rabbijaffe

I had a thought this past Shabbat.

Jews will numerous times throughout their lives be asked to explain the holiday Purim.

Not wanting to (or not knowing enough to) explain the whole story of Mordechai, Esther, Haman, and Achashveirosh, many of us resort to the simplest explanation possible: “It’s the Jewish Halloween.”

It’s not an absolutely awful explanation. There are a few parallels here and there. Costumes, candies, and fun fun fun.

But I think there’s something fundamentally wrong with this comparison.

Something that’s wrong with the understanding of the essence of these two holidays.

You see, Halloween is all about taking. Purim is all about giving.

On Halloween people thoughtlessly buy a bag of candy, and kids line the streets in their costumes to go from house to house to receive said candy (and hopefully not fruit).

Going trick-or-treating is the essence of the holiday.

Purim, on the other hand, is about giving meshalach manot, gifts to friends. We spend hours trying to think of creative ways to make our meshalach manot great and unique. We load up our cars with these gifts, get a few kids in the car with us, and go from house to house giving gifts to our closest friends.

The honest truth is, what we receive is somewhat irrelevant. The giving is what matters.

Maybe we might want to add a few more sentences next time we refer to Purim as the Jewish Halloween. 

Just a thought.

The Avraham (Abraham) of this week’s parsha, Parshat Lech Lecha, is unique in so many ways. Possibly the most inspiring part of what makes him special was his ability to turn his life completely around, making so much out of so little, with wondrous amounts of success, and an uncanny ability to not look back.

In fact, the first time we experience Avraham, that’s not even his name. His original name was Avram, and only later do we find that God changed his name to Avraham.

In my opinion one of the hardest things in life is to change who we are, even if we desperately want to, need to, and have all the resources and motivation.

So many obstacles stand in the way of personal change.

Sometimes the difficulties are from within, but often it’s from our friends or our communities.

I picture a man in his mid-thirties who wants to stop binge drinking and wasting his evenings at bars, but knows that the pressure from his old college buddies will be intense and incessant.

Change is hard. But the rewards are abundant. 

When one can find it in themselves to fully change who they are, despite all the many obstacles that might stand in their way, they truly are a new person.

When Avraham received his new “title” it was a message that he had succeeded against all odds, having fully changed his nature, resisting any and all temptations to return to his birth community or the ways of his family.

And we will forever remember the accomplishments of Avraham, while Avram will just disappear.  

A story that must be told:

Some facts that will be necessary for this story:

1. According to strict Jewish law one may not drive on Shabbat, use an umbrella, or handle money in any way.

2. For a deathly ill person, there is no such thing as a Shabbat law that we are not allowed to violate.

3. However: There are a ton of gradations of illness that might affect what laws may or may not be violated, and how so.   

4. Some communities, Baltimore/Pikesville (supposedly) included, have arrangements with local pharmacies that if there are problems, the pharmacy can give a medication, take down the recipient’s information, and the recipient will come back and pay after Shabbat.

* * *

It was Shabbat afternoon. My wife was feeling very, very ill, to the point where she was beyond miserable, and could barely move.

I picked up Pikesville, Maryland’s guide to orthodox Jewish life, the Eruv List, having remembered that they have a guide for just these circumstances.

My wife and I determined that she was in the third category of illness, and I was permitted to walk to the pharmacy and get her what she needed. They listed three local pharmacies with arrangements with the community, so there should be no problem whatsoever.

The closest was a Rite-Aid about a twenty minute walk from my home. It was raining. I was tired. But my wife needed medicine, so I went on my merry way.

When I got to the pharmacy I spoke with two pharmacists and the general manager. Not only had they never heard of such an arrangement, the manager refused to even address the problem.

Here stood a soaking wet customer, promising to come back and pay in just six hours, hoping to get a thirteen dollar product for his wife who was suffering at home.

Nothing.

He couldn’t pick up the phone and call the owner to check. All was black and white. As long as he would get fired for leaving without paying for an item, there was not a chance I was stepping foot out of there with what I needed.

