I was in the middle of reciting a litany of complaints about my job to a woman in the neighborhood when she stopped me by saying, "stop complaining. I wish I had a job." She confided that she had been occupied babysitting for her young grandson the past couple of years, but now that he was in kindergarten, her services were no longer needed. She told me that there were days she had to push herself out of bed because she had no schedule to follow.
I learned a lesson from her and resolved not to complain about my job. It worked. For a while.
19 Nov 2011
President in the news
Maddie Hanna reports on New Hampshire state election officials rejecting a petition to keep the President's name off the New Hampshire ballot.
Speaking of the President, the Daily Caller has a clip in which he appears on a televised Black History Minutes segment from 1991, the year that he graduated from Harvard Law School.
Sorry, I thought the President had said the word coterie in the clip, but an alert reader explained to me that it was cadre. Mea culpa.
Speaking of the President, the Daily Caller has a clip in which he appears on a televised Black History Minutes segment from 1991, the year that he graduated from Harvard Law School.
Sorry, I thought the President had said the word coterie in the clip, but an alert reader explained to me that it was cadre. Mea culpa.
18 Nov 2011
Lessons from Avraham
Rabbi Yissocher Frand discusses the "it's coming to me" attitude in relation to this week's parsha.
Such is the attitude of a person who does not go through life with an "It's coming to me" (es kumpt mir) philosophy. The opposite of the Yiddish expression "es kumpt mir" is "es kumpt mir gornisht" which means I deserve nothing. I take nothing for granted. Every little gift is a bonanza! This was exactly the attitude of Avraham. That is why he died a very happy and satisfied man and that is why the Torah praised him with this behavior.
When the Chofetz Chaim finished writing the Mishna Berurah, he said, "Ribbono shel Olam you have been so good to me. How can I finally pay You back?" If you or I wrote the Mishna Berurah, our attitude would most likely be "G-d, I wrote the Mishna Berurah. I put the Orach Chaim on the map for You. Now it is my turn. When is it going to be payback time?"
Read full devar Torah at http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5772/chayeisarah.html# by scrolling down to second article titled "Avraham Died A Happy Man -- For Good Reason."
In the video below, the rabbi discusses living every day to its fullest.
Such is the attitude of a person who does not go through life with an "It's coming to me" (es kumpt mir) philosophy. The opposite of the Yiddish expression "es kumpt mir" is "es kumpt mir gornisht" which means I deserve nothing. I take nothing for granted. Every little gift is a bonanza! This was exactly the attitude of Avraham. That is why he died a very happy and satisfied man and that is why the Torah praised him with this behavior.
When the Chofetz Chaim finished writing the Mishna Berurah, he said, "Ribbono shel Olam you have been so good to me. How can I finally pay You back?" If you or I wrote the Mishna Berurah, our attitude would most likely be "G-d, I wrote the Mishna Berurah. I put the Orach Chaim on the map for You. Now it is my turn. When is it going to be payback time?"
Read full devar Torah at http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5772/chayeisarah.html# by scrolling down to second article titled "Avraham Died A Happy Man -- For Good Reason."
In the video below, the rabbi discusses living every day to its fullest.
Two religions
Click here to read about a Toronto synagogue which was sprayed with anti-Semitic graffiti.
The other day I posted about a Park51 book signing event. It seems that the developer of Park51 is not having it easy as Con Ed wants to evict Ground Zero mosque developer over $1.7M back rent.
The other day I posted about a Park51 book signing event. It seems that the developer of Park51 is not having it easy as Con Ed wants to evict Ground Zero mosque developer over $1.7M back rent.
17 Nov 2011
Question Time
A CNN poll has shown, "Americans have typically been optimists about the future, but when it comes to how things are going in the country, a new national survey suggests that may no longer be the case."
In the video below, a number of people were asked on the November 3 edition of Question Time what makes them happy. Listen to commentator Peter Hitchens' response about G-d.
And here's a quote from an email I received the other day.
