What Dr. Seuss Taught Me

(Picture from allinfographics)

What Would You Attempt To Do If You Knew You Could Not Fail?

Many times when people speak about courage they describe scenarios of heroic bravery, like the selfless Israeli soldiers who at a very young age put their lives at risk to protect our people and our country. Sometimes we may become disheartened, thinking that if we can never achieve that kind of courage then we can never call ourselves heroic.

But in fact there is a kind of courage that we experience every day of our lives. These are the moments when we are faced with the question: Do I want to live a life of mediocrity or do I want my life to be extraordinary? These are the day to day decisions that impact our very being and the challenges that we face as individuals to improve our very lives.

Morrie Schwartz says in “Tuesdays with Morrie”: "So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." 

Choosing to live a meaningful life, that is courage.

Pray for Your Haters

I am part of a student group at college called Beat Therapy, which focuses on music therapy and music education. With a few other members, I went a few days ago to a local public school and played rhythm games with the students there. We had a blast, the music they created was incredible, the discussions were enlightening, but something above all else left a lasting impression on me. One of the students was wearing a sweatshirt with words on it. The words were: Pray for your Haters. I was really taken aback by this; what does that even mean? Then I started pondering it and realized how unbelievable it was that those words were on a sweatshirt.

The message just floored me: instead of doing harm or even wishing harm on your "enemies," pray for them.  Instead of increasing the negative emotions in this world, bring positivity to everything you do. I've thought about it for days. In every situation, we have more opportunities to bring good into this world than we can count. We have endless chances every day to bring good into this world- to bring Gd into this world in a very real way.

So, pray for your haters. Don't wish for something bad to happen; pray that something good will happen, pray that Gd will help them.

In the wise words of Qui-Gon Jinn in the Phantom Menace: "There is always a bigger fish." I think this can be use metaphorically towards our lives. No matter where we are or what position we are put in, there is always someone, or something, higher. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

There is ALWAYS something to be thankful for.

:-)

We Are Unlike Any Other Nation

And Eretz Yisrael Is Unlike Any Other Land

"Eretz Yisrael is not something apart from the soul of the Jewish people, it is no mere national possession, serving as a means of unifying our people and buttressing its material or even its spiritual survival. Eretz Yisrael is part of the very essence of our nationhood; it is bound organically to its very life and inner being. Human reason, even at its most sublime, cannot begin to understand the unique holiness of Eretz Yisrael; it cannot stir the depths of love that are dormant within our people. - Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook ztl

We Will Stand With Israel Forever

Loving Every Jew

"If only I would love the greatest tzaddik (righteous person) as much as Hashem loves the greatest rasha (wicked person)!"

-Baal Shem Tov

“Courage is... the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared.”
-David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister

As we keep Israel in our thoughts and prayers, we must remember that life in Israel continues. Although times can be devastating- too much time spent in bomb shelters, too many sounds of rockets- we cannot live in fear. We must remember that as we unite, we become stronger. Together, we ignite the beautiful flame that is the worldwide Jewish community. Together, from wherever we are in the world, we support Israel.

Am I Really Free?

Rav Kook zt'l has an amazing quote on what it means to be free:

"There could be a freeman with the spirit of a slave, and there could be a slave with the spirit of a freeman; whoever is faithful to his self - he is a freeman, and whoever fills his life only with what is good and beautiful in the eyes of others - he is a slave."

So now ask yourself: which would you rather be?