Gratitude is an attitude

A prayer that relates briefly to the story of Hanukkah and Purim, [Al Hanisim is] inserted into the 18th benediction of the Amidah ("Modim") and into the second benediction of Birkat Hamazon [the grace after meals]("Nodeh L'kha"). 
...Since Al Hanisim serves as an expression of thanksgiving, it is most fitting that it is placed into the benediction called Hoda'ah ("Thanksgiving").
 http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Hanukkah/In_the_Community/Al_Hanisim.shtml

Since the al Hanisim prayer acknowledges that the Chanukah festival was established l’hodos u’l’hallel — to “thank and praise" G-d, I thought it would be interesting to post about an article which discusses gratitude.

Many people may think of gratitude as a "passive" gesture -- you wait for something good, then feel grateful, said David DeSteno, a professor of psychology at Northeastern University, in Boston. DeSteno studies the effects that thankfulness can have on people's behavior.

But a growing body of research is suggesting the opposite is true, according to DeSteno: By choosing to feel gratitude, people can make positive changes in their lives.

Continue reading: http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Health-News/thankful-thanksgiving-happiness-health/2013/11/28/id/539121

 

I came across the following quote attributed to anonymous in a book titled Real Moments by Barbara De Angelis. After you read it, perhaps you will feel gratefuul for what's in your life at this moment. 

 

"Just think how happy you'd be if you lost everything you have right now - and then, got it back again..."

 

One's goal

In a move reinforcing the basis for its decision to sever ties with Al-Quds University, Brandeis University issued a statement on Thursday, Nov. 21, that Dr. Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al-Quds University, will be removed from his position on the Advisory Board of the Brandeis International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.
Continue reading:  http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/brandeis-removes-al-quds-nusseibeh-from-ethics-center/2013/11/21/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=brandeis-removes-al-quds-nusseibeh-from-ethics-center

Rabbi Yissocher Frand speaks about keeping focused on one's goal in life.

Yaakov sent Yosef to check on the welfare of his brothers and the welfare of the flocks. The pasuk says: "And behold a man found him and he was lost in the field" [Bereshis 37:15]. This was in the days before GPS. There was no address to type in. It was a big country. He tried to find his brothers and got lost. "The man found him and asked 'What are you looking for?'". The Rabbis tell us that the 'Ish' [man] alluded to in the pasuk was actually the Angel Gavriel. Gavriel haMalach literally led Yosef by the hand and took him to his appointed place. But before he did this, the Malach asked Yosef "What are you looking for?" (Mah t'vakesh?) There is a word in this pasuk that does not fit in -- namely the word "leimor" which means literally "to say over to others". This word is not typically used in direct dialogue between two individuals. The pasuk should read "Vayishaleyhu haIsh, mah tivakesh?" (and the man asked him 'What are you looking for?'); not "Vayishaleyhu haIsh LEIMOR mah tivakesh?"
Continue reading: http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5774/vayeishev.html

a time to weep and a time to laugh

Chadrei Charedim reports on the tragic passing of a mother of seven who had given birth only two weeks ago.

Chadrei Charedim wishes a mazal tov to Yaakov Yosef Grunwald upon his marriage to the daughter of someone who worked towards his release from a Japanese prison. The shadchan was the Satmer Dayan of Antwerp, who was moser nefesh in his efforts to help the three yeshiva students return to Eretz Yisrael.

Rabbi Y. Altman discusses what should be the the focus and goal of our tefilah.

Undermining religion

This week Costco made the news when Bibles that were being sold at the store were labeled 'fiction'. A Foxnews article writes about the apology Costco issued.

The national warehouse chain has apologized for labeling Bibles in a Simi Valley, Calif. store as fiction, calling it an error that they are working quickly to correct.

The article also quotes pastor and author Robert Jeffress.

“Christians need to call out organizations like Costco whose actions undermine Christianity – regardless of whether those actions are accidental or intentional,” ...
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/11/20/costco-apologizes-for-calling-bible-fiction/

How about calling out an organization or religion whose purpose is to undermine Judaism?

Dennis Prager opines in the Jewish Journal about former President George W. Bush speaking at the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute this past week.

The only positive Jewish response to ...... is to figure out how to keep Jews Jewish so that they will not leave us for other secular or religious faiths. And the way to achieve that is to instill in young Jews faith in the Jewish trinity: God, Torah and Israel. Then they won’t seek any other trinity.
 

Distractions, challenges, self-control and achievement

VIN posted a video of Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein lecturing at the Agudah conference in which he spoke, among other things, about distractions and challenges facing our children nowadays.

