Good Riddance?

 The purpose of this blog is to create love and wisdom at that Shabbat table and all year round. Please print and share...  By the way, Isn't tonight the night?

Does that photo look vaguely familiar? 

I used it last week. The repeat is to show our solidarity with those who are suffering out West.

One of those suffering out West, a long-term subscriber to this email, sent me the following email the other day:

I would like you to remove me from your weekly email distribution list. You might be surprised to know that I read nearly everything you send. And over the years I have found that in doing so my heart is not made more loving.  My ability to use my mind in service to wisdom has not been strengthened. And instead I find myself increasingly agitated by and sad after reading what you write. 

(I was indeed surprised - I sometimes wonder if anyone reads what I send. I figure most people stop reading after awhile. And I was also uplifted to know that he continues to be a seeker of love and wisdom.)

I'll leave it to you, dear reader, to interpret both the content and the timing of his missive. On a related note, last night I heard a rabbi speak in less-than-glowing terms about the departure of the Year 5780. He said,

"I don't need to tell you that this has been a very difficult year, for the world and for the Jewish People. Many people have suffered, many are still suffering. Many are simply depressed or afraid. I don't think many of us are sorry to see 5780 go, and we are all hopeful that 5781 will be a better year."

I wonder .... without minimizing anyone's suffering, haven't there been many Rosh Hashanas when we could say that? Right now the plagues and fires and economic woes etc. seem historic and unprecedented. But maybe that's because they're happening right now?

Maybe we could reframe: it seems to me that having a new year is a great opportunity to ask three questions:

1. What's something important you learned in 5780?
2. What's something you did in 5780 that you're proud of?
3. What do you dream of accomplishing in 5781?

(For a list of 28 such questions, plus a few more for Yom Kippur, send me an email.)
(In addition to the RH/YK questions, we have an updated Significant Omens sheet and a couple other Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur specials - shoot me an email.)

This is one of only a couple times a year when we mention the costs of sending this email. What a coincidence - this happens to be the time of year when Jews give more generously than usual. Please consider showing your appreciation and support with a tax-deductible contribution of any amount - with many options available at http://jsli.org/donate . Your support not only keeps our computers running and lights on, it helps us make an impact on thousands of lives through our educational programs. If you'd like details on our programs and their outcomes, shoot me an email.

Like public radio, we have some cool thank you gifts - become a supporting member and we'll send you something special.

And now I'm going to leave you with an intentionally provocative question for your Shabbat/Holiday table:

What would be worse - a year of peace and prosperity when you learned absolutely nothing, or a year of suffering when you gained great wisdom? In other words, is wisdom ever worth suffering for?

Shabbat Shalom

L'Shana Tova - Happy New Year
May you and yours be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life!

May 5781 be a year of great blessings and see an end to great suffering.

 

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A

The Dreaded Question

The purpose of this blog is to bring some color to the Shabbat table. Please print and share, or forward or...
 

Last week's hurricane post (if you got past the dad-jokes) made a surprise connection between hurricanes and Rosh Hashana.

This week begins with a question that our 11-year-old daughter asked me last night.

 

She asked the Dreaded Question.

It's that question that parents know is coming sooner or later and hope that it will be later rather than sooner.

Some parents are pro-active and don't wait until they're asked.

But many parents put it off as long as possible.

On any other subject, we're the experts we have all the answers.

But when this one comes up - especially when we're not expecting it - it catches us tongue-tied.

The question I'm referring to of course is:

"Abba, why is the sky blue?"

Try asking that one at your table. How many people can answer it?

How many think they can answer it, but when you press them on it, they clearly don't understand?

How many are willing to admit, they really have no idea?

So to save you from any further awkwardness, here's your "blue sky for dummies" crib notes:

Sunlight looks white, but it is actually made from a mixture of colors (like a rainbow). See (picture above) how each color has a different wavelength?

This white sunlight travels super fast — it leaves the sun at 186,000 miles per second, racing towards us across 93 million miles of space.

But just before it reaches us it crashes into something — can you guess what? The atmosphere! When it hits those tiny molecules of air, the shortest wavelengths don’t make it through – they bounce off those air molecules and scatter, like rain splashing off your windshield. Look at the diagram: What color has the shortest wavelength? Blue! The air is just dense enough to scatter some of the blue, causing the sky to look blue.

Did you get it?

