A moderate approach

Virtue, Maimonides taught, is found in the middle path....the ideal is to be found in moderation (Shemonah Perakim 4:3). Maimonides wrote, "In truth, it is the middle way that should be praised (Shemonah Perakim 4:2).
http://books.google.be/books?id=zO4S5Ys7MsEC&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=maimonides+the+golden+mean&source=bl&ots=Ua9Ho5HyvK&sig=qlqupnvCChwuzED5Z4ZvS6DkMoo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kcpMVPb5GYLZavvUgKAN&ved=0CCQQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=maimonides%20the%20golden%20mean&f=false

I was reminded of the Rambam's golden mean as I read an interesting article in the New York Times this morning titled The Problem With Positive Thinking.

Positive thinking is pleasurable, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for us. Like so much in life, attaining goals requires a balanced and moderate approach, neither dwelling on the downsides nor a forced jumping for joy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/opinion/sunday/the-problem-with-positive-thinking.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&src=me&WT.nav=MostEmailed&_r=0

There are actually two Biblical commands that say Lech L’cha, one here (Gen. 12:1) and one next week (Gen. 22:2) when the Akedah is prefaced by God telling Abraham to take his son and lech l’cha (“Go for yourself!”) to the land of Moriah.
This Hebrew phrase, as Nachmanides points out, is a grammatical idiom, but the commentators read a special significance into it. Rashi, utilising a famous Midrashic comment, explains that the l’cha means “for your own benefit and good”. Literally the command is, “Go to yourself”: in other words, “Go, and follow your destiny” or “Go, and find out what you really are”.
Continue reading Torah thought by Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple: http://www.oztorah.com/2014/10/two-lech-lchas/

Fiery Email Leads to Correction

FreeBeacon reports Tufts University Hosting Islamists to Train Students in ‘Direct Action’

Jerusalem City Council Member, Arieh King, visited the Mount of Olives Saturday night, and returned from the trip shaken.
"The Israeli government has decided to abandon the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives and in recent weeks, terrorists have taken control of large parts of the mountain," King wrote of the ancient site on his Facebook page.
Read more: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186589#.VEzC9ZtATIU