Rabbis can be like this too

 

(Micah 6:8)

 

He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord demands of you; but to do justice, to love loving-kindness, and to walk discreetly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

 

 

הִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טּ֑וֹב וּמָה־יְהֹוָ֞ה דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשׂ֚וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ:

 

Mishpat is mitzvos – Rabbi Avigdor Miller

What should people think in the end

 "I hope people at the end will say, he turned out alright." Mickey Mantle

Mickey Mantle Interview by Bob Costas (youtube.com)

similar strategy may work with certain people

 

If you were locked in a room with a gorilla for ten minutes with only a kitchen knife and pepper spray, would you survive?

If you were locked in a room with a gorilla for ten minutes with only a kitchen knife and pepper spray, would you survive?

Sure you can, but not if you’re stupid enough to attack the gorilla with a knife and pepper spray.

Gorillas don’t attack for no reason, but like anything they will attack a threat. Assuming it’s a silverback, then you have the added problem that it’s extremely dominant and any perceived challenge will get you seriously hurt.

So don’t look like a threat, and don’t look like you’re challenging him. Some zoological knowledge may help here, but we’re quite closely related and we actually have a pretty similar idea of what constitutes a threat or a challenge- you can figure this out.

You avoid eye contact, sit as far away from him as possible curled up as small as you can go, and you don’t make sudden movements or loud noises. Look submissive, look non-threatening.

There is one rather daft answer that claims the gorilla is as scared as you are and you can take him in a fight with your superior brain power. That person would not be coming out of this situation alive.

A fully-grown silverback is around 20x stronger than the average human male. They have been recorded lifting and throwing weights up to 815kg (almost 1,800lbs).

They’re also about twice as heavy as the average American male, with an arm-span about a third again as long.

You think pepper spray and a paring knife are going to stop a gorilla?

The second you look like you’re challenging him you’re toast. Sit down, be quiet, be small, move slowly, and you’ll probably make it out just fine.

Bradley Betts

What is a cult

 

François de La Rochefoucauld

 “A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire.”

― François de La Rochefoucauld

“Few things are needed to make a wise man happy; nothing can make a fool content; that is why most men are miserable.”
― François de La Rochefoucauld

don't confuse people

Pyschologist Jordan Peterson said, “The rule basically is that if you confuse people about a fundamental element of their identity, then those who are already are so confused they’re barely hanging on are going to fall prey to that and all hell’s gonna break loose.” https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gynFjyDi34k.

And what is more fundamental than one's connection to God?

torah is clothed in the implements of the mitzvos

 Today's Tanya Lesson

Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 4

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ולכן נמשלה התורה למים: מה מים יורדים ממקום גבוה למקום נמוך

Therefore has the Torah been compared to water,1 for just as water descends from a higher level to a lower level,

The water which reaches the lower level is the same water that left its source within the higher level; unlike light, for example, which also travels from its source, but in whose case it is not the source (the luminous body) itself that is transmitted, but only a ray of it; and unlike intellect which can also be communicated from one person to another, but in whose case, too, it is not the source (the teacher’s mind) itself that transmits itself to the lower level (the student’s mind), but only the idea, a product of the source.

כך התורה ירדה ממקום כבודה

Just as we find in the analogy of water, so has Torah descended from its place of glory, i.e., the lofty spiritual plane which is its source.

שהיא רצונו וחכמתו יתברך, ואורייתא וקודשא בריך הוא כולא חד, ולית מחשבה תפיסא ביה כלל

In its original state it is G-d’s Will and wisdom, and “Torah is one and the same with G-d,” Whom no thought can apprehend at all — on that plane, Torah is incomprehensible to man, as is G-d Himself.

ומשם נסעה וירדה בסתר המדריגות ממדרגה למדרגה בהשתלשלות העולמות

From there the Torah has journeyed in a descent through hidden stages, stage after stage, in the Hishtalshelut of the Worlds (i.e., the chain-like order of interconnected spiritual “Worlds”, explained more fully in ch. 2; Torah descended through all these levels —)

עד שנתלבשה בדברים גשמיים ועניני עולם הזה, שהן רוב מצות התורה ככולן והלכותיהן

until it clothed itself in material matters and things of this corporeal world, which comprise nearly all the Torah’s commandments and their laws.

