Woody Allen on Faith, Fortune Tellers and New York By DAVE ITZKOFF

See comments for article.

Six Links - Inspired by Haveil Hevalim:

1. Anne has impressed me over the years as being a person of substance, thoughtfulness and true spirituality. Check out her latest post - pictures of our planet included.


2. Some of my favorite bloggers have either gone away or post less than they used to. Pearl is at the top of anyone's list - I think - of good and kind people/bloggers. Pearl's most recent post was about holiday memories. It seems that pretty much everyone of a certain age remembers their father peeling an apple (and in my case oranges and tangerines too) in one strip.


3. Pesach Sommer writes about his connection to running and Judaism. Pesach's most recent post focuses on what he feels and thinks as he runs through Williamsburg during the NY Marathon. By the way he runs for Chai Lifeline and if you're able to sponsor him that would be great.


4. Quinn Cummings is a childhood actress who's made it in the best way possible. She has a healthy, happy, funny life. I interviewed her here during her blog book tour. In her most recent post she shares something she recently said to her "consort" and asks readers to share the most grown up thing they've ever uttered.


5. Jack remembers a lot. He writes a lot. He's a master blogger. Today he recalls Halloweens past: Halloween 2010.


6. Miriam nee Mirty was one of the first people to ever comment on my blog. Her old blog was real, raw, and beautiful. Now she's focusing on putting those qualities into her painting.

Klimt - Beeche Forest

I like this, but doubt that it's the way the artist painted it. In google images, each version of this work looks a bit different than the next. But none look as different as this one.

Gut Vuch - Oct. 30, 2010

I oscillate about what I'm doing here. Someone once told me that I was the most metaphorical person she knew, that everything about me represented something. She liked me. When I said/wrote that I oscillate about what I'm doing here I meant the blog. And yet it's bigger than that. Some people like that about me. I once dated someone who liked that I don't write on the lines (literally and figuratively) - she said it was her favorite thing about me. I've dated more than one person (as well as the same person more than once) who've pointed out that I don't write on the lines of my life diary - "As if I didn't know that, as if I didn't know my own bed - as if I'd never noticed the way she brushed her hair from her forehead."

I heard some nice Torah in Teaneck over Shabbos from Rabbi Lawrence Rothwachs and others. He addressed the issue of the taking of a wife being compared to the taking of a burial plot (kichah/kichah). He cited Rabbi Tzvi Sobolofsky who said that just like burial is unique in that it is kindness which is true - chesed shel emet (because you don't do it expecting the person to pay you back) so too marriage is ideally a playing field for kindness done without taking a quid pro quo stance. He also cited someone saying that ideally marriage should last till the end of life (and I'd add maybe to the grave and then beyond). That was this morning (at hashkamah).

Last night he suggested that the high price of funerals may be a case of ma'aseh avot siman lebanim, having started with Avraham. He then told a story about a man whose father dies. the father left 25 million dollars to each of his sons. The other son was from a different marriage and he was not Jewish. His price for agreeing to a Jewish burial was 25 million dollars. Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv (born April 10, 1910) (in a teshuvah several paragraphs long) said that he had to pay it. And he did. (I went to Rav Elyashiv on two occasions to ask a shaylah, years ago).

My host - Phil Stein pondered the words used when Avraham tells Eliezer to go get a wife and Eliezer asks if he can bring Yitzchak back to where Avraham came from. Avraham describes how G-d took him out of there and promised him he'd become a great nation. I looked at Rabbi Hertz who says that Avraham is saying that getting Yitzchak a wife is part of the plan of him becoming a nation away from his birth place. He was saying that he knew that G-d would help and that there was nothing to worry about.

I decided this week to look for a vort at the end of Chayei Sarah, instead of at the beginning. It says that after Avraham dies G-d blesses Yitzchak the son of Avraham. The Kli Yakar says that G-d gave Avraham the power to bless. Avraham did not want to bless Yitzchak because he feared it would trickle down to Eisav. G-d blesses Yitzchak, after Avraham dies, specifying that he should remain the chosen son of Avraham. (I'd add that He blessed Yitchak to be worthy of being considered the son of Avraham in every way).