Let's see: If you were on the moon, where there is no air, what color would the sky be?

Here's a trickier one - How does this knowledge explain why sunsets are so beautiful?

(As the sun gets lower and lower, that sunlight has to pass through more and more atmosphere; so more wavelengths get filtered: first green, making the sun look more yellow; then yellow, making it look more orange; then finally the orange, leaving only the red. Sunrise is the opposite – it’s getting higher and higher, red to orange to yellow.)

Last question for your table: What does this topic have to do with Rosh Hashana?

The best way that I know to experience Rosh Hashana is to hear the shofar and concentrate on the end of the year - not concrete resolutions but a bigger picture vision of what kind of person you want to become - you know you can become - in the next 12 months.

If you'd like this year's edition of our "Questions to think about from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur", shoot me an email. Or our "Significant Omens for Rosh Hashana". Or anything else.

As the year ends, I know that I haven't pleased all the people all the time, but I hope that I've pleased all the people some of the time. If any of my missives fell short for you, please forgive me.


Wishing you and yours a healthy and happy, connected and uplifting 5778!


Shabbat Shalom

L'Shana Tova — May you be written and sealed in the Book of Life!


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What You Can Learn From a Tomato

The goal of this blog is to create an heirloom-quality Friday night  - please print and share, repost, forward, tweet, etc.

Before today's main topic, a correction from last week.

Many people tried to view the video about the "Humanity Being" and the link was initially broken.

It was later corrected. If you haven't seen it, or want to see it again, here is the working link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmN3ubufUA4

Now, what's this business about tomatoes?

I'm not much of a gardener, but how hard is it to buy a couple starters from the Home Depot and stick them in the ground?

Well, it turns out I have a lot to learn.

First of all, my thoughtful wife reminds me, you have to prepare the soil. Mix in all of that compost you've been making all winter.

That's not so hard to understand.

What surprised me was when I read the instructions on the starter plants. They write them in tiny print on the plastic label around the plant. I would ordinarily just ignore such things, but on whim decided to read it:

"Plant deep enough for soil to reach the base of plant. Plant tomatoes deeper, covering 2/3 of plant."

Did I read that right? Bury 2/3 of the plant?

Yep, say the experts. Especially if you're trying to grow succulent heirlooms.

Here's a superb blog that tells you how to do it.

Why 2/3 deep?

They say it allows the plant to grow stronger roots. It will actually grow roots right out of the sides of the plant.

With those stronger roots, it will grow taller and stronger and produce better fruit.

I didn't know that.

I think maybe there is something to learn here, but I'll put it in the form of a Question for your table:

How is a person like a tomato?


Shabbat Shalom

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Big Ben

The goal of this blog is to chase down some "true" wisdom at your Shabbat table.... please print and share.

Happy Anniversary to Lawrence and Amy and Happy Birthday to Steve, all in California! Live long and prosper. (To dedicate a future Table talk - send an email.)
This week I had the honor of attending a unique event.

It was the bar mitzvah celebration of a young man in California.

His name is Ben.

It was unique in the very true sense that Ben is unique. It had his unmistakable imprint.

Some of the guests were nonplussed at the venue - a golf club instead of a synagogue? Is that allowed??

In my opinion, the essence of a bar mitzvah is not the ritual, it is the bar mitzvah boy's (or girl's) speech. He's teaching us a bit of Torah wisdom that he has learned.

That is his true coming-of-age - taking ownership of the tradition.

As I told him, "It's your Torah as much as it is mine."

What Ben said was inspired and inspiring.

He spoke of his favorite pastime - the game of golf - and how Torah lessons can be applied to the game. He then expanded the theme to point out that the same is true for life itself.

After all, Ben concluded:

The Torah’s full name is Torat Chayin – which means wisdom for living, wisdom for life. So you could say that the entire book is wisdom not just one section. One of the great rabbis, Ben Zoma, said: the person who is wise is someone who learns from all others. I think this is a great way to sum up the entire Torah.
The obvious question for your table is, What in the world does Ben Zoma mean? How can he define wisdom as "learning from all others"? Does he really mean all others?

Mazal tov Ben!

and Shabbat Shalom
PS - Here's your countdown timer to remember how many days til Hannuka.
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Who's a Hero?

The goal of this blog is to make you the hero of your Friday night dinner table. Please print and share.

