tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-175674082024-03-17T20:03:48.677-07:00The Art of Amazement BlogWeekly "Table Talk" story and questions by the author of the Art of Amazement. To subscribe to this blog via email, visit http://jsli.org .Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.comBlogger883125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-42112265746449682932024-03-15T08:26:00.000-07:002024-03-15T08:26:07.014-07:00 The Dirt on Seeds<div style="background-color: white;"><div><div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></div><div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>March 15-16, 2024 • 6 Adar 2 5784 • Pekudei (Ex 38-40). </em></span></div><div><em><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The goal of this blog is to sprout </span><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;">delicious</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"> conversation at the Friday night dinner table</span></span></em><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>.</em></span><br /></div></div></div></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006PEABO?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20" href="https://www.tomatofest.com/Tomato_Seed_Collections_s/4.htm"><img align="left" alt="Spouting" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/ct9NpkI.gif" height="143" hspace="7" src="http://i.imgur.com/ct9NpkI.gif" style="cursor: default; height: 143px; width: 200px;" title="Spouting" vspace="0" width="200" /></a></span></em></span></span><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Last week, I <a data-cke-saved-href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/03/when-well-done-is-rare.html" href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/03/when-well-done-is-rare.html">stirred up controversy</a>.<br /><br />This week, something I hope completely uncontroversial.<br /><br />We went from snow flurries on Sunday to 70°+ the rest of the week.<br /><br />Is anyone not OK with that?<br /><br />Seems like time to get those tomatoes going.<br /><br />Did you ever do the germinate-a-seed thing when they were a child?<br /><br />Did you ever try it as an adult?<br /><br />If you stop to think about it, it's the most incredible thing, that this tiny little piece of almost nothingness can sit dry in a packet for years and do nothing. But put it in some soil with a few drops of water and a lot of warmth and it's like booting a computer with a built-in ROM.<br /><br />First, the seed begins to disintegrate, and if you were watching it you'd think it's becoming compost. But then its code causes it to shoot out a root in one direction and a green stem in the other, then leaves, then more leaves, and eventually an entire plant or even an entire tree with fruit etc.<br /><br />Reading about is like reading about a Mozart minuet:<br /><br /></span></span><div><em>It starts on a major 3rd to G so you instantly know what key you are in. Then there are the two a and b 5 note patterns that are just stepwise sequences in the scale.</em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em>Then there are some 3 note falling patterns (noted 1 and 2) that make it feel like it is 2/4 time. The fall is mirrored in the bass (3). Also there is a C# added. This should instantly tell you that it is changing key for three reasons. a) C# is not in the key of G. b) It is not being used just as a passing note. c) It occurs twice more in the next bar in more than one voice.</em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em>When a note like this occurs, it is usually a 'leading note' to the key it is modulating to. In this case D. this is confirmed by a V-I cadence in bar 6 of A D repeated again across bar 7 and 8 (noted at points 5 and 6 in my notes)</em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em>Then onto the second section. It starts of strange with a G# and E in the bass followed by an F natural. So it's definitely not G or D anymore. The G# makes me think A (because it is the leading note of A) but the following scale pattern has all natural notes which might make it A minor. Not sure, might need some help on that.</em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em>From there, it goes back into standard G with the return of F# and D natural. Actually the next falling scale pattern across bar 11 and 12 finished on a G major.</em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em>The C in the bass at bar 13 is a IV into another double cadence (noted 7 and 8) which this time is a V-I. It repeats the pattern of the previous double cadence at the end of the first section. The first cadence is contained within a bar and the second happens across two. The appearance of the leading note of G (f#) in the cadence solidifies the end and resolves itself nicely. (<a href="https://pianoendeavour.blogspot.com/2012/10/mozart-minuet-in-g-update-3-harmonic.html" target="_blank">source</a>)</em></div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br />Now try <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UcokDiBdgE" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UcokDiBdgE">experiencing it</a>.<br /><br />For years I was a failed seed sprouter, but finally an elderly neighbor learned me how to do it. "Ignore the planting-depth info on the packet," she said. "Most seeds don't sprout because they're <em>too deep</em>. Just a tiny bit of soil on the top is all you need."<br /><br />That's life-changing knowledge.<br /><br />The Talmud uses this process as a metaphor:<br /><br /><strong>Tzedakah</strong> (giving charity) is planting, <strong>Torah</strong> is watering, <strong>Chesed</strong> is harvesting.<br /><br />Question for your table: <em>In that metaphor, are we the farmer or the soil?</em><br /><br />It seems to me we're obviously the soil.<br /><br />Which means that - per my elderly neighbor:<br /><br />Like the seed, the Tzedakah need not be so deep - in fact, it should be near the surface - meaning, don't get caught (like I was yesterday) without cash in your pocket to give someone who asks.<br /><br />Like watering a plant - the Torah does need to go deep - it needs to get to the roots, and as the plant grows taller the water needs to go deeper.<br /><br />And the measure of a successful harvest is the amount and quality of Chesed that flows from a person. <br /><br />Question for your table - does this imply that Torah is <em>necessary</em> in order to do Chesed?<br /><br />What do you think?</span></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Shabbat Shalom,</span><br /><br /><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Alexander Seinfeld</em></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><br /><div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=When well done is rare? https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/03/when-well-done-is-rare.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=When%20well%20done%20is%20rare?%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/03/when-well-done-is-rare.html"> email</a></i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class=" cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto !important;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-35558376170986972352024-03-08T08:00:00.000-08:002024-03-08T08:00:00.139-08:00When Well Done is Rare?<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><div><em style="font-size: 8pt;">Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>March 8-9, 2024 • 29 Adar 1 5784 • Vayakel (Ex 34-36). </em></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The goal of this blog is an A for effort at the Shabbat table</em></span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em> ... please print & share.</em></span><br /><br /></div></div></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006PEABO?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006PEABO?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20"><img align="left" alt="Puppy catch" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/5d49f88535/uxSEQSN.gif" height="131" hspace="7" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/5d49f88535/uxSEQSN.gif" style="cursor: default; height: 131px; width: 200px;" title="Puppy catch" vspace="0" width="200" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Here's the situation:<br /><br />Your child studies for a test.<br /><br />She pull out all stops and <em>studies</em> for the test.<br /><br />(This isn't cramming - this is at the end of a week of diligent attendance and note-taking.)<br /><br />She takes the test.<br /><br />Afterwards she says, "I feel pretty good about it. I think I knew most of the answers."<br /><br />The next day the teacher returns the test. To her great disappointment, your child received a much lower score than she'd expected.<br /><br />She says to you, "Why should I even try?"<br /><br />It says in Pirkei Avot, "According to the effort is the reward."<br /><br />But that's not usually true, is it?<br /><br />What do you think?</span></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Shabbat Shalom,</span><br /><br /><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Alexander Seinfeld</em></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><br /><div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Lose the battle, win the war? https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/lose-battle-win-war.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Lose%20the%20battle,%20win%20the%20war?%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/lose-battle-win-war.html"> email</a></i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class=" cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto !important;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-23981861925552465522024-02-29T23:32:00.000-08:002024-02-29T23:32:49.875-08:00Lose the Battle, Win the War?<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>March 1-2, 2024 • 22 Adar 1 5784 • Ki Sisa (30-34). </em></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The goal of this email is a gold-medal</em></span><em style="font-size: 10.6667px;"> </em><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>dinner conversation ... please print & share.</em></span><br /><br /><br /></div></div></div></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08M4C6VY5?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08M4C6VY5?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20"><img align="left" alt="BATTLE-WAR 2" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/6deca96991/BATTLE-WAR%202.jpeg" height="119" hspace="7" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/6deca96991/BATTLE-WAR%202.jpeg" style="cursor: default; height: 119px; width: 150px;" title="BATTLE-WAR 2" vspace="0" width="150" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Imagine you're having a fight.<br /><br />With your spouse, your parent, your child, your sibling, your neighbor....<br /><br />You know that you're right and they're wrong.<br /><br />This is not just a matter of opinion – you <em>know</em> that you're right.<br /><br />Let's say it's about a controversial topic. I'm willing to bet that you have clear and strong opinion about at least one of the following:<br /><br />- Should abortion be illegal?<br />- Is Mr. Trump fit to serve in the White House?<br />- Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza?<br />- Should Barbie win Best Picture at the Oscars?<br />- Is it wrong to drive at the speed limit in the left lane?<br />- Are latkes better with sour cream or apple sauce?<br />- Are hamentaschen better with poppy seed or chocolate filling?<br /><br />Pick the topic that you are most clear and convinced about.<br /><br />So imagine that the person on the other side of the argument is </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">your spouse, your parent, your child, your sibling, your neighbor.... <br /><br />Remember, we're talking about a topic where <em>you know that you're right</em>. You have <em>unassailable</em> arguments, evidence, proofs — give you enough time, and you'll surely win your case. You will surely be able to show them that they're wrong. You are going to win.<br /><br />The question is, will winning bring you closer in the end, or will you wind up even more distant?<br /><br />In one of his "Comedians Getting Coffee" routines, Jerry is shmuzing with David Letterman, who is describing his challenges in raising a child and asks Jerry what he would do in a hypothetical situation.<br /><br />Jerry's response is classic:<br /><br />— "I support whatever position my wife takes."<br />— "Because she knows more about parenting than you?"<br />— "It doesn't matter what you do. But why have a fight with your wife?"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Question for your table: Is he right?<br /><br /><br />Shabbat Shalom,</span><br /><br /><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Alexander Seinfeld</em></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><br /><div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Why did the teen quit skiing? https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/why-did-teen-quit-skiing.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Why%20did%20the%20teen%20quit%20skiing?%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/why-did-teen-quit-skiing.html"> email</a></i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class=" cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto !important;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-89789670084033337652024-02-23T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-23T05:00:00.145-08:00Why Did the Teen Quit Skiing?<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><em style="font-size: 8pt;">Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>February 23-24, 2024 • 15 Adar 1 5784 • Tetzaveh (Ex 27-30). </em></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this blog is to slalom smoothly through the</em></span><em style="font-size: 10.6667px;"> </em><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>dinner conversation ... please print & share.<br />In memory of Menachem Mendel ben Yisroel, who passed away this week. </em></span><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em><br /></em></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><div><br /></div></div></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Why Did the Teen Quit Skiing?</b><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/https://www.amazon.com/Eyourlife-Coffee-Design-Travel-Outdoors/dp/B0CDH3GR6M/ref=pd_ci_mcx_mh_mcx_views_0?pd_rd_w=Vx9xW&content-id=amzn1.sym.225b4624-972d-4629-9040-f1bf9923dd95%3Aamzn1.symc.40e6a10e-cbc4-4fa5-81e3-4435ff64d03b&pf_rd_p=225b4624-972d-4629-9040-f1bf9923dd95&pf_rd_r=1G56TJVX8RRF2Z6FXQ7J&pd_rd_wg=888BE&pd_rd_r=a9ba78a5-3d8f-4043-b73f-612e8f611f74&pd_rd_i=1802790012&th=1?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/https://www.amazon.com/Eyourlife-Coffee-Design-Travel-Outdoors/dp/B0CDH3GR6M/ref=pd_ci_mcx_mh_mcx_views_0?pd_rd_w=Vx9xW&content-id=amzn1.sym.225b4624-972d-4629-9040-f1bf9923dd95%3Aamzn1.symc.40e6a10e-cbc4-4fa5-81e3-4435ff64d03b&pf_rd_p=225b4624-972d-4629-9040-f1bf9923dd95&pf_rd_r=1G56TJVX8RRF2Z6FXQ7J&pd_rd_wg=888BE&pd_rd_r=a9ba78a5-3d8f-4043-b73f-612e8f611f74&pd_rd_i=1802790012&th=1?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1"><img align="left" alt="ostrich-skiing" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/0a1589fde8/ostrich-snowboarding.gif" height="115" hspace="7" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/0a1589fde8/ostrich-snowboarding.gif" style="cursor: default; height: 115px; width: 150px;" title="ostrich-skiing" vspace="0" width="150" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><em style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Because she was snow-bored!</span> </em><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">That one earned me my "dad" card for the week. Maybe even a lifetime achievement award.<br /><br />My daughter was especially appreciative when I used it while sharing the chair lift with other father-daughter pairs.<br /><br />But to make it interesting, I tried to come up with a new ski joke for each trip up the mountain.<br /><br />Question for your table - How many skiing jokes can you come up with?</span><br /><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I think I petered out after about seven.<br /><br />How would you guess the trip went overall?<br /><br />[pause to let them ponder that for a moment...]<br /><br /><em>It was uplifting at first, but went downhill after that!</em></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Speaking of snow </span></span><em style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">boarding</em><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, do you remember back in the Eighties when you first saw people experimenting with this new sport?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">To me, the appeal wasn't obvious, other than the sheer novelty. It appeared to attract the same kinds of guys (specifically guys) who were attracted to skateboarding.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(Not knocking skateboarding nor snowboarding, just not my cup of tea!)</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Fast forward to this week... at the ski resort, there appeared to be as many snowboarders as </span>skiers<span style="font-size: 12pt;">. Of all ages. If not more.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The strange thing is that most of the snowboarders I saw were spending a lot of time sitting on the snow - all the way down the slope. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It's apparently a lot harder to learn than skiing.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">So what's the great appeal?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">My daughter had a grand time on her skis, really enjoying herself while dodging all of those snowboarders falling all over the place.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">At the end of the day, what surprising comment did my daughter make?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"I think I'd like to learn how to snowboard."</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Question for your table: </span></span><em style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Where did <u>that</u> come from?</em><br /><br /><br /><br /><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Shabbat Shalom,</em><br /><br /><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Alexander Seinfeld</em></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br />PS - <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><em>Today is <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4287665/jewish/Why-Is-There-a-Purim-Katan-Small-Purim.htm" href="https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4287665/jewish/Why-Is-There-a-Purim-Katan-Small-Purim.htm">Purim Katan</a> and tonight is <a data-cke-saved-href="https://outorah.org/p/118571/" href="https://outorah.org/p/118571/">Shushan Purim Katan</a> - and you know <a data-cke-saved-href="https://jsli.org/" href="https://jsli.org/">what that means about the countdown to Purim and Pesach</a>...</em></span></span><br /><br style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><br /><div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Why did the teen quit skiing? https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/why-did-teen-quit-skiing.