Nearly all the mitzvot involve material objects: tzitzit are made of wool, tefillin of leather, and so on. Even the “spiritual” mitzvot involve material objects in their halachot — the laws governing their practical application. For example, the mitzvah of loving one’s fellow, although essentially a “spiritual” mitzvah, as it consists of an emotion — love, demands that one aid his fellow-Jew materially, financially, etc.; these being concrete, material expressions of a “spiritual” mitzvah.

ובצרופי אותיות גשמיות בדיו על הספר, עשרים וארבעה ספרים שבתורה נביאים וכתובים

Thus, the Torah clothed itself in the material objects with which the mitzvot are performed and also in the physical letter combinations written with ink in a book, namely the twenty-four books of Torah, Nevi‘im, and Ketuvim.

(As mentioned above, the letters and words contain the holiness of G-d’s Will and wisdom.)

כדי שתהא כל מחשבה תפיסא בהן, ואפילו בחינת דבור ומעשה שלמטה ממדרגת מחשבה תפיסא בהן ומתלבשת בהן

Torah underwent this great descent so that every human thought be able to grasp them, and so that even speech and action, which are on a level lower than thought, be able to grasp them (— G-d’s Will and wisdom) and clothe themselves in them — by performing the commandments in speech and action.

ומאחר שהתורה ומצותיה מלבישים כל עשר בחינות הנפש וכל תרי״ג אבריה מראשה ועד רגלה

Now, since Torah and its commandments clothe all ten faculties of the soul, and all of the soul’s 613 “organs”, from head to foot, i.e, from its highest level — its “head” — to its lowest level,

הרי כולה צרורה בצרור החיים את הוי׳ ממש, ואור הוי׳ ממש מקיפה ומלבישה מראשה ועד רגלה

it the soul is truly completely bound up with G-d in the2 “bond of life,” and the very light of G-d envelops and clothes it from head to foot.

כמו שכתוב: צורי אחסה בו, וכתיב: כצנה רצון תעטרנו

So it is written:3 “G-d is my Rock, in whom I take refuge” (and naturally, only that which surrounds a person can protect him); and it is further written,4 “As with a shield G-d’s Will surrounds him,”

שהוא רצונו וחכמתו יתברך, המלובשים בתורתו ומצותיה

meaning His Will and wisdom that are clothed in Torah and its commandments.

We see, at any rate, that although G-d’s wisdom and Will are beyond man’s reach, they are made accessible to him because the Torah is clothed in physical terms, and its commandments are vested in physical objects.

FOOTNOTES
1.	Bava Kama 17a.
2.	I Shmuel 25:29.
3.	Tehillim 18:3.
4.	Ibid. 5:13.

Don't be green boots in your religious journey

 For over twenty years, numerous mountaineers ascending Mount Everest have encountered "Green Boots," a deceased climber who lost his life near the summit in 1996.

Presently, the presence of Green Boots' body serves as a grim milestone for climbers, indicating their proximity to the summit. Despite ongoing uncertainty about Green Boots' identity, his remains are among several that tragically mark the route to the top of the world's highest and most perilous mountain.⁠ Mt. Everest is littered with dead bodies. Because the mountain is so high/cold, it`s nearly impossible to retrieve the bodies safely.

i know people like this

 Regarding Sinwar, he said: "He's a megalomaniac. He feels he's above everyone. Does only as he thinks. He makes decisions without consulting with anyone."

Who is the rudest celebrity you have met, and who would be the nicest?

Who is the rudest celebrity you have met, and who would be the nicest?

Years ago I had a summer job at Burbank studios when I was studying at UCLA and met many celebs. The rudest without doubt was Jerry Lewis, had no time for anyone he deemed unimportant, refused autographs by simply ignoring the person requesting. Foul mouthed an a generally miserable and obnoxious person.

Nicest by far was Elvis Presley just polite and unassuming. He had time for everyone including the catering staff and the porters moving the equipment. A little girl holding here teddy bear came up and asked for his autograph. He got down on one knee and talked to her for a long time, he asked the name of her teddy bear and wrote the autograph to both of them. He the sang her a snipped of his song “teddy bear”. You should have seen her face.

great response by brando

Make for yourself a rav

 

רבן גמליאל אומר עשה לך רב. והסתלק מן הספק. ואל תרבה לעשר אומדות. זה אשר צוה הנה לעשות רב אינו לענין הלמוד אבל להוראה שים לך רב שתסמוך עליו באיסור והיתר והסתלק אתה מן הספק כאמרם בירושלמי זיל אייתי לי זקן מן השוק דאסמוך עליה ואשרי לך וכן צוה שיברח מהוצאת המעשרות באומד מפני שהוא מן הספקות:

Rabban Gamliel says, "Make for yourself a mentor, remove yourself from doubt and do not frequently tithe by estimation." That which he commanded here to make a mentor is not regarding study, but rather legal decisions: place for yourself a mentor, that you can rely upon in the forbidden and the permissible, and you can remove yourself from doubt. [It is] as they say in Talmud Yerushalmi Moed Katan 1:10, "Go and bring me an elder from the marketplace and I will rely upon him and permit [it] to you." And so [too] did he command to flee from putting out tithes by estimation, because it is from the doubts.

Rambam on Pirkei Avot 1:16:1 with Connections (sefaria.org)

The Mishnah says, “Make for yourself a rav and remove yourself from doubt.” (Avos 1:16) The Rambam comments, “This command to appoint yourself a teacher is not for the sake of learning but for deciding questions of halacha. You should establish an authority that you rely upon concerning what is permitted and prohibited and thus remove your doubts.” Rambam, Pirkei Avos 1:16. The Rambam can be explained with the Ramban. The latter said that when he comments on the Behag, he doesn’t speak with absolute certainty as if there were absolute proofs for his arguments. (Milchamos Hashem, intro.) He offers what he considers the more likely answer. In other words, you are never free from doubts, even in halachic matters, and certainly not in learning up a sugya or discussing philosophy. Thus, “Make for yourself a Rav,” isn’t addressing Torah study. It concerns technical shilas where you are removed from doubt only because you are consulting an expert on what action to take concerning the technical matter. As the Mishnah in Horoyos tells us, an individual is exempt if he performs a transgression as a result of an error in a court's ruling. So you are removed from doubt because the responsibility is on the court.

Thus the Mishnah in Avos can’t be a call to get your entire life philosophy from one person because every person is different as the Gemara says “whose minds are unlike each other and whose faces are unlike each other.”  Berachot 58a. So trying to get your life outlook from a person who is different from you will leave you with doubts.

Furthermore, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik said that a sefer is also a rav. Today we have so much printed material that the principle of not poskening in front of your rav also applies to books. When people asked Rabbi Soloveitchik a question, he’d say I must get back to you because if he answered on the spot, it would be like poskining in front of his rav. He consulted his books. If you have a question such as may you hand a curtain in a shul on Shabbos as a mechitza, the book 39 Melachos answers yes. That is consulting a rav. If you asked the rav down the block, he might also consult that book.

remind you of anyone?

The War of the Yevanim

The goal of the Yevanim was “lehashkicham torasecha uleha’aviram meichukei retzonecha” (“to make them forget Your Torah and transgress the decrees of Your will”). As the Midrash says, the Yevanim demanded the Yidden write that they have no part in HaShem. This was a war against HaShem. “Let them study Torah,” said the Greeks. “Let them practice the mitzvos, mishpatim, and eiduyos, but they must not mention that the Torah is HaShem’s and that the mitzvos are the decrees of His will. Torah and mitzvos must be severed from HaShem.”

(היום יום ב' טבת)

learn from who?

"It is prohibited to learn from a teacher who does not go in the right way -- even if he is a great scholar and the people need him -- until he repents." Rambam, Hilchos Talmud Torah 4:1

וְכֵן הָרַב שֶׁאֵינוֹ הוֹלֵךְ בְּדֶרֶךְ טוֹבָה אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁחָכָם גָּדוֹל הוּא וְכָל הָעָם צְרִיכִין לוֹ אֵין מִתְלַמְּדִין מִמֶּנּוּ עַד שׁוּבוֹ לַמּוּטָב. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (מלאכי ב ז) "כִּי שִׂפְתֵי כֹהֵן יִשְׁמְרוּ דַעַת וְתוֹרָה יְבַקְשׁוּ מִפִּיהוּ כִּי מַלְאַךְ ה' צְבָאוֹת הוּא".

