As every rabbi and educator knows, the essence of a meaningful religious Jewish life ideally should be based upon: 1) Gratitude or Hodaah (That’s why we start the day with Modeh Ani, Birkas Hashachar, etc.) 2) Planning and Structure (Davening three times a day, learning seder, working hours, etc.)
“Rabbi, what is that on your wrist?” “It’s a Fitbit.” “Why do you wear it?” “It tracks how many steps I take each day, the quantity and quality of my sleep, and other important pieces of information.” “C’mon Rabbi, sounds like shtick to me. Do you really need that? What does it do for you? You already know you should
“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” Friedrich Nietzsche In a moving video talk, comedian Michael Jr. describes the power of knowing your “why.” In it, he showed an audience a clip from a different event, in which he asked a member of that audience to sing
One of the most famous arguments between Bais Shammai and Bais Hillel relates to Chanukah. The debate centers on the sequence of the menorah lighting, whether it should be “top-down” (light a full eight lights on the first evening and then one fewer candle each successive night, the opinion of Bais Shammai) or “bottom-up” (the... Read more »