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Why%20did%20the%20teen%20quit%20skiing?%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/why-did-teen-quit-skiing.html"> email</a></i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class=" cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto !important;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><i><em>As always, this message can be read online at <a data-cke-saved-href="http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/" href="http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/">http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com</a></em></i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-14570280247919316422024-02-16T08:25:00.000-08:002024-02-16T08:25:52.099-08:00Yarmulke or Not?<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>February 16-17, 2024 • 8 Adar 1 5784 • Terumah (Ex 25-27). </em></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this blog is for some honest talk at the</em></span><em style="font-size: 10.6667px;"> </em><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Shabbat table</em></span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em> ... please forward/print/share.</em></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Happy to report that our </span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216" href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">new amazing iPhone app</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"> is now updated with even better performance, so please try it out (and make sure to allow Notifications).</span><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /> </i><br /></div></div></div></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/https://www.amazon.com/Eyourlife-Coffee-Design-Travel-Outdoors/dp/B0CDH3GR6M/ref=pd_ci_mcx_mh_mcx_views_0?pd_rd_w=Vx9xW&content-id=amzn1.sym.225b4624-972d-4629-9040-f1bf9923dd95%3Aamzn1.symc.40e6a10e-cbc4-4fa5-81e3-4435ff64d03b&pf_rd_p=225b4624-972d-4629-9040-f1bf9923dd95&pf_rd_r=1G56TJVX8RRF2Z6FXQ7J&pd_rd_wg=888BE&pd_rd_r=a9ba78a5-3d8f-4043-b73f-612e8f611f74&pd_rd_i=B0CDH3GR6M&th=1?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/https://www.amazon.com/Eyourlife-Coffee-Design-Travel-Outdoors/dp/B0CDH3GR6M/ref=pd_ci_mcx_mh_mcx_views_0?pd_rd_w=Vx9xW&content-id=amzn1.sym.225b4624-972d-4629-9040-f1bf9923dd95%3Aamzn1.symc.40e6a10e-cbc4-4fa5-81e3-4435ff64d03b&pf_rd_p=225b4624-972d-4629-9040-f1bf9923dd95&pf_rd_r=1G56TJVX8RRF2Z6FXQ7J&pd_rd_wg=888BE&pd_rd_r=a9ba78a5-3d8f-4043-b73f-612e8f611f74&pd_rd_i=B0CDH3GR6M&th=1?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1"><img align="left" alt="Mushnik" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/65e37aff19/Mushnik.jpg" height="113" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/65e37aff19/Mushnik.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 113px; width: 200px;" title="Mushnik" width="200" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">As a spinoff on <a data-cke-saved-href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/onion-or-not-onion.html" href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/onion-or-not-onion.html">last week's "Onion or Not"</a>, here's an interesting discussion that came up in a Jewish forum this week.<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">First, we all know that since October 7 we've been seeing new expressions of antisemitism around the Western world, such as </span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/02/14/jewish-man-stabbed-six-times-during-antisemitic-assault-in-paris/" href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/02/14/jewish-man-stabbed-six-times-during-antisemitic-assault-in-paris/" style="font-size: 16px;">this Jewish man stabbed in Paris yesterday</a> <span style="font-size: 16px;">and this poster reported at<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Macquarie University in Sidney....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img align="none" alt="Sidneyposter" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/65e37aff19/Sidneyposter.jpg" height="179" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/65e37aff19/Sidneyposter.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 179px; width: 200px;" title="Sidneyposter" width="200" /></div><br />But wait... that's like Nazi-level stuff, right?<br /><br />Are there really people in Sidney, Australia in 2024 who hate Jews so much that they would design and distribute such stuff? <br /><br />Well, yeah, that's <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/11/08/i-will-murder-you-jewish-man-attacked-anti-israel-mob-australia/" href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/11/08/i-will-murder-you-jewish-man-attacked-anti-israel-mob-australia/">not new</a>, <a data-cke-saved-href="https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/the-universities/2023/12/anti-semitisms-signature-moment/" href="https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/the-universities/2023/12/anti-semitisms-signature-moment/">unfortunately</a>.<br /><br />But, but, but - acting brashly and violently isn't the same as the laborious and deliberate creation and distribution of a poster or sticker? Doesn't that go way beyond the pale?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 16px;">As easy as it would be to decry this as a classic neo-Nazi surge, it turns out that the story isn't quite as simple as that.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">That ugly poster is based on <a data-cke-saved-href="https://twitter.com/RamAbdu/status/1388520211574317057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1388520211574317057%7Ctwgr%5Ec261d2f4caf08eccce7cdcab6105061c887d31b7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2021%2F5%2F4%2Fif-i-dont-steal-your-home-someone-else-will-jewish-settler-says" href="https://twitter.com/RamAbdu/status/1388520211574317057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1388520211574317057%7Ctwgr%5Ec261d2f4caf08eccce7cdcab6105061c887d31b7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2021%2F5%2F4%2Fif-i-dont-steal-your-home-someone-else-will-jewish-settler-says">this very ugly video</a> of a Jewish man saying those exact words to a Palestinian woman who accused him of stealing her home....<br /><br />So as ugly and painful as it is, it's a little more complicated than the Nazis, right?</span><div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Try asking your table - <em>What's your take? Antisemitic or legitimate criticism?</em></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Now for the online forum....someone posted the following question:</span><br /><br /><em>Would be ok for a non-Jew to wear a yarmulke? In this case, I’m playing a Jewish character in a musical, (Mr. Mushnik in Little Shop of Horrors), and I want to wear a yarmulke to improve characterization. I’m going to pitch this idea to my director, and I want as much evidence backing me as possible, so I figured I poll a place where I know I could find people who knew what they were talking about, when it comes to this detail. </em><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">So first and foremost, try polling your table on this question - does everyone agree one way or the other, or is it debatable?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">My personal take:</span><br /><br /><em>Mr. Mushnik is described <a data-cke-saved-href="https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Mr._Mushnik" href="https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Mr._Mushnik" style="color: #0079d3; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a> as the "<span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: 600; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;">grumpy, stingy</span> owner of Mushnik's Flower Shop" and <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.bard.org/study-guides/characters-little-shop-of-horrors/" href="https://www.bard.org/study-guides/characters-little-shop-of-horrors/" style="color: #0079d3; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a> as "...<span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;">given to cursing in Yiddish. He is a man who seldom smiles and often yells</span>."</em></div><p style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.42857em; margin: 0.357143em 0px; padding: 0px;"><em>So you put a yarmulke on this grumpy, stingy, cursing small business owner to emphasize that he's not only Jewish but religious? That's an overt anti-Semitic trope, if you ask me. Even without the yarmulke the character is offensive and all Jewish references should be changed.</em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><span style="font-size: 16px;">(Mind you, I didn't know anything about Mushnik before doing a quick search. But the info wasn't hard to find.)<br /></span><br /></div></div><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Now, in the online example, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">53% voted "OK" and 47% voted "Not OK." <br /><br />That's out of 170 Jewish (or mostly-Jewish) people.<br /><br />Second question for your table: <em>Does that poll result surprise you?</em></span><br /><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /><br />Alexander Seinfeld</em></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">PS - <em style="font-family: Verdana;">Do you know <a data-cke-saved-href="https://jsli.org/" href="https://jsli.org/">how many days until Purim and Pesach</a>?</em></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Yarmulke or not? https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/yarmulke-or-not.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Yarmulke%20or%20not?%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/yarmulke-or-not.html"> email</a></i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class=" cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto !important;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br />Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-49448335997126250212024-02-09T08:14:00.000-08:002024-02-09T08:14:40.599-08:00Onion or Not the Onion?<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>February 9-10, 2024 • 1 Adar 1 5784 • Mishpatim (Ex 21-24). </em></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this blog is for an augmented</em></span><em style="font-size: 10.6667px;"> </em><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Shabbat table</em></span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em> ... please forward/print/share.<br />Do you know <a data-cke-saved-href="https://jsli.org/" href="https://jsli.org/">how many days until Purim and Pesach</a>?<br />Happy birthday shout-out to Marc A....!</em></span></div></div></div><div><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></div><div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1891293168?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1891293168?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img align="left" alt="pizza-hut----unforeseen-circumcisions--1-6746903-1706558061981" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/85833c6240/pizza-hut----unforeseen-circumcisions--1-6746903-1706558061981.jpg" height="117" hspace="7" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/85833c6240/pizza-hut----unforeseen-circumcisions--1-6746903-1706558061981.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 156px; width: 200px;" title="pizza-hut----unforeseen-circumcisions--1-6746903-1706558061981" vspace="0" width="150" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">...that is the question....<br /><br />Did you ever read a headline and think, "Wait a sec, is today April 1"?<br /><br />Here are a few bona fide recent headlines that you may have missed:</span><br /><br /><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-68215614" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-68215614">Tesla owners told not to wear Apple virtual reality headsets while driving</a><br /><br /><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/man-spent-years-building-eiffel-tower-700k-matchsticks-may-denied-worl-rcna137663" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/man-spent-years-building-eiffel-tower-700k-matchsticks-may-denied-worl-rcna137663">Man who spent years building Eiffel Tower with 700K matchsticks may be denied world record for using wrong matches</a><br /><br /><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/smart-home/3-million-smart-toothbrushes-were-not-used-in-a-ddos-attack-but-they-could-have-been/" href="https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/smart-home/3-million-smart-toothbrushes-were-not-used-in-a-ddos-attack-but-they-could-have-been/">3 million smart toothbrushes were not used in a DDoS attack after all, but it could happen</a><br /><br /><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/31/politics/richard-mccormick-pull-ups-capitol-dome" href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/31/politics/richard-mccormick-pull-ups-capitol-dome">GOP congressman admits to doing pull-ups at top of Capitol Dome and insists ‘there was nothing unsafe’ about it</a><br /><br /><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2024/01/15/britain-has-seen-an-alarming-rise-in-poetry-sales" href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2024/01/15/britain-has-seen-an-alarming-rise-in-poetry-sales">Britain has seen an alarming rise in poetry sales</a><br /><br /><a data-cke-saved-href="https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/northern-ont-pizza-shop-s-unforeseen-circumcisions-typo-goes-viral-1.6746886" href="https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/northern-ont-pizza-shop-s-unforeseen-circumcisions-typo-goes-viral-1.6746886">Northern Ontario pizza shop’s 'unforeseen circumcisions' typo goes viral</a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">It's sometimes good for the soul to read something a bit less serious... and today is Rosh Chodesh Adar so tis the season....<br /><br />Regarding the first headline above ... a friend was telling me this week about his experience with these new Apple so-called "AR" goggles.<br /><br />For the uninitiated, that stands for "augmented reality". The idea is to have a lightweight device over your eyes that feels comfortable and shows a realistic image of your surroundings with your inbox or youtube channel or whatever you want floating in the air. So you could theoretically walk around the room while wearing it and interact with internet stuff by simply turning your head or flicking your finger.<br /><br />This is leading to a question for your table. But to make the question "sticky," let's say for the sake of discussion that the goggles work as advertised - that the image inside really looks exactly like reality, with the augmentation.<br /><br />(By the way, because it's just an image, it's possible to create an artificial scene instead - instead of the actual basement room you're sitting in, you could have the goggles make it appear that you are sitting in a sunny garden, or on the beach, or wherever.) <br /><br />So here's the question I think I'd like to ask everyone at the table – Is this truly augmented reality, or is it actually virtual reality? How do you relate to it?<br /><br /></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Shabbat Shalom and Happy Adar (1),<br /></span></span><br /></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br />PS - Our <a data-cke-saved-href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216" href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216">new amazing iPhone app</a> has had a few bug fixes, so if you haven't tried it yet, there's no time like the present! (just make sure to allow Notifications).</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Barn find of the century? https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/barn-find-of-century.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Barn%20find%20of%20the%20century?%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/barn-find-of-century.html"> email</a></i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class=" cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto !important;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-55074665678125374392024-02-02T07:00:00.000-08:002024-02-02T07:00:00.334-08:00Barn Find of the Century?<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>February 2-3, 2024 • 17 Shevat 5784 • Yisro (Ex 18-20). </em></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this blog is for an ascendent</em></span><em style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.6667px;"> </em><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>Shabbat table</em></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em> ... please forward/print/share.<br />Do you know <a data-cke-saved-href="https://jsli.org/" href="https://jsli.org/">how many days until Purim and Pesach</a>?<br />Happy birthday shout-out to Irv!</em></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0760349401?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0760349401?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1"><img align="left" alt="Classic_Sports_Car_Barn_Finds_25_E-Type 2" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/121dd54630/Classic_Sports_Car_Barn_Finds_25_E-Type%202.jpg" height="122" hspace="4" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/121dd54630/Classic_Sports_Car_Barn_Finds_25_E-Type%202.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 122px; width: 180px;" title="Classic_Sports_Car_Barn_Finds_25_E-Type 2" vspace="0" width="180" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">Have you ever seen those headlines about the discovery of a secret classic car collection?<br /><br />Like a few years ago <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.e3sparkplugs.com/blog/epic-barn-find-reveals-60-classic-cars-hidden-away-decades/" href="https://www.e3sparkplugs.com/blog/epic-barn-find-reveals-60-classic-cars-hidden-away-decades/">in France</a>.<br /><br />Or after that in <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.motor1.com/news/526995/teenagers-discover-cache-classic-cars/" href="https://www.motor1.com/news/526995/teenagers-discover-cache-classic-cars/">Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil</a>.<br /><br />Or the one last year <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.carscoops.com/2023/04/astounding-230-car-barn-find-is-going-up-for-sale-in-the-netherlands/" href="https://www.carscoops.com/2023/04/astounding-230-car-barn-find-is-going-up-for-sale-in-the-netherlands/">in the Netherlands</a>.<br /><br /></span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">Or soon after that <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2023/10/alabama-businessman-quietly-amassed-1m-car-collection-stored-hardly-used-vehicles-in-barn-for-50-years.html" href="https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2023/10/alabama-businessman-quietly-amassed-1m-car-collection-stored-hardly-used-vehicles-in-barn-for-50-years.html">in Alabama</a>.<br /><br />Or <a data-cke-saved-href="https://roarington.com/media-house/stories/the-mystery-of-barn-finds-a-one-off-in-japan" href="https://roarington.com/media-house/stories/the-mystery-of-barn-finds-a-one-off-in-japan">this Ferari Daytona</a> discovered in Japan.