“Apple comes out with a new iPhone every single six months: fresh, new, shiny, exciting. They are throwing at our children fresh, new, shiny, exciting. The yetzer hara doesn’t put avak on that, so our kids are getting hit with all this new stuff, new technology. We have to fight it with a Torah that is shining…a Torah that is exciting, not something that is just a subject.”

Click here to listen to the rabbi's words.

Angela Duckworth speaks about today's challenges in a video below titled Will Power: Grit, Self-control, and Achievement. If you have an hour's time, it is definitely worth listening to.

The Altar

INN has an article titled

Ancient Jewish Altar Found in Shilo

Ongoing dig in the Samaria town of Shilo turns up ancient stone altar from First Temple times or earlier.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/174215#.UoxoQiw1jcc

 

A reader asks a question in the comment section, "How do you know it was a Jewish altar?"

A reader responds, " Good question. There are a few ways: In close proximity to pagan altars, archaeologists find bones of non-kosher animals, such as swine. Pagan altars don't necessarily have a ramp, but steps leading up. And they are constructed of hewn stones. So if you find an altar (1) in an area that is already established by accredited archaeologists be an ancient Hebrew cultic site, (2) made unhewn stones, (3) with evidence of a ramp, and (4) with bones of only kosher animals, it can be safely assumed to have been a kosher Israelite altar."

TownHall reports on the testimony of a CMS Official: We Still Haven't Built '30 to 40 Percent' of Obamacare's Web Apparatus, Including Payment Systems.

Georgetown University to Host Member of Egypt’s Nazi Party

IsraellyCool reports on an article titled Attack on Israeli Worsens Tensions With Palestinians.

"It’s official, the New York Times made a “Wrong Choice” when they illustrated their story of the murder of sleeping soldier Eden Atias with a picture of the mother of his evil murderer."

A letter by Margaret Sullivan is posted at the site.

 MARGARET SULLIVAN
Hundreds of readers wrote to me in recent days to protest the prominent use of a photograph that accompanied an article in The Times last Thursday.
The photograph was an emotional and sympathetic portrait of a distraught Palestinian woman, whose son had killed an unsuspecting young Israeli soldier on a public bus. Although it was a powerful image (in fact, partly because it was such a powerful image), it was a poor choice, failing to put the focus where it belonged....

A comment published below the IsraellyCool post  includes, "This bias at the Times happens too often to be just another ‘poor choice”. The errors and “poor choices” always seem to occur when reporting on Israel. The negativity is ALWAYS directed at Israel. The “poor choice” always benefits the “Palestinian” cause and never seems to hurt it. There is a concerted effort to change the public’s perception of the Palestinian terrorist. This begins at the headline, which should read, PALESTINIAN KILLS ISRAELI.
This type of headline (with the nouns reversed) is often used when Israelis kill Arabs in self defense."
 http://www.israellycool.com/2013/11/19/who-you-gonna-fire-nyt/

 

Tablets and the Google effect

Tablets and toddlers: A warning for parents of tech-savvy children. The American Academy of Pediatrics says children under two should avoid all screen time.
...If they are always on the iPad and not actually doing those paper pencil activities that they should still be doing, those muscles are going to remain weaker,” said occupational therapist Lindsay Marzoli, Learning and Therapy Corner.
Read more: http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/11/14/red-flag-doctors-warn-tablets-can-actually-hurt-a-toddlers-developing-body/

Struggling to recall birthdays or the name of an actor in the last film you've seen? Then blame the Google effect.
Our growing reliance on the Internet for fact-checking and other basic information has resulted in growing levels of forgetfulness, according to scientists.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2510053/How-Google-rotting-memories-Young-people-today-worse-memories-parents.html#ixzz2l826fd9m

How about sticking with the two tablets brought down from Mount Sinai?

Speaking about writing activities and not forgetting, in the video below, Elie Farkas discusses how our actions are not forgotten but are written in a book which will be used as our judge and jury at the end of days.

Change we believe in

When the President ran on the "Hope and Change" slogan, few realized that the changes would involve higher insurance premiums, losing health plans and a faked jobs report.

Below is an excerpt from an article at 5 Towns Jewish Times which discusses CHANGE.

