Hannukah Chanukah Hanukkah - endless possibilities

Throughout Jewish history, the Jewish holidays have been a cornerstone of observance for Jews everywhere. Jewish holidays don’t just commemorate things that happened in the past, those events are relived in the present similar to a birthday. It’s not just a celebration of when a person was brought into the world; it’s a renewal of life for that person each year.
With all the wonderful Jewish holidays in our calendar, the holiday of Hannukah is one of the most widely celebrated holidays. Hanukkah has yet another distinction, as it’s the only holiday that has left so many people in a spelling quandary.
It is understandable if some write the holiday with or without a “c” at the beginning- this is based on translations of Hebrew into modern day English where there is no “ch” sound as in “uuch” (not as in “chew”). The confusion lies in the “n”’s, “k”’s and final “h”. How many “n”’s, one or two? How about the “k”’s, again one or two? The final “h”, keep it or drop it? Search and you will find various articles with the many spellings. The spelling that leaves me bewildered is the double “k”. What’s the second “k” for- emphasis? Would the word sound different with one “k”? Is it to compensate for the missing “c” which doesn’t even have a “k” sound in this case? So many questions, so many nights, but will the answers suffice?
Luckily, when it comes to Chanukah, there is no dispute as to how many days are celebrated and how many candles are lit. And for those that celebrate the holiday, it is celebrated at the highest level of observance. As mentioned in a previous article, the commandment to light has three tiers. 1. One candle per night per household. 2. One candle per night per person, and 3. An additional candle each night - the way practiced by most people. Though there are many reasons why people fulfill this Rabbinic commandment to such a degree, I would like to suggest one idea.
The light of the candle, especially the light of the Menorah in the Temple represents an inner flame that exists and burns inside every Jew. No matter what level of experience or practice a Jew may be at, they are inborn with a holy flame that waits to be stoked. This is the flame of Torah that exists in every Jew, whether they have learned Torah or not.
On Chanukah, when we light our chanukiah (the eight branched candelabra), we are lighting a deeper flame. When we light it with the maximum requirements, we are talking to our inner soul, and our inner soul is talking to us. We want more of our fire to glow. We want a greater inner spiritual meaning. We want to shine forth.
No matter how you spell it, this Chanukah let your inner flame radiate to the outside world, and let it glow for more than eight days.

Last of the Mohicans

No, it can’t be. You must be kidding. Not him!

This past week, the world was yet again shocked by the disclosure of one of the most famed athletes in sports. The man who could do no wrong, with a bright smile that adorned his face, he was the crème de la crème of role models.

Another one bites the dust? Tiger Woods has shown that his personal life isn’t very personal. Its hard to call it personal when so many people are involved in your personal life.

I have no claims against Tiger, I’ve got claims against myself (and perhaps at all those who thought like me). Should we be surprised that a multi-million dollar golfer- the best in the world – has succumbed to infidelity and the desires of celebrity life? We shouldn’t be surprised…but we were. We thought he was the last pure sports hero. Someone who played the game and otherwise led his life in humility. Admit it, you thought it too.

Why do we fool ourselves into thinking that he should be pure. Perhaps its because we are excited at his accomplishments and want to live vicariously through him. I think its because we idolize him to some extent. Since he is an icon in many of our eyes, he needs to live up to our values and be at the top of the pedestal.

Once we realize that all he is is a great golfer and nothing more, our icon/idol begins to crumble. Why? Because we aren't that shallow to idolize something which has no moral or religious standards of living. This is precisely why we don't want to believe it, because we want him to be our icon.

It is amazing how this story unfolds one week before Chanukah (Hanukkah), where the Jews recognized the same thing. The human body can do wondrous things, but its the human spirit that is even more amazing. The Greeks focused on the celebration of the human body, the sport of life. Anytime the soul and one's spirituality are relegated to 2nd class status, its a sure recipe for failure. You will fall off the pedestal.

This struggle is also found in this week's Torah portion regarding Yaakov (Jacob) and Esav (Esau). This struggle that Yaakov went through, fighting the angel of Esav, is the same Tiger Wood's struggle. Not Tiger's struggle, OUR Tiger Wood's struggle. Fighting for purity when everything else seems so much more fun and exciting.

When will we learn to search for the real people to look up to. The people who are true through and through. The one's who look to elevate themselves in more than just the physical.

We must keep trying to find our inner core values and inner core self. Don't be fooled into 'new and improved' marketing tactics; search inward.

Keep searching, we are not out of the Woods yet!