Smack in the middle of the Jewish Book of Ethics (Pirkei Avot), the Rabbi Ben Zoma asks four questions:

Who is "rich"?
Who is "wise"?
Who is "strong"?
Who is "honorable"?

All good stuff for your Shabbat Table.

Now here's your answer key:

1. One who is contented.
2. One who learns from everyone.
3. One who has self-control.
4. One who honors others.

If you don't mind, I'd like to add a 5th question to Ben Zoma's list:

Who's "a hero"?

After everyone at your table contemplates that for a bit, try these:

1. Can you name a well-known person generally treated as rich, wise, strong or honorable but according to Ben Zoma is not? Can you think of anyone who is?

2. I say that a hero is someone who is falling short in one or more of Ben Zoma's ideals but then works on himself and masters it — even just one of the four. If you could become a hero in just one of them in this lifetime,  which would you choose?


Shabbat Shalom

PS - The word is getting around - Amazing Nature for Teachers is amazing! - Click here to see for yourself: AmazingNature4Teachers.com. Please let your favorite educator or school know about it! Just highlight this paragraph and click "forward".


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

Do You Want Knowledge or Wisdom?

The goal of this blog is to foster rewarding Friday night dinner conversation. Please print and share.
In memory of my grandparents, Eliezer ben Zelig and Sima bat Yaakov Mordechai.

When you hear the name King Solomon, what's the first thing that comes to mind?

"Wise"?

"Wisdom"?

The Good Book calls him wisest person in history.

But what does that mean exactly?

What's wisdom?

He is reported to have known astronomy and other natural sciences, including botany and zoology. He allegedly understood the languages of animals. He mastered statecraft and foreign relations. He composed music, poetry and literature, and under his guidance the Jewish People created architectural and engineering wonders. Some say he could easily sink a 40-yard putt.
 
But we call these intellectual and spiritual achievements knowledge, not wisdom.

Knowledge is something that you can put on the internet. Wisdom is something else.

The other day a radio show guest claimed that in the next decade, professionals such as doctors and lawyers will face the same type of obsolescence due to technology that low-wage workers have long experienced. Patients and clients will get many medical and legal answers from apps.

But isn't there an aspect of medicine and law that can't be automated?

That's the wisdom part.

When Solomon became king of Israel, he didn't ask for wealth or fame, or even knowledge. He prayed for one thing only:

"...an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and bad...."

In honor of my grandparents, who knew each other for exactly seventy years and seventy days, I would like to cull one piece of wisdom from their marriage, for myself and for you.

Many people think of a relationship in terms of "what can s/he do for me".

Yet as long as I knew them, it was clear through their actions that "good" in their marriage meant "making my spouse happy" and "bad" meant "not making my spouse happy."

Think about it.

So here is this week's question for your table: Based on King Solomon's definition of wisdom, did my grandparents have a "wise" marriage?

Shabbat Shalom


PS - Looking for a summer book? I heard this author interviewed the other day and it sounds like a great read for anyone interested in modern Israeli history.

The Vegetable Man

Happy Birthday to Rick in Portland... May you live to 120 in ever-increasing wisdom.



(To dedicate a future Table Talk, send an email.)


 
As presented two weeks ago, your Table Talk is now in L'Chaim mode.

The suggestion is this:

At some point during the Shabbat meal, pour everyone their favorite beverage for a l'chaim.

But ask them not to drink until after you finish the story. Make this a ritual every Friday night, and your family will look forward to it.


One of the best books I have found full of true stories with Jewish themes is called Stories My Grandfather Told Me. The publisher has granted me permission to excerpt these via email, but not on a web page.

This week's story is called “The Vegetable Man”.

It begins like this:

The yeshiva of Rabbi Shlomo Luria, known as the Maharshal, was located above a vegetable store.

This store was owned by a man called Reb Avraham, a quiet, modest man who kept to himself. The store was also his home.

One night, the Maharshal heard Reb Avraham learning out loud a very deep passage in the Talmud and explaining it thoroughly.

Apparently, this modest shopkeeper was a great Torah scholar!
+ + + +

If you would like to receive a the full story, please join the email list or send me an email, seinfeld  (at)   jsli.org





Question for your table - What's more important, wisdom or good deeds?


Shabbat Shalom

PS - Want to make your Table Talk rabbi happy? Like it, tweet it, or just forward it to someone who might enjoy it.