"Honk if you like G-d; text and drive if you want to meet him!"
In the video below, a number of people were asked on the November 3 edition of Question Time what makes them happy. Listen to commentator Peter Hitchens' response about G-d.
And here's a quote from an email I received the other day.
"Honk if you like G-d; text and drive if you want to meet him!"
Infinite possibilities
Foro those who missed an article by Moshe Kempinski titled "Judaism: Reb Shlomo and Infinite Possibilities" click here to read about important lessons to be learned from Reb Aryeh Levin and Shlomo Carlebach.
16 Nov 2011
Two centers
A July Huffington Post article detailed a telephone exchange with Sharif el-Gamal, the developer of the Park51 cultural center and prayer space.
"Park51 is an Islamic community center modeled after the (Jewish Community Center) or YMCA," Gamal said. "It is open to all people but it is not an interfaith project."
"Hold on, Sharif," Goldsmith interjected. "You're wrong to say that. It is an interfaith project."
"That's what I said," the developer insisted. "It's an Islamic community center open to all people, serving all New York and based on pluralism and diversity."
So, in the spirit of interfaith dialogue, an event is scheduled for this evening, a review of the book, "In the Presence of Absence” including a Q&A with Adam Schatz, among others.
An excerpt from a review of the book states, "it is full of descriptions of Gaza and Deir Yassin and Sabra and Shatila."
Adam Shatz wrote a piece in the Guardian where he discusses the Mearsheimer and Walt paper on the Israel Lobby.
Alan Dershowitz, Israel's unofficial ambassador to Cambridge, Massachusetts, predictably denounced the paper as anti-Semitic, but then he would probably find the rumblings of a pogrom in a negative review of his favorite deli.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/mar/24/post9
I checked out the website of the JCC, curious if such events were being presented at the center which Park51 is using as a role model.
The JCC events schedule included a November 10 premiere of Dolphin Boy about an Arab and his Jewish Israeli girlfriend, a Saturday afternoon screening of David & Kamal on November 12 and a screening of a movie, 77 Steps which is a love story between an Arab girl and her Jewish boyfriend, which is co-presented by the New Israel Fund.
Which center is doing more for Jewish identity? Isn't it wonderful that the Sabbath is a day for viewing peace and friendship films? Somehow, I don't think that this was what G-d had in mind in the issuance of the fourth Commandment of remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
"Park51 is an Islamic community center modeled after the (Jewish Community Center) or YMCA," Gamal said. "It is open to all people but it is not an interfaith project."
"Hold on, Sharif," Goldsmith interjected. "You're wrong to say that. It is an interfaith project."
"That's what I said," the developer insisted. "It's an Islamic community center open to all people, serving all New York and based on pluralism and diversity."
So, in the spirit of interfaith dialogue, an event is scheduled for this evening, a review of the book, "In the Presence of Absence” including a Q&A with Adam Schatz, among others.
An excerpt from a review of the book states, "it is full of descriptions of Gaza and Deir Yassin and Sabra and Shatila."
Adam Shatz wrote a piece in the Guardian where he discusses the Mearsheimer and Walt paper on the Israel Lobby.
Alan Dershowitz, Israel's unofficial ambassador to Cambridge, Massachusetts, predictably denounced the paper as anti-Semitic, but then he would probably find the rumblings of a pogrom in a negative review of his favorite deli.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/mar/24/post9
I checked out the website of the JCC, curious if such events were being presented at the center which Park51 is using as a role model.
The JCC events schedule included a November 10 premiere of Dolphin Boy about an Arab and his Jewish Israeli girlfriend, a Saturday afternoon screening of David & Kamal on November 12 and a screening of a movie, 77 Steps which is a love story between an Arab girl and her Jewish boyfriend, which is co-presented by the New Israel Fund.