<br /><br />Apparently, barn finds are more common than you'd think (click the pic). <br /><br />The Alabama collection was so interesting because the cars were literally brand new. As in less than 50 miles on the odometer.<br /><br />That's the key to keeping stuff new - don't use it.<br /><br />Law of nature, right?<br /><br />Did it ever occur to you that the human body works in the opposite way to this law of nature?<br /><br />If you leave a human body to sit in a barn for 50 years, or even on a couch for 5 days, it will begin to wither away.<br /><br />Want stronger muscles? Use them.<br /><br />Want stronger bones? Use them.<br /><br />Healthy, long-lasting joints? Move around a lot.</span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><br /><br />A stronger immune system? Let it be tested with some bacteria and viruses.<br /><br />Better mind and memory? Study something.<br /><br />Do you see the beauty that I see in this arrangement? Other than hormonal childhood growth, all other growth is put into our hands - if we want to work at it, we'll grow. <br /><br />All of the above is literally true, it's a description of reality. <br /><br />But that leads us to a conundrum. <br /><br />In our book, <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1680259156?ie=UTF8&tag=j09h-20" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1680259156?ie=UTF8&tag=j09h-20"><em>Body & Soul</em></a>, the body is likened to a sophisticated automobile and the soul is the driver; or the body is like a horse and the soul is the rider.<br /><br />But if the body is growing and adapting in response to environmental stressors, then isn't it more like the driver than the car?<br /><br /><em>What do you think</em> - is the body more like the car or like the driver?<br /><br />And what about the human soul – is it, too, strengthened through stress like the body or weakened through use like a car?<br /><br /><em>Bonus question: If they do finally discover you in your barn one day, would you want to be restored?</em></span><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Shabbat Shalom,</span></span></div></div></div><div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br />PS - One of the cool things about our <a data-cke-saved-href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216" href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216">new amazing iPhone app</a> is that no matter when you install it, you join the party on the same page as everyone else.<br /><br /><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Barn find of the century? https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/barn-find-of-century.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Barn%20find%20of%20the%20century?%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/02/barn-find-of-century.html"> email</a></i></strong><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="cke_show_border" style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div></div></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-22264182930811752802024-01-26T04:00:00.000-08:002024-01-26T04:00:00.137-08:00How Sweet is Too Sweet?<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><em style="font-size: 8pt;">Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>January 26-27, 2024 • 17 Shevat 5784 • B'shalach (Ex 13-17). </em></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this blog is for an ascendent</em></span><em style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.6667px;"> </em><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>Shabbat table</em></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em> ... please forward/print/share.<br />Do you know <a data-cke-saved-href="https://jsli.org/" href="https://jsli.org/">how many days until Purim and Pesach</a>?<br /></em></span><div><br /><br /></div></div></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01136INBW?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01136INBW?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1"><img align="left" alt="honey 3" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/f91febfcda/honey%203.jpeg" height="225" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/f91febfcda/honey%203.jpeg" style="cursor: default; height: 196px; width: 190px;" title="honey 3" width="225" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">Years </span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">ago, someone suggested that I start doing this weekly blog as a v-blog.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><br /><div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">First problem, easier said than done. </span></div><div><br style="font-size: 13.3333px;" /></div></span></div><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">Second problem, it's hard to print and share a video at the Shabbat table.<br /><br />Today I'm making an exception because I've recently produced or been a guest on some new videos that I'd simply like to share with you. </span></div><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">Here they are, shortest to longest:</span><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YJu-7vMEGMM" href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YJu-7vMEGMM" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Deadline Coffee (33 seconds)</a><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YGBXrn-KB8" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YGBXrn-KB8">New App (45 seconds)</a><br /><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.torahanytime.com/#/lectures?v=278659" href="https://www.torahanytime.com/#/lectures?v=278659">How Sweet is Too Sweet (7 minutes)</a></span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><br /><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz_2ZkwnFns" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz_2ZkwnFns">Chicago interview (30 minutes)<br /></a><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQNXFhjfcn4" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQNXFhjfcn4">92Y interview w. Dr. Grove (60 minutes)</a><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />If you only have time for one of the above, I suggest the 7-minute nugget — it's apropos both Tubishvat (yesterday) and Shabbat and it will kickstart the conversation tonight around the question: <em>How sweet is too sweet?</em></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Shabbat Shalom,</span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br />PS - Have you downloaded our <a data-cke-saved-href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216" href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216">new amazing iPhone app</a>? (make sure to enable notifications so you don't miss out on on the fun!)<br /><br /><br /><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Life is a mountain https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/01/life-is-mountain.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Life%20is%20a%20mountain%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/01/life-is-mountain.html"> email</a></i></strong><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><i><em>As always, this message can be read online at <a data-cke-saved-href="http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/" href="http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/">http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com</a></em></i></span></span><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.3333px;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-49917802829496009882024-01-19T11:25:00.000-08:002024-01-19T11:27:05.537-08:00Is Life a Mountain?<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><em style="font-size: 8pt;">Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><em style="font-size: 8pt;">January 19-20, 2024 • 10 Teves 5784 • Bo (Ex 10-13). </em></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this blog is for an ascendent</em></span><em style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.6667px;"> </em><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>Shabbat table</em></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em> ... please forward/print/share.<br />Do you know <a data-cke-saved-href="https://jsli.org/" href="https://jsli.org/">how many days until Tubishvat, Purim and Pesach</a>?<br />In memory of Yaakov ben Matis, who passed away this week.</em></span><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><em style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.6667px;">+ + + + +</em></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><em style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></em></div><div><div style="background-color: white;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216" href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216"><img align="left" alt="man-standing-high-moutain-looking-lake-generative-ai_791316-6140" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.freepik.com/premium-photo/man-standing-high-moutain-looking-lake-generative-ai_791316-6140.jpg" height="100" hspace="7" src="https://img.freepik.com/premium-photo/man-standing-high-moutain-looking-lake-generative-ai_791316-6140.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 100px; width: 150px;" title="man-standing-high-moutain-looking-lake-generative-ai_791316-6140" vspace="0" width="150" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Early Tuesday morning, a snowstorm greeted me on my departure to California and this morning a new snowstorm greeted my return.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">The occasion was the sudden loss of a wonderful soul named James (the Yaakov mentioned above) whose life story could fill many screens or pages. Here I will share just one nugget for you and your table.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Everyone talked about how James loved to ski. He was a natural athlete and certain childhood experiences seem to have given him a fearlessness bordering on recklessness. Those two traits combined made him one of the best amateur skiiers on any slope.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Anyone who has skied knows the joy, the thrill of speed. It's a playful pastime. There's something raw and visceral about the descent.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">But the James that I knew - only for the past couple years - was at a new phase of his life. He was struggling with many challenges, mishaps, misfortunes as well as substance abuse. What we should learn from him, as his sister said so eloquently last night at Shiva, was that </span><u style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">he didn't let these challenges define him</u><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">. Regardless of how low he had fallen on the social-economic ladder, his true nature always shined, which was a </span><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><em>baal chesed</em></strong><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"> – a true connoisseur of lovingkindness. He would do anything for anyone without hesitation. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">For example, his mother tells of the time when they were speaking on the phone and James was panting. "Are you all right?" she asked. "Yes," he panted, "I just saw someone in an electric wheelchair that had run out of juice and I pushed them up the hill." This was a San Francisco hill, mind you. Total stranger, no hesitation to help.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">And in my judgement, his recent daily challenges were mostly rooted in a lack of clear sense of life purpose and direction. So with some guidance, he had started to clarify his life purpose and was finally in his late 50s beginning to see himself as a mountain climber, not a descender.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">That's my take on James, in a nutshell - after many years of racing downhill, he left this world going uphill. It doesn't really matter how high you climb. What does matter is what direction you're going.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Let's leave this as usual with a question for your table: What about you? Are you living life for thrills and "experiences," or are you living for climbing higher?</span><br /><br /><br /><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Shabbat Shalom,</span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br />PS - Our <a data-cke-saved-href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216" href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216">new amazing iPhone app</a> is getting rave reviews - have you tried it?<br /><br /><br /><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Life is a mountain https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/01/life-is-mountain.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Life%20is%20a%20mountain%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/01/life-is-mountain.html"> email</a></i></strong><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div></div></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-63798282901577859992024-01-12T08:59:00.000-08:002024-01-12T08:59:00.138-08:00The App Came Back!<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><em style="font-size: 8pt;">Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>January 12-13, 2024 • 3 Teves 5784 • Vaeira (Ex 6-9). </em></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this blog is for something amazing to emerge at the</em></span><em style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.6667px;"> </em><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>Shabbat table</em></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em> ... please forward/print/share.<br />Do you know <a data-cke-saved-href="https://jsli.org/" href="https://jsli.org/">how many days until Tubishvat, Purim and Pesach</a>?<br /></em></span><div><br /><em style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.6667px;">+ + + + +</em><br /><br /></div></div></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216" href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216"><img align="left" alt="Amazing Jewish" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple126/v4/79/13/e1/7913e1f7-8d15-a2b5-454a-f0cfe3a20e60/AppIcon-1x_U007emarketing-0-7-0-0-85-220-0.png/460x0w.webp" height="200" hspace="7" src="https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple126/v4/79/13/e1/7913e1f7-8d15-a2b5-454a-f0cfe3a20e60/AppIcon-1x_U007emarketing-0-7-0-0-85-220-0.png/460x0w.webp" style="cursor: default; height: 200px; width: 200px;" title="Amazing Jewish" vspace="0" width="200" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><div style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Following last week's missive about <a data-cke-saved-href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-7-friendly-sins.html" href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-7-friendly-sins.html"><em>Mad</em> magazine and the 7 Friendly Sins</a>, here is another blast-from-the-past....</span></div><div style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>Long, long ago, there was a phenomenon in our culture called the "page-a-day calendar."<br /><br />Maybe some of you are old enough to remember them?<br /><br />(Turns out their demise has been greatly exaggerated ... you can still get a <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1523518715?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1523518715?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1">new-word-a-day calendar</a>.... a <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/152488412X?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/152488412X?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1">sudoku-a-day calendar</a>. ... a <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1523518685?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1523518685?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1">cat-a-day calendar</a> .... thanks to Workman Publishing, <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=page-a-day+calendar+2024&i=stripbooks&tag=j0em-20&th=1" href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=page-a-day+calendar+2024&i=stripbooks&tag=j0em-20&th=1">they're still a thing</a>.)<br /><br />So about 20 years ago, I had this vision of creating an <strong>Amazing Jewish-Fact-a-Day Calendar</strong>. <br /><br /><em>What did Louis Armstrong say about the Jewish influence on his music?<br />What does the Talmud say about airplanes and telescopes?<br />What are the 10 Jewish inventions that you can't live without?<br />What does Judaism say about reincarnation?<br />And so on.</em><br /><br />And each amazing fact has links to related content.<br /><br />More than a vision:<br /></span></div><ul><li><em><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I wrote a year's worth of material (a lot harder than you'd think - it's like writing a book);</span></span></em></li><li><em><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Pitched it to publishers.</span></span></em></li><li><em><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Got quotes from printers for self-publishing.</span></span></em></li><li><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><em><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Pitched it to donors....</span></em><br /></span></li></ul><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"></span><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">The problem was that we couldn't make the economics work. The most optimistic projections wouldn't come close to breaking even.<br /><br /><strong>Then along came the iPhone</strong>. Since I was a very late adopter (I loved my flip phone and then my Blackberry's physical keys), I didn't see the iPhone's potential until around 2012. But by then it became obvious that the iPhone was the <u>perfect</u> platform for the Amazing Jewish Fact-a-Day Calendar. <br /><br />The iPhone tech allows me to give you your nugget of Jewish inspiration on your screen at the time you choose. Super cool.<br /><br />And just to make it fun (and exponentially more difficult to develop), we added a Hebrew calendar that changes at sunset based on your location and we synced certain facts with the Jewish calendar and others with the secular calendar.<br /><br />Super hard to get that right, and the first version came out in 2013. It was well-liked with only 5-star reviews, but very hard to maintain, and after 5 years, I stopped maintaining it. <br /><br />Well, over the past 9 months we've been attempting to resurrect it for the newest iOS. It's the same basic vision, but with better features.<br /><br />While there are still a couple glitches, it is working fine for most testers, so today I'm pleased to officially announce its release. <a data-cke-saved-href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216" href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216">Here's the link</a>. (Even without an iPhone, you can see screenshots there.) <br /><br />If you have an iPhone, please <a data-cke-saved-href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216" href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazing-jewish-facts-calendar/id6451274216">download it</a> and send me your honest feedback. (It's free for the first 2 weeks, after that 5¢/day.)