This Shabbos we continued our discussion of the period of time known as the Omer. David Schlesinger led discussion. We discussed how the Omer is a period of mourning. During this period, we should refrain from public expressions of joy, such as weddings and parties. We also refrain from getting haircuts.
We discussed how it is during this period that 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva passed away. These students did not respect each other which lead to their downfall. Although so many students died, a few of them including Rabbi Yochai survived.
We discussed the upcoming holiday of Lag B Omer which is coming up this week. This is on the 33 day of the Omer. On this day, our mourning is suspended as we celebrate the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Yochai. It would seem unusual to celebrate a yahrzeit, but Rabbi Yochai believed strongly and taught about the “world to come”, so we celebrate his journey into this new world on Lag B Omer.
This Shabbos we discussed parsha Kedoshim. We discussed the importance of rebuking others. There are 2 reasons for this importance. First of all, what one of us does (or does not do) affects all of us. David again told the story from his father Dr. George Schlesinger, about a man who thinks that drilling a hole in the bottom of a boat only affects himself. Secondly, we love and care about each other, and it is thus important to let others know that they can improve. It is best and most effective to pull people aside and tell them very nicely.
This Shabbos, we discussed how being super intelligent is not enough, and how going around bragging about one’s intelligence can end up hurting ourselves. David told a story from his father, HaRav Natan Ben HaRav Shmuel (aka Dr. George N Schlesinger). In the story 2 men play a game of “chicken”, by driving towards each other trying to see who will pull away first. One of the men has super intelligence and can calculate to the nearest fraction of a second exactly when he will need to pull away to avoid a collision. However the other man with an average intelligence wins, because he knows that his opponent is super intelligent and will pull away at the last minute. The lesson of this story is to not let everyone know what you know. And in general, to realize that being smart may not be enough to be successful in life.
We discussed the upcoming holiday of Shavuous, and how the Torah may lose its intensity when passed down from generation to generation. David told a story from his dad about how Mozart and other composers composed beautiful music, but how this just comes about during one time period. The full intensity of the Torah was present at the time of Mt. Sinai, but does not have the same force as we receive it today.
This Shabbos we discussed how life is finite and how we do not want to miss opportunities. However, it is important not to dwell on this. We discussed how it is important to be reminded of negative consequences, however, we should grow to the point where focusing on positive rewards is our primary motivator. We compared negative consequences to mustard, and positive rewards to a hotdog. Very few of us would like eating just mustard by itself, but by combining a hotdog with mustard we get the best possible combination. We should spend most of our time focusing on our motivation to realize positive rewards, however it is important to be reminded occasionally that there can be negative consequences for our action (or lack of action).
We discussed the upcoming holiday of Lag B Omer which is coming up this week. This is on the 33 day of the Omer. On this day, our mourning is suspended as we celebrate the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Yochai. It would seem unusual to celebrate a yahrzeit, but Rabbi Yochai believed strongly and taught about the “world to come”, so we celebrate his journey into this new world on Lag B Omer.
This Shabbos we discussed parsha Kedoshim. We discussed the importance of rebuking others. There are 2 reasons for this importance. First of all, what one of us does (or does not do) affects all of us. David again told the story from his father Dr. George Schlesinger, about a man who thinks that drilling a hole in the bottom of a boat only affects himself. Secondly, we love and care about each other, and it is thus important to let others know that they can improve. It is best and most effective to pull people aside and tell them very nicely.
This Shabbos, we discussed how being super intelligent is not enough, and how going around bragging about one’s intelligence can end up hurting ourselves. David told a story from his father, HaRav Natan Ben HaRav Shmuel (aka Dr. George N Schlesinger). In the story 2 men play a game of “chicken”, by driving towards each other trying to see who will pull away first. One of the men has super intelligence and can calculate to the nearest fraction of a second exactly when he will need to pull away to avoid a collision. However the other man with an average intelligence wins, because he knows that his opponent is super intelligent and will pull away at the last minute. The lesson of this story is to not let everyone know what you know. And in general, to realize that being smart may not be enough to be successful in life.
We discussed the upcoming holiday of Shavuous, and how the Torah may lose its intensity when passed down from generation to generation. David told a story from his dad about how Mozart and other composers composed beautiful music, but how this just comes about during one time period. The full intensity of the Torah was present at the time of Mt. Sinai, but does not have the same force as we receive it today.
This Shabbos we discussed how life is finite and how we do not want to miss opportunities. However, it is important not to dwell on this. We discussed how it is important to be reminded of negative consequences, however, we should grow to the point where focusing on positive rewards is our primary motivator. We compared negative consequences to mustard, and positive rewards to a hotdog. Very few of us would like eating just mustard by itself, but by combining a hotdog with mustard we get the best possible combination. We should spend most of our time focusing on our motivation to realize positive rewards, however it is important to be reminded occasionally that there can be negative consequences for our action (or lack of action).
Having said this, we discussed how we are not perfect and what we should be most interested in is the "vector" of how our lives are progressing. If we do something "wrong", the question is are we moving in the right direction. As an example, someone who has never been observant can not be expected to know and do everything on day one. This person can say he had a good day even if he has only followed a few halachuh because he is moving in the right direction.
Finally, we wish Yoel Shaper, a regular reader of these summaries, and his family the best as they relocate from Memphis to New York. I will always remember my philosophical discussions with Yoel and really appreciate his thoughts. We wish Dave W a happy birthday coming up. And we welcome Michael Novich to our community and hope he can attend more kiddushes with us.
Finally, we wish Yoel Shaper, a regular reader of these summaries, and his family the best as they relocate from Memphis to New York. I will always remember my philosophical discussions with Yoel and really appreciate his thoughts. We wish Dave W a happy birthday coming up. And we welcome Michael Novich to our community and hope he can attend more kiddushes with us.
This is a summary of what we discussed. No Halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.
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