Australian Compassion

Luke Ford writes: A man was sitting on a blanket at the beach. He had no arms and no legs.

Three women — an American, a Kiwi and a Australian — were walking past and they felt sorry for the poor man.

The American woman said to him, ‘Have you ever had a hug?’

The man said ‘No,’ so she gave him a hug and walked on.

The Kiwi woman said, ‘Have you ever had a kiss?’

The man said, ‘No,’ so she gave him a kiss and walked on.

The Australian woman came to him and said, ‘Have you ever been f**ked?’

The man broke into a big smile and said, ‘No.’

She said, ‘You will be when the tide comes in.’

I discuss the parsha with Rabbi Rabbs Mondays at 7pm PST on my live cam.

Our Wants Vs Our Happiness

Luke Ford writes:

On his radio show Oct. 22, 2010, Dennis said: Most Of What You Want Isn’t Good For You. It will not make you happy. The list is so long that I could spend the rest of the show just listing common things we want that aren’t good for us, such as food.

On the road, I go to grocery stores to pick up food to eat that is semi-healthy. The food available at 7/11 and airports is largely junk. There is almost nothing in there that I don’t want to eat. I want to be buried with M&M peanuts next to me. I love M&Ms.

Most of what we want isn’t good for our happiness and our bodies. Forget our character.

It is important to teach your kids early that what they want is likely not good for them.

As a kid, I did not want to go to school. The happiest days of my elementary school life were when at night, it started to snow and I would look out the window and I had one prayer — that it sticks. If it doesn’t stick, it doesn’t matter how much it snows, the school bus will pick me up because they can get through slush but they can’t get through a serious snow fall that sticks.

Ninety nine percent of the food we want is because it is tasty. Generally speaking, the more tasty the food, the worse it is for you.

I discuss the parsha with Rabbi Rabbs Mondays at 7pm PST on my live cam.

Jewish Extremism In Aleppo, Syria

Luke Ford writes:

In his Oct. 25, 2010 lecture on R. Elijah Benamozegh for Torah in Motion, Dr. Marc B. Shapiro says:

There has been a trend of extremism in Aleppo for a long time…

The Aleppo Syrian [Jewish] community burned this book [a Torah commentary quoting Christian and Egyptian sources].

We think of the Sephardic world as more open-minded but you have extremism [in places such as Aleppo].

These rabbis in Aleppo opposed secular studies in their entirety. They are very unusual for the Sephardic world. The Sephardic world is usually very open to secular studies.

R. Elijah Benamozegh said that Torah and secular studies could not be kept as two religious spheres because that would create religious doubt. If you tell people you can’t study secular matters and they become convinced that secular studies are true, then you become convinced that Torah is false.

Light blinds people who have been in darkness for a long time. You have to be exposed to it gradually. When secular studies reach areas where people have not been exposed to it, it is like they are coming out of a cave and it leaves them to reject tradition. That is what happened in Eastern Europe [at the turn of the 20th Century], within the space of a generation, so many rejected tradition. In Germany, where Hirsch’s system was underway, there was very little attrition.

The Meaning Of A Mortgage

Luke Ford writes:

I went for a long walk Sabbath afternoon. As I looked at the setting sun, I felt sad. My life was not supposed to turn out this way.

I've never married. I've never had kids. And I've never had a mortgage.

I associate those three things together. They mean adulthood to me and because I have not done them, I feel like I am less of an adult.

I don't go around moping about this, but I think of maturity as taking on responsibilities such as a spouse, kids and a mortgage.

A mortgage settles you down to a particular place and community. You're less likely to take chances with your blogging if you have a mortgage. You don't want to get sued for libel or for anything and lose your home, your castle.

I revel in my freedom. That's what living in an apartment means to me. I can get up and go. I'm not tied down. I have no ball and chain.

I discuss the parsha with Rabbi Rabbs Mondays at 7pm PST on my live cam.

Vayigash - End Of Genesis X

Luke Ford writes:

I discuss the parsha with Rabbi Rabbs Mondays at 7pm PST on my live cam.

This week we will discuss our Torah portion of Vayigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27).

Vayigash - End Of Genesis XII

Luke Ford writes:

I discuss the parsha with Rabbi Rabbs Mondays at 7pm PST on my live cam.

This week we will discuss our Torah portion of Vayigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27).

* When Joseph tells his brothers not to be distressed for selling him into slavery (Gen. 45:6), does he mean it or is he just trying to comfort them? When he says it was part of God’s plan, does he mean it?

* Joseph lavishes special favors on Benjamin and then sends his brothers home to Jacob with the instruction to not quarrel. (Gen. 45:24)

Vayigash - End Of Genesis XI

Luke Ford writes:

I discuss the parsha with Rabbi Rabbs Mondays at 7pm PST on my live cam.

This week we will discuss our Torah portion of Vayigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27).