BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

Six months before he was assassinated, King spoke to a group of students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia on October 26, 1967. I want to ask you a question, and that is: What is your life's blueprint? Whenever a building is constructed, you usually have an architect who draws a blueprint, and that blueprint serves as the pattern, as the guide, and a building is not well erected without a good, solid blueprint. Now each of you is in the process of building the structure of your lives, and the question is whether you have a proper, a solid and a sound blueprint. I want to suggest some of the things that should begin your life's blueprint. Number one in your life's blueprint, should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your worth and your own somebodiness. Don't allow anybody to make you feel that you're nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that your life has ultimate significance. Secondly, in your...

by GARY L. KRUPP A recent papal decree moved Pope Pius XII, among others, closer to sainthood -- returning to the forefront the controversy over his role in World War II and the Holocaust. Growing up Jewish in Queens, I never dreamt I would be defending the man I once believed to be a Nazi sympathizer and an anti-Semite. But my work since 2002 with my wife, Meredith, and the Pave the Way Foundation has led me to this point. We founded Pave the Way to identify and eliminate nontheological obstacles between religions. Thus, despite our early prejudices, we decided to investigate the papacy of Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli), one of today's greatest sources of hurt between Jews and Catholics. After years of research in documentary evidence and eyewitness testimony, what we found shocked us. We found nothing but praise and positive news articles concerning Pius' actions from every Jewish, Israeli and political leader of the era who lived through the war. A few articles in the postwar er...

by Lori Palatnik Everyone makes mistakes. The Torah is filled with people -- great people -- who made mistakes. Moses himself made mistakes. He was not allowed to enter the Land of Israel because of them. Our forefathers and foremothers were human, made of flesh and blood. Indeed, what made them great was not that they led perfect lives, but that they learned from their mistakes. When they fell, they got up and continued on the path toward God. What does God want from us when we make mistakes? Teshuvah. The word teshuvah means "return." It is often mistranslated as "repentance." When we are asked by God to do teshuvah, we are asked by God to return. RETURNING TO THE FAMILIAR If you are flying "return" to Chicago, you leave your home and fly to Chicago. After you complete your stay, you use your return ticket to get on a plane to go back home. Returning means going back to somewhere you've been, somewhere familiar. Teshuvah means we return to the path...

I've been on the recieving end of that blame-the-victim 'defense.' Didn't you all know that "hell hath no fury" and I'm a "scorned woman, a psycho, a horror, a liar" and more? Then I am glad I have illuminated you as to my allegedly 'true' character... and character assassination is a crime in my book. When a large corporation does it it's UNCONSCIONABLE In this case "blame the victim" becomes "blame the insurance company for blaming the victim." Say that 10 times fast. Excuse me, Marriott? There's a little something called taking responsibility for your actions. Read up on it. A corporation with a shred of true integrity would have never let that lawsuit go out the door, even under pressure from an insurance company. (and insurance companies are known for being soul-sucking, heartless, ponerized organizations... just ask me. I have personal knowledge about that too.) A corporation with even moderate i...

from Rav Berg In ancient times, two great spiritual masters, who were best friends, made a deal with each other. They agreed that whoever passed away first would return to the other in a dream or a vision. He would let his friend know where he was and reveal the mysteries of the afterlife. Many years went by, and then one of the masters died. His friend confidently expected that he would appear, as he had promised, but several weeks passed without any dream or vision. Concerned, the friend decided to visit the deceased master's son. "We had an agreement," he explained to the son. "Your father would never break his word unless something momentous had occurred." The son said, "I was equally concerned because I too expected my father to come to me. However, knowing the secret art of transporting my soul to the supernal worlds, I was able to visit the Heavenly Court last night and ask what had become of my father. The angels replied, 'He was here, but he di...

