quite interesting and relates to the video below. However, after reading the copyright policy on the website, I realized I am allowed to copy only the first two paragraphs. To read the whole article, click on the hyperlink below.

In this chapter, the psalmist speaks of terrible suffering and pain - suffering so terrible that he feels he must forcibly 'muzzle' his mouth to restrain himself from questioning God's justice in the world. In desperation, he beseeches God: When will it end?
"O God, inform me of my end! What is the measure of my days?" (Psalms 39:5)
More Israel news .