Thanksgiving & Giving Thanks

As another Thanksgiving has passed, I started thinking of the joyous holiday which leaves most of us stuffed. Thanksgiving is a wonderful concept which doesn’t exactly live up to its billing in practice.
As one of the most widely celebrated holidays in America, it leaves me puzzled as to whether this holiday is a ‘holiday’ or simply a personal day. Perhaps in today’s circuit charged lifestyle, a personal day is a holiday, a holiday in the sense of spiritual bonding with one’s inner core values. Are we so distant from our values that the day of ‘thanks’ in America just means a day of respite? Can we not strive to be elevated human beings with our G-dliness creating greater meaning for ourselves?
Today’s Thanksgiving, in my opinion has lost much of the luster from days of old. Admittedly, for me the greatest expression of thanks on this particular day is “Thanks for no traffic”. What a relief to seemingly float over the freeways like a hovercraft. Just wait for Black Friday to really appreciate no crowds.
For most people Thanksgiving, aside from a day together with family, represents cooking, turkey, and football. Now, of course, Thanksgiving represents the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday.
The Ralph’s parking lots were built with Thanksgiving Day in mind. The lot is half full every other day of the year, but on Thanksgiving it’s packed, with barely a spot to be found. People comment for days on blogs and on TV, as to how they’ll be able to cook a five course meal on this auspicious day. Funny, you don’t find many Jewish housewives interviewed – probably because they prepare these meals weekly for Shabbat.
Spending time with family and bonding with relatives is a wonderful idea, but is that what Thanksgiving is all about? Did we miss something about the holiday? Perhaps we need to take a fresh look at Thanksgiving. We should celebrate our Thanksgiving in a different manner, by preparing checklists as to what we should be thankful for, before the holiday. By thanking the Almighty for the goodness he has done for us. By praising the compassion that G-D bestows upon us. Thank G-D for the daily miracles that we take for granted, the breathing, the thinking, the eating, and the walking miracles, the ones that we can’t live without.
Make your checklist count. Before you write your Black Friday list, make a list for Thanksgiving. You can add the pumpkin, but make sure to write the thanks for having the gift of life first.

Becoming a good complainer

Many of us think that its so easy to complain. Find something small that bothers you and infatuate it as a terrible breach on humanity or your own personal life, and a bonafide complaint is born. Sure that's simple. But to complain and have others reap tremendous enjoyment out of it, now that takes talent.

Allow me to enlighten you with the incident of the true complainer, one who's complaints know no bounds, who's gripes will attempt to pierce through the happiest moments. Alas, this complainer didn't realize that he was creating a world of happiness to those listening in.

A few men in their 70's were studying the Talmud together. After a rather humorous dispute as to whether they should take a break for a few minutes, a conversation began. "My grandson is staying by us" started Larry.
"Whada ya mean staying, I thought he was visiting for a day!" piped Sid.
"What are you talking about?! I told you he was coming to us two days ago"
"Yeah, but you never said he was staying!"

And now the Larry the complainer:
"Anyway, so my son buys me this picture frame, you know the ones where the picture changes. You plug it in to the computer and it brings up a new picture."
(Gee, that sounds nice)

"Well, you know he paid $90 for it, a fortune!"
(Sounds like he really wanted to get you something nice)

"You know, I'm gonna have to give him the money back one way or another, I always give him money for things, so I'm gonna have to pay him back somehow for this!"

Sid jumps in, "Well is it nice?"

Larry's response "You know, the screen is too small, you can barely see anything. He should have spent $130 for the larger model. Instead he gets the cheaper one!"
(You're killing me Larry)

What we have here is an excellent example of proper complaining. Larry has covered all bases to ensure that the short end of the stick is all his own.

The key here is when you prepare a complaint, make sure you have a follow up complaint in case someone attempts to find something positive in the scenario. A good complainer always has a two handed approach.

NY Subway Thoughts

Just came back from a trip to NY.

Sittting on a NYC subway entering Manhattan, I looked around at all the different types of people going along for the ride. It's been a while since I'de been on one of these cars, but it's hard to forget something that was part of my daily grind.

Looking around, most of the prototypical people haven't changed, they're still reading their own papers and books or listening to their music. The only noticeable change is that adults are now playing with their phones instead of children and their Gameboys.

After years of hiatus, the people are still doing the same thing, sitting or standing, keeping to themselves as they head on in to work. If you've got a seat, you are just as well off as the person sitting next to you.
The guy in the suit, he's probably an investment banker, that woman, a lawyer. Who knows, maybe their just going to court to fight a traffic violation. Who knows what job awaits them when those doors open, one can only guess based on their outfit.

Sure each person will lead different lives once they leave the train and get to their offices or food stands, but for now, Mr. Executive, you are no different than Mr. Carpet Cleaner.

Only in NY can people with dramatically different pasts and dramatically different futures actually come together in one dynamic present. When the train shakes, it shakes for all. When that passenger with that exotic (read: wretched) scent comes in the car, everybody experiences it.
But in a city like Los Angeles, you won't find such mixed breed together in one place. The subway in LA just doesn't have the infrastructure like the NYC system. In NY its quicker, economical and less stressful to ride the train than to drive your car. In LA, even if I'm sitting in the same traffic jam as the other person, I'm still experiencing it differently, whether its in my Bentley, Mercedes, Toyota, or Hyundai.

As I sat, I wondered. Here, on this not so quiet ride, the differences of our focuses are negligible, we are just sitting on the train. The bumps are the same, the ads are the same, and the people are more or less the same.

And so as we sat and stood together, each with our own destinations, I can't help but wonder the differences of each rider, which may only begin once those doors open.
Different, but the same, as the quote goes: Everybody's equal, but some are more equal than others, but only when they get off the train.