It's So Tempting . . .

The goal of this blog is to bring some leadership training to the Shabbat table....


With news so dramatic, the temptation to comment is hard to resist.

But I know that you expect more of this email. You enter this intellectual space every week for a break from the 24-hour news feed, for a little bit of soul food.

May I just point out that the Brexit was no landslide.

If the British People had decided to require a sensible supermajority, it would have failed.

If yesterday's vote were an opinion poll, it would be a statistical tie. (Not unlike the last four POTUS elections.)

Making such a radical national policy based on a simple majority reminds one of the people of Athens voting to go to war with Syracuse, and some of Pericles's best quotes:

 
 

""Your empire is now like a tyranny: it may have been wrong to take it; it is certainly dangerous to let it go.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/pericles.html

Your empire is now like a tyranny: it may have been wrong to take it; it is certainly dangerous to let it go.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/pericles.html

"Wait for that wisest of all counselors, Time.”
"Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you."
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”
“The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.”


All of this leads to an interesting question for your table, which is ultimately a spiritual question, and a very Jewish one:

For profound progress to occur, which is more important — grass-roots change or great leadership?


Shabbat Shalom

PS - Which is your favorite Pericles quote?
PPS - There are two hidden links in this post. Can you find them?

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If She's Happy and You Know It...

The goal of this blog is to bring some gracefulness training to the Friday night dinner table  - please print and share, repost, forward, tweet, etc.

In memory of my grandparents, Lester and Sylvia Seinfeld, whose yahrzeits are tonight/tomorrow and Sunday night/Monday. They knew each other, from the day that they met until the day my grandfather died, for seventy years and seventy days, inseparable in life and in death. And they were the kind of people who truly rejoiced in other people's successes.

Thank you for all the kind responses to last week's big announcement. (If you missed it, just click here.)

This week's first question for your table is simple:


What would you suppose Jewish tradition would say about a person who fails to share another's burden, who fails to sympathize?

If you answered, "mean", "cold", or even "un-Jewish", you wouldn't be so far off the mark.

But what about the opposite?

What about when a person is feeling rather bad for himself or herself. The person is struggling, isn't so happy, has problems....

Think about how many people have health problems. Or financial. Or are fighting with a spouse or a parent or a child.

Can Person A really be expected to be happy for Person B's blessings when Person A's life is so stressful?

Let's make this personal.

The odds-makers are giving Game 7 to the Warriors. 80 pecent of Game 7s go to the home team.

So what are the odds that LeBron joins Stephen's party Sunday night? Should he?

Imagine hoping for a promotion and one of your co-workers gets it instead of you.

How do you feel? How should you feel?

You're struggling to pay the bills and a wealthy acquaintance wins the lottery.

How do you feel? How should you?

I'm guessing you can guess what Jewish wisdom has to say about these situations, can't you?

It's sometimes simply impossible to feel genuinely happy for another person, isn't it?

And Judaism wouldn't ask someone to do something impossible, right?

Actually, Jewish wisdom gives us two tools for mastering this level of maturity.

What do you suppose they are?
 
Shabbat Shalom

PS - There's a hidden link in this post - can you find it?

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Yes, But Is It a Mitzvah?

The goal of this blog is to bring some mental fitness training to the Friday night dinner table  - please print and share, repost, forward, tweet, etc.

Big announcement this week!!

Before we go there, a question for your table:

Health and fitness is surely sensible, but is it a mitzvah?

(That's not an aside. It's a prep for the announcement. See if you can get everyone at your table to answer it before you read on.)

A couple years ago I compiled a source sheet of 18 nuggets Jewish wisdom on health and fitness, which has been available on our free teacher's resource site.

But in January this year, while I waited for my dissertation committee's action, for the first time I actually studied these sources, and increased the number from 18 to 40.

The result, completed this week, is a new book! Yay.

Health and Fitness – Is it a Mitzvah? 40 Weeks of Guidance and Advice from the Sages, Including Practical Exercises, on Caring for One's Physical Health

Now, the book isn't out yet. I believe there is a need and demand for this book, but how can I be sure?

Do you think this book is a good idea?

One way I could tell is if the crowd helps me publish it. In order to cover the expenses of publishing, the first pages of the book will be devoted to dedications.

If you would like to participate in the mitzvah of bringing it into the world, please sponsor a one-line ($18) quarter-page ($180), half-page ($500) or full-page dedication. Just click or tap "reply" to this email and let me know. (These are all tax-deductible donations.)

(By the way, the book includes some of the current scientific wisdom on confusing topics such as fat and cholesterol, and exercise, as well as a very useful food calorie index.)

Question #1 today, above, was "Is it a mitzvah?"

Let's end with a follow-up question:

What's the point of doing any mitzvah?


Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach


PS - Tis the season for my 2008 "Galactic Torah" article, still online here.


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Wonder Women

The goal of this blog is to make you into a Friday night superhero - please print and share, repost, forward, tweet, etc.

Today we marked a bittersweet milestone.

It was the final session of Year 5 of our San Francisco women's Torah class, given Fridays via Skype.

Five years!

Just to give it perspective: these are busy women. The fact that they carve out an hour+ every Friday morning to come to a class with a virtual rabbi is nothing less than astonishing.

For me, it is always one the the highlights of the week.

I get to discuss highly interesting topics with highly intelligent people.

We call the class, "The Wisdom and Beauty of the Torah".

It is proof of the old adage that teachers often say, "I learn more than my students."

I am sure that is true. I appreciate them and the last session of the year is always bitter-sweet.

As a going-away present, I created for them an abriged version of Pirkei Avot to enjoy over the summer.

(If you would like a copy for your summer, shoot me a reply.)

Here's your 2 questions of the week (for your table, remember?):

1. Is the end of the school year sweet, bitter, or bitter-sweet?
2. Which is better - a summertime of learning or no learning?


Shabbat Shalom

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