Why do I write here? Let me count the ways. I like to write. I like share Torah. I like to be appreciated.

One who likes to write needs to be extra careful.

When I'm 48 I Will Wear Purple (Click For Link)

I wore a new purple sweater to work today. Cameras play tricks. In the pictures on the left the sweater doesn't look so purple. (The idea behind these photos was that these students were wearing sweaters of the same shade of purple as mine.) Trust me. It's purple. It's so purple that I thought maybe it wasn't rabbinic enough. I was afraid of getting negative feedback, instead - people told me that they liked it. Someone remarked that when he looks at purple it makes him happy. I've always loved purple, and I've always been afraid of it. When I was little purple was my favorite color. When asked what my favorite color was I answered that it was blue, because I didn't think purple was allowed. I like my smile in these pictures. I smile when around people who are respectful, friendly, kind because that's when I feel comfortable and happy. There are plenty of these kinds of students in my school and my classes and that brings me joy. Thank you Hashem.

Feeling Angsty Or The Apartment 4J Post

It's almost six complete years since I started this blog. It's almost fifteen full years that I've been working at the same place. It's almost a year since mom died.

I woke up at six thirty this morning. It's now 2:48 PM. It's almost a year since Mom died.

If mom were here she'd say I blog too much. She'd say I post personal things that don't have to be told to the whole world. If mom were here she'd correct me, say it's only ten months, ask why I have to make it sound longer than it is and call it a year?

Yesterday someone saw me carrying The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning. It was someone who made a shiva visit and knows about my loss. Last night a friend asked how I'm doing with mourning for mom. People can be so different one from the other.

_______________________

Lately I'm thinking of currency. If you play monopoly with real money, you might get thrown out of the game. You can know as clear as day that your green bills are worth more than the yellow and pink and orange money the others are using. But if you want to play their game you have to pretend that their money is real. Sigh.

----------------------------------

Existential Angst - On Chayei Sarah

p

A pretty well known medrash explains the connection between the end of VaYeira and the start of Chayei Sarah: Satan appeared to Sarah and told her that Avraham brought Yitzchak to be sacrificed. Before he reached the story's end, she died of shock. There is another, lesser-known version of the same medrash in which Yitzchak himself comes and tells Sarah what happened, and she dies from the shock.
..
In the storyline that has Yitzchak appearing before Sarah, we must wonder what caused Sarah’s fatal shock. Aviva Zornberg suggests that according to this account of the Medrash, what affected Sarah was a sudden confrontation with the stark realization of the fragility of our lives. In this telling of the tale, Sarah realizes that "were it not for the angel" Yitzchak would have been killed. According to this approach the connection between Akeidat Yitzchak and Sarah’s passing is the precariousness of life. Yitzchak's close call with death overwhelmed Sarah with such an unbearable existential angst that it took her life..

Many of us know of other human beings that were here one second and gone the next. Deep down, we also all know that every second we breathe could be our last one. A lesson of the Akeida is the message that the physical world in which we exist is temporal in nature. Yitzchak's near death experience, that so shocked Sarah, serves as a reminder to us that we lack ultimate control over our lives. May we all be blessed to utilize our awareness of the delicate nature of life as a motivation to do teshuva and to constantly grow in our closeness to G-d.

FOR ALL PAST POSTS THAT RELATE TO CHAYEI SARAH - CLICK HERE

And Loving It

Today while waiting for the bus outside of work, a young Latino American fellow who had walked over from the community college a mile away (and it turns out, lives a few blocks away from me) asked me about where the bus stops. I was reminded of Nechama's example in class, which she used to explain what pshat - simple meaning of words means. She said that if two people are standing for a while at a bus stop and one turns to the other and says, "It sure is hot, isn't it?" and the other one answers yes, then he's misunderstood the question. We talked. And it was good.


I'm reading Marlo Thomas' new book "and loving it." (Can you identify that reference?) She talks a lot about growing up with "the boys" always being around the house. "The boys" were her fathers entertainment friends, mostly Jewish comedians. (Her father was made an honorary member of a country club that was exclusive in that it only allowed Jews. The final OK had to be granted by Groucho Marks who went along with it but wondered if they had to take in a non-Jew why they couldn't take one who didn't look Jewish.)

