Do the Eyes Have It?

The purpose of this blog is to add expression to your Shabbat table... Please print and share...

Are you counting the days? 

This week I traveled across the country with a couple kids.

(People wonder: Is it safe to fly? Here's an opinion. In my opinion, the airports and airlines have adjusted appropriately to keep flying as safe as going shopping. And since so many people are afraid to travel, there are no lines anywhere. It's a great time to travel (especially for anyone of robust health))!

The only thing I didn't like about the trip was wearing a mask for for the whole flight. 

At one point, my daughter and I invented a game that you could try on Shabbat with family and friends:

Make an expression with your mouth under the mask while the others try to guess what expression you're making.

You'd think it would be easy to fool people; it's actually quite hard.

Question for your table: What does this game imply about greeting each other behind the mask?


Shabbat Shalom


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How Do You Play the Game?

The purpose of this blog is to turn your Shabbat conversation into a gold medal event... Please print and share...
Today is Rosh Chodesh Elul - that means we're now how many days until the big day?

Today, a third summertime theme, on the tail of last week and two weeks ago.

Since the Olympics were supposed to be happening right now, here's an inspiring Olympics story from four years ago, maybe one of the greatest of all time.

First, 2 questions for your table:

1. What's the hardest Olympics event?
2. Who's the greatest Olympics athlete?

Let's start with #1, the hardest event.

In my humble opinion, the 50K walk has to be up near the top of the difficulty list.

That's how many miles?

50 ÷ 1.6 = 31 miles.

That is 5 miles longer than a marathon.

The top walkers completed it in 3:40.

(If there is a math whiz at the table, ask them what average mile that makes.)

3:40 ÷ 31 = an average mile of 7:10.

That means that they did a marathon in three hours, then walked another five miles.

Think about that.

(In the men's 20K/12.5mi race walk, the winner's average speed was a 6:31 mile. Think about that.)

Now let's look at the top four walkers in the 50K event:

Matej Tóth, Slovakia, 3:40:58
Jared Tallent, Australia, 3:41:16
Hirooki Arai, Japan, 3:41:24
Evan Dunfee, Canada, 3:41:38

Poor Evan Dunfee. He finished only 14 seconds behind Arai, but because he finished fourth - no medal - in the eyes of the media and corporate sponsors, he's a nobody.

Some say he should have beat him — here's what happened:

With only 1 km to go, Dunfee was in third place, mere seconds behind Tóth and Talent and possibly positioned for a win.

Arai tried to pass him, and bumped him enough to throw Dunfee off-balance.

That bump disqualified Arai and give Dunfee the bronze.

But Arai's team appealed and won.

Olympics rules allowed for Dunfee to appeal as well.

But he chose not to.

Here's why:

"Not many people can understand the pain athletes are in three and a half hours into such a grueling race. I believe that both the Japanese athlete and myself got tangled up but what broke me was that I let it put me off mentally and once I lost that focus, my legs went to jello. Contact is part of our event, whether written or unwritten and is quite common, and I don't believe that this was malicious or done with intent. Even if an appeal to CAS were successful I would not have been able to receive that medal with a clear conscience and it isn't something I would have been proud of. I will sleep soundly tonight, and for the rest of my life, knowing I made the right decision. I will never allow myself to be defined by the accolades I receive, rather the integrity I carry through life."

Wow. He gave up being a "somebody" (a medalist) for the sake of some high-falutin' idea of integrity. 

Question for your table: Did he do the right thing?

(By the way, earlier in the race, world-record-holder Yohann Diniz was in the lead, with Dunfee a close second. Diniz had to stop due to severe pain, and while any other racer would have gladly sailed ahead for the lead, Dunfee slowed down and encouraged Diniz to continue, sharing the lead spot with him.)



So now you know my choice of the greatest Olympic athlete, possibly of all time: Evan Dunfee.

Question for your table: What do you say?

Shabbat Shalom


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Vertical Ascent...

 The purpose of this blog is to turn your Shabbat conversation into a journey... Please print and share...

Happy birthday shout-out to Shelli in SF!

Here's a follow-up to last week's summertime theme.

If you're like me, you try to eat healthily, exercise regularly, and are hopefully in pretty good shape.

Or so you think, until you try doing what we did the other day - climbing a 3,000-vertical-feet peak in the lower Cascades.

That's a stroll for some, a major mountain for others.

For everyone, it's a self-assessment of strength, balance, and stamina.

Like the mountain of life?

Like the mountain of life, the journey up is not straight - it's zig-zag.

Like the mountain of life, it's easy to get fixated on the goal and forget to enjoy every step.

Like the mountain of life, there are those who perfer to go it alone and those who want company.

Like the mountain of life, there are those who are focused on their own journey, and those who are always looking for someone to lend a hand to.

Like the mountain of life, there are some who prefer to take the easy way up, via car, and the easy way down, via hang-glider.

And like the mountain of life, there are those who'd rather not make any effort, and stay at the bottom.

Question for your table - What kind of mountain climber are you? 


Shabbat Shalom.

 

PS - If you're looking for a great breezy summer read, click on the image above.
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How to Sail Into the Wind

 The purpose of this blog is to change the direction of conversation at the Shabbat table... Please print and share...

Yesterday I watched two teenagers take their maiden voyage in a tiny seven-foot dinghy-sailboat.

The wind was strong — perfect for sailing.

If you know how to sail.

The problem is that they did not want to go the direction the wind was blowing them. 

What a great metaphor for life.

Question for your table: What do you do in such a situation? 

(Hint: sailing directly into the wind is not an option; you won't go anywhere fast.)

The answer is: get your sail and boat positioned so that you can sail across the wind. This is called tacking.

With your sail at the right angle, you can leverage the force of that headwind to go zigzag into the wind.

It takes patience - you'll be going a longer distance. But you'll end up where you choose to be and not simply following the trend.

Second question for your table - What winds are blowing in a direction that you don't want to go?


Shabbat Shalom.

PS - If you're looking for a great breezy summer read, click on the image above.
PPS - Shopping on Amazon? Please use https://smile.amazon.com and Amazon will donate a % of the sale to the non-profit of your choice (such as Jewish Spiritual Literacy), at no extra cost to you. Why not?

 

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