Customer service on par with Dell… 

I walked out of the store, frustrated, a little angry, and panicked for lack of another solution.

I vaguely remembered another pharmacy an additional twenty minute walk away. Figuring I had little to lose, except for time, and possibly getting a terrible cold, I started to walk.

The rain became pouring rain.

And twenty minutes later I walked into a CVS where an incredibly caring and good-willed manager refused to even take down my contact info, saying that he trusted me and hurrying me out of the store so I could back to my wife.

And he did so with tangible sincerity.

When I returned home two hours after my initial departure, I checked the Eruv List again. This CVS wasn’t even mentioned!

I later asked the manager about everything.

He said he did what he felt was right morally, and most appropriate for the ethics of a true pharmacy.

He didn’t even mention the long-term professional benefits of such a policy!

He did the right thing, because it was the right thing.

The Rite-Aid (on 7 Mile Ln. and Reisterstown Rd.) has forever lost a customer (whether or not the mistake was their’s or the Eruv List’s).

The CVS (on Reisterstown Rd. near Shabsi’s) has forever gained a loyal patron.  

Spread the word.

Good people deserve reward for being good people.

* * * 

PS- My wife’s feeling much better, thank you.    

Jews in Glee 

We Jews pop up again and again.

Recently we made a very fun appearance in Fox’s hit new series Glee. The humor was so quick, subtle, and relatively esoteric that I must say: I’m impressed.

The show has a character, Puckerman, who is only Jewish because, well, the show decided to make him so.

In episode 8 (about 13 minutes in) he was trying to explain why he was fantasizing about dating the much more obviously Jewish Rachel, the star of the series.

He said how it all started when his family was doing their annual Simchas Torah tradition. 

Watching Schindler’s List.

Happily enough for me, I get to be one of the lucky maybe one percent of viewers who understood the ironic humor.

You see, ladies and gentleman, Simchas Torah is a holiday in which Jews across the world celebrate ultra-joyously the completion of the annual Torah reading. It’s filled with non-stop singing and dancing.

Schindler’s List is a violent film about the Holocaust.

The two should never really meet. 

What Glee was poking fun at was a double phenomenon amongst the American Jewish population:

#1: The peripheral (at best) connection to Jewish holidays.

And #2: The fact that so few Jews have a connection to Judaism that extends beyond the Holocaust.

So the Puckerman family knew that Simchas Torah was an existent Jewish holiday, and celebrated it in likely the only way they knew how. Holocaust remembrance.

(Sometimes I feel like I was the only Jew who wasn’t really impressed by Schindler’s List. When I was in high school I remember people treating the film as if it were written by God Himself, and it was a full fledged obligation of every member of the Jewish people to watch and love it. But I digress…)

Oh, but Glee didn’t stop there!

They jumped into the next level of poking fun at the ubiquitous inconsistencies of the assimilated Jewish world. Two more phenomena alluded to:

#3: The strange connection Jewish people have to Chinese food. It’s borderline obligatory for the average American Jew to go out for Chinese food on Christmas, mostly stemming from the fact that Chinese restaurants used to be the only thing open. So we would celebrate diversity by, as Puckerman was doing, eating sweet and sour pork, the prince of all non-kosher food.

And #4: Jewish moms love to bash their children with illogical and hypocritical reasons for only dating Jews. 

And the package is complete.

Mom connects the family in an incorrect, inappropriate manner to the Jewish religion (Simchas Torah) by doing something that proves her connection is simply one of a depressing obsession with the Holocaust, while simultaneously plowing her children with pork… and then tells her kids they’re no better than Nazis because they date non-Jews.

I love it.

A healthy and humorous poke at the assimilated Jewish world.

I only hope some folk out there even realized they had been made fun of. 