She has a piece about how Milton Berle was a guest on That Girl and was very difficult. Marlo (orginally Margot, but as a kid she pronounced it Marlo and it stuck) called her dad. He told her to ask him to do a specific shtick that involved spelling words. She asked. He did it. People laughed. From then on he was easy to work with. Like all boys, and all people, Milton Berle wanted to feel comfortable in his surroundings. Once he was made to feel acknowledged and at home all was fine.


When I read that I remembered that SNL has one episode, the one with Milton Berle, has never been syndicated. Lorne refuses, because he thinks it was that bad. But what Lorne and his kids didn't learn was that they had to make Uncle Milty feel at home if they wanted him to be on and funny.


I'm heading toward sleep, thinking about life. I'm thinking about how human, and sad, it is that we (I) tend to focus on the one person in a thousand that doesn't like us (me) (an estimation, actual numbers may vary). I'm also thinking about how faith feels fluid.

Hold on tight to G-d

There is nothing else to hold

And know He holds you

More On Mark Zuckerberg

My previous post has one comment. It almost had two, but my response to the first comment became long enough to become this post.

Jack said...

It is hard to be judged at such a young age- before you have gained real life experience. OTOH, he has enough money that this won't prevent him from living his life the way that he wants to.

I agree with your first hand.

I sometimes wish I would somehow have enough money to not worry about certain necessities, conveniences and comforts. It would be nice to not be quite so concerned (with good reason) about the tooth implant not being covered by insurance, to be able to go to Israel more often with less thought about the price and/or to set up house there, to feel comfortable pursuing my dream of writing and performing more regularly though the income could be unsteady and meager.

And yet I don't see how these things that money can buy would assure overall that I live my life the way I want to. My patterns of thoughts, reactions and actions wouldn't be changed by money - unless I used that money to get help working on those areas.

I've been thinking a lot about Mark. I've taught students with his kind of affect. They seem kind of oblivious to the fact that they don't socially interact the way the others do, unscathed by their lack of friends. And yet, I smell pain there. I don't know if loneliness is subjective or objective. From where I stand Mark and the people I've seen who are emotionally cut off and askew seem sad. It looks like like they can't presently live their lives the way they want to.

I've been thinking a a lot about Mark. Several people told me that they walked out of the movie jealous of him, asking themselves, "What have I created? They said they felt inspired to invent something. I don't get that. I couldn't laugh at any of his sarcastic comments. I wasn't excited for him, at 26, having changed the world. I felt sad for him having life ahead of him, and as of now having to live it surrounded by a bubble.

I've been thinking about Mark and the contribution he's made to the world in Facebook. Like blogging and other uses of the computer, Facebook enables communication without connection. There's plenty of room for anonymity, anger, and fantasy. People who have no friends have 5,000 "friends." What Mark has given the world is a taste of his world. Rather than developing socially and emotionally and intellectually (in fields other than computer science) himself, at 26 he's put all that aside. Why has he put it aside? To make money. Also, to teach us how to get even better at assuaging our own loneliness through a superficial distraction that involves other humans, sort of, but not really. Sigh.

An Old School Post - Been A Long Time

As my friend Rabbi Jon Gross likes to tell people I like reading bios of stars. I like strong voices, clear characters. And I like humor. I read Newhart's book cover to cover, same with Steve Martin and Paul Shaffer. I've tried a lot of fiction that I couldn't make it through. Since I read the Al Jaffee book I haven't had a great relationship with a book. Maybe I should keep seeking and reading non-fiction as it seems to work for me. Do what works? Really?

Tonight I was in Barnes and Noble looking for a biography or better yet a memoir. Right when I walked in I saw a new book on Paul Simon and I thought I was done. I kept looking for something that felt more right. I was turning the bend to the cashier when I saw Marlo Thomas' new book. Down went Paul.

