"Bla Bla Bla"

The purpose of this blog is to cultivate refinement at the Shabbat table. Please share.
In memory of Ezekiel ben Elana z''l.

Here's a great question for your dinner table:

What is a "refined" person?

The Talmud tells of a certain Rabbi Alexandri, one of my personal favorites, who famously called out, "Who wants life? Who wants life?"

The people gathered around him and said, "Give us life, Rebbe (i.e., teach us)!"

"Guard your tongue from evil and your mouth from deceit....turn from the bad and toward the good."

Three questions about this lesson.

1. Why does R' Alexandri ask the question two times?
2. Why does he focus on speech, among all other human activities and faculties?
3. Does this teaching imply that we should all sleep as much as possible? When you're sleeping you are not able to speak lashon hara nor to lie.

A1 — The repetition implies two kinds of life - in this world and the next. Many things we do improve our life in this world, and many things we do improve our life in the next. Only a few mitzvahs directly impact both worlds.

A2 — Speech is our most human faculty. While all animals (and some plants!) communicate, human speech is fundamentally different (and this). gives us the greatest potential for holiness.

A3 — Pay attention to the second half of what R' Alexandri says - "turn from the bad and toward the good" means more than avoiding bad speech. It means cultivating good speech.

Question for your table - What types of speech are "good"?



Shabbat Shalom

 

PS - Tonight/tomorrow is the 9th of Av (short video). However, the fast is postponed until after Shabbat.

PPS - For some of the greatest Jewish speeches, click on the pic above.

PPPS - If you haven't already, please share barmitzvahalbum.com with your network.

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