Last night on the train I saw a number of humane, good-hearted acts by people.  Whether it was picking up people’s dropped items for them, or helping people navigate the train lines, or simply speaking and listening to one another.

I see this all the time.
The news hides it from you.

Below is a letter to the editor of GoodNewsNetwork.org - a website the compiles good news from around the world ranging from the positive impacts we are having on the environment, to the good things American soldiers are doing abroad, and more.

When I taught in Jewish schools my students loved hearing good news from GoodNewsNetwork.  I highly recommend it for kids and parents alike in these dark times.  A little bit of light dispels a lot of dark.

p.s. The GoodNewsNetwork is not to be confused with every other “Good News” website and school club, which are run by Christian activists, many of which try to pull Jews away from Torah, G-d forbid.  This is a non-religiously oriented site dedicated to positive news.

*********

I have a 7 year old son and we don’t watch TV, listen to the news, or read newspapers because so much of it is negative and full of pain and hate — things his little body does not need.  I am SO thrilled to be able to show him stories on your Website and talk to him about the positive, Good work that is occurring here on Earth.  You have given me a safe place where I can allow my son to browse and follow the stories that interest him.  Thank you! - Esther Colwell

“The important thing about your lot in life is whether you use it for parking or for building.”

- unquoted by source

There is no “right way” for Bnei Noach to get married.¹  Rather, the questions to ask are:

1) What action(s) on our behalf constitute establishment of our marriage
2) What ceremonies are fitting and appropriate for Bnei Noach weddings

The length of this post will give one example of how you might answer question #2.

To answer question #1:

The subject of Noahide marriage according to Torah is discussed in the book “The Path of the Righteous Gentile,” in the chapter on Sexual Relations:

“Under the Seven Universal Commandments [for Gentiles], a woman is considered to be a man’s wife when the couple has sexual relations [in the normal manner] with the intent² that it constitute marriage.”

*******

Source: (Rabbi Mordechai)

…

…My third thought was that I wouldn’t know what ritual to use. I wouldn’t want to use Jewish ritual – they are not Jewish, and are under no illusions on that matter. So what would I do?

On the other hand: Come on, how cool is that, getting to do a Noachide wedding?

So I emailed colleagues, who clarified that a rabbi is empowered to perform any wedding which conforms with municipal law, but who had no idea what ritual to use. I Googled “Noachide Weddings” and “Noahide Weddings” and came up with this page, but the contents made me uncomfortable; I really didn’t like their adaptation of key Jewish wedding elements – the berachah [blessing] on wine, the ketubah, the Chuppah canopy.

But some colleagues of mine urged me on, pointing out that it’s pretty rare for an Orthodox rabbi to have a chance to get really creative!

Then, as I talked to the couple more and met with them, they were so visibly sincere that I fell in love with the idea beyond the “adventure” level. It was a chance to help good people do a good thing, in a meaningful way. Isn’t that why I’m a rabbi in the first place?

So I developed a ceremony which drew on biblical themes common for Jews and non-Jews, and meaningful for a wedding.

Here’s what we did:

1) They had found a non-denominational chapel in a park, and we used that space. As they stood together, I sang the traditional Jewish chuppah songs of Mi Adir and Mi Ban Siach.

2) I then presented a dvar torah on the Torah’s history of marriage, going back to Adam and Chavah [Eve]. I explained the Adam I and Adam II narratives, using Ramban’s idea that one narrative is creation of the soul (unified) and the other is creation of the body (separate). I talked about why Adam and Chavah benefit from being of two separate bodies – the idea, expressed in various commentaries, that the man and woman complement each other with their strengths, and so accomplish things they could never accomplish as one unit.

3) They had wanted to give each other rings, and written their own declaration of love and faithfulness for the occasion, so they did that at this point. I had them say “Behold you are sanctified to me,” taking the first half of the Jewish formula and dropping the “according to the laws of Moses and Israel” segment.

4) They had wanted to have a toast with wine at this point, but I was uncomfortable because of halachic [Torah Law] issues which are beyond the scope of this blog, and because of the adoption of a very Jewish wedding practice. So I decided to use water instead.

I explained the biblical significance of water, tracing it from the water present at Creation, through the punitive water of the flood rolling back Creation, through the water in which Jews drowned in Egypt, through the punitive water of Yam Suf [Sea of Reeds], through water from a stone in the desert, etc. My point was the power embedded by Gd in this natural element.