It's called Growing Up Laughing: My Story and the Story of Funny. It felt like a good fit. My choice was supported by good reviews for the Marlo book and bad reviews for the Simon bio.

She writes something at the very start that hit home. This is an approach I figured out in my life regarding teaching, speaking, and performing. It's amazing that many people in each of these fields don't get this. She describes how her father replayed tapes of his act, listening carefully for what parts got the big laughs and then she says:

"My father's respect for the audience was his compass. When he hunched over the tape recorder like that, he was shaping the act for them - not for himself, not for the critics."

-----------------------

I could be wrong but I think I saw three movies in theaters over the summer: The Secret In Their Eyes, Lebanon, and Cairo time. It was almost three months since I saw a movie in a theater till last night, when I saw The Social Network. It's hard for me to be open to enjoying a big budget American movie.

I felt bad for Mark Zuckerberg. I felt bad that a movie was made about someone so young, during their lifetime, portraying them in a Hollywood style, imagined, negative light. I also felt bad for the character in the movie because he seemed so stunted. Today, in talking about I heard three opinions that he has Aspergers. I looked it up on line and it seems to be a popular theory. I watched him being interviewed and he seemed awkward, eerily like the Jesse Eisenberg portrayal. This article seems spot on. I particularly like the observation that in our society you can specialize in one thing and seem successful, while being quite unbalanced. I liked the way the author articulated that one can be considered an expert in his or her field and be rich and yet have no friends. Heavy sigh. That is very sad.

He asks to do it

I let him have control

Because he's G-d

A James Thurber Title Comes To Mind - Name It?

Moynihan, Biblical Reanimation

This week's New Yorker has a nice article on Moynihan

reminded me of the days when we hung together,

"My dear talmid- chaver Jon Gross asked, "In this week's haftarah: was it purely a miracle when Elisha revived the kid or did he use some kind of CPR?" Sjimon Rene' Hollander answered, "When I was studying to be a nurse, I heard that there is actually a term (at least in Dutch) called "Biblical Reanimation", and it refers to what Elisha did with the boy."

A colleague of mine spoke over Shabbos about closeness and distance and the difference it can make. He suggested part of what led to the boy's being revived is the closeness that his mother exhibited toward him. This affection is clear from Melachim 2:4, where it says that he sat on her lap until he died (for the first time).

Like Love and Marriage

They go together

The keys to love and higher

Hidden and revealed

A Haiku in Honor of Chumash Test Week and Avraham Avinu's Ten Tests

Sometimes one wonders

What exactly a test is

We each pass through them

Ariel Sharon

From time to time I think about Ariel Sharon.

Above is a picture of a controversial sculpture of Sharon

in the state he's been in since 2006.

See comment 1 for article

from yesterday's NY Times.

Left Over From Lech Lechah: Brit Milah, The Untold Story

Breishit 17: 9-15


Rav Hirsch points out that when milah - circumcision is commanded to Avraham's children, at the end of Lech Lechah, two different phrases are used, one follows the other. The covenant is called a brit and also an ot brit. Rav Hirsch explains this to reflect that brit milah has its actual form and its deeper spiritual meaning - the brit itself and that which it symbolizes as an ot. He believes that this idea applies to every mitzvah there is the technical side, the law which must be kept to the letter. There is also the element of what the mitzvah action represents, what it prompts us to think and feel.


This relates to his theory that every mitzvah has a shamor and zachor element:

Shamor and zachor

are intertwined

like movement and resting

symmetrical, aligned

-----------------

Shamor and zachor

Two words in one utterance

Structure and spirit

May we keep you together

May you keep us together

My African Violet

8/30/10

1o/19/10

The summer blossoms are gone. Yet, I'm still happy with how the plant has grown over these months.

Stars and Dust Forever - Vayeirah

The Jewish People are compared to stars and sand (Breishit 22:17.)

Some say that the stars represents us at our height and the sand represent us at our low. We have souls and are created in G-d’s image. On the other hand we are earthy beings with physical desires. The images of the stars and the sand serve to remind us of our duality. Great men have suggested carrying two cards in two pockets: one labeled “KEKOCHVEI HASHAMAYIM” and the other marked "KECHOL AL SFAT HAYAM.” They say that the secret is to know when to look at which piece of paper.