Excerpted and adapted with permission from Stories My Grandfather Told Me, Vol. 4, © 2001 ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications. All rights reserved. Get the book here.

Ask Yer Rabbi

The purpose of this blog is to for some good ol Jewish conversation at the Shabbat meals. Please print and share.


 Ever met a first-time parent?

They're worried about everything.

Back in 1996 when we were expecting our first child, the doctor wanted to run a routine ultrasound.

He said it wasn't required, but could reveal certain problems and was a good idea, and that there was no risk.

Something about that technology sounded invasive and risky.

Something bothered us about bombarding our baby with anything, not even sound waves.


Something bothered us about his "no risk" certainty.



So we did something very unscientific.

We asked our rabbi what he thought.

Without hesitation he answered, "There's no evidence that they're harmful, but I don't think they've been around long enough to assume they're safe. Unless there is an urgent medical need, I wouldn't do it."

So we declined. (Later, during the second trimester, we had a more urgent need for one.)

NO, I did not say that rabbis can replace doctors.

And since then, ultrasound tech has become so portable that you can buy your own. (And led to some disturbing uses.)

Yet it wasn't long after that that evidence started to emerge that ultrasounds can affect fetal brain development.

For instance, this 2001 study on the increase in left-handedness among ultrasounded babies.

More recently, even scarier data has come in about a possible link to autism. (But the research, while scary, is not yet conclusive.)

So maybe having the right rabbi - even if he isn't a doctor - is not such a bad idea?

(Of course, having the right rabbi doesn't help much if you don't ask the question....)

Some people say, "I just don't want to bother the rabbi...."

To that concern, Rav Wolbe once said: When you find a rabbi who can answer your questions, "never give him any rest."

So this week's question for your table is: When is the last time you asked your rabbi a question?


Shabbat Shalom

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Feeling Sappy

The goal of this blog is stimulate warm conversation at your Shabbat table. Don't read it now - print and share!




Feeling Sappy

Tonight is Tubishvat, the festival of the trees.

In past years I've made some suggestions how to make it meaningful for the kids: here and here.

This year I want to try a different approach for your and your table.

The Talmud occasionally compares a person to a tree.

So first question for your table: How is a person like a tree?

Let's think for a moment.

We are exactly 4 months after Rosh Hashana, one third of the year has passed.

A tree is the ultimate symbol of wisdom as in the "tree of knowledge" in the Garden of Eden.

On Tubishvat, saith the Talmud, the sap starts to stir in trees.

Think about that - in the middle of the winter with snow on the ground, the potential for new fruit has already begun.   

So just when we think we can spiritually slumber - after all, we have 8 more months until Rosh Hashana! - it's time to let something stir inside of us.

Here is a list of "middot" - A to Z - that we ought to cultivate:

• A good name, Attentiveness,
• Bearing your own burden, Being pleasant,
• Cleanliness, Compassion, Courage,
• Decisiveness, Derech eretz (Common Decency),
• Equanimity,
• Fear/awe/yirah, Flexibility, Forgiveness, Friendship,
• Gemilut chasadim (Lovingkindness), Generosity of heart, Goodwill, Gratitude,
• Holiness, Humility,
• Joy
• Kavod
• Leadership, Love,
• Moderation,
• Not embarrassing,
• Order,
• Patience, Peace, Privacy/modesty, Purity,
• Recognizing the good, Respect, Responsibility,
• Separation, Sharing the burden, Silence, Simplicity, Soft-heartedness, Strength,
• Taking Care of the Body, Trust, Truth, Tzedakah,
• Watchfulness, Welcoming guests, Willingness,
• Zeal

Source: madrega.com

What is the key to the sap inside a person?

Maybe the answer came in an email I received this week from a rabbi I know:

"One of my promising students, who has a large crystal collection, is really keen to find out the mystical aspect of crystals."

Most people asking such questions believe in the healing power of crystals. Sorry to say, I'm afraid this isn't going to be a fruitful search.

But Maimonides says that studying nature is the first step towards developing the most fundamental of all middot: appreciation.

Crystals are awesome. So are cells. And orchids.

So I suggested to the rabbi that he show his student two mentions of crystals in the Torah.

