{enclose 2010-12-03-Not-By-Might.mp3}
this podcast discusses the miracle of oil remembered during Chanukah as it relates to our spirit and diligence in the face of adversity.
controlling the tongue
the littlest member
“Come, my children, listen to me, and I will teach you to fear Hashem. Who is the man who desires life, to love each day and see only goodness in them? Let him then guard his tongue from speaking evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do what is good, desire peace and pursue it.” — Psalm 34
say something already
Back in the early 1990's, an unknown figure named Erin Brokovich emerged. She was a single mother of three, working in a law firm in California, who wanted to know what medical records had to do with a real estate file. What she found out led to the biggest settlement on record for a civil class action lawsuit.
words as feathers
the sound of silence
Many people have a hard time with silence. It makes them uncomfortable and they feel they have to fill the void.
For those who are aquainted with snow in winter, you know what I mean when I say that all the world is filled with silence when it snows. There is nothing like a snow-covered land. The cars make less noise, everything glistens and everything is pure: pure white and insulated.
silence is golden
freedom of information?
not free from it
relational diligence
holistic diligence
rungs to climb
Jacob's struggle with the material world
{enclose 2010-11-25-Jacob-and-Frugality.mp3}
this week's podcast highlights the reunion of Jacob and Esau after many years apart. Each values the material world and wealth differently. As we enter this coming holiday shopping season, consider the middah of frugality as it relates to our own material resources, wealth and what we truly value in life.
why we are doing this
awareness of belonging
I recently added email to my cell phone capabilities and discovered that waiting in line will never be quite the same. If it looks like the line might hold me up for more than a few minutes, I flip out my phone, click a couple of times, wait while the little icon spins around for a few seconds, and then start doing email.
and to keep it
Living in Seattle, I take very seriously the concept of not only preserving resources, but making sure that every bit can be recycled or composted. Normally our recycling and composting outnumbers our trash by probably ten to one. Taking out the trash in our house would be an easy job; instead, my teen sons get the hefty job of taking out the recycling.
the portion in my cup
The Hebrew word for frugality is keemutz. Keemutz translates to thrift, economizing, frugality, retrenchment.
If any of us have difficulty with being truly frugal, many times it has to do with the concept of there being an innate dissatisfaction within ourselves that we have difficulty quelling. We always have this fleeting wanting, wanting, wanting.
pursue frugality
the age of consumerism
Frugality and moderation are not the most popular virtues in the age of consumerism in which we live. Rabbi Mendel tells us, “Be careful with your money. Do not spend even a penny needlessly.” In the afterglow of the recent global economic meltdown, this looks like good advice. But it also has the potential to derail the global recovery, since today’s economy depends on the opposite of frugality, on free and ever-expanding spending.
