A Talmudic method of looking at life. The Times discusses achieving mindfulness without meditation. Ah, but the essay does not mention Talmud. Oh well.
Achieving Mindfulness at Work, No Meditation Cushion Required
Preoccupations
By MATTHEW E. MAY
In a recent seminar I gave for over 100 business professionals, I asked the
participants to play a simple word association game with me: “I say
mindfulness, you say ________.” The word that rang out in unison was, of
course, “meditation.”
Mindfulness, it seems, has become a mainstream business practice and a
kind of industry in its own right. Meditation instructors are the new
management gurus, and companies including Google, General Electric, Ford
Motor and American Express are sending their employees to classes that can
run up to $50,000 for a large audience. Many mindfulness apps exist, nearly
all of which focus on “mindfulness meditation.”
4/24/16
4/20/16
Hamilton on Broadway for $24
Of course tickets to the Broadway show "Hamilton" start at $500 for the foreseeable future.But for $24 you can get an official libretto of the show, richly supplemented with numerous chapters on how the show came to be.
The libretto has explanatory footnotes, arranged on the margins, reminding me of the talmud, and lovely photos.
I recommend this book. It captures the utter genius of the play and gives you a window to the creative processes behind the play,
Free Passover Books
This one is $.99 the rest are free for Passover from Talmudic Books - Babylonian Talmud Pesahim
Babylonian Talmud Pesahim deals with regulations for the Passover holiday, prohibitions of leavened food and prescriptions for the Paschal lamb. It is the third treatise of the order Mo'ed. It is divided into ten chapters.
Chapter ten deals with the Seder meal eaten on the evening of Passover; the four cups of wine, and the benedictions pronounced over them; the questions of the son and the father's answers and instructions; other benedictions and the Hallel.
From Talmudic Books special free for Passover by Reuven Brauner:
In preparation for Pesach- Laws of the Red Cow
For Pesach and particularly Seder Night- Laws of Korban Pesach
And for the days of Sefiras Ha’Omer - Pirkei Avos Synthesized
Not to mention the entire Reformatted Soncino Talmud and lots more goodies, at: Halakhah.com
and our Kindle books at Amazon: Talmudic Books for Kindle on the Talmud, Bible, Kabbalah and Prayer and The Kindle Edition of the Classic Soncino Talmud in English
Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah - a Star of the Seder
Passover is here once again. We will soon open our Haggadahs and find the familiar prologue stories to the Maggid section of the Seder. And soon we all will wonder, Who was Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah?Maggid is literally the "telling" of the story of the Exodus from Egypt, the event that we celebrate in our evening of dramatic activity. My teacher Rabbi Soloveitchik always underscored that this is not a mere retelling of a story. The Maggid is an archetypal session of rabbinic Torah study. The major section that we read is a classic rabbinic midrash that expounds upon a few condensed biblical verses. This is the exodus story as told by the rabbis, not by the Torah of Moses. To make the point unmistakably clear, the rabbis go so far as to omit the mention of Moses altogether in the Haggadah.
The rabbis do mention several of their own rabbis by name and top among them is my favorite, Eleazar ben Azariah. He was a second century rabbi in Israel who also held the highest political position in his community.
Labels:
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3/31/16
The Four Questions of Domestic Abuse: My Dear Rabbi Zahavy Column in the Jewish Standard for April 2016
My Dear Rabbi Zahavy Column in the Jewish Standard for April 2016: The Four Questions of Domestic Abuse
Dear Rabbi Zahavy,
I am 11 years old. I have a younger brother and a sister. My parents fight with each other all the time. My father gets angry. He yells at my mother. When they start to fight, my brother and sister and me go into our room and close the door. We still can hear them fighting. I can tell that sometimes my father hits my mother. I am afraid. I don’t know what to do. Please tell me.
Scared in Bergen County
Dear Scared,
If this happens again, and you see or think that your father is hitting your mother, go to the phone and dial the police at 911. Tell the police your name, age, and address. Tell them your father is hitting your mother. If your parents have a gun in the house, tell the police. Answer their questions and do what they say you should do. They probably will say that you should go back to your room, close the door, and wait for the police to come to your house.
When the police arrive, they will ask you questions about what happened and why you called them. Tell them everything you remember and tell them how you feel. They will talk to your mother and your father. After they do that, if they feel that your father has calmed down and it is safe for you and your mom, they will leave.