1. The book of Job:

"But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its price; nor is it found in the land of the living. The depth says, It is not in me; and the sea says, It is not with me.  It cannot be acquired for gold, nor shall silver be weighed for its price. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. Gold and glass cannot equal it; nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or of crystal; for the price of wisdom is above rubies." (28:12-18)

2. The Talmud:

"R. Ashi made a marriage feast for his son. He saw that the Rabbis were growing [overly] merry, so he brought a cup of white crystal and broke it before them and they became serious." (Brachot 31a)

Second Question for your table: What's the moral of the story?

Evidently we are to understand crystal as something very, very precious. But wisdom is even more precious, as are proper middot.


Shabbat Shalom 


PS - In case you missed you missed it, wo weeks ago during the Jerusalem snowstorm, I sent you some Jewish ideas about snow.

This blog can be received via email. Subscribe at jsli.org. If you enjoyed it, please "like" it, "tweet" it, or simply forward the link to others who may enjoy it.

Hello, World

It's here, and it’s alive, very much alive:

http://tinyurl.com/amazingcalendar

If you have an iphone, ipod-touch or ipad, get yours now!

If you don't have an iphone, ipod-touch or ipad, boy are you a loser... (just kidding, I don't have one either!)

But seriously, click on the link just to see the fabulous screen shots, and please send the link to your friends and family who might enjoy this.

What does the Talmud say about airplanes? What did Louis Armstrong say about the Jews? Where is Hebrew hidden in a Shakespeare play?

And which iphone app keeps Shabbat?

(I believe after extensive testing that this app is bug-free. However, should you find a bug or a typo, kindly let me know and I'll send you a free copy of my CD, "Hannuka and the Secret of the 36".)

Last week I asked you how is it possible that I could have worked on this app for 8 years, given that there were no iphones 8 years ago?

The answer is I first developed it as a page-a-day wall calendar. But it turned out to be economically impossible to do and break even, because paper calendars have such a short sales-window. These new technologies mean it will never go out of date. Whatever day you start using the calendar, that's when it begins.

So here's the question of the week for your table: What’s worth spending eight years of your life working on? How about eighteen? What about eighty? In other words, what would you be willing to work on for so long if you knew that you could succeed but only after so long?

Shabbat Shalom

Hug a Rabbi

What's your favorite teacher memory?

Today:

A. A remarkable, true teacher story
B. A challenge for all readers
C. The recipe for making your very own rabbi!

A. First, the remarkable story.

Solve for n, if 100 – n = 25

Starting to sweat? Then you must not have had Paul Miller as your math teacher.

Which would be unusual, since 75 years ought to be long enough to each just about everybody.

No, that's not a typo.

Here in Baltimore, there is a Jewish math teacher who has been teaching for 75 years.

That's 3x25 years.

It's such a remarkable and uplifting story, I’m inviting you to read it in full here.


B. The challenge for all readers

Did you ever have a teacher who changed your life?

Did your child/grandchild/nephew/niece ever have a teacher who went the extra mile?

Do you have any idea how hard it is just to be an average teacher?

My wife has always been diligent about giving a gift with a hand-written thank you note to all of our children's teachers every June. I urge you to do the same. If you can't afford a gift, a hand-written note is perfectly adequate. If you can't afford the stamp, send an email. Let them know how much you appreciate their work this past year.

You may want to print out the Paul Miller story and send it with your thank-you notes.


C. The Recipe

What's the Jewish slant on this?

Well, first and foremost, appreciation is supposed to be a hallmark of being Jewish. The word “Jewish” comes from Yehuda which means thankful.

But more than that….Everyone needs a teacher. Even we adults. When it comes to wisdom, we call this teacher a rabbi, a rav or a rebbe.

What's the difference?

Reb - equivalent to "Mr."
Rabbi - someone who has taught you some Torah or Jewish wisdom.
Rebbe - your primary teacher in one or more areas of wisdom.
Rav - someone, usually a rabbi, with whom you have a mentoring/coaching relationship, wherein you never "agree to disagree"

(To make it more confusing, "rav" is also used as a generic title in the place of "rabbi".)

(Also, it's OK to have more than one rav for various areas of life, but not more than one for the same area of life.)

Says the Talmud: "Acquire for yourself a friend, and make for yourself a rav."

This is the question for your table: Why does it choose the word "acquire" for a friend but "make" for a rav?

Think about it.