<br /><br />(Note - you'll want to enable location and notifications to get the best experience.)<br /><br />If you don't have an <span style="font-size: 12pt;">iPhone</span>,</span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"> <a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter your friend's email?subject=Check%20out%20the%20amazing%20new%20Jewish%20app!!!!&body=https%3A%2F%2Fapps.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Famazing-jewish-facts-calendar%2Fid6451274216" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Check%20out%20the%20amazing%20new%20Jewish%20app!!!!&body=https%3A%2F%2Fapps.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Famazing-jewish-facts-calendar%2Fid6451274216"><u>kindly click here to email the link</u></a> or below to forward this email to someone who does.<br /><br />Let's end as we always do with a question for your table. <em>How would you answer a non-Jewish person who asked you, "Tell me one <u>amazing</u> thing about Judaism or the Jewish People..." — ???</em></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">(I</span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">f you send it to me and it gets used in the app, your bragging rights will be tremendous.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Shabbat Shalom,</span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br />PS - Out of 2,000,000 iPhone apps, can you guess which one keeps Shabbat?<br /><br /><br /><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=The seven friendly sins? https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-7-friendly-sins.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=The%20seven%20friendly%20sins?%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-7-friendly-sins.html"> email</a></i></strong><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><i><em>As always, this message can be read online at <a data-cke-saved-href="http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/" href="http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/">http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com</a></em></i></span></span><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.3333px;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-84526595328521900302024-01-05T08:03:00.000-08:002024-01-05T08:03:35.262-08:00The 7 Friendly Sins?<p></p><div><div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 10.6667px;"><i>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld </i></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>January 5-6, 2024 • 25 Teves 5784 • Shemos (Ex 1-5). </em></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this email is for virtuous</em></span><em style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.6667px;"> </em><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>Shabbat table </em></span><em style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.6667px;">conversation</em><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em> ... please forward/print/share.<br /><br />Dedicated to the refuah shleima of our infant grandson Menachem Dovid ben Golda who had surgery today to remove a <u>hopefully</u>-benign growth.<br /><br /><br />+ + + + +</em></span><div><br /><div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;">Thank you to all who responded to last week's </span></span><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><a href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/gezundheit.html" target="_blank">Gesundheit</a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><a href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/gezundheit.html" target="_blank"> membership campaign</a>! - for mere pennies a week, you are </span></span></i></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><i>on the <strong><a data-cke-saved-href="http://jsli.org" href="http://jsli.org/">cutting edge of Jewish educational innovation</a></strong>. These programs are made possible by partners like you - thank you!</i></span></span><br /><br /><em style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.6667px;">+ + + + +</em><br /><br /></div></div></div></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CLVJ31WD?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316738905?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="madmag1" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/bf413919bd/madmag1.jpg" height="202" hspace="7" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/bf413919bd/madmag1.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 202px; width: 150px;" title="madmag1" vspace="0" width="150" /></a></span></em></span></span><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Can you recall: when you were growing up, did you ever hear about the "<a data-cke-saved-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins">Seven Deadly Sins</a>"?<br /><br />My own earliest memory of them is in a <em>Mad </em>magazine parody.<br /><br />Am I the only one who remembers learning something from <i>Mad</i>?<br /><br />(Or from <em><a data-cke-saved-href="https://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/120/891107.jpg" href="https://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/120/891107.jpg">Dennis the Menace</a></em>?)<br /><br />Actually, now that I think about it, many of my first exposures to Christian ideas came via parody.<br /><br />It may sound funny, but that "pedagogy" had consequences.<br /><br />For example, on my first trip to Jerusalem at age 18, we toured the entire Old City, including the Christian Quarter. While the guide was explaining the Via Dolorosa, I burst out laughing. It must have seemed incredibly disrespectful. The reason I was laughing was because for the first time I got the jokes in <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PDCBSLR?ie=UTF8&tag=&tag=j0em-20" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PDCBSLR?ie=UTF8&tag=&tag=j0em-20">Monty Python's parody of that story</a>.<br /><br />But to Christians the Seven Deadly Sins are apparently big concept. They call them "deadly" because they believe that even one of them can take a person to eternal damnation.<br /><br />Try this question at your table: <em>Can you name them?</em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(</span></em></span><em><span style="font-size: 12pt;">pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth</span></em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>)</em></span><br /><br />When I read that <i>Mad</i> parody, I had no idea that it was a Christian idea, it was just a cultural meme.<br /><br />Now, while it is a Christian concept, if you've known me long enough, you've heard my estimate that 95 percent of Christianity comes from Judaism.<br /><br />So what would you say — do the Seven Sins come from the 95 percent (Jewish roots) or do they fall in the five percent category?<br /><br />They have parallels in the <a data-cke-saved-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arishadvargas" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arishadvargas">6 "Enemies" of Hinduism</a>, the <a data-cke-saved-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleshas_(Buddhism)#Five_poisons" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleshas_(Buddhism)#Five_poisons">5 or 6 "Poisons" of Buddhism</a>, <a data-cke-saved-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_thieves" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_thieves">5 "Thieves" of Sikhism</a>, and surely many other traditions.<br /><br />What about Judaism? It's a good question for the table.<br /><br />It seems to me that the first four – pride, greed, wrath and envy – are probably all expressions of the same common denominator, namely ego or selfishness; and the latter three – lust, gluttony and sloth – are all symptoms of a body-centered materialism.<br /><br />And in Jewish thought, selfishness and body-focus are natural instincts of childhood that adulthood is meant to cure. <br /><br />That said, it also seems to me that some of the seven might have a time and place when they are not only not sinful, but might actually be virtuous. <em>What do you think?</em> </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Shabbat Shalom,</span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=The seven friendly sins? https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-7-friendly-sins.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=The%20seven%20friendly%20sins?%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-7-friendly-sins.html"> email</a></i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class=" cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto !important;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-74457302692670704032023-12-29T07:00:00.000-08:002023-12-29T07:00:00.133-08:00Gezundheit!<div style="background-color: white;"><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></div><div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>December 29-30, 2023 • 18 Teves 5784 • Vayechi (Gen 47-50). </em></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this blog is for healthy</em></span><em style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.6667px;"> conversation</em><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em> at the Shabbat table ... please forward/print/share.<br /><br /><strong>In memory of Pinchas ben Meir HaLevy z'l whose yahrzeit is tonight.</strong><br /><br />+ + + + +</em></span><div><br /><div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><i>A couple times a year we invite you to a partnership with JSLI (</i></span></span><i style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10.6667px;">new or renewed)</i><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><i> - <strong>our low-cost, high-impact programs (<a data-cke-saved-href="https://jsli.org" href="https://jsli.org/">click here for a snapshot</a>) are a great </strong></i></span></span><strong><i style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10.6667px;">tax-deductible i</i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><i><strong>nvestment</strong>.<br /><br /><u>Even this weekly email costs money to produce</u>. </i></span></span><i style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10.6667px;">Suggestion - give according to perceived value: i</i><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><i>s it worth 10¢ a week? Your donation supports more than just this email - it puts you on the <strong><a data-cke-saved-href="http://jsli.org" href="http://jsli.org/">cutting edge of Jewish educational innovation</a></strong>.<br /><br />There is every way to contribute: <a data-cke-saved-href="https://jsli.org/donate/" href="https://jsli.org/donate/">Check/ credit Card / Paypal</a> ... <a data-cke-saved-href="https://jsli.org/members/JSLI-donations-how-scaled.jpg" href="https://jsli.org/members/JSLI-donations-how-scaled.jpg">Venmo, Zelle, stock transfer, etc</a>.<br /><br />Our work is made possible by partners like you - thank you!</i></span></span><br /><br /><em style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.6667px;">+ + + + +</em><br /><br /><br /></div></div></div></div></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1680259156?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1680259156?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1"><img align="left" alt="tissuebox-fancy" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/85f78c5024/tissuebox-fancy.jpeg" height="140" hspace="7" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/85f78c5024/tissuebox-fancy.jpeg" style="cursor: default; height: 140px; width: 150px;" title="tissuebox-fancy" vspace="0" width="150" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Here's an opening question for your table: </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Did you ever wonder why we bless someone who sneezes? What's up with that?</em><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">It appears to be a universal custom: see </span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.berlitz.com/blog/how-to-sneeze-in-different-languages" href="https://www.berlitz.com/blog/how-to-sneeze-in-different-languages" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Gezundheit in 80 languages / Berlitz.com</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">After everyone ponders that question, you might want to share this interesting midrash about the origin of </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">gezundheit</em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Once upon a time, sneezing was a bad, bad omen.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">People didn't get sick before they died. They just sneezed and died. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">So sneezing was burned into our collective psyche as a potential sign of imminent death.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Along comes Jacob (Yaakov), the ultimate Patriarch. He wants to buck the trend. He wants to end his life not with a blessing from others but with a blessing to others. He wants to give his children a final testament. He wants to be able to say goodbye with dignity.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Being that he's a prophet - he and God were, you know, "like this."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">So he asks for a change in the natural order - that there should be the possibility of some warning - like sickness - prior to death, to give him the chance to say a proper goodbye. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">And perhaps to prepare mentally for death?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Once he is granted that request, that new way of dying becomes part of the natural order. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Illness became a blessing and death became dignified.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">One more q</span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">uestion for your table: <em>If you could choose the circumstances of your own death (hopefully not for a long, long time!), how would you want it to be</em></span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><em>?</em> </em></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Shabbat Shalom,</span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Gezundheit! https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/gezundheit.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Gezundheit!%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/gezundheit.html"> email</a></i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class=" cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto !important;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><i><em>As always, this message can be read online at <a data-cke-saved-href="http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/" href="http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/">http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com</a></em></i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-54927719374487940582023-12-22T09:46:00.000-08:002023-12-22T09:50:01.450-08:00Lazy Days?<div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table </em></span><em style="font-size: 8pt;">Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>December 22-23, 2023 • 11 Teves 5784 • Vayigash (Gen 44-47). </em></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this blog is to foster </em></span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.6667px;">energetic conversation</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;"><em> at the Shabbat table ... please forward/print/share.</em></span></div><div><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="font-family: Verdana;"><div><div><div><div><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Is it a mitzvah to conquer worry and anxiety? Check out the new link on <a data-cke-saved-href="http://torahhealth.org" href="http://torahhealth.org/">TorahHealth.org</a>.</span></em><div style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></div></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="color: #333333;"><b>Lazy Days?</b></span><br /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" /><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HJGGRNZ?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HJGGRNZ?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1"><img align="left" alt="lazychair" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/f855b8e43a/lazychair.jpg" height="195" hspace="7" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/f855b8e43a/lazychair.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 195px; width: 250px;" title="lazychair" vspace="0" width="250" /></a></span></em></span></span><div style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">Opening question for your table: </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Who knows what major event occurred last night at 10:30 pm EST?</em></div><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><em>Give up? Here's a hint: it was </em></span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">celestial...<br /><br /></em><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">Before we reveal the answer, here's a story.<br /><br />This past Sunday, I received a surprise and very brief phone call from a certain rabbi. It went like this:<br /><br /><em>— I just want to thank you!<br />— You're welcome! For what?<br />— Thanks to you, for the first time in many decades, I didn't eat a single donut on Chanukah — and I didn't miss it at all!</em><br /><br />Wow, I <a data-cke-saved-href="https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/289" href="https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/289">kvell</a>.<br /><br />You see, outreach to rabbis is a part of our strategy to correct the course of the great ship of Jewish food culture. Here in Baltimore, a generous donor sponsored gifting copies to 50 local rabbis and school principals. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(If you would like to foster a similar program in your community, <a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:seinfeld@jsli.org?subject=Rabbi%20outreach&body=Dear%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%2C%0A%0A" href="mailto:seinfeld@jsli.org?subject=Rabbi%20outreach&body=Dear%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%2C%0A%0A">send me an email</a>.)</span><br /><br />So last Friday, after faithfully sending your Table Talk email (about <a data-cke-saved-href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/dont-let-chanukah-end.html" href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/dont-let-chanukah-end.html">not letting Chanukah end</a> - remember?), your Faithful Correspondent hopped in the car and delivered copies of <em><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1680259156?ie=UTF8&tag=&tag=j0em-20" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1680259156?ie=UTF8&tag=&tag=j0em-20">Body & Soul</a> </em>to local rabbis and principals with a humble request: <i>please </i></span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><em>consider </em></span><em><span style="font-size: 12pt;">choosing at least one way to publicly and consistently be a role model for this mitzvah.