Another approach is that while both stars and sand convey one idea of a great number, there is a basic difference between them. The stars shine and stand alone. And while there may be too many to count, you can point to each star individually. On the other hand, grains of sand blend together. It is impossibly difficult to pick out a grain on its own. These are two aspects of being a Jew; we have a potential as part of a nation, also each of us needs to shine alone, our star.

The Kli Yakar (Shlomo Ephraim z"l of Lenshitz, died 1619) notes that there are not two but three similes used for what G-d will make Avraham’s descendants like: stars, sand (Breishit 22:17), and dust (Breishit 28:14). Each one of these conceptions represents a separate message.

The stars represent us in our prime. In Devarim 1:10 Moshe states that G-d increased us like the stars. Rashi comments that this refers to having made us great.

Although sand is often interpreted to represent us at our lowest, the dust actually better serves to symbolize us at our most dishonorable point. Sand really represents our survival against the nations. We endure like the sand, which breaks the waves when the oceans threaten to destroy the earth. As Dovid HaMelech describes, “all the billows (mishbarechah) and waves have passed over me” (Tehillim 42:8) – persecution threatens to destroy us, but like the tide against the shore, it hits us, breaks, and passes. And this is why when Yaakov meets with Eisav after it all, he chooses to evoke specifically the image of “the sand on the river bank.” That metaphor best fit the moment, representing our ability to break the blow of our oppressors.

(The Malbim, also interprets the sand as representing a protecting boundary against destructive forces. He notes that this image is employed in Yirmiyahu 5:22)

Dust represents us when we hit rock bottom. It is from that state that we rise up, call to G-d and return to super strength. This is what it states in Tehillim 44:26 – that we fall to dust and then cry to G-d. This is also what Yaakov was promised, that his descendants would become like dust but then regain power and spread to all corners of the earth.

We all have highs and lows, when we need to remember the other extreme. And we possess the resilience to break the forces that we sometimes fear will drown us. Wise words from Peter Himmelman put it this way:

These eyes do see
that you're nearly free
And if you hang on a little longer
you're going to see it too

j
Some days seem to drag on forever
you need all your strength
just to keep your head together
Soon you'll see things are going to get better at last

j
This too will pass

May we be blessed to remember our blessing, that we are like the stars and the dust and the sand.

Buyer Beware

Shoppers were waiting in line at the supermarket. Suddenly a young man with only one item hurriedly tried to pay for it. "You don't mind if I just pay for this one can of dog food do you?" he asked the woman at the head of the line.

"Goodness no," she replied. "If you're that hungry go right ahead,"

[From Heart of Wisdom Book III By Bernard Raskas]

This reminds me of the line "“Show business is dog-eat-dog. It’s worse than dog-eat-dog, it’s dog-doesn’t-return-other-dog’s-phone-calls.”[

Crimes and Misdemeanors

1989]

Pre-Sleep Haiku

The past was a gift

The present is a present

The future invites

Love and hate team up

They make love and they make hate

We are love and hate

I thirst for water

There are many reasons why

I feel so parched

Like so many things

I'd rather write this poem

Than wait for you

Never together

I'm still not over you

Won't ever be

G-d G-d be my friend

Gather me in to safety

No one else is home

I feel deflated

Yet about to float away

May G-d bless my dreams

Stress Haiku

Is stress overstressed?

Can we ostrich it away?

I stress stress is real.

From the Planned Intro

Too many to name

Thanks to all who made my book

Boundless gratitude

Guten Erev Shabbos

The light of Shabbat is so strong

that we wish it to shine

throughout the week.

- R Adin Steinsaltz in A Guide To Jewish Prayer

Lech Lechah – Go To Your Self

By Rabbi Neil Fleischmann

“God said to Avram:

Lech lecha - go forth from your land,

and from your birthplace,

and from your father’s house

to the land which I will show you.”

