What's Your Name???

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

Mar 28-29, 2025 • 29 Adar 5785 • Pekudei (Ex 38-40).

Our "Body & Soul: Pesach" PDF is now available at TorahHealth.org.  
Our "2025 Pesach Kit" download is now available.  

Last week, several people replied that they enjoyed the challenge of the metal mettle message, and thankfully nobody called me out on the typo.

(Not a significant typo as long as anyone inspired to go start alloying brass will do a bit more research beyond my email.)

By the way, a further hint to the question for the table about "pure gold" — the process of purifying a metal is symbolic of refining oneself. 

What I mean is: did you ever go to a high school or college reunion and notice that some people are exactly the same as they were so many years ago while others seem like completely different people?

The entire point of life - per Jewish wisdom - is to become a better person, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year. If you're the same person you were a year ago, something's wrong. 

Now, I called today's missive, "What's your name?" because a Jewish name encodes the person's personal mission. If you know your name, that means that you know your mission. If you are growing, and feel like you are headed somewhere, you may know your mission even though you don't know your name. But someone who is not growing very possibly doesn't know his name.

So, Kimosabee: What's your name? What's your mission?


Shabbat Shalom


Appreciated this Table Talk? Like it, tweet it, forward it....

Can You Win the Metal-Mettle Meddle Medal?

 

 

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

Mar 21-22, 2025 • 22 Adar 5785 • Vayakeil (Ex 35-38).

Announcement: You can now get our free "Body & Soul: Pesach" PDF at TorahHealth.org.  

With metals like gold and copper back in the news (and silver too), let's take a cue from the news and test everyone's metal-mettle.... 10 Questions:

1 - How many Biblical metals can you name? [gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, tin]
2 - Which were the most precious metals back then? [gold and silver, same as today]
3 - What is bronze? [mostly copper with 10% or so tin mixed in to make it stronger]
4 - What is brass? [also a copper alloy, but with zinc instead of tin and up to ⅓ tin]
5 - What are pennies made of and why do some people think they should be discontinued? [mostly zinc with a thin copper veneer; because it costs about 5¢ to make each penny]
6 - How can you easily remove the tarnish from copper? [soak in vinegar with baking soda]
7 - How can you easily remove the tarnish from silver? [use the baking soda-aluminum foil trick]
8 - How is gold different? [it cannot tarnish (if pure)]
9 - Which metal can make it rain? [Silver Iodide is dropped onto clouds as a process called “seeding.” It brings rain to dry regions in times of drought]
10 - Just how ductile are these metals? [A single ounce of silver can be drawn into a wire 8,000' long; A single ounce of gold can be stretched over 50 miles!]

These three Torah metals, says Rav Hirsch, represent three kinds of people: Copper, the most common and the easiest to tarnish, is the roughest type of person. Silver, which shines much brighter than copper when polished, is the average person. Gold, which cannot tarnish, is the righteous person.

So here's a question for your table - when building the Tabernacle (Temple) with these three metals, gold is repeatedly called "pure gold." Silver is never called "pure silver" nor is copper ever called "pure copper" - yet presumably each material was used in its pure form. Why is gold alone referred to again and again (24x) as "pure"? 


Shabbat Shalom


Appreciated this Table Talk? Like it, tweet it, forward it....

Does the World Appear uʍop-ǝpᴉsdn?

 

 

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

Mar 14-15, 2025 • 14-15 Adar 5785 • Ki Seitzei (Ex 30-34).

Happy Purim!

By the time you are reading this, Purim is ending in Israel (except in Jerusalem and a couple other cities where they really like to live it up!) and in full-swing west of there.  

Here's a "simple" question for your Purim, Shabbat, or random table:

If it's true that there is a God running the world, why would said God make people like Haman, Hitler, Sinwar, Nasrallah, and Khomeini? Is it possible that they are truly part of God's plan, or is it more likely that they emerged in history despite God's plan? Or: does the existence and "success" of such people prove that there is no God running the world? What do you think?

Challenge: give everyone at the table 1 glass of wine more than they ordinarily would drink, and then ask the question again....


Happy ɯᴉɹnԀ and Shabbat Shalom!

Appreciated this Table Talk? Like it, tweet it, forward it....

Do Some People Have All the Luck?

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

Mar 7-8, 2025 • 7 Adar 5785 • Titzaveh (Ex 27-30).
Happy birthday shout-out to our dear daughter Emuna. 
Countdown to ɯᴉɹnԀ !!!

Do Some People Have All the Luck?

Apologeez-louise to anyone offended by last week's image.

Either you love the man, and don't like to see him made fun of, or you hate the man and just don't like to see him.

(Either way, I hope that the message got you to smile!)

I often say sincerely that I have the best job in the world.

​I get to speak (sometimes "speak", i.e., in writing) every day with highly intelligent people about things that I think are interesting and important (namely Jewish wisdom). I feel lucky.

On that note, I would like to raise an old topic that never fails to amaze me.

Try asking at your table: Did you ever fantasize about winning a big jackpot? What would do with that windfall?

I'm guessing that most people have a private list of wants that they imagine filling.

Then ask: Did you ever hear stories about someone who won the big jackpot and later regretted it?

It's true, it has happened many times. Millions of people play various gambling games every day, very much hoping to win. We play because we imagine ourselves with all that dough. We picture the luxury car that we'll be able to afford, or the [fill in the blank]. And hearing about someone else winning only fuels the fire of that imagination: somebody (else) got lucky!

But the truth is that some jackpot winners discover that the reality of winning is the exact opposite of what they'd imagined it to be.

Before they won a $2.76 million lottery jackpot in 2005, Lara and Roger Griffiths, of England, reportedly never argued.

Then they won and bought a million-dollar barn-converted house and a Porsche, not to mention luxurious trips to Dubai, Monaco, and New York City.

Media stories say their fortune ended in 2010 when a freak fire gutted their house, which was underinsured, forcing them to shell out for repairs and seven months of temporary accommodations.

Shortly after, there were claims that Roger drove away in the Porsche after Lara confronted him over emails suggesting that he was interested in another woman. That ended their 14-year marriage

Here's another one:

William "Bud" Post won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988, but he was $1 million in debt within a year.

"I wish it never happened," Post said. "It was totally a nightmare."

A former girlfriend successfully sued him for a third of his winnings, and his brother was arrested for allegedly hiring a hit man to kill him in the hopes he'd inherit a share of the winnings.

After sinking money into family businesses, Post sank into debt and spent time in jail for firing a gun over the head of a bill collector.

"I was much happier when I was broke," he said, The Washington Post reported.

Bud lived quietly on $450 a month and food stamps until his death in 2006.

There are many stories like this.

(Source of the above: Business Insider.)

I know what you're thinking — "I'm different! If I won the jackpot I wouldn't squander the money or let it ruin me!"

Perhaps you are different... but...

Final question for the table: How do you know? 


Shabbat Shalom

PS - Click the image for something that will truly transform your Purim....


Appreciated this Table Talk? Like it, tweet it, forward it....{VR_SOCIAL_SHARING} This message can be read on Times of Israel.