</span></em></div><div style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">Now, I know that a few rabbis are on this weekly email list, but to those who are not Jewish leaders, what's your role and responsibility?<br /><br />Let's circle back to the first question above – what momentous celestial event occurred last night?<br /><br /></span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">The answer is <u>winter solstice</u> - when the sun finally stops retreating to the south and starts migrating north again. Which means we're currently at the shortest day of the year up here and the longest day Down Under.<br /><br />And in six months, we'll be at summer solstice - the longest day of the year.<br /><br />The solstice inspires me to ask you this question, designed to stimulate your thoughts about your own response and responsibility.<br /><br /><em>Which of those two solstice days would you say is <u>lazier</u>? Do you feel lazier during the colder, longer nights, or during the warmer, longer days? </em><br /><br />I know at least one person's answer: also on Sunday this week, I asked someone I know to be an avid cyclist what he does for exercise during the winter? Answer: nothing. He'll go literally months without exercise, until it warms up again. <br /><br />As I've said in a recent <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C0hZr3hqGAb/" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C0hZr3hqGAb/">Instagram</a> and video, sometimes slowing down is anti-lazy. But at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C1KR9JKqJ3Y/" target="_blank">other times</a> (</span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.torahanytime.com/#/lectures?v=271413" href="https://www.torahanytime.com/#/lectures?v=271413" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">longer version</a>)<span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"> we perhaps need to push ourselves.<br /><br />Final question for your table - <em>what's the right balance?</em></span><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Shabbat Shalom,</span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Lazy days? https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/lazy-days.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Lazy%20days?%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/lazy-days.html"> email</a></i></strong><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-85385728294105187082023-12-15T08:57:00.000-08:002023-12-15T08:57:28.266-08:00Don't Let Chanukah End!<div><em style="font-size: 8pt;">Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>December 15-16, 2023 • 4 Teves 5784 • Mikeitz (Gen 41-44). </em></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this blog is to beautify</em></span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em> Shabbat table conversation ... please print & share.</em></span><div><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Last day to get our special </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><a data-cke-saved-href="http://torahhealth.org" href="http://torahhealth.org/">TorahHealth.org Chanukah download</a></span>.</em></span><div><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;" /></div></div></div><p><em style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://bestjewishkidsbooks.com/books/?books_search=chanukah" href="https://bestjewishkidsbooks.com/books/?books_search=chanukah"><img align="left" alt="michael-aram-olive-branch-menora" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/4f9a964aea/michael-aram-olive-branch-menora.jpg" height="175" hspace="0" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/4f9a964aea/michael-aram-olive-branch-menora.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 150px; width: 150px;" title="michael-aram-olive-branch-menora" vspace="0" width="150" /></a></span></em></p><div style="background-color: white;"><div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Here's a three-pete of the theme of "learning from everyone"...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">(We began two weeks ago with </span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/was-hitchens-right.html" href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/was-hitchens-right.html" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Christopher Hitchens</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"> and last week added the </span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/poison-ivy.html" href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/poison-ivy.html" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">presidents of Harvard, MIT and Penn</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">This week: the dastardly Greeks!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">First question for your table, </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">What can we learn from the Greeks?</em><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Today is of course the climactic eighth day of Chanukah - "Zos Chanukah" - when we can lock in the potentiality of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot which are all "sevens" at the level of Simchas Torah which is an "eight"....</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">What in the world does that mean, you ask? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">There is a big myth about Chanukah that it's about our triumph over Hellenism. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Judaism good, Hellenism bad. We won, they lost, let's eat latkes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong....</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Hellenism is not only good, it's </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">necessary</em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Here's a good Jewish vocab term to share with your table: <i style="font-weight: bold;">hidur</i> - pronounced "hee-dure".</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">It means </span><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">beautification</strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">There is a mitzvah to do every mitzvah with a </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">hidur</em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">. That is, to do it in a beautiful way. When you light Menorah, use the nicest menorah you can afford. When you give tzedakah, give it with a smile and kind word. When you build a guest room, make it handicap accessible. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Get the picture? This is the way Jews incorporates the </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">seven</em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"> into our </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">eightness</em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Don't shun the seven, let it shine - but don't let the seven (the physical beauty) be your end, it's an agent to achieve the eight (the spiritual purpose of every mitzvah). </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Challenge q</span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">uestion for your table: </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Name one mitzvah that you do every day that you could do with more hidur? </em></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Happy Zos Chanukah and</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Shabbat Shalom,</span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Don't let Chanukah end... https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/dont-let-chanukah-end.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Don%27t%20let%20Chanukah%20end...%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/dont-let-chanukah-end.html"> email</a></i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class=" cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto !important;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-42780732776048789632023-12-08T08:58:00.000-08:002023-12-08T08:58:34.119-08:00Poison Ivy?<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><em style="font-size: 8pt;">Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfel</em></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>December 8-9, 2023 • 26 Kislev 5784 • VaYeishev (Gen 37-40). </em></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this blog is to foster colorful conversation at the Friday night dinner table ... please forward/print/share.</em></span><br /><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><div><div><div><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Happy Chanukah! Check out our <a data-cke-saved-href="https://bestjewishkidsbooks.com/books/?books_category=90" href="https://bestjewishkidsbooks.com/books/?books_category=90">Hannukah page at BestJewishKidsBooks.com</a></em></div><div><br /><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">And check out our Chanukah special download at <a data-cke-saved-href="http://torahhealth.org" href="http://torahhealth.org/">TorahHealth.org</a>.</em></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09K4MC2TM?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09K4MC2TM?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20&th=1"><img align="left" alt="Mein Kontext" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/a174c803c1/MKampf2.jpeg" height="188" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/a174c803c1/MKampf2.jpeg" style="cursor: default; height: 188px; width: 150px;" title="Mein Kontext" width="150" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Do you remember <a data-cke-saved-href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/was-hitchens-right.html" href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/was-hitchens-right.html">last week when I quoted the controverisal Mr. Hitchens</a> — because "a wise person learns from everyone" (Talmud).<br /><br />On that theme, here's an opening question for your table: <br /><br /><em>What can we learn from the presidents of Harvard, MIT and Penn?</em><br /><br />Hat-tip to Rep. Elise Sefanik </span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">holding three Ivy League college presidents' feet to the fire.<br /><br />(Yes, I know that MIT isn't an Ivy, but it might as well be.) <br /><br />But here's the follow-up questions I wish she had asked:<br /><br /><em>If a group of students dressed up like the KKK and marched through campus chanting for black women to be lynched, would that be allowed, prohibited, or would it depend on context?<br /><br />What if they chanted for women to be raped, </em></span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">would that be allowed, prohibited, or would it depend on context</em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><em>?<br /><br />What if they called for the destruction of Asians, or Arabs or any other group in the world besides Jews?</em><br /><br />(It's also too bad they didn't call in many other college presidents who should be held accountable for blatant antisemitism on campus from <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/yale-student-pro-israel-column-edited-knowledge-speaks-modern-day-holocaust-denial" href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/yale-student-pro-israel-column-edited-knowledge-speaks-modern-day-holocaust-denial">Yale</a> to <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/10/16/unc-student-group-and-professor-celebrate-hamas-murder-of-israelis-where-is-the-outrage/" href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/10/16/unc-student-group-and-professor-celebrate-hamas-murder-of-israelis-where-is-the-outrage/">UNC</a> and everywhere i.<br /><br />Maybe we should learn from Harvard President Claudine Gay and take a peek at some <strong>context</strong>.<br /><br />In my first job after college I was surrounded by all kinds of Christians — Baptists, Methodists, Mormons, Presbyterians, Seventh Day Adventists and even a few Witnesses. I remember being struck by the seriousness and sincerity of these folks' faith - they studied their religious texts, believed deeply, and carried their faith openly wherever they went. Their religiosity was a far cry from the Judaism I had grown up with, which was joyful ritual, but very much limited to those rituals. I certainly can't recall my parents or any adults every discussing how the Torah might inform business ethics etc., let alone attending regular Torah study.<br /><br />It seems to me that the great mistake of Hamas's non-Moslems supporters is the very common human fallacy known as projecting: "I assume that you must be more-or-less similar to me. All humans are basically good, and if we give you freedom and dignity, you'll stop fighting."<br /><br />A liberal who projects liberal values onto others despite evidence to the contrary simply cannot believe that there are actually people in this world who are that evil; Hamas must be a legitimate political struggle, not a religious-ideological one. It cannot be that these Hamas guys - mimicing their patron, Iran - really mean it when they say that they intend to make the Land of Israel Judenrein and from there lead a <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-strip-netanyahu-palestine-arab-support-entire-planet-will-be-under-our-law-warns-hamas-commander-mahmoud-al-zahar-4473139" href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-strip-netanyahu-palestine-arab-support-entire-planet-will-be-under-our-law-warns-hamas-commander-mahmoud-al-zahar-4473139">worldwide Islamic movement to convert or kill every non-Moslem human being on the planet</a>.<br /><br />Their statements and actions are 100 percent consistent with the proposition that they actually believe this, and any peaceful offers they make are actually a strategem of deception or <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.meforum.org/2095/islams-doctrines-of-deception" href="https://www.meforum.org/2095/islams-doctrines-of-deception"><em>taqiya</em></a> toward their stated goal. <br /><br />For the Harvard president, the possibilty that Hamas really wants to destroy Harvard and its faculty and students (unless they convert to Islam of course) is so crazy an idea and so remote a possibility that it's easy to dismiss and just regard this as hyperbole in a poitical struggle.<br /><br />Easy to say when the rockets can't reach you... yet...<br /><br />(In case you didn't hear, <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-official-says-north-korea-is-ally-insinuates-it-could-one-day-target-the-us" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-official-says-north-korea-is-ally-insinuates-it-could-one-day-target-the-us">they appear to be receiving weapons from their buddies in North Korea</a>. Can you imagine what could be unleashed on the world were the Palestinians to have their own sovereign state?)<br /><br />There were an estimated 30,000 Hamas fighters at the start of this war. That's a about 1.5 percent of the Gaza population. If that rate of conversion to terrorism were applied to worldwide Islam, we'd be looking at nearly 30 million committed terrorists worldwide. That's a lot of people who could do a lot of damage. Even 1/10 of that is frightening. Was Hitchens right, that "<a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9lDmqZkev0" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9lDmqZkev0">the worst is yet to come</a>?"<br /><br />So then, now what? Wither Harvard? <br /><br />Final q</span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">uestion for your table: </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Are these elite college presidents morally vacant? Antisemitic? Brain-washed? All of the above? </em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><br /></div><div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Happy Chanukah and</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Shabbat Shalom,</span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em>Alexander Seinfeld<br /><br /><br />PS - Check out our <a data-cke-saved-href="https://bestjewishkidsbooks.com/books/?books_category=90" href="https://bestjewishkidsbooks.com/books/?books_category=90">Hannukah page at BestJewishKidsBooks.com</a></em></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Poison ivy? https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/poison-ivy.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Poison%20ivy?%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/12/poison-ivy.html"> email</a></i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class=" cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto !important;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-21502601097510430942023-12-01T08:51:00.000-08:002023-12-01T08:51:28.936-08:00Was Hitchens Right?<h1 style="height: 0px;"><div style="background-color: white;"><div style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: 400;"><div style="font-family: Verdana;"><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>December 1-2, 2023 • 19 Kislev 5784 • VaYishlach (Gen 32-36). </em></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this blog is to foster a unblur distinctions at the Friday night dinner table ... please forward/print/share.</em></span><br /></div></div></div><div style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em><br /></em></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana;"><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Check out our <a data-cke-saved-href="https://bestjewishkidsbooks.com/books/?books_category=90" href="https://bestjewishkidsbooks.com/books/?books_category=90">Hannukah page at BestJewishKidsBooks.com</a></em></div><div style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 400;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em><span style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://bestjewishkidsbooks.com/books/?books_category=90" href="https://bestjewishkidsbooks.com/books/?books_category=90"><img align="left" alt="Hitchens" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/09fb437ea4/16hitchens-image2-articleLarge.jpg" height="183" hspace="7" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/09fb437ea4/16hitchens-image2-articleLarge.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 183px; width: 150px;" title="Hitchens" vspace="0" width="150" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">The late British author </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens" style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;" target="_blank">Christopher Hitchens</a><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"> had a take on antisemitism that you rarely hear.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">Hitchens was beloved by many because he was very smart.</span></span></span></div><div><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">But smart obviously doesn't mean right, and </span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/religion-holidays/2022/01/christopher-hitchens-anti-semite/" href="https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/religion-holidays/2022/01/christopher-hitchens-anti-semite/" style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">some</a><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"> may dislike my quoting him. His strength of distilling a nuanced and complex into its essence often blurred or outright ignored important distinctions and often asserted </span></span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">controversial</span><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"> opinions as established fact.