Always amuses and fascinates me how synchronist life is if you pay attention. I was just talking with someone about how, as a convert - I find myself being shunned by Jews. I used to get teased, taunted and beat up as a kid all the time - so I am right 99% of the time when I sense I am being talked about. Things like I will never be a REAL Jew or I am a wanna-be. Or they question my reasons for converting. And today I opened my email and read the article below. In my life I have faced issues like not feeling like a REAL woman because of my infertility and endocrine disorder. Or because I never dated a lot nor pursued men like other girls. Or how I am not a REAL mother because I had 12+ years of infertility treatment to get pregnant; despite 2 abortions when I was younger. Or I will never be a REAL NYer - even tho I have lived here more than 1/2 my life and never felt more comfortable or at home in place in my life, from day one. In my late -marriage - I was not allowed to have...

...and I think its a good thing! by Hillary Clinton Marian Wright Edelman, my friend and founder of the Children's Defense Fund, says it best: "If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much." In my 35 years as an advocate for children and families, I have never met a child without potential. But I've met plenty of children growing up in extraordinary hardship and lacking the basic tools they need to succeed. Even in the United States, the wealthiest nation in the world, 13 million children still live in poverty and 5 million live in extreme poverty. Too many children are expected to overcome these hurdles, become productive citizens, and compete in a modern global economy without the benefit of sound schooling, decent housing, proper nutrition, and adequate health care. This is not just an economic problem. It's a moral outrage. I've been working to better the lives of children for 35 years, and the future of America's children wi...

A Closer Look: Step Nine in a Twelve-Step Program 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Step Nine Outlined This Step is about "making peace with ourselves and others. That is the purpose of amends." "TAKING OUT THE LISTS" "This Step takes us a major leap forward in establishing boundaries - the difference between us and another person, the difference between our behavior and another's. It also grounds us in what will become a new way of life: allowing other people to have their paths and issues and learning to have our own. In this Step, we learn to own our power to take responsibility for ourselves and our conduct in relationships." "A fringe benefit of this Step is that we can now feel good about our conduct in relationships and can set ourselves free from conduct we feel uncomfortable with." "If you have done your work in the other Steps, you have a list of people. I...

Self-Trial The Baal Shem Tov taught that in the heavenly court there is no one who can judge you for what you have done in your life on earth. So this is what they do: They show you someone’s life -all the achievements and all the failures, all the right decisions and all the wrongdoings -and then they ask you, “So what should we do with this somebody?” And you give your verdict. Which they accept. And then they tell you that this somebody was you. Being now in heaven, you don’t recall a thing. Of course, those who tend to judge others favorably have a decided advantage. Better get in the habit now. A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe -words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman PLEASE CLICK HERE TO JBLOG ME

I ASK YOU ALL FOR FORGIVENESS, AND... As we pray for God to forgive us, we recite a particular prayer several times on Yom Kippur: the vidui -- the confessional prayer -- portions of which I have reproduced below (I will not be at shul tonite as I have a high fever and serious viral infection. I will be doing a modified fast and participating 'virtually') : We have trespassed. We have dealt treacherously. We have robbed. We have acted perversely. We have wrought wickedness. We have been presumptuous. We have done violence. We have counselled evil. We have scoffed. We have revolted. We have provoked. We have rebelled. We have committed iniquity. We have transgressed. We have oppressed. We have been stiff-necked. We have done wickedly. We have corrupted. We have committed abomination. We have gone astray. We have led others astray... For the sin we have committed before You under compulsion or of our own will, And for the sin we have committed before You by harden...

SPITZER SPEAKS The Need for Both Passion and Humility in Politics Current N.Y. State Governor, Eliot Spitzer, was the last candidate I not only openly backed but campaigned for. And those who know me know I rarely campaign for anyone. Gov. Spitzer has a lot to cause us to think about in this piece. With Presidential candidates jockeying for position now, his thoughts come none too soon. by Gov. Eliot Spitzer Today, I delivered a speech at the Chautauqua Institution that calls for a politics that balances the passion and power we need to confront the injustices of our time -- foreign or domestic -- with the humility to make sure those same qualities do not overtake our fight for change. Good morning and thank you for inviting me to participate. The Chautauqua Institution is truly a national treasure. It is a place for contemplation and a place for reflection, a place where platitudes and slogans can be set aside and be replaced by thoughtfulness and introspection. When I last spoke he...