Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld
May 24-25, 2024 • 17 Iyar 5784 • Behar (Lev 25-26).
The goal of this blog is for a Shabbat table of wisdom, strength, wealth and honor.
Dovetailing on last week's wisdom theme...
First, try starting with this question for your table, On a scale of 1-10, how important is it to you personally to be or become wise, strong, rich or important (famous)? How important do you think these things are to most people?
First, try starting with this question for your table, On a scale of 1-10, how important is it to you personally to be or become wise, strong, rich or important (famous)? How important do you think these things are to most people?
After they answer, share this famous proverb from our ancient book of Avot:
Ben Zoma says: Who is wise? Who is strong? Who is rich? Who is important?
Second question for your table - What are the obvious man-on-the-street answer to those questions? What would you guess are Ben Zoma's answers?
Man-on-the-street:
Who is wise? Someone with a very long beard, or someone with many fancy letters after their name.
Who is strong? Someone who can do a lot of pushups.
Who is rich? Someone with at least $1,000,000 in net assets.
Who is important? Someone whom people pay money to see, or who has a statue or building in their honor.
Ben Zoma:
Who is wise? Someone with the attitude, "I need to pay attention to everyone because everyone has something to teach me."
Who is strong? Someone with inner strength, who acts with self-control — not only in avoiding temptation but also in overcoming inertia or laziness and taking action when needed.
Who is rich? Someone who is able to focus on enjoying the present moment.
Who is important? Someone who treats everything in Creation as important.
Final question for the table: Is Ben Zoma suggesting that these definitions of the four traits are rare and hard to achieve, or does he mean that they are within anyone's grasp?
Shabbat Shalom
and happy Lag B'omer!
 |  |  |
No comments:
Post a Comment