Make for yourself a Rav, Avos 1:16

"This command to appoint yourself a teacher is not for the sake of learning but for deciding questions of halacha. You should establish an authority that you rely upon concerning what is permitted and prohibited and thus remove your doubts." Rambam, Pirkei Avos 1:16, translation from Eidensohn, Daas Torah, p. 44

weirdos

 

Yesterday, I attended a shiur. One problem with being stuck in a problematic community, is that you are surrounded by all that stuff and can falter at times. I thought, maybe I'll like it. People around here seem to all love it. Let's try again. It was to start after 7:30 Shacharis. 9:30 comes and they were still davening! 2 hours on chol moed they had these poor guys marching around with their fruit. So finally it begins. Guy starts without introducing topic. He seemed to be mid thought. I couldn't figure out the topic. Also couldn't figure out the language. Supposed to be English. Sounded like Hebrew at times Yiddish at times. Then came an English verb and I realized it was sort of English but full of l'choyrahs and mistamas and misyachas and all that. Crazy mishmash of languages. And all the while he is rocking back and forth like a mental patient. Who talks like the in front of a crowd. After a few minutes, I wasn't even listening. I was just transfixed by his rocking. And I said to myself, whether this religion is true or not I won't even say. But the culture is nuts. It's just not normal.

completeness

 Just as a Sefer Torah is only complete when it has all its letters, and before finishing the writing of it, we ensure that it is complete and whole; so too, we must vigilantly ensure that the Holy Land is complete from boundary to boundary — that no part of it be given to others. For if even one part is missing, then the entire land is lacking and deficient (comparable to a Sefer Torah, as explained above). And just as during the giving of the Torah, every single Jew had to be present, and if not, no one would have received the Torah G‑d forbid; so too the land must be complete in all ways.

This is a three-fold fullness. First comes the “fullness of the Torah,” that fullness being when study is translated into action — “Great is study for it brings one to action.” This then leads to “fullness of the people” — all Jews, men, women and children. And leads to “fullness of the Land” — that no part of the Holy Land belonging to Jews be given away.

Indeed, true peace comes about only when we hold on to the land with all our strength — which is the preparation to G‑d giving to us those parts which in the meantime are in the hands of non-Jews. This will be very shortly, for since “all the appointed times for the Moshiach’s coming have passed,” all that is now needed is one moment of Teshuvah (repentance) and “immediately they (Jews) are redeemed.”9

Siyum Sefer Torah, 17th Day of Kislev, 5741 (1980)

A letter from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Have you ever met a famous person who was remarkably humble?

 

Have you ever met a famous person who was remarkably humble?

MANY years ago, I went with my parents to Los Vegas. I was too young to be allowed on the casino floors, so I wandered around the hotel a lot. One time I happened to run into Dean Martin in the hallway. He was remarkably nice, talked to me for awhile and answered questions. He definitely was not drunk, or even seemed to have been drinking (and I since learned that this was just part of his act). He did say I could go to his suite because there was a bunch of food there, (Buddy Hackett was at the party) but when I went it was a circus so I left quickly afterwards. But, he seemed like a nice guy, and very down to earth.

Charlie Munger’s best quotes

 “I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent, but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than when they got up and boy does that help—particularly when you have a long run ahead of you.” - 2007 USC Law School Commencement Address

“A man who jumps out of a building is OK until he hits the ground.” - 2023 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting

“A lot of people with high IQs are terrible investors because they’ve got terrible temperaments. And that is why we say that having a certain kind of temperament is more important than brains. You need to keep raw irrational emotion under control. You need patience and discipline and an ability to take losses and adversity without going crazy. You need an ability to not be driven crazy by extreme success.” - Kiplinger interview, 2005

“Invert, always invert: Turn a situation or problem upside down. Look at it backward.” - Poor Charlie’s Almanack

“You’ll do better if you have passion for something in which you have aptitude. If Warren Buffett had gone into ballet, no one would have heard of him.” – Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, 2008

“Invest in a business any fool can run, because someday a fool will. If it won’t stand a little mismanagement, it’s not much of a business.” - Poor Charlie’s Almanack

“It’s so simple. You spend less than you earn. Invest shrewdly, and avoid toxic people and toxic activities, and try and keep learning all your life, etcetera etcetera. And do a lot of deferred gratification because you prefer life that way. And if you do all those things you are almost certain to succeed. And if you don’t, you’re gonna need a lot of luck.” - Poor Charlie’s Almanack

“The best armor of old age is a well spent life preceding it.” – Tao of Charlie Munger: A Compilation of Quotes from Berkshire Hathaway’s Vice Chairman on Life, Business, and the Pursuit of Wealth With Commentary by David Clarkhis