Closing a circle, 37 years later
“There is a funeral right after the one you are doing. The man has no living relatives and no rabbi. Would you be able to officiate?”
Do you echo?
You know that feeling when you stop at an intersection and a car pulls up next to you, heavy bass booming from his radio, into your car, through your chest and stomach and out the other side? That is a sampling of what the Jews felt like at Mt. Sinai.
Letting go of being right
Rabbi Goldenberg is mediating a quarrelling couple in his study at home. When the wife finishes her tirade against her husband, the rabbi strokes his beard and says, “You’re right”. Ten minutes later, after the husband completes his harangue, the rabbi sways back and forth and remarks, “You’re right”.
I Jew, you Jew
Sapir Cohen is one of the strongest humans I have ever met. This week, I was privileged to hear her harrowing but profoundly inspiring story of faith and resourcefulness while held captive by Hamas. Shivers ran down our spines throughout her talk. One of her most poignant anecdotes was when she glimpsed a TV clip from Israel. Sapir had been nabbed out of a fractured country, squabbling over its government, legal system and religion. The TV scenes stunned her. Black-hatted and pink-haired Israelis stood as one. One of the terrorists muttered how Jews are impossibly powerful when united. Sapir concluded her talk with an urgent plea for continued Jewish unity.
The Divine Marshmallow Experiment
Walter Mischel’s Marshmallow Experiment is one of the most well-known studies in delayed gratification. Mischel and his team famously challenged preschool children to delay eating a treat for 15 minutes. If they held out, they would earn an additional treat. Kids sat on their hands, played with toys or sang to distract themselves. Some could not hold out and gobbled up the marshmallow within minutes.