Two quick facts about this week’s parsha, Parshat Noach, before I get into the meat and potatoes of what I want to speak about:

Quick fact #1: According to the Torah EVERYTHING in the world, humans and animals alike, had become so horrifically corrupt, God decided to scrap the whole thing and start over again pretty much from scratch.

Quick fact #2: It is a well-accepted Jewish belief that until this parsha people were not given permission to eat meat. But now, go ahead!!

OK, now put these aside for a moment and listen to my story:

At different schools I teach at I bring a tzedaka(charity) box and my classes raise money for different amazing causes. One of my favorite places for contributions is a woman named Chaya Hammer, affectionately known as the Chicken Lady. (Please read about her here. She’s amazing!)

In short: This nearly 100 year old great-grandmother raises money for distribution to poor people in Israel, which is given to them in a truly warm and loving fashion. And you can rest assured that every penny you contribute goes to a source you would be very happy with.

Sounds great, right?

Well…

I received an e-mail from one of my principals, who was concerned because of a parent reaction.

One parent was terribly upset because the family, including her son, were all vegetarians, and they didn’t want to contribute to something that “supported people eating meat.”

I was shocked.

First of all, I have met a lot of vegetarians, and none of them have ever been concerned with what other people eat. Secondly, I’m a former vegetarian, and during those nine (silly) years I really couldn’t care less what other people were doing.

Thirdly, and most importantly, I had huge amounts of trouble understanding how someone could deny aid to the impoverished or starving because of the possibility that their money might go toward the purchase of meat.

And I needed to call the woman and chat with her about how we could solve the “problem”.

I wasn’t getting out of the phone call, but I also wasn’t backing down on giving to the Chicken Lady either. My students had voted on it and as far as I’m concerned there existed no reason why I would deny their choice.

My main argument was to be: Despite Mrs. Hammer being referred to as the Chicken Lady, that doesn’t mean that all contributions go to meat. Much aid comes in the form of checks, and several other forms of good will.

But it became clear to me fairly quickly that rationalizing would do me no good.

Two things:

A. When I said how much of the money goes to all sorts of things besides meat, and that the title “Chicken Lady” is just an affectionate and funny nickname people gave Mrs. Hammer because of the first story of how her whole program got started, her response was:  

“Well some of us don’t find it funny.”

Sigh.

B. She never actually used the phrase “eating meat”.

She only used the phrase “supporting violence”.

As in: I don’t believe in giving money to a charity that supports violence.

After all this I realized intellectual debate and discussion was not an option, and my only choice was appeasement. So there’s another tzedaka box in the room that goes to an animal shelter.

Sigh.

* * *

Anyhow, I think I might have (maybe) understood something from Parshat Noach that I had never understood before. 

I couldn’t help but contemplating what I would have said on the phone call had I lacked the social filter that prevented me from doing so.

My assumption #1: Radical vegetarianism is based on the (false) notion that humans and animals are of equal value.

My assumption #2: Radical vegetarianism also believes that just as we can all agree that it is not nice when a human kills a human, it is equally not nice when a human kills an animal. This is why someone could justify the euphemism of “supporting violence” to replace the less vague “eating meat”.

My problem: If all this is true, why then does no movement exist for people to go out and prevent violence of animals against animals? Why is there no happy hippy vegetarian standing between a lion and a sheep out in the wilderness telling them they shouldn’t support violence.

If you tell me because in the animal kingdom violence is the natural order of things, then why can’t humans factor in as the top of that food chain?

If you tell me it’s because animals lack the sensitivity and intelligence to appreciate any concept of violence, then how can you tell me they are of equal value to humans?

* * *

I have no answer to my question, but is there any inherent coincidence in the fact that in Parshat Noach we are for the first time being given permission to eat meat in the same general location that we are told that even the animal kingdom was wiped out by the flood because of its atrocious behavior? 

A rant: We recently purchased a Dell laptop. The computer so far seems fine. The customer service…

Well, listen to my story. You tell me if I’m exaggerating…

* * *

As is quite common my wife’s laptop started going unusably slow, and after much frustration we decided to get a brand new Dell laptop.

