Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld
May 19, 2023 • 29 Iyar 5783 • Parshas B'Midbar (Lev 24-27) • The 44th Day of the Omer
The purpose of this blog is a happier Friday night dinner table. Please share.
The purpose of this blog is a happier Friday night dinner table. Please share.
This week's title sums up the question for your table. But let's flush it out a bit.
My daughter was recently learning about William Harvey's discovery of how the heart circulates blood. His 1678 "Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus" is often listed among the greatest scientific revolutions in history, certainly "the greatest medical discovery of all time."
In fact, Europe's scientific advancement lagged behind that of the Moslem world. Such anatomical knowledge was already being discovered centuries earlier, by the like of Ibn Al-Nafis and others who walked in the footsteps of Maimonides.
My daughter's question: What did they think the heart was for before then?
I wanted to say "for feeling" because it makes sense. The heart is an involuntary muscle – aren't our feelings involuntary? There's a website called Happiness.com based on the premise that "....we are all capable of shaping our thinking and attitude."
Question for your table - Do you agree?
Some of the visitors to happiness.com disagree. Here's what they say:
What nonsense. Unless you have money, life is a meaningless drag. You spend 50+ years working for ungrateful people, ruining your health in the process. The money you get for this is then given to other people in exchange for your right to be alive. Eventually, when you offer no monetary value, what's left of your wealth will be vacuumed up by care home parasites. Eventually you'll shuffle off, alone & broken.
Or:
Such western style egocentrism. Yeah, you really matter. The billions of people who have walked the face of the earth before the Internet didn't though. Your blog and your name on that bench in your town will. That will matter. They go to the effort to buy the happiness domain and don't understand the first thing about life. No wonder the world is so horrible. Pretty much this website's fault.
But the creators of happiness.com point out that we can indeed control many happiness factors:
Practices such as mindfulness, yoga and meditation have scientifically proven effects on our brain activity, anxiety and happiness. Who we choose to surround ourselves with, what information we consume, how grateful we are, and the degree of our loving relationships have been found to have significant impacts on our happiness levels.
(Some would add physical exercise to that list!)
Question for your table: Here's a list of habits that some people claim are associated with greater happiness - in your opinion, how important is each, on a scale of 1-10?
My daughter was recently learning about William Harvey's discovery of how the heart circulates blood. His 1678 "Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus" is often listed among the greatest scientific revolutions in history, certainly "the greatest medical discovery of all time."
In fact, Europe's scientific advancement lagged behind that of the Moslem world. Such anatomical knowledge was already being discovered centuries earlier, by the like of Ibn Al-Nafis and others who walked in the footsteps of Maimonides.
My daughter's question: What did they think the heart was for before then?
I wanted to say "for feeling" because it makes sense. The heart is an involuntary muscle – aren't our feelings involuntary? There's a website called Happiness.com based on the premise that "....we are all capable of shaping our thinking and attitude."
Question for your table - Do you agree?
Some of the visitors to happiness.com disagree. Here's what they say:
What nonsense. Unless you have money, life is a meaningless drag. You spend 50+ years working for ungrateful people, ruining your health in the process. The money you get for this is then given to other people in exchange for your right to be alive. Eventually, when you offer no monetary value, what's left of your wealth will be vacuumed up by care home parasites. Eventually you'll shuffle off, alone & broken.
Or:
Such western style egocentrism. Yeah, you really matter. The billions of people who have walked the face of the earth before the Internet didn't though. Your blog and your name on that bench in your town will. That will matter. They go to the effort to buy the happiness domain and don't understand the first thing about life. No wonder the world is so horrible. Pretty much this website's fault.
But the creators of happiness.com point out that we can indeed control many happiness factors:
Practices such as mindfulness, yoga and meditation have scientifically proven effects on our brain activity, anxiety and happiness. Who we choose to surround ourselves with, what information we consume, how grateful we are, and the degree of our loving relationships have been found to have significant impacts on our happiness levels.
(Some would add physical exercise to that list!)
Question for your table: Here's a list of habits that some people claim are associated with greater happiness - in your opinion, how important is each, on a scale of 1-10?
- Spending time with happy people
- Giving
- Working towards a meaningful goal
- Savoring sensory stimuli
- Daily structure and self-discipline
- Moments of solitude and contemplation
- Physical activity
- Learning
Shabbat Shalom
and
Happy Shavuot
and
Happy Shavuot
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