Happy Birthday to Rick! Wishing you health and blessings "ad me'ah v'esrim" - until 120!
Did you ever see LeBron James play?
Who would LeBron James rather play one-on-one —
Kobe Bryant or…
Alexander Seinfeld?
Why would he obviously want to play Kobe? Won’t he beat me so much more easily?
It’s
obvious, isn’t it? Pleasure in life is not the absence of pain! We find
pleasure only through challenges, or “pain” as it were.
No pain, no gain.
There is this guy I know.
He's trying to conquer an internet addiction.
He's trying to conquer an addiction to unhealthy food.
He's trying to conquer an addiction to comfort.
We have such a pull towards comfort - everyone knows that comfort sells.
Judaism says that comfort does not = pleasure.
Comfort comes when you get rid of pain.
Pleasure comes when you use pain to gain.
Think
about exercise and sport. Think about learning music. Think about
learning anything. Think about trying to be a better wife or husband or
parent or child or friend.
Difficulties in life, these are the pain that we need in order to experience the real pleasures of life.
Think about it.
For your table - What are the biggest pains in your life? What are the biggest pleasure?
Shabbat Shalom
PS - This Table Talk was adapted from The Art of Amazement - nearly a decade in print.
PPS - Want to make your Table Talk rabbi happy? Like it, tweet it, or just forward it to someone who might enjoy it.
Dedicated to the memory of my grandparents Lester & Sylvia Seinfeld, whose yahrzeits were this week. Also
dedicated to the memory of all fallen US soldiers, including the 52
Jews who have died in uniform since 9/11/01 (see list at bottom). (To dedicate a future Table Talk, send an email.
In
my grandfather's memory, and in honor of the coming end of the school
year, here's a story I've told in the past with a message that we all
need to hear once a year.
It was a sunny August afternoon, some weeks before my freshman year of college.
My grandparents were visiting for no particular reason and I was taking cover in the family room.
Among the old Penguin paperbacks lining the back wall. My mother's college texts that she displayed like family heirlooms. Euripides and Sophocles, Dante and Shakespeare, Brontë and Faulkner, and others in-between.
The
truth is, I didn't even known they were visiting, but in he walked with
a jocular rebuke, "Don't you greet someone when they come to visit?"
"Hi, Pop, how are you?"
"I'm fine. All ready for college?"
"Not yet, getting there!"
"Well," he smiled, "I have just one word of advice for you before you go."
"Just one word?"
"One word."
I
could hardly believe it. This was great. This was going to be one of
those moments that I'd be able to tell my own grandchildren about, and
better yet, to blog about.
I waited for the word. He had already
started to stoop, yet had exchanged his 1975 dark-rimmed glasses for
lighter, youthful frames.
No hurry. He was smiling, pausing for dramatic effect.
Finally came "the word":
"Don't take courses."
OK, that's interesting. Are we having a senior moment, or is there a punchline?
I raised an eyebrow or two and waited.
Then came the punchline:
"Take teachers."
"Take teachers?"
"With
the most interesting subject in the world and a bad teacher, you won't
learn a darn thing. But with the most boring subject in the world and a
good teacher, you'll learn everything."
What a thrill! After 18 years of grandfatherly advice, here finally was something that seemed really relevant and true!
I
did follow that advice, in college and beyond, and it never failed me.
You can usually tell in one session. Take the great ones, no matter what
they are teaching, avoid the bad ones, no matter what they are
teaching.
Life is short. There is much to learn. Invest your learning time well.
Try this question at your Shabbat table: Who were the best teachers in your life? Did you ever thank them?
Shabbat Shalom
PS - Please remember to thank all of your child's teachers. Gifts are unnecessary, but a hand-written thank you note from you or better yet from your child means a lot. Teaching is hard work. They don't have to be perfect to deserve our appreciation.
PPS - Want to make your Table Talk rabbi happy? Like it, tweet it, or just forward it to someone who might enjoy it.
American JEWISH casualty list since SEPT 11, 2001: Pontell, Darin Lieutenant JG, Navy, Pentagon 9/11/01 Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia
Evnin, Mark A. Corporal, Marines, Vermont 4/3/03 Central Iraq
Smith, Eric A. Chief Warrant Officer, Army, New York 4/2/03, Central Iraq
Wershow, Jeffery Specialist, Army National Guard, Florida 7/6/03 Baghdad, Iraq
Bernstein, David 1st Lieutenant, Army, Pennsylvania 10/18/03 Taza, Iraq
Fletcher, Jacob S. Private First Class, Army, New York 11/13/03 Samara, Iraq
Seiden, Marc S. Specialist, Army, New Jersey 1/2/04 Baghdad, Iraq
Dvorin, Seth 2nd Lieutenant, Army, New Jersey 2/3/04 Iskandariyah, Iraq
Wong, Elijah Sergeant, Army National Guard, Arizona 2/9/04 Sinjar, Iraq
Bruckenthal, Nathan Petty Officer, Coast Guard, New York 4/24/04 Northern Persian Gulf
In memory of Bruce Keller, who tragically left this world this week. Our condolences to his family and all those who cared for him.
You would think that by now the frequency of the question would diminish ever so slightly.
Yet it doesn't let up.
Almost every day, someone asks me.
So I find myself joking, "I have a new policy, I only answer that question once a day."
Half-joking.
Can you guess the question?
"Are you related?"
Someone asked me yesterday. And the day before that.
Sometimes it's someone that I've known for years. Other times it's a stranger who comes up to me out of the blue.
Hey Jerry, in case you're reading this, I just want you to know - one of these days, they're going to be asking you that question!
The real question that I would like to offer you for your Shabbat table is this:
What difference does it make if I'm related or not?
As
my 7-year-old Devorah realized this morning, "We're related to
everyone, even non-Jews, because we all come from Adam and Eve!"
Regardless of what you think of the historicity of that statement, you gotta love the ethic.
So
why, I ask you, does it matter whether or not today's Jews are
genetically descended from ancient Jews? (If you are not familiar with
this controversy, click here.)
The purpose of this blog is to get the kids talking at the table. Please print and share.
This week's question for your table:
Who was the most famous convert to Judaism ever?
Answer: Ruth the Moabitess (i.e., she was from Moab).
It is an interesting fact that the numerical value (gematria) of her name is 200 (resh) + 6 (vav) + 400 (tav) = 606.
So what you ask?
Since a Gentile has 7 mitzvoth (the 7 Noahide Laws) and a Jew has 613, her name alludes to the 606 additional mitzvoth she received when she became a Jew.
(Source: Talmud Yevamot 47b)
Question #2 - Can you name the 7 Noahide Laws? (try to guess)
Question #3 for your table - The Torah says that there are about 10^18 stars in the universe. The question is, Why is this significant?
Back in 1996 when we were expecting our first child, the doctor wanted to run a routine ultrasound.
He said it wasn't required, but could reveal certain problems and was a good idea, and that there was no risk.
Something about that technology sounded invasive and risky.
Something bothered us about bombarding our baby with anything, not even sound waves.
Something bothered us about his "no risk" certainty.
So we did something very unscientific.
We asked our rabbi what he thought.
Without
hesitation he answered, "There's no evidence that they're harmful, but I don't think they've been around long enough
to assume they're safe. Unless there is an urgent medical need, I
wouldn't do it."
So we declined. (Later, during the second trimester, we had a more urgent need for one.)
NO, I did not say that rabbis can replace doctors.
Did you ever see LeBron James play?