Now, the sales process, albeit a bit tedious, was polite and courteous. The laptop itself so far seems to be great. We’ve had no significant complaints as of yet.

But listen to this:

As I was finishing up with the sales representative, he listed for me the components of the computer we ordered. When he finished, the dialogue went something like this:

Me: We also want Lojack. You wrote that, right?

Him: (unconvincingly) Yes, uh-huh.

Me: You included Lojack, correct?

Him: (clearly more focused on finished things up) OK, so you will be receiving your laptop in…

Sure enough, when we received the order confirmation Lojack was not listed.

So I called.

I was thrown around a bit, and eventually tossed to the people who actually physically make the computers.

They said it was finished, and that at this point any changes would be impossible. My only choice would be to now purchase the software separately and put it on the computer myself. (You see, ladies and gentleman, that would have been a little too challenging for the folk at Dell.)

Here’s the catch: When purchasing the laptop the Lojack feature was $5 (on top of the $1,000+ we had already spent). To now purchase the software separately would cost $45. I didn’t think it was fair that I would have to spend nine times the original price for something that was the company’s fault, especially after having shelled out so much money.

So I complained. I was tossed around a bit more. I was given the name of someone who could supposedly help. I called him and left a message. I e-mailed him. Over a month later he has not responded to either. (Remember that. It will come back again…)

Now before I get to the really meaty stuff, I would like to say a word about sales.

Say I were at a sandwich shop, and as I left the store I tripped and my sandwich went all over the floor. Most stores at that moment would have pity and give me another sandwich. This would involve taking a full-fledged loss, but they would do it anyway. Why? #1: Because it’s the right thing to do. #2: Because they value me as a customer, and would like me to return (and buy more). #3: Because they value their reputation, and would like me to speak well of them, so others would like to eat there.

Dell.

Here we have a multi-million dollar corporation that somehow people want to use despite the fact that you can spend one hour on the phone so they can tell you they have no system to deal with their own five dollar error.

So, last week I decided that I wasn’t getting off the phone with Dell until I had solved the problem. Just to let you know, I spent over an hour on the phone. I spoke to at least seven different representatives in about five different countries. It’s been quite a while since I’ve gotten so worked up, the vein on my forehead almost exploded.

And sadly, I have nothing to show for it.

Some gems from my talks:

1. Each person I spoke to was obligated to ask me a series of questions. THE EXACT SAME QUESTIONS! By the seventh time I almost crushed my phone.

2. When I referred to the error as “Dell’s mistake” the person on the phone said that it was not Dell’s mistake, but that of a representative.

I ranted (intentionally in caps):

“YES, I UNDERSTAND THAT THE THEORETICAL CONCEPT WE’RE CALLING “DELL” IN FACT MADE NO ERROR AND, IN FACT, CANNOT DO SO. HOWEVER, DELL IS A CORPORATION MADE OF MANY, MANY EMPLOYEES. SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE PAID TO REPRESENT DELL. HENCE, IF ONE THEM MAKES AN ERROR IT IS DELL WHO MADE THE ERROR.”

“I see your point, sir,” says an Indian accent.

3. One person very confidently told me he was going to transfer me to a Case Resolution Specialist, and when I transfer lines I should ask for him. I was transferred.

Me: Can I please speak with a Case Resolution Specialist?

Him: Can I have your name and account number, please?

Me: I really just need to speak with a Case Resolution Specialist.

Him: I cannot transfer you until I get your information, sir.

(I angrily proceed… until he starts asking questions about why I am calling.)

Me: I really don’t want to explain everything several times, so can I PLEASE be transferred to a Case Resolution Specialist!

Him: We don’t have anyone here with that title, sir. Can you please tell me the nature of your call?

4. When arguing about whether or not I responded appropriately to the original error, they told me I should have contacted them immediately. They asked me why I had waited so long.

I mentioned my phone calls and e-mail.

He told me they have no records of these calls.

