Rav Males talked about how some people have jobs that are physically quite dirty. We call these “dirty jobs”. Rav Males talked about how those engaged in this work can take showers, put on clean cloths, and come and pray and make sacrifices to Hashem, and are no better or worse than anyone else. A person who has a "dirty job" should be judged no worse than someone who has a “clean job”, such as a white collar worker.
Rav Males pointed out that what matters in life is the cleanliness of one’s soul. We are judged on whether or not we are moral and honest. Perhaps we put too much value in society on having prestige occupations, rather than on having good character.
We discussed the upcoming holiday of Purim, and how we increase our level of simcha during the month of Adar. David spoke about how the same way locations in space have meaning, locations in time have meaning. In particular, Adar is a month of increased simcha, whereas Av is a month of diminished simcha. Nisan is a month of redemption. The meaning of these periods of time, is why events such as the redemption from Egypt occurred when they did, rather than the other way around.
One of the other points we discussed, is that in Judaism we want to be in a constant state of simcha. We define simcha as being close to Hashem. Our level of simcha varies based on the period of time, but we should never be in a state in which all simcha is absent.
We discussed some of the customs we engage in during Purim, in particular those that represent a big difference from our normal routine. We discussed the custom of giving half a shekel, or half of whatever is the standard unit of currency, in our case the dollar. We discussed how we make fun of each other more than we usually do.
We discussed an interesting topic which is how our mindset determines our reaction to events. In particular, we discussed how expectations determine how we feel about results. David commented that it is the gap between our expectations and the results that determine our level of happiness and satisfaction, rather than an absolute way of evaluating things. This is why we should set realistic goals. If we set unrealistic goals, we will struggle to feel like we have accomplished anything.
In addition to being careful how we set expectations, we can also choose how we perceive results. We discussed how an optimistic person always expects good things to happen, but even when something happens that many of us would consider “bad”, the optimistic person can see the good in what has happened. David commented that learning how to perceive the “bad” as an opportunity to turn the situation into something good, is very worthwhile. We also discussed the importance of believing we can succeed. If we believe we will not succeed, we are licked from the start.
We discussed why slaves would have their ears pierced, when they wanted to be a slave. This was to remind them to do a better job listening. Hashem wants us to be accountable directly to him, and not a slave owner. A slave does not have the freedom to choose to serve Hashem. It is not desirable for us to be in a situation where we do not have the freedom to choose how we live our lives. Hashem redeemed us from slavery for a reason.
Although we want to be accountable directly to Hashem, we can use others to help us execute. For example, we do not have to determine on our own the kosher status of everything we eat. We can rely on others to make this determination, and notify us through the use of a system of hectars. David pointed out that this is very different than a corporate structure, in which we are accountable to our boss, rather than the man at the top. In life, we are ultimately accountable to Hashem who is at the top.
We discussed the upcoming holiday of Purim, and how we increase our level of simcha during the month of Adar. David spoke about how the same way locations in space have meaning, locations in time have meaning. In particular, Adar is a month of increased simcha, whereas Av is a month of diminished simcha. Nisan is a month of redemption. The meaning of these periods of time, is why events such as the redemption from Egypt occurred when they did, rather than the other way around.
One of the other points we discussed, is that in Judaism we want to be in a constant state of simcha. We define simcha as being close to Hashem. Our level of simcha varies based on the period of time, but we should never be in a state in which all simcha is absent.
We discussed some of the customs we engage in during Purim, in particular those that represent a big difference from our normal routine. We discussed the custom of giving half a shekel, or half of whatever is the standard unit of currency, in our case the dollar. We discussed how we make fun of each other more than we usually do.
We discussed an interesting topic which is how our mindset determines our reaction to events. In particular, we discussed how expectations determine how we feel about results. David commented that it is the gap between our expectations and the results that determine our level of happiness and satisfaction, rather than an absolute way of evaluating things. This is why we should set realistic goals. If we set unrealistic goals, we will struggle to feel like we have accomplished anything.
In addition to being careful how we set expectations, we can also choose how we perceive results. We discussed how an optimistic person always expects good things to happen, but even when something happens that many of us would consider “bad”, the optimistic person can see the good in what has happened. David commented that learning how to perceive the “bad” as an opportunity to turn the situation into something good, is very worthwhile. We also discussed the importance of believing we can succeed. If we believe we will not succeed, we are licked from the start.
We discussed why slaves would have their ears pierced, when they wanted to be a slave. This was to remind them to do a better job listening. Hashem wants us to be accountable directly to him, and not a slave owner. A slave does not have the freedom to choose to serve Hashem. It is not desirable for us to be in a situation where we do not have the freedom to choose how we live our lives. Hashem redeemed us from slavery for a reason.
Although we want to be accountable directly to Hashem, we can use others to help us execute. For example, we do not have to determine on our own the kosher status of everything we eat. We can rely on others to make this determination, and notify us through the use of a system of hectars. David pointed out that this is very different than a corporate structure, in which we are accountable to our boss, rather than the man at the top. In life, we are ultimately accountable to Hashem who is at the top.
This is a summary of what we discussed. No halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.
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