BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

By Tali Loewenthal Kindness is often presented as a central virtue of the Jewish people. Abraham, the hero of our parshah, together with his wife Sarah, is a paradigm of kindness. One sees their hospitality to wayfarers at the beginning of the parshah, and later G-d says that He loves Abraham because "he will instruct his household after him to keep the way of G-d, doing charity and justice" (Genesis 18:19). "Charity and justice" signify acts of kindness, and the Talmud cites this verse when it declares that there are three distinguishing features of the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham: They are 1) modest, 2) merciful, and they 3) do acts of kindness. "Anyone who has these qualities," the Talmud goes on to say, "is fit to join the Jewish people." There are different opinions among the Sages as to whether these qualities are natural to the Jewish people or are special "gifts" from G-d. It is also clear that they are ideals t...

Prayer of Forgiveness Working on it... Barbara (Before Bed) By Rabbi Michael Lerner YOU, my ETERNAL FRIEND, WITNESS now that I forgive anyone who hurt or upset me or who offended me-- damaging my body, my property, my reputation or people that I love; whether by accident or purposely; with words, deeds, thoughts or attitudes. I forgive every person who has hurt or upset me. May no one be punished because of me. May no one suffer from karmic consequences for hurting or upsetting me. Help me, Eternal Friend, to keep from offending You and others. Help me to be thoughtful and not commit outrage by doing what is evil in Your eyes. Whatever sins I have committed, blot out, please, in Your abundant kindness, and spare me suffering or harmfulillnesses. Help me become aware of the ways I may have unintentionally or intentionally hurt others, and please give me guidance and strength to rectify those hurts and to develop the sensitivity to not continue acting in a hurtful way. Let me forgive ot...

A Short History of Good and Evil and the Good You Can Do by Joan Chittiser Two stories happened in the same town: mine. In the first, a local man of limited mental capacity robbed a bank. Most shocking was that he had a live bomb attached to his body by a metal collar that somebody had locked around his neck. He was carrying a note written by his assailants ordering him to report to four different places after the robbery to receive instructions about what next to do in order to have the bomb defused. He never made it past stop number one. Police intercepted this simple man in a parking lot almost immediately after he left the bank. He clearly was not racing to escape. Instead, he was begging for help. He told the police that he’d been forced to perform the robbery because the bomb locked to his neck was on a timer. But the local bomb squad didn’t reach the site fast enough to defuse it, so, in clear sight, this man blew up in a main street parking lot of a small American city on a sun...

SIX DEGREES OF BAAL HASULAM Ever played "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon" or Shmuley Boteach or Hillary Clinton or well... your choice! In the game you are supposed to connect the main person to even the lowliest creature on Earth through vague pop-references and insignificant moments. The players look for connection & meaning that isn't there in every little thing. In reality, sometimes a cigar really is just a cigar. I only believe what I have seen and experienced for myself. What the bottom line of my experience and searching has presented me with. And fortunately for me, some of what I have experienced is somewhat unexplicable to others. So I am always looking for the deeper connections. When I read enough, I invariably find them. Humankind vs. human kindness Rav Michael Laitman ReligionAndSpirituality.com In the 1930s, Kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) published a series of articles concerning the state of the people of Israel and the state of the worl...

Kindness AND Truth Can someone please send this to Nancy Pelosi and all those politicos who still, after years of failed effects with Islamofascists - continue on with the Pollyanna-attitude of peace talks with Arabs? Any more trips could get her the Golden Calf booby-prize. - - - - - - - - - - PARSHAT SHEMINI The Pesach festival is over, as far as the matza is concerned. Yet we continue to move forward, striving to go beyond limitations [1], to discover new domains. The weekly Torah reading [2] presents us with two contrasting and complementary approaches to life, represented by two great figures: Moses and Aaron. From the beginning of the story about how the Jews went free from Egypt, both Moses and Aaron play a vital role in whatever is taking place. Usually they act in total unison, so that it is difficult to see any distinction between them. If one looks more closely, however, one sees that they represent very different qualities, both of which are necessary. The Sages tell u...