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">(For instance, he apparently never read his contemporary compatriot rhyming namesake </span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802803962?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802803962?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20" style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">Kenneth Kitchen's essential book</a><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">.)</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">But in the spirit of the Talmudic value of </span></span><em style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">learning from everyone</em><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"> - here is a quotation that in itself is great material for a Shabbat table discussion.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">In 2007 Hitchens said,</span></span></span><br /><br /><em style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If the Nazarine preacher from Galilee really existed, there's no question whom he met first: the Jewish People; he came from their tradition. If the prophet Mohammed really ever existed, the first encounter he had was with Jewish people. The Jews took a look at both of these guys and said, "No, this is not the Messiah, this is not the Redeemer, we reject him."<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you suppose they're ever going to be forgiving for it? Of course not, of course not. There isn't a Christian or a Muslim in the world (the serious kind) who wouldn't give everything they owned for some face-time with either Jesus or Mohammed. It would have to be the thing they most wanted to do. They must want it the same as I would like to meet Shakespeare or George Elliot. It must be the most important thing to them. And only one people - the same in both cases - met their false prophet. And in both cases they turned away and said, "This isn't genuine." You think that's going to be forgiven? No. Do you think this has led to a huge go-round of violence and heresy-hunting and fascism and genocide? Yes. Do you think it's over yet? Better not believe that. The worst is yet to come. They're never going to forgive it. </span></em></div><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"><br /></em></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"><i><br /></i></span></span><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">(</span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMGwcZPbLHw" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMGwcZPbLHw" style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">Here is a 23-minute clip of his speech at UCLA</a><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"> where he speaks about antisemitism and related topics. </span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://hac.bard.edu/amor-mundi/reflections-on-antisemitism-christopher-hitchens-2011-12-16" href="https://hac.bard.edu/amor-mundi/reflections-on-antisemitism-christopher-hitchens-2011-12-16" style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">Here is a 2011 article</a><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"> he wrote for the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College.)</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">There you have it. For your table: </span></span><em style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">Was Hitchens right?</em></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;"><i><br /></i></span></span><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">Second question: </span></span><em style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400;">Does his take on antisemitism have anything to say about Chanukah?</em><br /><br /><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 400;">Shabbat Shalom,<br /><br />and Happy Chanukah!</span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.3333px; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em>Alexander Seinfeld<br /><br />PS - Check out our <a data-cke-saved-href="https://bestjewishkidsbooks.com/books/?books_category=90" href="https://bestjewishkidsbooks.com/books/?books_category=90">Hannukah page at BestJewishKidsBooks.com</a></em></span></span><br /><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Was Hitchens right? https://amazingjewishfactaday.blogspot.com/2023/12/was-hitchens-right.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Was%20Hitchens%20right?%20https://amazingjewishfactaday.blogspot.com/2023/12/was-hitchens-right.html"> email</a></i></strong><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></span></div></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 400; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.3333px; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></span></div></h1>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-83930539056299682122023-11-23T16:38:00.000-08:002023-11-23T17:17:23.003-08:00A Jewish Thanksgiving?<div style="background-color: white;"><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><div><div><em style="font-size: 8pt;">Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfel</em></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>November 23-25, 2023 • 12-15 Kislev 5784 • VaYeitzei (Gen 29-31). </em></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this blog is to foster a true thanks-giving ... please forward/print/share.</em></span><br /><br /></div></div><div><br /></div></div><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.jewishpress.com/cartoons/" href="https://www.jewishpress.com/cartoons/"><img align="left" alt="thanksgivinSHABBAT2" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/e7f77362a0/thanksgivinSHABBAT2.jpg" height="125" hspace="7" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/e7f77362a0/thanksgivinSHABBAT2.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 212px; width: 250px;" title="thanksgivinSHABBAT2" vspace="0" width="200" /></a></span></em></span></span><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">First of all, if you missed the short video diary of my trip to Israeli, please click </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzePHFZK5sP" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzePHFZK5sP">here</a></span>.<br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">(Note that there are several videos, you need to scroll down).<br /><br />Second, by popular demand, once again we have a <strong>special video Table Talk for Thanksgiving</strong>. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />You can watch this year's edition <a data-cke-saved-href="https://youtu.be/FE4Suy73z4w" href="https://youtu.be/FE4Suy73z4w">here</a>.</span><br /><br /><span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(In addition to sharing the video with your family, you can show your own thanks by forwarding it to everyone you love of course...)</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div><span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>Shabbat Shalom,</span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=A Jewish Thanksgiving? https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/11/a-jewish-thanksgiving.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=A%20Jewish%20Thanksgiving?%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/11/a-jewish-thanksgiving.html"> email</a></i></strong><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-72519050391838921492023-11-16T15:38:00.000-08:002023-11-16T15:48:01.038-08:00Who's the Show For? (and Who's the Chauffeur)<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>November 17-18, 2023 • 5 Kislev 5784 • Toldos (Gen 25-28). </em></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this email is to elevate the Shabbat table... please forward/print/share.<br />Happy Birthday shout-out to Moshe W - another year older, another year wiser!</em></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0842VW3SW?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0842VW3SW?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20"><img align="left" alt="Rally1" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/610b32f7af/Rally1.jpg" height="94" hspace="7" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/610b32f7af/Rally1.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 125px; width: 200px;" title="Rally1" vspace="0" width="150" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span>Remember <a data-cke-saved-href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/11/what-makes-life-meaningful.html" href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/11/what-makes-life-meaningful.html" style="font-size: 16px;">that koala bear last week</a>?<br /><br /><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">I'm happy to report that this week he has found a new home: the loving arms of a refugee child from southern Israel.<br /><br />Many of the children and <u>all</u> of their parents asked me thank all the Jews around the world who sent them these gifts of love — </span></span>stuffed animals, toys and activities.<br /><br />The children were just so purely grateful for the gifts and activities.<br /><br />The parents<span> told me and are still telling me that the most important part of the gift was the thought behind it - which generated the following reciprocal thought: <em style="font-size: 16px;">"There truly are Jewish people far away who care so much for me even though they don't know me."</em></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><i><div>If you think about it, that's the perfect antidote to, "There are people out there who hate me even though they don't know me."</div></i><br /><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">(I have already emailed most or all who gave onymously (yes I invented that word) their names but obviously couldn't thank anyone who contributed </span>anonymously<span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">, of which there were many.)</span><br /><br /></span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">To everyone, it has been a honor to be your messenger to these wonderful sweet, gentle families. Not only were the toys and games all used, so were the extra funds that you sent, in order to supplement as needed.</span></span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Most of the toys and games have indeed been given to refugees in this hotel. The small surplus from this week are going to be distributed at</span></span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"> other hotels housing refugees</span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">.<br /><br />Some of you have asked me about the prospects for they themselves coming on a solidarity trip. Yes, come. With or without a specific agenda. Just being here and interacting with people, spending some money - these are huge gestures of solidarity. <br /><br />Or don't come, but keep up the vociferous action and towards your local and national governments. These are also huge statements of solidarity.<br /><br />The Washington rally is an obvious example...<br /><br />Or is it not?<br /><br />Here's a question for your table: <i>Who was the most important audience of the Washington rally - the US Government, Israelis, or ourselves?</i></span></span><br /><br /><br /><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem,</span></span></span></div></div><div style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS - I'm continuing to post </span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzePHFZK5sP" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzePHFZK5sP" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">short updates on Instagram</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Who's the show for? https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/11/whos-show-for.html" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Who%27s%20the%20show%20for?%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/11/whos-show-for.html"> email</a></i></strong><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="cke_show_border" style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span style="font-size: 12px; height: 78px;"><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /></span><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div></div></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-44554190949946293142023-11-10T09:53:00.002-08:002023-11-10T09:59:23.018-08:00How Do You Know If Your Life is Meaningful?<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><div><em style="font-size: 8pt;">Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></div><div><em style="font-size: 8pt;">November 10-11, 2023 • 27 Mar Cheshvan 5784 • Chayei Sarah (Gen 23-25). </em></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this email is to elevate the Shabbat table... please forward/print/share.<br />Happy Birthday shout-out to my dear wife - like a fine wine, you're greater every year!</em></span><br /></div></div><p><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071W25VTS?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="koala1" border="0" height="202" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/453c08e3ed/koala1.jpg" style="height: 202px; width: 150px;" title="koala1" width="150" /></a></span></em></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">That title is a great Q for your table.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><i>Do you need to wait for your funeral to see what people say about you?</i></span></h1><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />I'm guessing that some people at the table will say that living a meaningful life means a big vision and an ambitious program.<br /><br />Others will say that for them it means finding meaning in small, everyday activities.<br /><br />For others, it may mean being ready to act when opportunity knocks.<br /><br />This coming Sunday I'm scheduled to fly to Israel for a short stay (less than a week). <br /><br />You know, when you live in a Jewish community like Baltimore and word gets out that you are going to Israel, you start receiving phone calls from random people asking if you have room in your luggage to take something to someone living there - it could be medication, or a document, or even a pair of shoes. Since the standard luggage allowance is one checked bag, my general response would be yes to the small things and regrets to the large ones.<br /><br />Now, I found out that the hotel where I'm staying has hundreds of refugees from the South. This includes over 100 children.<br /><br />So I phoned up the hotel manager to ask what I could bring for them, and he couldn't think of anything.<br /><br />So my first instinct was to wait until I arrive and assess the situation.<br /><br />But on Tuesday this week, the idea came into my head to be more proactive. Surely those kids (and their parents) are going bonkers - imagine being in their situation - in a hotel far from home, no school, no playground... <br /><br />I asked my niece who lives there to investigate for me and she confirmed my suspicions.<br /><br />So on Tuesday night and Wednesday I sent out a emails to a few people inviting them to help me fill a few suitcases with toys and activities for these kids.<br /><br />Yesterday our front porch started filling up with packages. We now have three extra suitcases full of Rubik's Cubes (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NZGKGBT?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20" target="_blank">check out this new one</a>), stuffed animals, coloring books and crayons, and so on. <br /><br />Some people sent <a href="https://jsli.org/donate/" target="_blank">cash donations</a>, which I will take and spend in Israel at local toy stores.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">What I'm planning is hopefully a "normal" thing that a person does — when there is a need, we look for ways to help. But it would not be possible without the participation of all these partners. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for empowering me and entrusting me to go on this mission.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">(It is not too late to participate in the mitzvah - just use the above link.)<br /><br />Two more questions for the table:<br /><br /><em>Does a meaning in life always involve other people?<br />Does it need to be meaningful every day — or is it about the big picture? </em></span></span><br /><br /> </div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Shabbat Shalom,</span></span><br /> </div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br />PS - I'm planning to post short updates on Instagram, you can see the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzePHFZK5sP" target="_blank">first one here</a>.<br /></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-49099353162715650712023-11-03T08:30:00.003-07:002023-11-03T08:33:08.267-07:00Alone But Not Lonely?<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>November 3-4, 2023 • 20 Mar Cheshvan 5784 • Vayeira (Gen 18-22). </em></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this email is to create a friendlier Shabbat table... please forward/print/share.<br />Happy Anniversary shout-out to Amy and Lawrence - 13 is the gematria of AHAVAH!</em></span><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em><br /></em></span></div><div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btVFgqkgkzw" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btVFgqkgkzw"><img align="left" alt="israel-location-map" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://images.mapsofworld.com/israel/israel-location-map.jpg" height="125" hspace="7" src="https://images.mapsofworld.com/israel/israel-location-map.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 125px; width: 200px;" title="israel-location-map" vspace="0" width="200" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">Here's a good opening question for your table:<br /><br />The Torah famously says that every human was created "in the image of God."<br /><br />Question: </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">What in the world does that mean?</em><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">To work toward an answer, let's make a counter-point to </span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/10/come-on-and-let-me-know.html" href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/10/come-on-and-let-me-know.html"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">last week's troubling message</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">.<br /><br />Every Jew knows that to be Jewish means to feel different and sometimes - as a Jew - alone in the world.<br /><br />But as long as we have each other - a Jewish community - aloneness doesn't need to mean loneliness.<br /><br />Moreover, weren't there Germans and others </span></span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">during the Holocaust</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"> <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/about-the-righteous.html" href="https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/about-the-righteous.html">who did the right thing</a>? How about today?