There is much discussed in the good books about the role we play in our own destiny. Are some people doomed to remain farkvetched (squeezed) while others fortunate to live in abundance? And do we have the ability to change that? I'm going to leave the theological question for others.  

Have you ever gone through a challenging time in your life (who hasn’t!?) I have. A common refrain I hear—whether in my own head or in someone else's voice—is that someone else has it a lot worse than you.

It reminded me of the saying in Hayom Yom: in material matters, look toward those who have less than you; and in spiritual matters, look toward those who are on a higher spiritual plane.

In contrast to their image of the downtrodden Eastern European Jew, the Zionist fathers wanted to train the young in good posture to demonstrate the Zionistic Pride. 

Today, this rejection of the Old Jew and embrace of the New Jew takes on a different form. It revolves around pride in the ingenuity of Israeli's, their role in High Tech, their dedication to helping in crises around the world, being the most moral army, and of course pride in the IDF.

Are you bemoaning your circumstances?  Are you finding the good in it?

What are your discussions about these days?  Israel. Anti Semitism. Are you finding other things to talk about? Are you finding the silver lining?

Non-Jews respect Jews who respect Judaism, and they are embarrassed by Jews who are embarrassed by Judaism.“ — Rabbi Sacks.

Dan Senor in his State of Jewry addressed what Jews ought to be doing in the wake of the rise of antisemitism that we've experienced since October 7, 2023.  And it is...

 LIVE JEWISH!

Why do they hate us so? Many reasons have been given, but after all the discussions, it boils down to the fact that we are G-d's People and they just have a hard time with that.  Own it friend!

Q. How do you make your day a shining one? A. Make each day count or count each day.

A theme that's been revolving this week is the notion that we are essentially good.  

My friend Harry Maziar shared this idea; "people say you need to see it to believe it, but perhaps you need to believe it to see it"?!

The Torah speaks of four children, the wise one, the wicked one, the simple one and the one who doesn't know how to ask.

Each of us are designed exactly as we need to be for our life's journey.  That is a fundamental belief of Chabad philosophy, although a much more difficult one to digest and accept authentically.

Happiness is what you arrive at when you accept yourself and your spouse. When you stop trying to change the other, when you accept the complexities of you and then work on aligning them. Not perfection, but excellence.

A mirror is a powerful tool.  Is my face dirty?  Is it time for a trim (of my head hair of course)? Does my beard look brushed and dignified?  Are my Tefillin centered on my head? Maybe my escape from the mirror to the selfie is a major misunderstanding of my own self worth?

The imagery is the stuff movies are made of. Jacob is preparing to encounter his brother with prayer, gift and war – hope, diplomacy and strength.