Which center is doing more for Jewish identity? Isn't it wonderful that the Sabbath is a day for viewing peace and friendship films? Somehow, I don't think that this was what G-d had in mind in the issuance of the fourth Commandment of remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
10 Nov 2011
Commanding respect
"Nazi-occupied Paris was a terrible place to be in the waning days of World War II, with Jews, Resistance fighters and ordinary citizens all hoping to escape. Disappearances became so common they often weren't followed up.
And one man used the lawlessness for his own terrible purposes, killing perhaps as many as 150 people."
Read full article: http://news.yahoo.com/doctor-turned-serial-killer-ww2-paris-122102122.html
I was shocked to read how Dr. Marcel Petiot, a person in a position to command respect, used his credentials to lure unsuspecting Jews to their deaths.
And speaking about respect, below is a video which explains just how we should respect our Torah scholars.
And one man used the lawlessness for his own terrible purposes, killing perhaps as many as 150 people."
Read full article: http://news.yahoo.com/doctor-turned-serial-killer-ww2-paris-122102122.html
I was shocked to read how Dr. Marcel Petiot, a person in a position to command respect, used his credentials to lure unsuspecting Jews to their deaths.
And speaking about respect, below is a video which explains just how we should respect our Torah scholars.
9 Nov 2011
Turkey Quake deja vu
A Turkish news agency says an earthquake with a preliminary 5.7 magnitude has caused some buildings to collapse in the eastern part of the country.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/11/09/earthquake-hits-eastern-turkey-collapses-buildings/#ixzz1dFFVm4Wy
טורקיה טורקיה - גם עליך תעבור כוס התרעלה
הרב עובדיה יוסף: הקב"ה מצפצף על טורקיה
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/11/09/earthquake-hits-eastern-turkey-collapses-buildings/#ixzz1dFFVm4Wy
טורקיה טורקיה - גם עליך תעבור כוס התרעלה
הרב עובדיה יוסף: הקב"ה מצפצף על טורקיה
A growth industry
In an article titled Anti-Semitism, a growth industry in bad times, Alan Caruba writes the following.
"In bad times, anti-Semitism seems to crawl out of the sewers like a repugnant odor. It is not subject to a rational response. It is pure emotion and a very nasty one at that. Lately we got a whiff of it at some of the Occupy protests."
Read full article: http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/caruba/111109
Rick Richman offers a synopsis of the case being argued in the Supreme Court as to whether Americans born in Jerusalem have the right to have “Israel” on their passports as their place of birth.
He concludes, "Ironically, this whole case could have been avoided if either President Bush or President Obama had simply done what President Clinton did with respect to Taiwan: faithfully execute the law, while making clear it did not change U.S. foreign policy as articulated by the Executive Branch. Better yet, the case could have been avoided if the President had simply chosen to recognize that the city that has been the capital of Israel for 61 years is the capital of Israel. Whatever past policy has been, and whoever has the authority to decide it, it’s time."
Read full article: http://pjmedia.com/blog/the-president-congress-and-menachem-zivotofsky%e2%80%99s-passport/2/
Click here to read about indoctrination in a Spanish classroom.
"In bad times, anti-Semitism seems to crawl out of the sewers like a repugnant odor. It is not subject to a rational response. It is pure emotion and a very nasty one at that. Lately we got a whiff of it at some of the Occupy protests."
Read full article: http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/caruba/111109
Rick Richman offers a synopsis of the case being argued in the Supreme Court as to whether Americans born in Jerusalem have the right to have “Israel” on their passports as their place of birth.
He concludes, "Ironically, this whole case could have been avoided if either President Bush or President Obama had simply done what President Clinton did with respect to Taiwan: faithfully execute the law, while making clear it did not change U.S. foreign policy as articulated by the Executive Branch. Better yet, the case could have been avoided if the President had simply chosen to recognize that the city that has been the capital of Israel for 61 years is the capital of Israel. Whatever past policy has been, and whoever has the authority to decide it, it’s time."
Read full article: http://pjmedia.com/blog/the-president-congress-and-menachem-zivotofsky%e2%80%99s-passport/2/
Click here to read about indoctrination in a Spanish classroom.
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