[Gen. 12:1]

Lech Lechah, G-d said

The command: Go to your self

That is so like G-d

Why is Avram (not yet re-named Avraham) told that he must leave country, birthplace, and his father’s home to get to God’s land? The order seems backwards. When heading out, a person first leaves home, and then community and finally country. This question was posed early on by the Ramban.

In light of the ecological approach to social work, as described by John T. Pardeck, the meaning is clear. Abraham was to work his way through the concentric circles that influenced him in life. He had to travel through the worlds that enveloped him. The world that most tightly wraps itself around us is the world of family. Our city of birth affects us greatly, but not as much as our home environment. Finally, we are affected by our country’s general environment. God advises Abraham to deal with these influences in the order progressing from what affected him least strongly to that which affected him the most. Only after sifting through these worlds could he arrive at the land of God.

Through letting go of attachments that are more distant we are able to let go of what is closest to our hearts. It is not simply that one circle is harder to leave than the other, but that each realm must be conquered before one can undertake the next quest. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch points out that the three places Abraham is told to leave are followed in the Torah’s cantillation by an etnachtah — a pause. As he puts it, “This indicates that ‘lech lecha’ is an independent command concluding with the last of the three places he must exit.” As Aviva Zornberg writes, “The imperative of transformation is the driving force of ‘lech lecha.’"

The Sfat Emet and the Zohar explain that Abraham’s mission was to travel through the layers that separated him from his real self. Lech lecha, often translated as “Get thee out,” is more accurately translated as, “Go to yourself.” Abraham, like all of us, needed to leave those influences, that comfort zone, that impeded his becoming who he was meant to be. As Zornberg comments, “To leave one’s place is ultimately to seek to become other.” Avram then becomes Avraham (Abraham), his change of name dovetailing with his change of place; he achieves transformation and realization of self.

Abraham was told to go to a place that is described as “the land that God will show you.” This can also mean the land in which God will show Himself to Abraham, the place where Abraham would reach his spiritual peak. Each place that’s listed is described as a separate place he had to leave. Rather than grouping “country, birthplace, home,” the Torah goes out of its way to place an “and” between each place: “Go out of your land and out of your birthplace and out of your father’s home.” This indicates that what is commanded here is a spiritual leaving with separate and distinct stages. Abraham was, according to most opinions, told to leave his birthplace when he was no longer physically situated in the place where he was born. He started the journey before God commanded him, but he had to start out again to re-birth himself and complete the trip for the sake of Heaven.

The Sfat Emet says that the call of lech lecha, to become oneself, is a call that went out to the entire world, but not everyone was tuned into the frequency. Though it was there for all to hear, only one person heard God’s voice. The fact that Abraham heard the call is what singled him out, and this provides the introduction to who he was. This explains why there is no back-story provided about Abraham as there is for others, such as Adam and Moshe. His hearing God’s urgent cry of lech lecha provides the entire introduction that we need about who this man was.

May we all be blessed — in the spirit of maaseh avot siman lebanim, “the actions of the fathers pave the way for the children” — to fulfill our imperative of lech lecha, to go to ourselves, to become our selves, and to arrive in the land of God.

Four Fresh Haiku

What a good day means

Good blood with G-d, man, and self

We daven for this

Oversensitive

Who measured sensitive

to know what's over?

What is loneliness

and how do we tweak it

even in a crowd?

Your hi cheered me up

Maybe I'm an extrovert

after all

One More Haiku Before I Go

Hidden is revealed
The once revealed is hidden
Welcome to Backwards

2, 2, 2 Haiku in 1 Post

Hunger confounds us

Brings back man’s first mistake

Eating the wrong food

Pain is in your head

But when the head is what hurts

It gets confusing

"Who Maketh My Spirit To Shine"

This is the tenth time I'm mentioning Jill Sobule in a post. To see the other nine, click here. A few years ago I recommended Jill's music to a friend. I do this on a regular basis. This friend really got into Jill's songs. Recently he and his wife drove for hours to see Jill perform. And he's got a picture to prove it:

5 Haiku About My Mom's Death, Written On My Birthday

Sometimes I forget

my mother passed away

Death can be so strange

Sometimes I zone out

right when it's time for Kaddish

still after nine months

Kaddish is an odd bird

Ideally it's responsive -

Or not said at all

Something disappears

When the womb that birthed you dies

Something in your blood

I didn't hear them

my birthday wishes from mom

Used to be I heard

Sundry Thoughts

The Other Shoe

By Kay Ryan

Oh if it were

only the other

shoe hanging

in space before

joining its mate.