We recited the berachah [blessing] on water together (the berachah itself – “that all comes into existence at Gd’s command” – being very appropriate for the occasion), and drank.

5) To close the wedding I adapted a tefillah [prayer] authored by Rabbi Yochanan, presented in Yerushalmi Berachot 4:1, to read as follows:

יהי רצון מלפניך רבונו של עולם שתשכן בבתינו אהבה ואחוה ושלום ורעות ותצליח סופינו אחרית ותקוה ותרבה גבולנו בחברים ותקנינו לב טוב וחברים טובים ונשיש בחלקנו ונשכים ונמצא ייחול לבבנו

May it by Your will, Master of the Universe, that You bring love and brotherhood and peace and friendship into our home, that You give us success and hope, that You broaden our boundaries with friends, that You establish for us a good heart and good friends, that You make us happy with our lot, and that we rise each day to find our hearts’ desire.

On the whole, it was a remarkable experience. I was moved by their sincerity, and by their respect for Torah and Jewish belief.

I’m glad I did it - not because it was unusual, but because it really was cool in a much deeper way.

*********

Many things are happening right now, in a global way, and in a personal way.

“The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me.  The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.”

- Victor Frankl

כל העולם כולו גשר צר מאוד, והעיקר - לא לפחד כלל
Kol ha’olam kulo gesher tzar me’od, v’ha’ikar lo lefahed klal.
“All the world is a very narrow bridge, and the most important thing is not to fear at all.”

- Rebbe Nachman of Breslev

Wow…

http://www.whoshalllive.com

Thanks for the embed tip DJ!

כבד את ה’ מהונך –– ממה שחננך
Honor G-d with the gifts with which he has endowed you!
(Pesikta d’Rav Kahana, based on Mishley 3:9)

“For every man has an instinctive liking for certain kinds of work or business. It is comparable to the cat’s instinct for catching mice…the heron’s for catching fish…where each living creature is endowed with those physical attributes which are appropriate to it’s means of obtaining food…In this same way each person’s individual nature is attuned to the kind of activity which G-d has in mind for him.”
(Chovos HaLevavos: Shaar HaBitachon, Chapter 3, Hakdamah 5)

…Awareness of particular gifts will deny us the comforts of conformity.  But we must dare to be different because we are different.  Each of our particular mix of quirks, feelings and dreams is as unique as our features¹.  Bland uniformity must not be tolerated.  It squelches the spark, dulls the cutting edge of creativity, and impugns the צלם אלקים,² the G-d-like singularity with which we have been irrevocably stamped.³

Channeling Champions
by Alice Johnson

First I must say there should be gold medals given for Torah scholarship, commitment to family and community, and feeding the hungry. Despite the fact that this doesn’t happen maybe at all here on earth, or at least not with the same financial backing and fanfare as the Olympic games, I still find the Olympics thrilling and beautiful. And they have made me think a great deal this year because they are about much more than scores and tacky uniforms.

King Solomon in Proverbs 22:6 says, “Educate the youth according to his way…”

For those of you who are too busy to watch the Olympics, Michael Phelps is one of the most astounding and terrifically gifted athletes alive today. He is an American swimmer. He could also kill a Goliath. I’m pretty sure.

Image left: US President Bush speaks with Michael Phelps after he won another Olympic gold medal in Beijing two weeks ago

I have a feeling that people all over the world saw the same interview with Michael Phelp’s mother. According to his mother Michael has ADHD (Attention deficit /Hyperactivity disorder) and as a child was constantly on the move, bouncing off the walls. She even says his mouth was constantly on the move. I thought that was a little harsh. But it paints a picture. We probably have all known or currently know a kid like this. Kids who are hard to keep up with are often irritating because they remind us of how lazy we can be. Sometimes God gives the tortoise a hare to raise. These kids often have low self esteem and fail because we are all too slow and fail to see their energy as a blessing.

Smart mom that Mrs. Phelps is, she got her son Michael involved in swimming to help him direct his energy. That’s code for ‘wear him out’. I’m kidding. Kind of. Most parents figure out that their kids’ behavior can change radically when they are given a healthy outlet for their energy. So instead of letting him drool for hours in front of a TV playing video games, she took him to the pool most days of the week, which probably wasn’t very easy given that she was a single mom supporting three kids.

