Where Are the Men?

 

The purpose of this blog is to discover mensches at the Shabbat table....please share at your table....

Two weeks ago the bees created the buzz.

Last week, it was the babes.

This week: it's da boys.

I received a call from someone who was very upset about 19 murdered children. 

I told him I am upset too. And we commiserated for a bit.

But then I asked him, "Are you also upset about the 8,500 children who died that day from starvation and malnutrition, and the day before, and every day since?"

That means that 19 children are dying from "undernutrition" every three minutes.

He admitted that he hadn't been aware of those dying children, most of whom are in Africa.

It will be debated for years whether or not the Uvalde massacre was preventable. But is there any debate about the preventability of death from undernutrition?

Question for your table: Which is worse - the death of a child, or indifference to the death of a child?

Shabbat Shalom

In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man. - Hillel

PS - check out what that graphic links to - you might be pleased.


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Are You Confused?

 

The purpose of this blog is for nourishing conversation at the Shabbat table....please share....

Last week the bees created the buzz.

This week, it's the babes.

Here's a question to kick off the conversation: Can you guess which packaged food contains:

43% corn syrup
15% soy
28% oil
10% sucrose...??

Answer: that's one of the popular brands of infant formula that's been newsworthy this week.

Let's just get a few points on the record:

1. Breastmilk is perfect food for baby. Formula is imperfect food.

2. Breastmilk is a wonder-drug, giving the child a lifetime lower risk of obesity, diabetes, asthma, respiratory disease, SIDS and other bad things and lowers the mother's risk of breast cancer and high blood pressure.

3. As the baby grows, mommy's breastmilk chemistry changes, commensurate with the baby's developmental needs.

4. Most babies get some breastmilk, but for the majority it doesn't last long.

5. The total out-of-pocket cost of breastfeeding a baby is less than $100. The cost of bottle-feeding is $250-300 per month.

On yesterday's On Point radio program it was argued that the current shortage is a result of monopolizing forces in the market, distorted by the WIC program's rules limited which brands of formula may be bought with food stamps. 

Question for your table - Why are we spending billions to give poor families inferior baby food when we could spend a fraction of that to teach/help more women to breastfeed?

(It seems to me the answer is obvious - some people haven't heard the message that the purpose of life is "love your neighbor", not "love your net worth".)


Shabbat Shalom


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What's the Buzz?

 

The purpose of this blog is to create a good buzz at the Shabbat table....please share, forward, and of course print....

 

ANNOUNCEMENT - The Torah Health and Fitness book is now in its final typesetting phase. If you were considering sharing in the mitzvah of publishing the book with a dedication in honor or memory of a loved one, there are many options from $36 up, please reply to this email and let me know. It is a rare opportunity to make a big, meaningful impact. For details, or to sign up for book announcements, visit TorahHealth.org.

Thank you for the appreciative comments on last week's wonder of nature. 

This week, another springtime theme....

What you're looking at on the left is evidence of the Seinfelds' new venture into the world of beehives. 

Why? Long story.

How? I found this "Amish-made" starter kit. And then we ordered some bees from Gardner Apiaries in Baxley, Georgia.

Who knew that they would come like that, via U.S. Mail? I had no idea.

On Wednesday morning, we were sitting in our dining room and the doorbell rang. It was a mail lady. The mail is never delivered in the morning, and they never ring the bell.

She was holding what you see above - a mail-sorting box holding a cage containing what appears to be a thousand bees. 

It has all kinds of warnings on it, such as, "KEEP VENTILATED - BEES NEED TO BREATHE!"

The mail lady said, "We tried to call you but y'all didn't answer. I love bees and I was afraid of keeping them in the post office too long, so I just brought them over."

Can you imagine.

I'm going to keep this long story very short and just say that with the guidance of the friendly folks over at Gardner's Bees, we (I should say my fearless wife) got the bees into the hive and the queen's cage uncorked (a big deal, by the way) so we appear to be on our way to homemade honey for Rosh Hashanah!

We have a thousand things to learn, and yes we did get stung, but so far no regrets.... I'll keep you posted....

First question for your table: How many foods can you name that rely on bees for their pollination? (to the left is a clue; here's a list of 95)

Second question for your table: What's more amazing — that you can mail a box of buzzing bees, or that a postal worker would make a special delivery because she's concerned for the bees' welfare? Or that yours, truly would try such a hobby?


Shabbat Shalom


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Giving Tree?

The purpose of this blog is for Shabbat conversation to sprout and blossom....please share, forward, and of course print....

ANNOUNCEMENT - The Torah Health and Fitness book is now in its final typesetting phase. If you were considering sharing in the mitzvah of publishing the book with a dedication in honor or memory of a loved one, there are many options from $36 up to much larger amounts, please reply to this email and let me know. It is a rare opportunity to make a big, meaningful impact. For details, or to sign up for book announcements, visit TorahHealth.org.
 

Giving Tree?

This wonder of nature is not a photoshop trick!

It's a tree in Montenegro that just happens to have a hollow core and just happens be growing over an underground spring that gushes every spring.

Too bad you can't plant a tree like that.

Or maybe it's not too bad? Maybe you don't want a pond in the back yard?

First questions for your table....Did you ever plant a tree? What about a fruit tree?

When we bought this house 13 years ago, it had about 4 trees. We now have over 30 trees on all sides of our home (mostly in the back yard).

Most started out as $14.99 saplings that I planted with my own hands and feet.

In fierce competition for tallest tree in the yard are a weeping willow and a fire maple. Of course, the willow wins branches-down for overall size.

When we bought the house, the backyard was a hot, unfriendly patch in the summer and a pond after a rainstorm. Today it's a shady, friendly urban oasis that never floods.

Trees are great.

Two of our trees masquerade as grape vines. 

Planting vines (or any fruit tree) triggers one of the only agricultural mitzvos that applies worldwide (most of them only pertain to the Land of Israel). Can you guess which one?

Answer: not eating the fruit of a tree until its fourth or fifth year.

This mitzvah is called orlah and teaches one of the greatest lessons in the Torah.

Question for your table - What's the lesson?

Shall I give you a hint? Modern technologies have made this lesson more pertinent than ever before.


Shabbat Shalom

PS....

I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest / Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day, / And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear / A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain; / Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me, / But only God can make a tree.
                                                                — Joyce Kilmer

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