Temporary versus eternal

The Jews may have originated in the Middle East but they were long ago scattered far and wide - to the Gulf, among other places. Few now remain, except in Iran. But a century ago, writes Matthew Teller, there was even a proposal to found a Jewish state at an oasis near Bahrain.
Continue reading: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-30447043


The Jewish Press reports , "A Jewish man found a swastika drawn on the gate to his home where he had put up decorations for Hanukkah."
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/hanukkah-decorated-florida-home-vandalized-with-swastika/2014/12/13/

Speaking about the Jewish Press, can they please correct the typo in the headline of another article titled 'Lieberman Open to Labor Coalition' means 'I am Running Sacred.' I don't suppose he is running holy, but rather running scared.

This afternoon I was reading Gateway to Happiness by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin and ruminated upon the following passage.

The only type of joy that can really be complete is the joy of fulfiiling a mitzvvah. Joy over material matters is by necessity limited since all material matters are only temporary. But the value of a mitzvah is eternal, hence the joy of fulfilling a mitzvah can be without limits.
... Phyiscal pleasures have an extremely short existence. Immediately after one has gratified oneself, the pleasure is no longer there.


A little while later, I was reading an article in the IHT and cam' across the following words, which seemed to reinforce the message that was transmitted from the above words.

Material things appear to be permanent, while experiences seem evanescent and likely to be forgotten. Should you take a second honeymoon with your spouse, or get a new couch? The week away sounds great, but hey — the couch is something you’ll have forever, right?

Wrong. Thirty years from now, when you are sitting in rocking chairs on the porch, you’ll remember your second honeymoon in great detail. But are you likely to say to one another, “Remember that awesome couch?” Of course not. It will be gone and forgotten. Though it seems counterintuitive, it is physically permanent stuff that evaporates from our minds. It is memories in the ether of our consciousness that last a lifetime, there for us to enjoy again and again.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/opinion/sunday/arthur-c-brooks-abundance-without-attachment.html?_r=0

Bayit U’Menucha: Happiness – “Keeping Up With The Jones’s” , Not Me!