Thought this was a pretty cool Passover Haggadah.
Shaped like a wine bottle!
Sort of sets the stage for the four cups of wine at the Seder.
I found this Haggadah in Israel, and I’m glad I got a few of them.
Wishing everyone a joyous Passover and Easter holiday! 😉
(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see new my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Moses’s Handicap.”
In truth, we are all handicapped in one way or another. One person comes from a meager financial background, another has no education, and yet another has any of a host of physical, mental, or emotional challenges. Essentially, we all have something that rightfully can hold us back. But still G-d chooses us to do His bidding. Whether it’s leading the Jews out of Egypt or standing up and doing what’s right in situations that we are confronted with every day, we are asked to go beyond our handicap.
We can’t let our handicaps prevent us from fulfilling our purpose in life–we need to meet the challenges head on with G-d’s help. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
There is a buddhist philosophy that life is all about loss and suffering.
The Budha says:
Life is suffering.
Why? Because life is impermanence–whatever we gain, eventually, we must lose.
– Riches, power, people, health, even our memories perhaps.
In a sense, this is like the saying from “War of the Roses”:
There is no winning, only degrees of losing.
However, there is one exception to the impermanence and loss in life:
The only thing that is permanent is our good deeds, and with this we can achieve an everlasting good name for ourselves.
In Judaism, we teach:
A good name is better than fine oil.
Hence, this is the permanence that we strive for in life and in death.
If we can attain a good name through purity of soul then in a sense, we can transcend life’s suffering and impermanence.
By becoming non-attached to all of life’s temporary things, and instead focusing on perfecting ourselves, we can free ourselves from suffering and from this world, and then we can go on in everlasting-peace to the afterlife.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This story continues to fascinate me.
China’s social credit system started in 2015.
China scores individuals based on public data (social media, financial, insurance, health, shopping, dating, and more), and they have people that act as “information collectors” (i.e. neighborhood watchers) who record what their neighbors are doing–good and bad.
Each individual starts with a 1,000 points.
If you do good things in Chinese society–helping people, cleaning up, being honest–you get points added.
If you do bad things in China–fight with people, make a mess, be dishonest–you get points deducted.
Fail below 1,000 points and you are in trouble–and can get blacklisted!
A good score is something to be proud of and a bad score is something that shames people to hopefully change for the better.
But more than that, your social score has tangible social impacts–it can determine your ability to get into certain schools, obtain better jobs, homes, loans/mortgages, high-speed internet, and even high-speed train tickets/airplane flights.
While maybe well intentioned, certainly, this has the very real potential to become a surveillance state and the embodiment of “Big Brother”!
On one hand, it seems like a great thing to drive people and society to be better. Isn’t that what we do with recognizing and rewarding good behavior and with our laws and justice system in punishing bad behavior?
Yet, to me this type of all-encompassing social credit system risks too much from a freedom and privacy perspective. Should the government and all your neighbors be privy to your most intimate doings and dealings? And should people be controlled to such an extent that literally everything you do is monitored and measured and counted for/against you?
It seems to me that the price of sacrificing your very personal liberty is too high to make in order to push people towards positive social goals.
Guiding people is one thing, and rewarding outstanding acts and punishing horrific ones is understandable, but getting into people’s knickers is another.
This type of social credit system really borders on social control and moves us towards a very disturbing, dystopian future. 😉
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel, called “Shabbat Shalom and Good luck on The Jackpot.”
So the Mega Millions jackpot is up to an astonishing $1.6B! This is the largest lottery in U.S. history. Instantly you become one of the richest people in the world. At the kiddush after shul today, it didn’t take long for the conversation to hit on the upcoming lottery drawing.
Read about it–it was funny! 😉
(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “I Dream of Zion.”
To flourish in the land of milk and honey.
To celebrate the Shabbat and holidays as in the days of old.
To revere the bravery and heroism of the defenders of Israel.
To live and worship as a Jew without discrimination, racism, and hatred.
To fulfill the promise of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Hope you enjoy and we can all one day live the dream! 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So today an 80-year-old Algerian man sat our table for the Kiddush lunch after synagogue services.
And he talked quite a bit about his life philosophy and told me I was a good listener. 🙂
1) TRUE LOVE IS LIKE AN ORANGE:
A man and women that are meant to be together are like two sides of an orange. With his hands, he showed us putting the two sides together, twisting, and he goes, “You see it just clicks!”
