Tumbledeeds?

The purpose of this blog is to protect the Shabbat table ecosystem... Please share...

Do you know how many days til Channukah?

Try asking this at the table tonight:

Did you ever see a real tumbleweed? Do they actually exist?

Or do they only exist in Tinseltown's "Wild West"?

I saw my first real tumbleweeds in 1990. I was on I-10, somewhere near Joshua Tree, heading east across a patch of desert that looked more or less like Wile E Coyote's territory. 

My reaction was, "Cool, tumbleweeds." And that was about the most brain power I ever devoted to the subject.

But what would you do if you came home to this?

Now we know: not so cool. It's a highly destructive invasive species that probably originated in Eurasia and came to North America in the 1800s. And they're now found in Australia and Africa. 

What is arguably cool is the ingenuity of the plant. (Actually, there are many different plants that make tumbleweeds.) The basic idea is that the tumbleweed originates as the flower of plant that dies, dries, and falls off. But inside that tumbleweed is a thousand seeds waiting to be activated. The weed blows around until it finds a resting place moist enough to activate its seeds. 

This is leading to a question for your table.

If people had intentionally brought in this destructive species, we could have someone conveniently to blame, like the pythons in Florida or the Japanese knotweed in England.

Even Antartica is threatened.

But most of the time, it's inadvertent. 

So for your table: Is there a takeaway? Is there a meaningful lesson from the tumbleweed? Is there lemonade to be made from this lemon?

Perhaps - just perhaps - the lesson is to be found in the solution. The only way to tackle this very real problem is massive cooperation, not only within a society but between countries. Is it possible that we will one day look the invasive species as a gift that gave all of humanity a common enemy that could unite us?

Or perhaps the lesson from the tumbleweed in particular is to remind us that when you do an act of kindness for someone, you've sent out a packet of "kindness seeds" that may blow in random directions and take root in unexpected places.

Shabbat Shalom

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Reality... What a Concept!

The purpose of this blog is to reboot the Shabbat table... Please share...

Do you know how many days til Channukah?

As I mentioned last week, we are just now wrapping up Sukkot and the Holidays.

Real life can now begin again.

But what is "real life"?

To nurture this topic, for your table tonight, I would like to offer:

(a) A radical idea about reality
(b) A realistic fact about reality
(c) A question about reality

The radical idea about reality is that contemplating even a single wonder of nature is one of the fundamentals of cultivating spirituality and therefore we should strive to make such contemplation part of our daily routine. But not to make it "routine" - it must be juicy — an experience of radical amazement. 

For example, once a day try pausing to appreciate the incredible human body.

Or the wonders of a single cell. Or the miracle of DNA (or this). Or Einstein's Big Idea. Or quantum entanglement. Or...?

But here's the realistic fact about reality which you already know: not everyone gets turned on by the same WOW. 

For example, this week I took a few kids to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

I personally had one goal: experience the eye-popping wonders of Geology, Gems and Minerals. 

But guess what — to get to Geology you first have to walk through Oceanea and dodge Mammals, etc. etc. Trying to get even three people to follow the leader in a place like that is like taking a child through a candy store. My WOW may not be the same as your WOW.

For example, I know one person who LOVES the daily download from the JWST (click on the image above for a full-screen WOW) and I know another person who finds these photos rather dull....

Question for your table: What's your WOW?

And all this amazement leads to the promised question about reality... What about inward contemplation? 

On this topic, you may have heard about the Baltimore-based organization called the Holistic Life Foundation that has been successfully lowering rates of violence, truancy and general mischief in public schools by replacing detention with meditation.

Into a room of pillows and lavender, an elementary school student walks, enraged.

He’s just been made fun of by another student, an altercation that turned to pushing and name-calling. But rather than detention or the principal’s office, his teacher sent him here, to Robert W. Coleman Elementary School’s meditation room.

“I did some deep breathing, had a little snack, and I got myself together,” the boy recalled. “Then I apologized to my class.”

Let's lob this one to the table - What would be a more pertinent daily practice: contemplating a wonder of nature, or cultivating serenity?


Shabbat Shalom

Thank you everyone who responded to our fall fundraising campaign! You have helped us reach our goal of $18,000 to support  programs like Love Your Neighbor, Jewish Teachers Institute and Torah Health and Fitness. It is never too late to become a partner (or renew your partnership) and show your appreciation for this weekly message in any of the following ways:

- For Paypal or Credit or Debit Card donation (one time, or make it monthly) click here.
- Venmo, Zelle, etc. click here for info.
- Through your local Federation - JSLI is registered in San Franciso, San Diego and Baltimore.
- Through Schwab Charitable - they have our address.
- Use https://smile.amazon.com and Amazon will donate a % of the sale to the non-profit of your choice (such as Jewish Spiritual Literacy), at no extra cost to you. Why not? 

For more information about the 18K campaign and the planned use of funds, click here.

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As always, this message can be read online at http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com

Psst, Hey Buddy, Wanna Wave?

