Free Style
Take the gap between men and women and multiply it by infinity and there you'll find the answer to the questions we ask about G-d. This came to mind recently at work in a talk with a colleague about questions of faith.
Hong Kong came up in UN tryouts: where is it? Where was it once? Reminds me of the guy who was happy when his town was conquered by Poland because he now wouldn't have to suffer through those cold Russian winters.
Had a Shabbos meal with a couple I had a Shabbos meal with around this time last year. He asked me if looked up what he told me. I'd forgotten. What he told me was that my thought on Ki Tavo about the hated wife appears in the Ramban regarding Rachel and Leah.
Which reminds me of the time a senior gentleman came up to me after a performance. He was all upset - Him: Why didn't I tell it? Me: Tell what? He had been at a performance a year or two earlier and suggested a tag on to a joke. I told him I liked it and wanted to use it. Today, I include it.
Which reminds me that today I bumped into a friend who was n the middle of reading a paragraph in Mesilat Yesharim. The piece was about three ways to figure out the right thing to do when you're unsure of what's right.
Tonight is Selichot. Last year at this tme I was at a Yachad Shabbaton. And late, pre-Selichot I blogged as Yoya played in the background. And then there was a dialogue that included some commenters who haven't commented here in a while , and some who still do, and some who've gone through name changes.
Which reminds me of the Chelm story about the man who sees his old friend and excitedly stops him on the street. He goes down a list of all the surprising changes he sees in his friend: "Bob, you used to be skinny now you're fat...Bob, you used to dress sloppy, now you're dressed nice...Bob, you used to be tall, now you're short!" "The man replies, as politely as he can, "My names not Bob." "The other man replies without missing a beat..."You even changed your name!"
Which reminds me of the woman playing cards with her friend who says, "Forgive me, we've known eachother for 50 years, but I forgot your name." The other woman looks at the first incredulously. The first woman asks, a bit worried, "are you going to tell me or not?" And the second woman replies, "how soon do you need to know?"
posted by rabbi neil fleischmann @ 8:31 PM
8 Comments:
thanks for making me laugh. shavuah tov. (not in that order)
Shavuah Tov...which reminds me....
Thanks B and P. Hope you each had a wonderful Shabbos. Did your rabbis mention that it was the last one of the year? I bet he did.
Some time ago Mirty said that bloggers tend to be online blogging on Saturday nights. But I've often felt it to be a down time. Maybe she's right...
Thanks TW. Nice to hear from you. Perhaps you can find something meaningful within my posts...
Impicit regards from the Klamens.
Still really like the creative connecting in the 'which reminds me' posts.
What are the three ways Mesilat Yesharim suggests figuring out the right thing to do when you're unsure of what's right? Or which chapter might that be in?
Maayan, thanks for the appreciation of the post - that reminds me that I should show appreciation to others, which reminds me of how important praise is to me, which reminds me that we generally assume that what's importsnt to us is important to others, which is sometimes true - but can also be a fatal flaw, which remindse me of Mrs. Blachor in HS who taught us the phrase fatal flaw, which reminds me of reading the crucible. And all this reminds me of how it's a bit hard for me to understand how some bloggers say they have nothing to write about because my free association (A.D.D?) seems to always be turned on, which reminds me that we tend to expect others to have the strengths we do, which is not the case, which reminds me of how hard it is to cater to different people's need's in life, which reminds me of why it's hard to find/choose a wife, which reminds me that I like to rhyme, which is why I do it all the time...
It's post first night of Slichot and I'm still up and up. I've honestly never read Mesilat Yesharim all the way through (though I've read the first chapter and introduction several times, and other parts too). I looked up what my friend showed me this afternoon.
It's really three traits that you have to have attained (this comes late in the book, in the chapter called Be'Mishkal Chasidut - On The Weighing of Saintliness. And the book builds up n levels of difficulty, so this is a high level.)
The three traits are - One, that one's heart should be totally straight and turn towards nothing but the desire to please G-d, and nothing else.
Second, that a person must scrutinize his or her actions with intense scrutiny towards the end of improving one's actions.
The third condition is that after the first two stages are done/., a person must put all his trust in (literally - cast his burden on)
G-d.
It was very kind of you to look that up. Thank you.
Post a Comment
<< Home