The answer, it seems to me, is this: For someone to be successful as your rav, in addition to inherent wisdom, they have to know your personal situation. What is good for the goose is not always good for the gander, so to speak. Therefore, you don’t just go to someone and say, “Will you be my rav?” Rather, you go to someone with specific questions, listen to the answers, try to follow them. Then go back with more questions. The more you go, the more you challenge, the more you listen and learn, the more that person becomes your rav. That’s the recipe for making yourself a rav.

By the way, everyone needs a rav. Even a rabbi. And every family needs a rav, not two.

Once again, think about it!

And don’t forget to send those thank you notes.

Shabbat Shalom


I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. - Churchill

Oh yeah...PS:


PPS - http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture/

It Ain't Bliss

In honor of Harmon and Jorun Shragge, who have rounded the last turn on a seven year effort to learn all of Tanach. It’s the home stretch!

This six-minute video says about all that I want to say this week (Warning: It may make you feel ignorant!):

(By the way, I disagree with what it says about Yom Kippur - I’ll explain in a couple weeks.)


After you see the film, try this Question for your table:

What’s wrong with this statement: “I envy those who believe in something.”


Do you ever hear this?

This summer, I created a class that compares and contrasts what Jews, Christians and Moslems believe about themselves and about each other. I gave it to a group of Jewish teachers. The hardest thing for some of them to grasp is that unlike them, Judaism does not and never has asked us to take a leap of faith. A leap of faith is required by other traditions. Not by Judaism. It’s all about study and philosophy. The problem with our approach, however, is it takes more effort to study to get a Yiddishe kopf than to take a leap of faith.

If you don’t want to make the effort, don’t complain that you’re not connecting Jewishly.

If that film doesn’t inspire you to get off your duff and learn something about the world’s oldest wisdom tradition, that happens to be yours, then nothing will.

If, on the other hand, you want to start a small but meaningful study program at home or in your area, send me an email.


Shabbat Shalom



Einstein quote of the week:
"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value."
-Albert Einstein

Israel fact of the week:
Israel has the highest per-capita book sales in teh world.

Announcements:
New Amazement website about to launch – sneak preview: http://jewishspirituality.net – please send your feedback!


Speaking schedule:
September 12-14 - Rosh Hashana - Baltimore (“The Un-Shul” for people who want to connect but don’t connect to shul)
September 21-22 – Yom Kippur - Los Angeles (“The Happiest Yom Kippur of Your Life”)

(For details, send an email)


Yiddish of the week:
Yiddishe kopf — Jewish perspective (lit., Jewish head)

Yiddish review - how many do you know?
anee — poor person
koptsen — panhandler
ballaboss — homeowner; layman
nu — various meanings (see archives)
mishpocha — family
mameh — mother
tateh — father
mazal – (MAH-z’l) luck or fortune, as in, “It was good mazal that....”
beshert – (b’shairt) - meant to be, as in “It was beshert that...”
mine eltern – my parents
mine lair-er – my teacher
hamantashen – Haman-pockets
zeigezunt – all the best (said upon parting)
kesher - connection
Ikh volt veln a kave, zayt azoy gut. - I'd like a coffee, please.
...kave mit shmant. – ...a coffee with cream.
...kave mit milkh. – ...a coffee with milk.
...kave mit tsuker. - ...a coffee with sugar.
Di Fir Kashes - The Four Questions
Oy vey! - Good grief!
mensch — a decent person
rachmanos — mercy
neshoma (neh-SHOH-ma) — soul
minig — custom, as in, "Why do you do that?" "It's my minig!"
Gavaltig — wonderful
Oy gavalt — how wonderful (sarcastic)
Azoy gait es! — That’s how it goes!
Shabbos — Cessation; stopping; day of stopping; weekly sabbatical experience
"Gut Shabbos" — "Enjoy your weekly sabbatical experience"
Neshoma — Soul
meshugass — insanity
meshuganeh — insane
kyna hara — no evil eye
shvitz — sweat
shanda — shame
Lechayim! — Cheers!
Pinteleh Yid — the Jewish feeling in the heart of every Jew
Zreezus — zeal
Mkohm — place (pl. mkohmas)
mamalashen — mother tongue
bentch — make a bracha
bashert – meant to be, pre-destined, as in, “He’s my bashert” or “It was bashert that...”
kvetch — complain
kvell — burst with pride
hishtadlus — effort, due diligence; as in, “Do your hishtadlus and let Hashem worry about it.”