I said: Is this supposed to impress me? I’ve spoken with five people today, all of whom have asked me to repeat the same information. You clearly have no clue with whom I have spoken or what I have spoken about with ANY of them within the past half hour.. And now you’re going to try and claim that you have full records that explain who has and who hasn’t called you in the past month?!?  

5. At one point I asked a sells representative why people purchase these computers despite the experience that I was having. His response: “Because of our excellent products and customer service.”

I had to take a break to laugh uncontrollably.   

* * *

The computer is fine.

It still doesn’t have Lojack.

I’m never going to use Dell again, nor would I refer the company to anybody else.

Why would anyone?

Have you seen ABC’s hit new series Flash Forward?

Well, if not, this is the super exciting plot:

The entire world blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. During that brief moment earth is filled with massive destruction, everything from car and helicopter crashes, to people falling and hitting their heads, to buses driving into the river.

Also during those 2 minutes and 17 seconds every human being experiences a glimpse of the exact same moment of the future six months later. (Hence: “flash forward“, instead of flashback–witty, huh?)

Pretty decent plot. A solid attempt to capitalize on the incredible success of other shows which tell crazy stories over the course of tons of episodes, like Lost, 24, and Prison Break.

Now, in episode three they decided to reveal to the world the reason behind this mysterious 2 minutes and 17 seconds. An imprisoned Nazi War criminal explained how this amount of time, which is 137 seconds, is… the numerical equivalent (a system called “Gematria“) of the Hebrew word “Kabbalah”, which very loosely translates to Jewish mysticism.

Let’s check it out:

 Kuf = 100

 Bet = 2

 Lamed = 30

 Hay = 5

Voila! We have 137!!

Neat, ay?

Three thoughts (in no particular order) immediately came to mind when I watched this very awkward development unfold before my very eyes.

#1: What the heck!? Could someone in our generation really be this irresponsible? After thousands of years of people attacking Jewish people after someone very falsely accuses us of using devilish Kabbalistic black magic to harm or kill non-Jewish people, do we really need ABC to come along and express the possibility that this very same mysticism caused a fictional world-wide disaster? 

#2: What’s with the Jewish people? On occasion I kick back and watch some TV or movies. We represent approximately 1% of the American society, and somehow or other Jews or Judaism get mentioned every time I turn around. Whether it’s the tasteless ‘Family GOY’ episode of Family Guy, or a dishonest diamond dealer in the Sarah Connors Chronicles, or a religiously confused and curious Jewish FBI agent with a math genius brother (Numbers), I cannot pop my head into modern multi-media without seeing reflections of my own culture staring right at me. I can’t help but be mezmerized by this seemingly incomprehensible phenomenon. Why us?

#3: After the billionth time of noticing this, I’ve decided to start a new series of posts discussing how I feel each of the individual episodes are meant to make the Jewish people appear, and anything else that comes to mind about each episode. (I’m very open to suggestions and other people’s commentaries as well, by the way.)

So, back to Flash Forward:

My take is that a history savvy person recognizes that Nazis were tremendously knowledgable about Judaism. They gained this knowledge for the express purpose of being more formidable enemies of the Jewish people. Knowledge is power. The Nazis were also experts in manipulation and propoganda. They managed to stir up an entire society against a very innocent people, so successfully that the masses just ignored the fact that their Jewish neighbors were disappearing by the thousands.

So, immediately upon discovering that there was a worldwide tragedy, this unrepentant Nazi’s sick mind conjured up how this new information could be used to make more and more people despise the Jews.

The officer recognized this instantly and instead of asking further questions screamed at the Nazi for wasting their time with information that was clearly just useless blah-blah.

Everyone knows the Jews are imperfect (like everyone else). Everyone simultaneoulsy recognizes that with the faults that many of us might manifest, violent terrorism is just not a Jewish thing. A vague, silly Gematria shouldn’t change that.

* * *

And by the way, if I knew that on March 15th I was going to be murdered with three bullet shots to the chest that day… I’d probably wear a bullet proof vest.