<br /><br />Some of these friendly voices are popping up on youtube comments and other social media</span></span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">:</span><br /><br /><ul><li><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em><span style="color: #0f0f0f; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I stand with Israel God bless Israel</span></em></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em>I admire Israeli people, they talk humbly, calmly</em></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em>I'm a South African and support Israel</em></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em>As a Korean, I strongly support Israel</em></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em>I love and stand for Israel</em></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em>God bless the IDF, Jai Hind from India</em></span></li></ul></div></div></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Question for your table: do these voices help, or are we - despite them - pretty much alone?</span></div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />The most basic answer to my original question up top - <em>what does "image of God" mean? - </em>is that every day you have ethical or moral choices to make. It seems to me that social media voices like these make the world feel a bit less lonely.<br /><br />But then how can you know you're on the side of what's right? </span><blockquote><p><br />"If a Jedi walks the path of the dark side, the dark side is always in their heart." - Yoda</p></blockquote><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Shabbat Shalom,</span><br /><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br />PS - If you click on the image above, you'll find an intellectual video that will appeal to some; others might prefer <a data-cke-saved-href="http://To you and Marc and Lily, here are a couple things that I personally found uplifting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gshzCzI4BaA" href="http://to%20you%20and%20marc%20and%20lily%2C%20here%20are%20a%20couple%20things%20that%20i%20personally%20found%20uplifting:%20%20https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=gshzCzI4BaA">this short but sweet one</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/10/come-on-and-let-me-know.html" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/10/come-on-and-let-me-know.html">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Come on and let me know..." href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Come%20on%20and%20let%20me%20know...">forward</a></i></strong><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="cke_show_border" style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div></div></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-26616268577664237112023-10-27T12:05:00.005-07:002023-10-27T12:05:33.683-07:00Come On and Let Me Know...<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table </em></span><em style="font-size: 8pt;">Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>October 27-28, 2023 • 13 Mar Cheshvan 5784 • Lech L'cha (Gen 12-17). </em></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this email is to let in a ray of hope at the Shabbat table... please forward/print/share.</em></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"> </div></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgRFEeKUH5U" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="arrows" border="0" height="99" hspace="7" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/b5f80264e0/arrows.jpeg" style="height: 99px; width: 150px;" title="arrows" vspace="0" width="150" /></a></span></em></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"></span><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">This week's first question for your table is </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">a question that I've heard numerous times this week.<br /><br />It's also </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">one of the toughest questions I've heard in a long time...<br /><br /><em>What do you do when you find out that someone you thought was your friend isn't really your friend?</em><br /><br />Do you try to save the friendship or do you walk away?<br /><br />How about when a place you thought was safe becomes less safe....</span></span><br /> <div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Jewish students locked in library during pro-Palestinian rally at Cooper Union</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.fox5ny.com/news/cooper-union-jewish-students-locked-library" target="_blank">https://www.fox5ny.com/news/cooper-union-jewish-students-locked-library</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Pro-Palestinian students project anti-Israel slogans on George Washington University library ... <a href="https://forward.com/fast-forward/566853/george-washington-university-anti-israel-projection-library" target="_blank">https://forward.com/fast-forward/566853/george-washington-university-anti-israel-projection-library</a>/</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">At Brandeis, resolution to condemn Hamas fails student senate ... <a href="https://www.jta.org/2023/10/25/united-states/at-brandeis-u-founded-as-a-nonsectarian-jewish-university-resolution-to-condemn-hamas-fails-student-senate" target="_blank">https://www.jta.org/2023/10/25/united-states/at-brandeis-u-founded-as-a-nonsectarian-jewish-university-</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.jta.org/2023/10/25/united-states/at-brandeis-u-founded-as-a-nonsectarian-jewish-university-resolution-to-condemn-hamas-fails-student-senate" target="_blank">resolution-to-condemn-hamas-fails-student-senate</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><div><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Outraged Jewish NYU student calls out university leadership for antisemitism on campus ... <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6339710520112" target="_blank">https://www.foxnews.com/video/6339710520112</a></span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Outraged Jewish NYU student calls out university leadership for antisemitism on campus ... <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/michigan-state-university-apologizes-for-showing-hitler-on-jumbotron-at-football-game" target="_blank">https://www.timesofisrael.com/michigan-state-university-apologizes-for-showing-hitler-on-jumbotron-at-football-game</a>/</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">A Stanford instructor called Jewish students colonizers and downplayed the Holocaust ... <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/13/us/stanford-instructor-jewish-holocaust-comments-reaj/index.html" target="_blank">https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/13/us/stanford-instructor-jewish-holocaust-comments-reaj/index.html</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Cornell Professor “Exhilarated” by Hamas’s Attack ... <a href="https://cornellsun.com/2023/10/16/cornell-professor-exhilarated-by-hamass-attack-defends-remark" target="_blank">https://cornellsun.com/2023/10/16/cornell-professor-exhilarated-by-hamass-attack-defends-remark</a>/</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Drexel investigating arson at Jewish student's door amid Israel-Hamas War</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/drexel-dorm-anti-semitism-vandalism/3666052" target="_blank">https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/drexel-dorm-anti-semitism-vandalism/3666052</a>/</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Israeli student attacked with a stick outside Columbia University library ... </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><a href="https://nypost.com/2023/10/12/israeli-student-attacked-outside-columbia-university-library" target="_blank">https://nypost.com/2023/10/12/israeli-student-attacked-outside-columbia-university-library</a>/</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #343434;">Swastikas and a Nazi slogan were graffitied in dorm at American University.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #343434;"><a href="https://www.american.edu/president/announcements/october-20-2023.cfm" target="_blank">https://www.american.edu/president/announcements/october-20-2023.cfm</a></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fffefe;"><span style="color: #343434;">UC Davis faculty member makes </span></span><span style="background-color: #fffefe; color: #343434;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fffefe; color: #343434;">social media post that threatens Jewish journalists, children ... </span><a href="https://www.kcra.com/article/uc-davis-faculty-member-social-media-post/45591044" target="_blank">https://www.kcra.com/article/uc-davis-faculty-member-social-media-post/45591044</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">NYU student who ripped down Israeli hostage posters interned for the ADL </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nyu-student-who-ripped-down-posters9p-israeli-hostages-adl-intern-2023-10" target="_blank">https://www.businessinsider.com/nyu-student-who-ripped-down-posters9p-israeli-hostages-adl-intern-2023-10</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">U of Vermont ‘vigorously denies’ fostering an antisemitic environment on campus, amid federal investigation ... <a href="https://www.jta.org/2022/09/15/united-states/u-of-vermont-vigorously-denies-fostering-an-antisemitic-environment-on-campus-amid-federal-investigation" target="_blank">https://www.jta.org/2022/09/15/united-states/u-of-vermont-vigorously-denies-fostering-an-antisemitic-environment-on-campus-amid-federal-investigation</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Jewish-owned SF ice cream shop vandalized, tagged with pro-Palestine graffiti</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><a href="https://abc7news.com/smitten-ice-cream-san-francisco-vandalized-pro-palestine-graffiti/13972158" target="_blank">https://abc7news.com/smitten-ice-cream-san-francisco-vandalized-pro-palestine-graffiti/13972158</a>/</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Richmond, CA City Council votes to condemn Israel of “ethnic cleansing”</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/tempers-fly-richmond-council-meeting-israel-hamas-18443610.php" target="_blank">https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/tempers-fly-richmond-council-meeting-israel-hamas-18443610.php</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><h1 class="article-hero-headline__htag lh-none-print black-print" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--article-hero-headline--htag--color); font-family: var(--article-hero-headline--htag--font-family); font-size: var(--article-hero-headline--htag--font-size); font-weight: var(--article-hero-headline--htag--font-weight); line-height: var(--article-hero-headline--htag--line-height); margin: var(--article-hero-headline--htag--margin);"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">‘Not safe anywhere now’: American Jews are flocking to gun training classes</span></span></h1></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/not-safe-anywhere-now-american-jews-are-flocking-gun-training-classes-rcna120602" target="_blank">https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/not-safe-anywhere-now-american-jews-are-flocking-gun-training-classes-rcna120602</a></span></span></div><div> </div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Question for your table: <em>Should Jews stay or should we go?</em></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Shabbat Shalom,</span><br /> </div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br /> <div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank">Like it</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/10/come-on-and-let-me-know.html" target="_blank">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=Come%20on%20and%20let%20me%20know..." target="_blank">forward</a></i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div> <table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto !important;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-60720829217857214412023-10-20T07:00:00.003-07:002023-10-20T07:00:00.147-07:00First As Tragedy, Second as Farce, 70th As...?<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>October 20-21, 2023 • 6 Mar Cheshvan 5784 • Noach (Gen 6-11). </em></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this email is to let in a ray of hope at the Shabbat table... please forward/print/share</em></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1874774013?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1874774013?ie=UTF8&tag=j0em-20" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="1200px-Impossible_staircase.svg" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Impossible_staircase.svg/1200px-Impossible_staircase.svg.png" height="102" hspace="7" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Impossible_staircase.svg/1200px-Impossible_staircase.svg.png" style="cursor: default; height: 100px; width: 131px;" title="1200px-Impossible_staircase.svg" vspace="0" width="100" /></a></span></em></span></span><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"></span></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">There are a couple sides to this modern story of Biblical proportions.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">On one hand, we've seen this movie before:<br /><br />- Massacres<br />- Blood libels</span><br />- Synagogue burnings</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">- Sadness and fear</span><br style="font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br /><span style="font-size: 16px;">Check out the Wikipedia Article, "<a data-cke-saved-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_antisemitism" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_antisemitism">Timeline of Antisemitism</a>." </span><br style="font-size: 16px;" /><br style="font-size: 16px;" /><span style="font-size: 16px;">I downloaded the article and deleted many pages of endnotes.<br /><br />It's still a whopping 110 pages. <br /><br />I then went through those 110 pages and highlighted only the massacres. <u>I lost count after about 70</u>. <br /><br />Most of those occur prior to 1945. <br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: 16px;">In other words, at first glance, the past 70 years seem to have broken a 2,000-year-old pattern.</span><br style="font-size: 16px;" /><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">But that's false.<br /><br />The <em>incidents</em> have continued unabated. They've just been a bit less violent lately. So we've been lulled into a comfortable slumber.<br /><br />That's the one hand.</span><br /><br style="font-size: 16px;" /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On the other hand, we've rarely seen this movie:<br /><br />- Jewish unity<br /></span><span style="font-size: 16px;">- Shared purpose and meaning</span><br style="font-size: 16px;" /><span style="font-size: 16px;">- Commitment and grit</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">The last time we saw this kind of unity was <a data-cke-saved-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur_War" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur_War">exactly 50 years ago</a>.<br /><br />Would that we could capture that sense of brotherhood and sisterhood and put it in a bottle.<br /><br />Question for your table: <em>What happens after this common enemy is no more? Does the unity evaporate, or will there be another way to unite us?</em></span><br /><br />Some say it could come through sharing some Torah, others say we should lock in the unity by sharing Shabbat. Everyone seems to agree that we can </span><span style="font-size: 16px;">at least</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> share acts of kindness.<br /><br />What do you say? <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Wishing you, yours, and all of Israel, a </span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Shabbat Shalom,</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/10/first-as-tragedy-second-as-farce-70th-as.html" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/10/first-as-tragedy-second-as-farce-70th-as.html">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=First as tragedy...?" href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=First%20as%20tragedy...?">forward</a></i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div><div style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div></div><div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class=" cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto !important;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-53203455579784077392023-10-13T07:00:00.013-07:002023-10-13T07:00:00.150-07:00Sitting's Over, Time to Stand?<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>October 13-14, 2023 • 28-29 Tishrei 5784 • Bereishis (Gen 1-6). </em></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this email is to turn sitting into standing... please forward/print/share.<br />Happy birthday shout-out to my dear Mother... may you have another year of many blessings!</em></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em><br /></em></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1422606090?ie=UTF8&tag=j099-20" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="see-saw2" border="0" height="148" hspace="7" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/a5c4f028cf/see-saw2.jpg" style="height: 148px; width: 150px;" title="see-saw2" vspace="0" width="150" /></a></span></em></span></span><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"></span><div><a href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/10/youre-invited.html" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Last week we were still sitting in the sukkah and I asked</span></a><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: x-small;">, </span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">"Is life too complicated?"</span></span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">None of us imagined how complicated it could get.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">So this week, we stand up and be counted.<br /><br />Stand and be counted means one thing if you are living in the Land of Israel right now.<br /><br />First question for your table: <em>What does it mean if you're not living in Israel right now?</em></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span>In my opinion, the rest of us should be doing at least one (preferably all) of three things:</span></span><br /><br /><strong>1. Communicate</strong><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span>Everyone you know who lives in Israel and everyone you know who knows someone who lives in Israel - send them an email or text:</span></span><br /><br /><em><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span>"It must be extremely stressful - if you have the </span>wherewithal<span>, please let me know how you guys are doing. But if you don't, no worries, just know that you are in my thoughts and prayers."</span></span></em><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span>Even if you're not the sort who prays, say it anyway. They need to hear it. It means a lot to them. (If you want to be a fully truthful person, so utter a prayer already, what could it hurt?)