Bnos Malka Believes in CHANGE. Bnos Malka introduced its book-of-the-month program with the theme “CHANGE Begins with Me.” CHANGE is an acronym: Confidence, Honesty, Acceptance, Nurturing, Gratitude, and Empathy. These six character traits are needed to effect positive changes in the world. The program coordinator, Ms. Yocheved Landesman, explained, “Each month we will be reading a book that has a lesson about one of these traits. The goal is for our students, in every grade, to envision what kind of person they would like to be in the future and to identify the steps and tools they need to take in order have a positive impact on the world. The Book of the Month unifies the school and at the same time speaks to the age and maturity of each girl.”
As an introduction to the theme, the students will be reading the Dr. Seuss’s classic Oh the Places You’ll Go. The book is about embarking on the journey of life. It talks about being prepared to go out into the world and succeed, but does warn that there will be some bumps in the road.
http://5tjt.com/news-from-the-hills-46/

Milagros

A Colombian baby came back from the dead more than 10 hours after being sent to the morgue.

The tiny tot - now-named Milagros (which means "miracles") -- was
born prematurely in Quibdo in the Pacific state of Choco in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/baby-back-dead-10-hours-death-article-1.1520478#ixzz2l2ONtoav

Israeli Economy Minister,  Naftali Bennett, was interviewed by CNN's Christiane Amanpour. At the 7' 38" mark of the video, an interesting exchange ensues.

I wonder whether you think it was wise of your colleague the Housing Minister to announce this massive new building in the occupied West Bank - even the Prime Minister didn't know about it and was pretty angry about it.

Well, first of all, Christiane, you talk about occupied - I just want to point out one thing.

No, no, let me just ask the question  - please

But, but since you say the term occupied, I have to point out - I'm holding a coin here

It's an international term

from Jerusalem in Hebrew

It's an international term, Mr. Bennett

I know, and I don't accept it. This coin, which says in Hebrew "freedom of Zion" was used by Jews 2000 years ago in the state of Israel in what you call occupied. One cannot occupy his own home.

Click here to view interview.

The Thanksgiving turkey

Rabbi Jeremy Gordon discusses Why turkey gave some rabbis a headache.

There is a list of birds known in the ancient Near East which are forbidden, but what of a bird unknown to the world of the Torah and Talmud? Rabbinic argument has split between those, such as the Rosh, who consider that there are simanim that, if they can be observed on a newly discovered bird, would allow that bird to be deemed kosher; and those, such as the Shach, who insist a bird can only be considered kosher if there is a clear tradition, or masorah, that such birds were always considered kosher — which would seem to render the turkey forbidden.

...The tale was made more complicated by the initial, erroneous, assumption that turkeys were nothing more than larger (and “Indian”, hence the Hebrew term hodu for turkey) versions of the European chicken. By the time this zoological confusion had been clarified, Jews had been eating turkey for some time and, in a coup of legal realpolitik, virtually all halachic authorities deemed turkey acceptable since it had both the simanim and, by this time at least, a demonstrated masorah.
Read more: http://www.thejc.com/judaism/judaism-features/113223/why-turkey-gave-some-rabbis-a-headache

Of marriageable age

The Rambam writes (Hilchas Ishus Perek 15 Halacha 2), a man should get married at the age of 17. The Magid Mishnah asks from the Mishnah In Avos that says, "Ben Shmoneh Esreh LiChupah" - a man should get married at the age of 18? How can the Rambam write 17? The Magid Mishnah anwers, when the Mishnah says that one should get marries at 18, it means in the 18^th year of his life...,which is after his 17^th birthday. The Mishnah is therefore saying the same as the Rambam.
Sefer Gan Raveh brings a proof to the opinion of the Rambam.  The pasuk in Parshas VaYigash lists the 10 sons of Binyamin. One of his sons was called Chupim. Targum Yonason Ben Uziel explains, all the names of Binyamin's sons were named after an episode that connected to his brother Yosef. He named his son Chupim - because Yosef was sold at the time that he was fit for Chuppah - fit to get married. We know, in Parshas VaYeishev the pasuk clearly states that Yosef was sold at the age of 17 ("Yosef Ben Shva Esreh Shana"). How then can Yonason Ben Uziel say that Yosef was at the age of marriage when he was sold? It must be that Yonason Ben Uziel agrees with the Rambam that "Ben Shmoneh Esreh LiChupah" means at the age of 17... in the 18^th year!
http://revach.net/tefila/article.php?id=1416

Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier discusses marriage and divorce at Mishpacha Magazine.

“We’re seeing significantly more divorces today than in previous years, and I attribute it to three reasons. Firstly, people are more fragile today; they lack a certain ‘wholesomeness,’ a sense of being comfortable with who they are and where they fit in the world.

He cites the “age of consumerism” as the second biggest factor in many divorces today, the premise of which is that there’s always a better, newer model out there.
Read more: http://www.mishpacha.com/Browse/Article/3679/The-Before-and-After-of-Great-Marriages