Vintage Wein

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

August 23-24 2025 • 29 Av 5785 • Re'ay (Deut 11-16).

Vintage Wein

The Jewish World has lost one of our heroes.

Rav Berel Wein died last Shabbat. 

You can read many eulogies about his remarkable life and impact on Jewish education.

I was lucky to have had two private conversations with him.

The first was in the late 1990s in Jerusalem when I escorted him to a lecture he gave to a visiting Federation Mission.

Although it was an evening program at the end of a long day, he showed no signs of fatigue and every sign of enthusiasm to connect with Jewish people.

I asked him if he agreed with the premise that intra-Jewish conflict was a greater threat to us than our external enemies. 

He said, "Absolutely, it's obvious, that's what Chazal (Talmudic Rabbis) say, that's what Josephus says, that's what we see when we study Jewish history."

And that is why Rav Wein's primary focus was teaching Jewish history. He would often say, "If you don't know where you come from, then you don't know where you are. And if you don't know where you are, then you don't know where you're going... it's the key to faith and belief."

And therefore, he said, studying and teaching history is the key to solving this endless intra-Jewish conflict that has been our greatest enemy for thousands of years.

If you'd like to raise the bar for your own understanding of Jewish history, you could begin with one of his wonderful books.

Or one of his creative videos.

Or one of his lectures.

Or click on the pic above to see what's happening at his Jewish Destiny Foundation.

My second conversation with him was six years ago while developing Torah Health & Wellness. I asked him if he personally focused on this mitzvah, and how. He was very matter-of-fact: "Of course – you need to be healthy in order to achieve your purpose in this world." He said that he ate in moderation and exercised several times a week with a personal trainer (this was at age 85).

Question for your Shabbat table - Do you 👍🏼 or 👎🏼 with his view of the urgency of studying Jewish history? 

(And if you agree, what are you going to do about it?)

Shabbat Shalom


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Sweet the Small Stuff?

 

 

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

August 16-17, 2025 • 22 Av 5785 • Eikev (Deut 7-11).
Happy birthday shout-out to Shelli! 

 

Do you recall the 1997 best-seller, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff?

(Did you or anyone you know ever read it?)

It was more than a best seller - it spent two years on the best seller lists and was translated into 30 languages, and launched an entire brand for author Richard Carlson: 

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff in Love
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Men
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Teachers

And on and on.... It's amazing how many ways you can rewrite a book! It reminds me of the quip by the late Rav/Dr Avraham Twerski - "I wrote one book 75 times."

I searched but could not find Carlson's books on recommended-reading lists by psychotherapists.

Perhaps because the title says it all — it's easy to get caught up in a worry or anxiety about something that either is not really consequential or that you can't do anything about.

But I wonder how many people reading this know the full title of his original book?

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, and It's All Small Stuff

Question for your table - do you agree that "it's all small stuff??"

And there is an even more interesting question that comes to mind, from a perspective of Jewish wisdom, which inspired this week's title.

OK, let's say I conquer anxiety, worry and anger, and I stop sweating the small stuff. 

The thing is, the small stuff is still there in my life, whether or not I'm sweating it.

The question is - would it be possible to do better than "not sweating the small stuff" - but to actually sweeten the small stuff? What do you think?

 

Shabbat Shalom

PS - If you want to learn a great secret to sweetening the small stuff, click on the image above. 

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Et Tu B'Av?

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

August 8-9, 2025 • 15 Av 5785 • V'eschanan (Deut 3-7).

Tonight is the full moon of our 5th lunar month, the month of Av.

This event is called Tu B’Av.

The moon symbolizes the Jewish People - the "small light" reflecting the "great light" (Bereishis/Gen 1:16).

The moon symbolizes Jewish history - waxing and waning. And even when it looks like we're gone, we always come back. 

It's the pinnacle of the month of the lion, which is Yehudah (Judah) which is the origin of the word "Jew" — the tribe that symbolizes leadership achieved through gratitude and honesty.

(As opposed to leadership achieved through power or money.)

If you happen to be near a beach, you can experience a reminder of that power by seeing a high tide tonight and a low tide tomorrow mid-day.

The moon symbolizes the Jewish woman, who maintains her steady power whether or not she exerts it visibly. 

Fun fact: the highest high tide and lowest low tide are specifically when the moon is invisible. 

The Midrash says that the sun and the moon were once the same size, but then the moon shrank. And that one day the moon will be restored to its original size. 

These are symbolic statements and must be interpreted.

Question for your table: Based on the above moon symbolisms, what's your interpretation?

Shabbat Shalom

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Can Your Backyard Be Holy?

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

August 1-2, 2025 • 8 Av 5785 • Devarim (Deut 1-3).

Last week, when you saw the new teachers website, you were probably thinking, "What's he going to come up with next?"

Yes, this week there is again something new under the sun of Jewish education and engagement!

Our newest program is a response to the following pain-points:

“My child wants a bar/bat mitzvah but the Temple requires a year’s membership and frankly we’re not so interested.”
“We want a meaningful experience that isn’t just a ritual and a party.”
“How can I give my child a connection to Judaism when we’re so far from any Jewish community?”
“My child has learning differences — are there any non-traditional options?”

First question for your table: Do any of those sound familiar? Have you ever heard anyone say any of these things? Do you know anyone who might be feeling that way?

(If so, please send them this email!)

The new Backyard Bar Mitzvah program is a not-for-profit service of yours, truly and JSLI.

It's so new that we haven't even linked to it on our home page yet (but the Rosh Hashanah countdown timer is ticking away there...)

Now, this week's title was inspired by a question one of my volunteer proofreaders asked:

My only concern is how this concept will go over with religious Jews. Will they see this as a “dilution” of a significant Jewish rite of passage?

Second question for your table: What do you think? Is the Backyard Bar Mitzvah concept a dilution of a significant Jewish rite of passage?


Shabbat Shalom

(For those fasting on the 9th of Av - Saturday night through Sunday - wishing you an easy fast.)


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