I’m just saying…    

What would you think of me if you saw me walk up to a newly married couple and say to them, “I wish you a marriage filled with deceit and distrust. I want to bless you that in the early years of your union you will merit to get tossed out of your home, and that every waking day should be really hard work. Furthermore, I wish you children that abhor one another, so much so their dislike leads to violence and pain.”?

Needless to say there would be words to describe me for which decorum prohibits my writing.

Nevertheless, we begin every Jewish marriage blessing the new couple with the “beautiful” words: “You shall surely gladden the beloved companions as You gladdened Your creation in the Garden of Eden in earlier times.” Obviously this “creation” is a reference to Adam and Eve, and we’re beseeching God that the new couple should reach happiness on par with theirs.

So what do we know about the joy felt by this auspicious first couple? The Torah tells us Adam and Eve were basically given one rule: Don’t eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Despite that fact Eve was tricked into doing so anyway, followed by causing her husband to do the same. Instead of being honest and showing integrity for their mishaps, both Adam and Eve played the blaming game, pointing fingers at others for their own mistakes. For this they earned for mankind difficulty in childbirth, the necessity of intense labor to secure a livelihood, and eternal banishment from the Garden of Eden.

And if that wasn’t enough they had the ultimate misfortune of having their first son murder their second son in cold blood!

And despite all this, of all the amazing couples that have existed throughout the history of the world, it has been chosen that we will bless the fresh new couple that their level of joy should reach that of Adam and Eve!
  
Obviously, this is a misinterpretation of the blessing’s intention, and to understand one must delve just a little deeper.

What unique quality do Adam and Eve have? Which quality do they possess that separates them from every other couple that has existed throughout all of history?

They were the only two people in the entire world!!

Some readers might remember that feeling when dating the person they eventually married. That feeling that their every moment revolved around their significant other. That feeling that nothing really mattered except getting through all the other relatively mundane matters of the day just so they could be together, even if just for a few moments. That feeling that you would turn over the world and sacrifice everything else that was important to you just to be beside one another.

Many of us know that feeling, that feeling that of course the two of you are not the only human beings in existence… but you might as well be.

When we bless the newly married couple we are doing so with the hope that these feelings and emotions can ride with them for the entirety of their marriage. This also explains the curious choice of words in the blessing, “beloved companions.” Essentially the blessing isn’t telling us to be a couple, but to be friends who love one another very much. It’s a subtle difference, but an important one. The blessing is reminding us that a married couple is really supposed to be the best of friends, able to share any and all thoughts and emotions. 

And so with great pleasure I would like to take this opportunity to wish my wonderful wife a happy eighth anniversary. You truly are above all the rest… which isn’t so hard when you’re the only other person in the entire world!

Something happened in the world last week that has greatly disturbed me.

Now, I know that mocking Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize win is fairly trendy right now. I myself have certainly had my fair share of laughs.

But something greatly concerns me.

I’m afraid the Nobel Committee is going to inevitably give children across the world a very false impression about how one achieves greatness in this world.

To reward a person based on visions and theoretical, untested inspiration is the antithesis of how the Jewish religion defines greatness.

In short, two parts make up our concept of greatness:

Hard work and achievement.

Let me take a step backwards for a moment.

Fact #1: 

According to Jewish tradition every child sits in the womb together with an angel who teaches the infant the entire Torah. Just before the little bundle of joy enters into this world the angel touches its mouth and the child forgets everything.

We spend our whole lives studying Torah, hopefully regaining all that we’ve lost.

Fact #2:

According to Jewish law, out of tremendous respect, awe, and admiration we should stand up when we see a Torah scholar enter the room.

The question has been posed: If this unborn child is such a fantastic, ultra-knowledgeable scholar of all the Torah wisdom in the world, why does the Jewish religion lack a law or custom to rise when a pregnant woman enters the room!?

The answer is quite simple.