------------------------------------------------

While Passing Another Shopper In Shoprite

Woman - Are you Irish?

Me - No.

Woman - You look Irish.

Me - Thank you.

--------------------------------------------------------

I read this piece by Joe Klein in 1992 when it came out. The gorilla story, which comes at the very end of the piece fits with my previous post, about Noach.

-------------------------------------------------------------

The saying is true

We learn most from our students

You give, you get

--------------------------------------------------------

I learned this word from a student during a Torah Guidance talk:

Omnibenevolence - unlimited or infinite benevolence." It is a technical term used more in the academic literature on the philosophy of religion.

And I taught him this one:

Panacea- 1. a remedy for all disease or ills; cure-all. 2. an answer or solution for all problems or difficulties.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Last week in The Times' article on Andrew Cuomo they described him as possessing "a focus on details that can lead to 'paralysis by analysis." That resonated.

It also included this which interested me because I've been intrigued by Mario Cuomo since I was a kid: "And those who have been around the Cuomo family for years said the attorney general was far more pragmatic and action-oriented than his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, whose reputation for indecisiveness earned him the nickname, "Hamlet on the Hudson."

Is It October Eleventh Already?

I received this as a physical/in mail card (the only one I got so far).

It's from my oral surgeon and his staff (see the teeth in the background?)

Inside: wishes for "a happy birthday with many smiles in the year ahead."

A Shmoneh Esrei Thought Relating to The Ram

We beseech G-d to "sound the great shofar toward our redemption."

When Yitzchak was not sacrificed, the ram that replaced him took a holy place in that moment. That ram lives on forever in the story of the Jewish People. The left horn was blown when G-d gave the Torah at Sinai. The larger right horn will be sounded by G-d when the exiles of Israel are finally redeemed.

(Pirkei DeRabi Eliezer - 31)

I Remain Haunted By This Film

Noach – MiDor LeDor - By Rabbi Neil Fleischmann

If a friend woke me in the middle of the night and asked me to share a Dvar Torah on Parshat Noach, I’d probably come out with the one about whether or not Noach would have been an even greater tzadik, or not such a tzadik at all if he'd lived in Avraham’s generation. This is also an easy and popular route for a pulpit rabbi to take: Step One – Read pasuk aloud, Step Two – Read Rashi aloud, Step Three – Pause meaningfully, Step Four - Connect with current events.

The pivot of this famous Rashi on Noach is the word “bedorotav.” Noach was referred to as a tzadik in his generation. In addressing this curious description, the rabbis go in two directions. One approach says that he was a tzadik in his generation, because he was the most righteous man in unrighteous times, but if he’d have lived at the same time as a righteous man such as Avraham, he’d have paled in comparison. The medrash presents an analogy of a small coin that is valuable compared to lesser coins, but put next to a currency of greater worth it becomes inconsequential. The other take is that if Noach acted nobly in a lowly generation how much more so would he have shined as a hero had he lived in the same time as an Avraham. The medrash compares this to a girl that was born into brothels and rises above the immorality that surrounds her.

The problem with the discussion about what Noach would have been like in Avraham’s generation is that the two men were alive at the same time. If you do the math that’s given in the Torah itself it becomes clear that Avraham and Noach overlapped for 58 years (easy to remember because it’s the gematriah of Noach).

Why does the Medrash cited by Rashi say that Noach and Avraham were not in the same generation? This is, in fact, based on the text of the Torah. Right after the flood the Torah states that Noach dies. He lived for three and a half more centuries! The text is teaching us that Noach was not involved in society, and thus even though he was technically alive, he was not considered as living in the same generation as Avraham. Though he was technically alive, Noach was all but buried.