If they think it is not safe, they may arrest your father and take him to the police station. You may feel bad about this. Try not to feel bad. It is for the best for your dad to learn that if he hits your mom, that means that he broke the law. And when a person does that, he can be put in jail.
3/16/16
Is Merrick Garland Jewish?
Yes, Merrick Garland is a Jew.
According to Popsugar, Garland is a 63-year-old current chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Born in Chicago to a Jewish mother and Protestant father, he was raised as a Jew and referenced his background in his nomination acceptance speech. He has a wife, Lynn, and two daughters, Jessica and Rebecca, who went to Yale.
3/4/16
My Dear Rabbi Zahavy column in The Jewish Standard for March 2016: Vengeful Prayers and Racist Purim Tunes
Dear Rabbi Zahavy,
I was informed by my manager at work that one of my coworkers complained to him that I berated some other coworkers in a meeting in a way that was offensive and has affected their morale negatively.
My associate never came to me to complain about it. I know that I did not do what he claims. I am angry to find out that one of my workmates went behind my back to my superior, apparently in an effort to harm my reputation, or perhaps to get me fired.
Is there a prayer I can recite to make this awful person disappear?
Persecuted and Angry At Work
Dear Persecuted,
First, are you sure that you are blameless? You might want to mull over your behavior before you engage in any actions on this matter, either in prayer or otherwise.
If you are confident that the charges are without merit, you still have a big problem that you must manage or resolve. And if the charges have merit, you have a greater need to take action to fix things up at work.
To answer your direct question, Yes, there are prayers to ask God to make those who slander you go away. In fact, you do not have to do much searching at all to find that kind of prayer.
The twelfth blessing in the Amidah, which an observant Jew recites three times every weekday, beseeches God, “And for slanderers let there be no hope, and let all wickedness perish as in a moment; let all your enemies be speedily cut off, and the dominion of arrogance do you uproot and crush, cast down and humble speedily in our days. Blessed are you, O Lord, who breaks the enemies and humbles the arrogant.”
It sounds to me like this blessing will serve your purpose — if you believe that a prayer to God is the way to solve this problem between you and another person at your place of employment.
2/7/16
Is Amazon Echo Jewish?
Name Your Link
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My Kindle Book Edition: From the Talmud: Yerushalmi Berakhot
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2/5/16
My Dear Rabbi Zahavy column in the Jewish Standard for February answers questions about hand shaking hygiene and avoiding speeding tickets.
My Dear Rabbi Zahavy column in the Jewish Standard for February answers questions about hand shaking hygiene and avoiding speeding tickets.
Dear Rabbi Zahavy,
I have had serious health problems and several medical procedures that weakened me and my immune system. Thank God, I have recovered now, and I attend my local synagogue. My problem is that especially on Shabbat, some of my friends and neighbors offer me a handshake with their greetings after services.
My doctors have cautioned me about engaging in physical contact in public that could expose me to germs and diseases. So I have told my close friends that I won’t shake their hands. They understand because they know my situation. I offer some of my buddies fist bumps instead of handshakes.
Other people in shul do not know why I won’t shake hands with them. That makes me worried that they will think I am socially cold or odd.
First, am I wrong to be hyper-cautious about handshakes? Second, what should I do to explain my preference not to shake hands?
Fist-bumping in Fair Lawn
Dear Fist-bumping,
Our hands most certainly do have and transmit germs. What should we do about that?
Dear Rabbi Zahavy,
I have had serious health problems and several medical procedures that weakened me and my immune system. Thank God, I have recovered now, and I attend my local synagogue. My problem is that especially on Shabbat, some of my friends and neighbors offer me a handshake with their greetings after services.
My doctors have cautioned me about engaging in physical contact in public that could expose me to germs and diseases. So I have told my close friends that I won’t shake their hands. They understand because they know my situation. I offer some of my buddies fist bumps instead of handshakes.
Other people in shul do not know why I won’t shake hands with them. That makes me worried that they will think I am socially cold or odd.
First, am I wrong to be hyper-cautious about handshakes? Second, what should I do to explain my preference not to shake hands?
Fist-bumping in Fair Lawn
Dear Fist-bumping,
Our hands most certainly do have and transmit germs. What should we do about that?
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