The process whereby this child gains its knowledge is more similar to the process of how a cup gets filled with milk. No one would ever congratulate the cup of milk, patting it on the side for a job well done.

We don’t stand exclusively for the accomplishment of gaining tremendous amounts of Torah knowledge. We rise in recognition of the extensive sacrifice and years of hard work the Torah scholar endured to get to where he is now.

This is the only way one can achieve greatness in the world.

To tell someone they could be great without these factors is to do them a great disservice.

I do not think Barack Obama is a bad person. I do think, however, that he has gotten a free ride thus far. Until Obama stepped into the scene his whole existence was riddled with factors that would have knocked out any other candidate. Just imagine for a moment any other candidate with a racist pastor!

He started his presidency with huge amounts of public support and control of both the House and Senate. He began his presidency with the world looking on with awe as America inaugurated its first African-American president. He could have literally done almost whatever he wanted.

And he nevertheless has very little to show for it.

I’m sure he has worked very hard, and continues to do so, but his challenges have thus far been much smaller than many in the same position.

And his accomplishments have been smaller as well.

Yet he was rewarded for his vision. He was rewarded for that which he hopes to accomplish.

The message this sends is flawed and detrimental. 

May we all not get confused or bewildered by this flawed message, and have within us the ability to reach deep inside to find the spark we all possess, as well the ability and drive to fight with all our might to ignite this spark and explode into true greatness.

 Last week I spent a day at an amusement park and learned (or reinforced) a couple important lessons about my relationship with God.

#1

I’ve always wondered why roller coasters don’t scare me at all.

I think this trip really helped me figure things out.

Now, I would probably have a lot of trouble doing an activity live cliff diving, or any such activity where if I veer a little too much to one side I might break a leg, or if I turn my body just a bit the wrong way I might have the wind knocked out of me.

But not so a roller coaster.

It doesn’t matter how tall or long it is. It doesn’t matter how quick it is or how rapidly it accelerates. It doesn’t matter how many flips there are or how much time you spend upside down. When it’s over you always end exactly where you started, strapped in the same way you were a few moments ago.

I have nothing to fear thanks to those wonderful straps.

I think of those straps as a great analogy to my relationship with God.

So long as one’s faith is powerful, your life might be filled with flips and turns, and sometimes you might want things to slow down or even to get off, but when it’s all said and done you are 100% positive He was looking out for you the whole time, and in the grand scheme of things there really is nothing to worry about.

#2

However: On a more unhappy note, something I saw at the park really upset me terribly.

I couldn’t believe how many people rudely and unthinkingly pushed past me to get ahead in line.

The explanation was always the same:

“My friends are way ahead of me in line, and invited me to join them.”

I am very interested to hear if there’s anyone in the world who could successfully justify such a claim, because as of now all I can see is this is a reflection of a horrible character trait, and everyone who justifies it is just fooling themselves into thinking there’s an acceptable explanation.

We learn in Pirkei Avot (Chapters of our Fathers) that a wicked person is defined as one who says:

“Sheli sheli, v’shelcha sheli.” - “What’s mine is mine, and what’s your’s is mine.”

As far as I’m concerned anyone who pushes ahead to the front of the line to save themselves 20 minutes, and in turn makes many, many people’s 45 minute wait turn into a 50 minute one, might as well look every one of them in the face and say:

“I’m important. You’re not.

My time is precious. Your’s isn’t.

Everything in the world is mine for the taking. You remain nothing to me.”

We are judged in this world by how we relate to other people. Unfortunately so many people selfishly just enter into the world and step on anything and everything in their paths to get what they feel like they deserve.

There are so many loftier goals.

I watched as another girl adamantly refused to cut to the section of the line pretty much right ahead of her.

The girl standing right in front of me was insisting her friend come.

But she wouldn’t come.

Why not?

Because she knew in her heart it was wrong.

Somebody had raised her correctly.

Thank God for the rude and obnoxious among us.

Why?

Only in darkness can you see the stars…