At age eleven Michael’s swim coach told Mrs. Phelps that he had Olympic potential and that they should start training for the next Olympic games. She thought he was nuts but said OK. Now Michael at age twenty-three has more gold medals than any other athlete in Olympic history.

Instead of forcing her unique and wonderful kid into a mold too small for him, Mrs. Phelps put her son in a position to succeed. She channeled his energy and set him up to win. That’s a great trick. Without knowing it, she implemented King Solomon’s advice to the letter and educated her son according to his talents and aptitude. Many other mothers and fathers might have had a Ritalin-dependant loser but Mrs. Phelps channeled her child to championship by utilizing the positive side of what appears to be a drawback.

Instead of pretending that we know better than the Creator and breaking kids until they conform to a cookie cutter standard, look for their gifts, utilize them properly, and set them up for success. It seems to me this is honoring the child and honoring God at the same time.

By contrast, let us look at the Chinese government approach to training gymnasts. They have no use for King Solomon. What I have to say about the Chinese government’s approach to training gymnasts is not positive. I am in no way trying to impugn every coach in China or every gymnast in China, or every Chinese parent who allows his or her child to train for the international competition. I still don’t like what I have learned, really at all.

…¹

Michael Phelps is living proof of what proper child-energy channeling can do. This is an amazing lesson for parents and teachers alike. Conclusion? There’s no such thing as bad kids. When you see what appears to be a bad child, there are parents and teachers that have failed to channel the child’s God-given gifts into the right path. Let’s not forget King Solomon’s lesson.

I wrote this for you.

Who are Noahides?

Who are you, man in Italy
     searching how to become Noahide?
Who are you, woman in Spain
     searching for truth about Noahides?
Who are you, person in Texas
     searching for gentiles in the Bible?

You are Souls turning
     inward and upward
Escaping threats to be sent
     outward and downward.

You are artists
Painting colors of Torah
     Unseen for millennia
     Unforgotten to this day.

You are archaeologists
Unearthing Truth
     Between the rubble of lies
     Under dust of falsity.

You are eggs
Incubating in a nest
     Through relentless patience
     Aside chicks that recognize you not.

You are mourners
Collecting tears
     From shattered friendships
     And lost years in confusion.

You are newly weds
Building life
     With contagious excitement
     And virgin enthusiasm.

You are warriors
Slicing your way
     Through battlefields of uncertainty
     Staring into the eyes of “Just the way it is”
          and changing everything.

You are G-d’s creations,
Scattered across the playground.

Unlike Noah
You are not alone.

I met a Chabad rabbi yesterday at mincha who told me the following story that happened to him:

“This weekend I went on vacation with my wife.  A man came up to us to help us with directions.  He was wearing a big cross on his necklace and around his wrist - and then he says to us ‘I’m Jewish!’

At first I didn’t believe him, because in my experience, some Christians consider themselves ‘Jewish’ for…reasons.

But then the guy said something that made me realize he really was Jewish.

So I said to this Jew who had somehow ended up outside of Judaism:
‘I wish I had a pair of tefillin! so you could do the mitzvah of tefillin.  Well, you can at least recite the Shema with me.’

So we covered our eyes and said the Shema together.

Just as we finished saying the Shema, a car drove up to the sidewalk where we were and out comes a chassidic man I had met that weekend, who just happened to have a pair of tefillin in his car!  And he showed up just as we finished reciting the Shema!

This month is the Hebrew month of ‘Elul‘ when we prepare ourselves for the upcoming Rosh Hashanah (New Year) in which our past year’s actions will be examined.  We are taught that our prayers during this month are more rapidly accepted by Hashem because ‘the King is in the field’ so-to-speak.

I said, “I wish I had a pair of tefillin” and suddenly tefillin appeared out of nowhere!  But my wife says I asked for the wrong thing.  I should have asked for Mashiach!

Note:
The relationship that Bnei Noach have to Rosh Hashanah - the New year - is different than for Jews.  I will post Rabbi Shwartz’s article on this topic in detail soon, B”H.

This story had me laughing and crying, and sometimes at the same time. It’s about an hour - well worth the time!

We Are Never Alone: The Unbelievable Story of a Child’s Birth

(Listen) (download) (Low Bandwidth)

(Listen) (download) (High Bandwidth)

Brought to you by SimpleToRemember.com - Hand Selected Jewish Articles, Audio & Videos.