LIfe is a Pyramid

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Life is a Pyramid
Three questions for your table:

1. Raise your hand if you ever felt like you just wasted a lot of time.

2. Why does this happen?

3. What's the solution?

Recently I joined Quora and have been asking myself if it is a good or poor use of my time.

In asking the question, I noticed that I'm able to rationalize just about anything.

Ever have that problem?

So someone on Quora recently asked:

What's the best way to manage your time?

The answers were quite interesting and if you'd like to see my compendium of the best ones, send me an email.

One of the answers included a pyramid similar to the one above.

I took one look at his pyramid and felt like I was having déjà vu all over again.

It's uncannily similar to the structure of Chapter 3 of my book (The Art of Amazement).

I borrowed his idea for the colored pyramid and tweaked the words to match my own orientation, and now present it to you as a self-assessment.

Color version
Black-and-white version

(Note the point system!)

Please print a copy for everyone at your Shabbat table and let me know if they agree or disagree that this is the surest path to living every day to the fullest.

Shabbat Shalom


PS - Please follow me on Twitter, or tweet this week's message, or like it, or just forward it to someone you love...

What's Inside of You

The purpose of this email is to provide something provocative for dinner table conversation. Please print and share.
Dedicated to the memory of Stessi Boyd, who passed away this week. (To dedicate a future TT, send an email.)

 I was speaking this week to a man who can be described as follows:

- Graduated at the top of his class from a top university
- Married to a wonderful, caring woman
- Has great kids
- Has a great home to live in
- Is depressed because his income doesn't match his image of "successful"

Question for your table:

What can you tell a guy like that to cheer him up?

I suppose you could ask him to watch this inspirational video of the guy with no arms and no legs:

And then watch this one:


Or you could ask him to read this note from a friend of a friend who is in medical school:

So as you may know, a large component of our immune system consists of specialized cells which can recognize cells of the body which have been infected (perhaps by a virus) or are doing something faulty (i.e. a cancer cell) and terminate them. These are colloquially called "Killer T cells." It's amazing how the body makes them.

First some background on the process. All cells in the body put pieces of the proteins they are producing on the outer surface of their cell membranes. These are presented on the surface by a special "carrier protein" called MHC. Try to envision a cell of your body, with thousands of MHC molecules on its surface, and each MHC molecule is holding a small piece of a protein that is being made inside the cell. Killer T cells recognize these MHC-protein complexes. If the protein is "self" the T cell does nothing; if the protein is "foreign" the T-cell binds to the cell and induces a pathway that results in cell death.

What's amazing is that T-cells have the ability to recognize self vs. non-self. This is created via "T-cell selection." Immature T-cells go to the thymus (located just above the heart) to learn this ability. At first, the body makes T-cells of amazing variety, in fact this number is estimated to be 10^18. That number is beyond comprehension. Essentially the body starts by making a T-cell that would bind to and destroy a molecule of any possible shape.

But we must ensure that mature T-cells only bind and kill cells with MHC bound to foreign objects. The first part of this process involves the T-cells attempting to bind specialized cells covered in MHC molecules. If the T-cell binds to the MHC molecule, it survives; if it does not bind to the MHC molecule it is tagged for destruction. About 90% of the billions and billions of immature T-cells die in this process because T-cells which do not recognize MHC are useless. The second stage of selection occurs by having the T-cells interact will specialized cells which produce random proteins in all parts of the genome and which put these proteins on its surface via MHC molecules. If T-cells bind to the MHC-protein complexes, they are tagged for destruction and if they do not bind they survive because we do not want T-cells which bind to and destroy cells which are producing "self proteins." Another 7-9% of the original T-cells die in this process. Only the select few make it out of the thymus and enter the circulation on the lookout for invaders.

The structure of the thymus is specialized so that no foreign objects may enter. This would be disastrous-- we would program T-cells which thought certain foreign proteins were "self" and could not defend against these foreign invaders. Of course sometimes mistakes (such as in autoimmune disorders) are made but it is amazing that we have a system that provides protection against foreign molecules of essentially any imaginable shape. The body is even protected against molecules which do not exist, but could in theory exist."

Wow. And that's just a tiny slice of what is amazing in this wonderful world we live in.

Question for your table - The Talmud declares that wealth is not measured by how much you have but by how satisfied you are with what you have. Sounds good on paper, but how do you get there?


Shabbat Shalom


PS - Speaking of a wonderful world, check out this rare recording of Satchmo - and try not to smile:



MyPhone app: http://tinyurl.com/amazingcalendarlink
Android version: http://tinyurl.com/amazingandroidcalendar
Bar and Bat Mitzvah gift suggestions at bestjewishkidsbooks.com (a service of JSL).

Who Has a Dream?

Big Mazal Tov to Alexandre and Elisheva Bronstein of Beit Shemesh on their recent 20th Anniversary. (Almost out of the woods!)