The positive and negative views of Noach each base themselves on the same word bedorotav. This reflects the idea that Noach’s greatest positive and negative qualities stemmed from the same source. This fits with the commentary of the Ran (Breishit 6:9-12) who takes the common conception of Noach as a “Tzadik in Peltz” – someone who kept solely to himself and turns it on its head. The Ran says that Noach’s generation was so far-gone that he did the right thing. He explains that the secret of Noach’s righteousness is revealed to us in the words “et haElokim hithalech Noach – Noach walked with G-d.” The word “et” connotes a direct connection to G-d, while implying a total separation from the people of his time. The fact that this behavior is described immediately following the statement that Noach was righteous and pure teaches us that the method through which he achieved righteousness and purity during his life before the mabul.

After the flood Noach continued using the same modus operandi that he employed beforehand. A new approach was called for at this time. Because he separated himself from society in the era following the flood Noach was unable to help others during this time of his life. Furthermore, this time around his approach sadly led Noach to his own decline in status. After the flood there was a chance for a new beginning but this new start called for outreach. Instead of relating with others Noach cocooned, just as he had done before the flood. What was strength became weakness.

It is often the case that people use one approach to survive at one stage of their lives. But later in life they need to move on from this approach and have trouble doing so. What leads to success at one time can lead to failure in another context. A therapist friend tells me that therapy is often about getting someone to halt a behavior that once saved his or her life, but is now restricting them from moving forward in life. For example if someone – G-d forbid – was abused when they were young they may learn to protect themselves by being very private. However when they enter the broader world of relationships, community, and work they need to learn to trust people and not be so secretive.

May we all be blessed to cultivate our strengths at the various stages of our lives.

May we all be blessed to cultivate our appropriate strengths and not allow them to morph into fatal flaws.

(The essence of this piece is based on the thought of Rabbi Yitzchak Twersky)

Best Known for Mad, Also Read by Chabad Youngsters ----- By ALISON LEIGH COWAN

Hat tip to Baruch Freedman for telling me about the article, which appeared today on The New York Times on line and is posted here in the first two comments.

Al Jaffee as a child with his dad

and his brother - as drawn by Al.

Holy

7:03 PM - I am not a Jim Carrey fan, nor a Batman fan. Yet a scene in which he plays a villain and gives his speech and then turns to the camera and pans, "Was that too over the top? I can never tell." That resonates because with this blog I wonder am I too open? - I can never tell.

My day started at 5:45 AM. I taught 5 courses in Jersey went to New York for an eye dr. appointment, then headed right back to school for Open School night. In between I counselled a student and a parent, haggled with one administrator, explained myself (unnecessarily) to another, and prayed. I rode two Subways, walked about a mile, ate on the fly, and hitched a ride with old friends and colleagues.

I guess I'll tell parents the butterfly story, maybe I'll tell them what we've been learning in class, and what tests, H.W, my teaching style and philosophy are like. My favorite thing is to end with time to spare for each parent to come up and tell me whom they match with.

It's five minutes to Ma'ariv. Going to pray again to keep what and have and hope for what we all want - more. And in the absence of that I'll take learning to be happy with my share.

7:57 PM - Davened Ma'ariv from the amud. Asked a school parent if I could buy his sefer. He went to his car, got a copy, and gave it to me. Noshed. Talked to an old high school friend who is a parent of a student here. Sigh. Sighed.

10:36 PM - Just got home. Taught four simulated school night classes in a row. From 9 PM till about 10 PM. Thank G-d for this blessing of a vocation. Remind me some time that I wrote that.

I have a parsha article due tomorrow. I have a friend in the hospital to call. Quizzes to mark. Calls to return. The hour is late...

"As long as the candle burns I can fix" - Rav Yisrael Salanter

The Tehilim card that I "blindly" pick out of the box today read thus,

It's so easy to be enticed by a famous, handsome, or powerful leader. This usually leads you nowhere or worse. - Avhaham Moskowitz on Tehilim/Psalms 146:4

Someone pointed out to me today that my kaddish saying is almost done, because it ends a month before the yahrtzeit. Heavy sigh.

"I see dead people"

said a boy in a movie

And I said, "Me too"