The purpose of this blog is to ride the Sukkot wave... Please share...

As a follow-up to last week's topic on Jewish identity, the following question was posed on a Jewish discussion forum yesterday:

My commute home from work involves me walking down 7th Ave through Times Square, and nearly every street corner had young Jewish men holding what I assume is a Lulav and Etrog based on what I've Googled so far (I only found out Sukkot was a holiday today as I'm trying to research this). They were mainly minding their business, but most of the groups stopped me and asked if I was Jewish (I'm not).

So I guess my question is why? What was their intention to stop me? What would happen if I was Jewish and said yes?

First of all, I love this question. I love that this person took the time to do some research, trying to get to the bottom of this lulav business.... "What do they want from me??!!"

Or perhaps: "Am I missing out on something?"

Equally interesting were the responses to the question. Some were purely factual:

It's a mitzvah (positive commandment) to shake the lulav and etrog on Sukkot, so people offer/encourage those who don't have their own to fulfill the mitzvah. Essentially you make the blessing, shake it in all 6 directions, and go on your way.

But others editorialized:

They are asking if you're Jewish in case you'd like to fulfill a mitzvah and shake the lulav and etrog with them. Since you're not, there's no mitzvah to be had unfortunately. But it's nice to be invited to the party even if you don't want to go, right?

This is jewcy and leads to so many questions for your table, such as:

How would you respond if a lulav-armed chassid stopped you and asked if you're Jewish?
Would you accept the offer and wave the four species?
Why only invite Jews? Are Gentiles not allowed to wave?


Happy Sukkot and

Shabbat Shalom

PS - Click the pic - I embedded a link to a most enjoyable family film on the theme of Sukkos.


We are in the middle of our fall fundraising campaign. Help us reach our goal of $18,000 to support our ongoing programs like Love Your Neighbor and in particular our newest programs - Jewish Teachers Institute and Torah Health and Fitness. You can become a partner (or renew your partnership) and show your appreciation for this weekly message in any of the following ways:

- For Paypal or Credit or Debit Card donation (one time, or make it monthly) click here.
- Venmo, Zelle, etc. click here for info.
- Through your local Federation - JSLI is registered in San Franciso, San Diego and Baltimore.
- Through Schwab Charitable - they have our address.
- Use https://smile.amazon.com and Amazon will donate a % of the sale to the non-profit of your choice (such as Jewish Spiritual Literacy), at no extra cost to you. Why not? 

For more information about the 18K campaign and the planned use of funds, click here.

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What Are Your "Payos"?

 The purpose of this blog is to wakesurf Yom Kippur... Please share... 

In the middle of Yom Kippur, we took a break to say Yizkor.

As usual, I did my Yizkor at the nearby assisted living place. (We call the program "Love Your Neighbor"; it's running at several residences with dozens of volunteers.)

This is a motley group of widows and widowers, none of whom can walk unassisted.

Most have no family nearby. 

A few of them can hold a normal conversation.

I like to think that even those who cannot hold a normal conversation nonetheless are aware and appreciate that I'm there.

So I like start Yizkor with a story.

For some reason, the story that came to mind this week was that of a nine-year-old boy in Bnai Braq who was told by his doctor and parents that he was probably going to die. 

They said that they would try to save him by giving him chemotherapy, but that it is likely that all of his hair would fall out.

Upon hearing this information, the boy got teary and left the room. His parents heard him from the other room saying,

"Lord, I accept the decree that you've given me that I must get this treatment and that I might die. But please, please, please don't take away my payos, the sign that I'm a Jew!"

Needless to say, his tears moved everyone else to tears.

He underwent the treatment. 

And he lost all of his hair.

Except for his payos.

There was no medical explanation for this.

Rabbi Nachman of Breslaw said that we should learn three things from children: they're always busy, they're always happy, and they never tire of saying "Please, please, please Daddy!" until they get what they want.

Question for your table - if you had to give up everything Jewish but could save just one thing - an object, or payos, or a custom - what would you save? What are your "payos"?


Shabbat Shalom

and 

Chag Sameach


We are in the middle of our fall fundraising campaign. Help us reach our goal of $18,000 to support our ongoing programs like Love Your Neighbor and in particular our newest programs - Jewish Teachers Institute and Torah Health and Fitness. You can become a partner (or renew your partnership) and show your appreciation for this weekly message in any of the following ways:

- For Paypal or Credit or Debit Card donation (one time, or make it monthly) click here.
- Venmo, Zelle, etc. click here for info.
- Through your local Federation - JSLI is registered in San Franciso, San Diego and Baltimore.
- Through Schwab Charitable - they have our address.
- Use https://smile.amazon.com and Amazon will donate a % of the sale to the non-profit of your choice (such as Jewish Spiritual Literacy), at no extra cost to you. Why not? 

For more information about the 18K campaign and the planned use of funds, click here.

Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!  Like it, tweet it, forward it....