</span></span></span></div><div><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">But don't assume that they know how you feel. Their fear is real. They need to hear from us.<br /></span><br /><strong>2. Give</strong><br /><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span> </span></span></span><div><span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://donate.meirpanim.org/2023-emergency-campaign/" style="color: #0076f7;" target="_blank">https://donate.meirpanim.org/2023-emergency-campaign/</a></span></span></div><div><span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://causematch.com/helpisrael" style="color: #0076f7;" target="_blank">https://causematch.com/helpisrael</a> </span></span></div><div><span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://chesedtoday.com/soldiers/" style="color: #0076f7;" target="_blank">https://chesedtoday.com/soldiers/</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><br /><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><strong>3. Take it personally</strong><br /><br />The Simchat Torah War is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mEVKRKVM-0" target="_blank">existential for Israelis</a> but is also a war against <a href="https://irp.fas.org/world/para/docs/880818a.htm" target="_blank">the entire Jewish People</a> and indeed <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-strip-netanyahu-palestine-arab-support-entire-planet-will-be-under-our-law-warns-hamas-commander-mahmoud-al-zahar-4473139#:~:text=%22The%20entire%20510%20million%20square,other%20countries%2C%22%20he%20said." target="_blank">the entire world</a>. It started thousands of years ago. They hate you because you're Jewish. If you are fortunate, you and your immediate family were spared <em>this time</em>. <br /><br />Therefore, it's a wake-up call to increase our Jewish connection. How about committing - starting right now - to 5 minutes a day of increased Judaism? That could be something as simple as learning Torah or Jewish wisdom for 5 minutes a day. Join an online class. Read an article online. Listen to Torah audio. Get a meaningful book and read it for 5 minutes a day.<br /><br /><strong>The teeter-totter of history</strong><br /><br />There are two threads that link you and me to our grandparents and great-grandparents, all the way back: These three pillars (Torah / kindness / prayer) and anti-Semitism. The Talmud predicts that history will be like a see-saw - when these three pillars are up, anti-Semitism will go down, and when these three pillars go down, anti-Semitism will go up. <br /><br />Those on the front lines are doing what they need to do. The rest of us also have work to do. </span><em>We're all in this together.</em><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Let's end as usual with a question for your table: <br /><br /><em>What's a bigger surprise to you - that human beings could be capable of such evil, or that they could get away with it?</em></span><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Wishing you and all of Israel a </span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Shabbat Shalom,</span><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i><br /><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span>PS - In response to people asking me for suggested prayers to say I have prepared a small packet (PDF) - let me know if you'd like a copy.</span></span><br /><br /><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span> </span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b> </b></span></span><a href="https://facebook.com/" target="_blank">Like it</a><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">, </span><b><i><a href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/10/youre-invited.html" target="_blank">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong><i><a href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=You%27re%20invited..." target="_blank">forward</a></i></strong><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"> it....</span></span></div></div><span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"></span><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="color: black; margin: 0px auto;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline;"><td style="display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><img border="0" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><img border="0" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="display: inline;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><img border="0" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span style="font-size: 12px;"><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /></span><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-43834830766547827512023-10-06T08:42:00.001-07:002023-10-06T08:42:37.505-07:00You're Invited...<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>October 5-7, 2023 • 22-23 Tishrei 5784 • Shmini Atzeret-Simchat Torah (Deut 15-16). </em></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The purpose of this email is to simplify the Friday night dinner conversation... please forward/print/share.<br />Happy birthday shout-out to Tom in Pasadena!</em></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"></div><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><em><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1680259156?ie=UTF8&tag=j099-20" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1680259156?ie=UTF8&tag=j099-20"><img align="left" alt="Seinfeld-sukkah" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/8bde573943/Seinfeld-sukkah.jpg" height="157" hspace="7" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/8bde573943/Seinfeld-sukkah.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 157px; width: 200px;" title="Seinfeld-sukkah" vspace="0" width="200" /></a></span></em></span><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Is life too complicated? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Or is it just me?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Work, family, relationships - that's the old fashioned kind of complicated.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">I'm referring to the layers on top of all that - the password resets and lost emails and missed text messages, the software updates that cause apps to malfunction, the wifi hiccups, the constant hum of spam and the constant drip-drip of scams, the unrecognized credit card charges, the speed cameras, the constant battery charging and changing, the non-stop (doom-and-gloom) news cycle...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">In a by-gone era, when you went shopping you'd feel lucky if you found a ripe apple. Just finding a single crispy Golden Delicious or Granny Smith was enough to put you over the moon. You could take that treasure home and cut it into ten pieces and everyone in the family would get one slice for dessert and everyone was </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">ecstatic</em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">But now our shopping is so extravagant that we can't even call it going to the market - now it's the </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">super-</em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">market (in France they one-upped us with the </span><i style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">hyper-</i><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">market) - and in these mega-super-duper-hyper-meta-markets there isn't one kind of apple, there are 50 varieties of everything from cereal to toothbrushes, and we think we're so lucky because we have so many options but in fact this epoque has more anxiety and depression than any other time in history.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Psychology Professor Barry Schwartz argues in his </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060005688?ie=UTF8&tag=j099-20" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060005688?ie=UTF8&tag=j099-20">Paradox of Choice</a> </em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">(or watch his </span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice?language=en" href="https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice?language=en" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">15-minute Ted Talk</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">) that too many choices can be exhausting and paralyzing. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">We Jews have a wonderful pause button on being busy - it's called Shabbat. But try asking this question at your table: </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">What's the Torah's antidote to choice-overload?</em><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">It's called Sukkot, and it's more of an inoculation than an antidote.</span><br /><br /><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The basic idea:</em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"> after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, spend a week living simply. Not as rough as camping, but in that direction — eat and sleep in a temporary hut on the deck or in the back yard. Keep it simple, nothing fancy, and meditate on how little you truly require to be happy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">The photo above is our family's new sukkah, built by committee. Although we managed to fill it up this year, it's modular and can be easily expanded. Therefore, I'm giving you plenty of advance notice: </span><u style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I hereby extend an invitation to you for next year</u><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"> to come and dwell with us and enjoy a real </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">haven from complicated</em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"> - this is the </span><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">zone of simplicity</em><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"> to crown the High Holidays and delay the resumption of "real life" by a few more days....</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Combining this theme with </span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/09/eclecticism-for-dummies.html" href="https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/09/eclecticism-for-dummies.html" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">last week's eclecticism theme</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">, here's one more question for your table: </span><br /><br /><em style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Imagine someone built an enormous sukkah with unlimited capacity, and they invited every Jewish person in town - would you want to be there?</em><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Wishing you a </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Shabbat Shalom<br /><br />and a Happy Sukkot,<br /><br />and a Happy Shmini Atzeret,<br /><br />and a Happy Simchat Torah,</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers!<b style="font-size: 10pt;"> </b></span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://facebook.com/" href="https://facebook.com/" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like it</a><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><b style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/10/youre-invited.html" href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Check%20out%20Rabbi%20Seinfeld%27s%20https://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com/2023/10/youre-invited.html">tweet it,</a> </i></b><strong style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a data-cke-saved-href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=You're invited..." href="mailto:Enter%20your%20friend's%20email?subject=Thought%20you%27d%20like%20this!&body=You%27re%20invited...">forward</a></i></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> it....</span></div></div><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class=" cke_show_border" style="background-color: white; border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px auto !important;"><tbody><tr style="display: inline !important;"><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" height="23" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.facebook.png" style="cursor: default; height: 23px; width: 51px;" width="51" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" height="20" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.twitter.png" style="cursor: default; height: 20px; width: 55px;" width="55" /> </span></td><td style="border: 1px dotted rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline !important;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><img border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" height="18" src="https://img.verticalresponse.com/social_sharing/social_sharing.placeholder.linkedin.png" style="cursor: default; height: 18px; width: 55px;" width="55" /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><img align="right" alt="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" height="78" src="https://208c55bcf7-custmedia.vresp.com/71c9a9e43c/aleph%20wing%20logo-nobox%20tight.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 78px; width: 140px;" title="aleph wing logo-nobox tight" width="140" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></div><p><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span> </p>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17567408.post-24807901255062189992023-09-29T07:52:00.004-07:002023-09-29T07:53:11.578-07:00Eclecticism for Dummies?<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><i>Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld</i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><i>September 29-30, 2023 • 15 Tishrei 5784 • Sukkot (Lev 23). </i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><i>The purpose of this blog is to harvest what we've sown ... please forward/print/share.</i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><strong style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Important announcement</strong><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.3333px;"> - Our new </span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://BestJewishKidsBooks.com" href="https://bestjewishkidsbooks.com/" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">BestJewishKidsBooks.com</a><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.3333px;"> is almost ready for official launch - it's a one-of-a-kind curated searchable index of great books for all ages (including parents and teachers) - please check it out and tell me what you think!</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.3333px;"><em><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060930853?ie=UTF8&tag=j099-20" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060930853?ie=UTF8&tag=j099-20"><img align="left" alt="Mahane_Yehuda" border="0" data-cke-saved-src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Mahane_Yehuda_%28I%29_%2845298221191%29.jpg" height="133" hspace="7" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Mahane_Yehuda_%28I%29_%2845298221191%29.jpg" style="cursor: default; height: 200px; width: 300px;" title="Mahane_Yehuda" vspace="0" width="200" /></a></span></em></span><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Happy 5784!<br /><br />Let's start the year with a question for your table: <br /><br /><em>Would you prefer a single restaurant in town that (<a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kim-jong-un-armored-train-putin-russia-north-korea/" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kim-jong-un-armored-train-putin-russia-north-korea/">like Mr. Kim's train</a>) can dish up any cuisine? Or is the world a better place having single-cuisine restaurants?</em><br /><br />(Doesn't matter as long as it's healthy?)<br /><br />On Sunday afternoon I was treated to delicious and nourishing fare at the pre-Yom Kippur table of friends in San Diego.<br /><br />The host asked everyone to respond to the question, "What do you hope to achieve in your life this year?"<br /><br />My first reaction was that this is a highly personal topic that I'm not comfortable sharing in public. <br /><br />But before I had time to think more about it he turned to me to be the first to answer. I don't love it when I ask round-table questions at my table and someone declines to participate, and I didn't want him to feel bad about asking, and I didn't want to be untruthful, and I for sure didn't want to be boring.... so I managed to say something that was (a) truthful, (b) meaningful, (c) not inescapably top-secret, and (d) hopefully somewhat interesting.<br /><br />Here's the next question for your table: <em>How would you answer that question?</em><br /><br />That night, I participated in the Yom Kippur program ever.<br /><br />It was a mixture of just about every flavor of Jew (and even some non-Jews) you can imagine - from the most </span></span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">to the least</span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px;"> religious, from Ashkenazim to Sephardim, from Anglos to Hispanics to Persians to Ukrainians, with a likewise mixture of traditional prayers and songs. <br /><br />In some ways, that ritual eclecticism felt off. Usually when you want Italian food, you go to an Italian restaurant, and when you want Chinese food, you go to a Chinese restaurant. Do you ever go to a restaurant that serves both Italian and Chinese? It might be convenient, but what would happen to the quality of the food?<br /><br />I think that's a great analogy for this YK program - yes, there was arguably some loss of "quality" in terms of traditional liturgy, because compromises were necessary. But the losses were more than offset by the gains of everyone feeling they belonged. If you had such a restaurant, everyone could always eat together happily. <br /><br />In philosophy, <a data-cke-saved-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclecticism#" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclecticism#">eclecticism</a> can be criticized for inconsistency. But in the real world, those varieties of people can be the cliché spice of life. <br /><br />Final question for your table - <em>Is there any type of person (excluding sociopaths and psychopaths) that you absolutely would not want to have at your dinner table? Someone of the opposite political spectrum? Someone who believes in dogmas that you find objectionable?</em></span></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Wishing you a </span></span><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">Shabbat Shalom </span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">and a Happy Sukkot!</span><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><em>Alexander Seinfeld</em></span></span><br /><br /><br /><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><span face="verdana, geneva, sans-serif">Enjoyed this Table Talk? 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(JSLI) is to foster a paradigm shift in spiritual and moral education to enable </span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">every human being to access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.</span></div></div>Rabbi Seinfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09519288133566248280noreply@blogger.com0