+ + + + + + +

Many people have noticed that Jewish people seem to be disproportionately represented in science, in Hollywood, in international chess, in business, all stuff that requires savoir-faire.

But what about this?

Ask these 4 simple yet profound questions at your table:

1. What portion of the USA is Jewish? (Answer, about 2 percent).

2. What portion of the white participants in the Civil Rights movement were Jewish? (Answer, about 30 percent)

3. What percentage of the civil rights lawyers in Mississippi were Jewish (Answer, about 90).

(for more info, click here)

4. How do you explain this huge disproportionality?

Our friends (and Table Talk subscriber) Lee Hendler runs a program called "Freedom's Feast"... Check out their ideas on nurturing the value of public service at http://www.freedomsfeast.us/mlk-day. In particular, I recommend their 1-page MLK Table Talk download.


Shabbat Shalom

PS - This week's AMAZING VIDEO is not to be missed - you'll love it.

The goal of this blog is to give you a conversation-starter for your Friday night dinner table. Please print and share.

Begin Again Now

They were talking on the radio the other day about a new trend to delay retirement, or come out of retirement.

The claim is that not everyone is doing so because they need the money. Evidently, some have chosen to keep working in order to avoid boredom.

Hmm...

Try asking these 3 questions at your table:

Q1. Do you remember Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, or are they already a fading memory?

Q2. On a scale of 1-10, how much would you like this year to be a year of real personal growth (or reduction, for those trying to lose weight)?

Try getting this marvelous book: Begin Again Now, by Rabbi Pliskin.

The book is an encyclopedia of strategies for dealing with adversity, setbacks, frustrations, etc.

Question 3. (For those not yet retired:) If you stopped working today, either because you had enough money to retire or because you were laid off, what would you do with the rest of your life? (For those already retired: On a scale of 1-10, how meaningful is the rest of your life going to be?)

Retiring for leisure is not a Jewish value. A year of life that is not guided by a mission or sense of purpose is a wasted year.

Ran a marathon? Finished your degree? Built a house? Raised a family? Made a fortune? Saved a life? Way to go!

Now get back to work.

Shabbat Shalom


PS – Here is R. Pliskin’s Happiness Club video

PPS -
One mission we all should have is to “do no harm” or “don’t be evil” as our friends at Google like to say.

This week, Maryland joined the ranks of states requiring hands-free cellphones while driving.

BYAM (that means between you and me), I've been on the bandwagon for a long time now. I know, I know, research has shown that a bluetooth headset only marginally approves safety, that the best practice is not to talk on the phone while driving.

But if you are looking for a bluetooth set, even for comfortable use around the house, I might as well save you the trouble. I did a lot of research. My main criteria were:

1. Sound clarity
2. Comfort
3. Price

I was not looking for any extra features (like the one that lets you listen to mp3s when not on the phone).

Frankly, knowing how easy it is to lose or break these things, I didn't even look at anything over $100. I read a lot of on-line reviews, asked friends for recommendations, tried out a few models. Here's what I found. For the best combination of the above 3 criteria, the Cardo wins hands-down. It's only $20! Just ordered one for my wife. Here's your link.

What's Your Name?

In memory of Evelyn bas Alexander, the second daughter of my great-grandfather and namesake Alexander Maslow, who was laid to rest in Los Angeles this week. Her sister, my grandmother, predeceased her 3 years ago.

I have three questions for your table.

Question 1: What would happen if we all agreed to call felines "dogs" and canines "cats"? Would it make a difference? (you'll understand below why I'm asking)

Q2: While dogs can live up to about 15 years, and cats up to 30 or more, humans can live into the 100s, or even past 120 (world record). What's the secret to a long life?

Aunt Evelyn had one thing that seems to escape a lot of people: she was happy. She wasn't living in a bubble - she knew what was going on in the world, yet she was a happy person. She cared about Israel rejoiced in its successes. This type of story made her sick. Well, I suppose it would make any normal person sick.

According to scientists at the University of Wisconsin, cutting calories is not only good for your health, it can extend your life and the quality of your life.

Well, if you're a rhesus monkey anyway (the scientists cautioned that these findings don't necessarily translate to humans).

You can read the Scientific American article here.

OK, so maybe that's a secret to a long life. But what's the secret to a successful life? (Q3)

There is a an ancient Jewish tradition that after a person dies, the first question they are asked in the next world is, "What's your name?"

According to this tradition, most people can't answer.

In Jewish wisdom, your "name" means your essence, the core purpose of your life. That's why Hebrew names all have denotations. Unlike English, which uses somewhat arbitrary sounds, Hebrew names signify the essence of something or someone.

If we all started referring to felines as "dogs" and canines as "cats", what would be the big deal?

But in Hebrew, "kelev" means canine because it is "k" (like) "lev" (heart) - "man's best friend".

Get it?

Want to find out your spiritual name? Later this month, I will be having an live web class on this topic. If you'd like to sign up, send me an email.

Shabbat Shalom

PS - trivia question - who said, "Can I mombo dogface to the banana patch?"