2) WHEN LOVE IS NOT TRUE ITS LIKE TWO BIRDS IN A CAGE:
When a man and woman are not soulmates, maybe they just are meant to be together for a time to have children or make a home temporarily. But then, the birds need to leave the cage, and be free!
3) BURIED TOGETHER:
“When people are soulmates, they are buried together, next to each other. Otherwise, one is buried in Greece and the other in Hawaii, and it makes no difference because they are going their own ways in Heaven.”
4) 80 HERE AND 20 HERE
He pointed to his belly and said, “I’m 80 here.” And then pointed to his groin area, and said, “But I’m 20 here!”
5) WOMEN ONLY UNDER 40:
While he is 80, he claims to be robust in the bedroom, and “will never be with a woman over 40…not a day over!” He said, “It’s like an old Cadillac!” Moreover, he said, if a woman is “not perfect” and has a scar like from having her appendix out, “forget it!”
6) WRITING, PLAYING GUITAR, AND DANCING:
He said, “I like to write, play guitar and dance.” And with his arms, he makes some swoops like he is on the dance floor having a good time.
7) PEOPLE ARE LIKE CANDLES:
People are like candles. The body is like the wax that burns down, but the soul is the flame that always rises up. In the end, the soul ascends to heaven just like the flame.
8) INFINITELY STUPID:
He pointed to the yarmulke on top of his head and said: “You know what that means? This means that there is no limit to how stupid some people can be!”
8) YOU MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK:
I asked what he did for a living, and he said “Real estate, Jewelry, and even fashion salons.” I said, “Wow, you’re very fortunate!” He said, “No, in life, you make your own luck!”
10) RESPECT ME IF YOU WANT:
“You respect me, and I respect you. But frankly, I don’t care if you respect me or not. You can do what you want, and so will I!” I said, “Ok, see you next week and we’ll talk again.” He said, “Maybe I will or maybe I won’t talk to you ever again.”
Like his philosophy or not, I never saw an 80-year-old with so much energy, life, and personality. Honestly, there are a lot of people half his age, who act more dead than alive. It was incredible to see this ageless person and hear what that’s like. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal
So I used to hear from my wife about when she was young and went to the bungalow colony in the Catskill Mountains.
And today, I heard from a wonderful young Ukrainian woman whose family does the equivalent in the mountains there in the summer.
When I listen to the stories, it sounds so good to get away with your family and friends for the summer to the countryside.
Just live simply in a cabin, stay up late by the campfire singing songs, get up lazily in the morning, and during the day play sports, go fishing, and swim in the lake.
I can’t imagine talking 3 months a year and actually being able to do this…so natural, so carefree, so back to living!
Yes as kids, we went to camp, but it’s not the same as living communally like this in such freedom and fun.
Honestly, listening to the stories about this, left me amazingly jealous!
Perhaps, it’s a lesson about life these days…we’re adults, we’re responsible, we have to earn a living and take care of the bills and all of life’s responsibilities.
But maybe, just maybe, there is something–a lot–to be said for letting loose a little, and just being with your loved ones, and living, really living again.
Why do we have to wait until we’re old…too old to work anymore…and maybe too old to appreciate life as life was meant to be.
We can’t run from our responsibilities but isn’t it worth looking for ways in life to enjoy more than a long weekend or a week vacation.
Life is too short to let it get away from us.
Balancing the contributions of our hard labor with the enjoyment of family, friends, and fun…those are the memories that last a lifetime and beyond.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So I’m doing laps in the indoor pool.
And out of the corner of my eye, I see this bird swoop in overhead.
But it’s not outside, it’s inside the building enclosure.
The bird dived in through an open door.
Now it was stuck inside.
It perched itself on a shelf overlooking the outdoors.
But it was stuck behind the glass walls.
The lifeguard tried to swoop it out with the sticks, brushes, and nets for cleaning the pool.
But this bird wasn’t going anywhere.
I asked if it was injured or sick.
He said that the bird was scared, which made sense.
Over and over again, the lifeguard tried to coax the bird out.
Finally, it took flight and headed straight into another glass pane–BONG–and fell down–SPLAT–onto another ledge.
The lifeguard and I looked at each other — asking whether the bird was still alive or not.
I suggested he call for help, and the advice he was given was just to leave it alone and that eventually, it would find its way out.
It was time for me to go, but I am still thinking about that trapped bird.
If you love something, you have to let it free.
Everyone and everything should be free (unless they’ve abused that freedom).
Free to come and go, free to express themselves, free to choose, free to act.
Sometimes, when you’re free you run into trouble or into a glass pane.
You need to find your way out and home again to freedom. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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