Yeshiva World News just post some amazing photos of the Skwere Rebbe shilta of Boro Park taken erev Yom Kippur available here.
Also, SG Video’s posted some video of the Rebbe shilta at Tashlich.
Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, the Alter of Kelm
Either one invites and receives guests, or one is reduced to becoming a guest.
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
Rabbi Yakov Horowitz put out a message to day on his website, a message that he told over to his students that they should, “take time over Yom Kippur to reflect on what I see as the two overarching themes of the Mussar Movement – 1) to look inward with a critical eye in order to identify character flaws that need to be improved, and 2) to treat others with humility, kindness and courtesy at all times.”
The entire message can be read here.
During the Days of Awe, Rabbi Israel Salanter used to say that a person should try to become needed by the public. When we pray, “Inscribe us in the book of life,” we mean life dedicated to the needs of Heaven. (from SPARKS OF MUSSAR)
I’ve been thinking today. Thinking about this execllent guest post from R Motty Frankel on R Harry Maryles’ blog and about having a little passion about Yiddishkeit.
Like most of us, I feel that as it’s gets closer to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, I find that I have a bit more clarity about thinks. I’m sure that saying Selichos has something to do with this. As it gets down to the wire, thing become pretty clear. I need to work on understanding the responsibility and privilege of true Malchiyus and giving over a sense of Menchas HaNefesh from within.
Are these the last piece of the puzzle? Probably not. When it some to my own avodah, I know that my goals are constantly shifting. I have never been one to attempt to be out of step with the rest of the crowd, nor have I ever consciously pulled a Rober Frost and b’davka taken “the road less travelled by”. I am simply who I am. A Jew trying to push himself to be his best. I know that when I think that things seem to be going well, that puzzle piece, more often than not, will not exactly fit. So, like a fallen Jenga set, I try again. The thing is, even if you think that you’ve figured it all it, there’s that posibilty that your completed puzzle (like the one above) is blank.
Therefore, I daven and ask the King of the World that we should all have a year of inspiration, success in all we do, simcha for each member of our family, and a peek into what our potential is within each of our communities. I’d write more, but I have to drawn a picture on my completed blank puzzle.
Ok, after almost 4.5 years I think I’ve begun to feel like a Chicagoian. From my days as an NCSYer, learning in E”Y, YU, and then working professionally for NCSY I’ve always been friendly with people from Chicago. Having a core group of families that we were close here was a major draw to our choice to move here. That being said, many people from Chicago who move to the East Coast have an almost hypnotic tranced induced manta that “Chicago is the best city”. I use to just shrug them off and smile.
I won’t even touch the inyanim involved in the machloches, but I will say that reading some of the comments regarding this post at Beyond BT, I am very proud to live in Chicago. I still call soda “soda”, I only refer to Skokie “Yeshev’vah” as HTC, I have figured out what “kitty corner” is, and I know what a “gapers delay” is.
Base on the above linked post I’d like to offer a few local links that might be helpful to people. These are in no particular order whatsoever.
Chicago Rabbinical Council’s Guide to Chicago
Chicago Chessed Fund (which also includes Job Link and Simcha Link)
Chicago Center for Torah and Chessed (they run a multitude of chessed programs and minyanim daily)
Yeshiva Migdal Torah
JET (Jewish Educational Team)
CTN (Chicago Torah Network)
TLC (Torah Learning Center of Northbrook)
YU Torah Mitzion Kollel
Chicago Community Kollel
Skokie Community Kollel
Lubavitch Chabad of Illnois
Associated Talmud Torahs of Chicago
Walder Educational Pavilion of Torah Umesorah
Bernard Horwich JCC
Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metro Chicago
Jewish Child and Family Services
SHALVA (helping domestic violence victims )
Jewish Vocational Service
Midwest NCSY
My parents use to love taking my brother and I for day-trips on Sundays, when we were in elementary school. Mostly these ended up in small towns in Kansas, towns with one grocery store, one gas station, and only one place to eat. A few times during these Sunday drive we would end up about 80 miles Southwest of our home in Wichita, Kansas at a place called the Gypsum Hills (or the Red Hills).
For a little kid it was cool. We’d ride in the car “forever” and then get out and run around, climb hills and collect pieces of gypsum. Good times!
What I realized when I was much older was that my parents weren’t just coming up with crazy day-trips to keeps up from watching TV all Sunday. They were attempting to expose us to different scenery from the typical flat-lands of Wichita. It’s the same reason that we went to “young peoples” symphony concerts, art museums, and hung out all week at Riverfest (there are plenty of life lessons to be in watching a bath tub boat race). It wasn’t just exposure to culture, but a desire to give us a broader picture of what life had to offer. My mother, who grew up in Dallas, TX, and my father a”h, who grew up in a small town in Western Pennsylvania wanted to give us an appreciation for the arts and nature. My brother, as a result, became very attached to nature, while I ended up spending many afternoons at that MoMA.
The underlying theme of these Sunday trips and countless schlepping to various locations was that giving us a view of the “bigger picture” was a good thing. Today, as a parent of a daughter who is almost 4, a daughter who is a 3rd grader, and a son who is a 5th grader, I see the importance of this. Letting my kids see the bigger picture is key. It helps to give them a frame of reference (and reverence). That’s why I try to point out when someone does a Chessed (kindness) for someone else or when I see an older man or woman davening with real kavanah (concentration), a person who gets new eye glasses l’Kavod Shabbos Kodesh, or an individual who has daily challenges and still remains postive. Those are things that I value. I’m not anti “the arts” nor am I against showing my kids the beauty of Hashem’s world, we do those things, too (mostly as age-appropriately as I can).
I think most parents want the best for their own children and attempt to give them/expose them to ideas and values that are dear to them. As I get really to start a New Year, I hope that what I show my children (via my own behavior) things that can have a positve impact on them.
On the way home from work last night, I heard on the radio that keeping a journal can be healthy. Of course, this would apply for keeping a Cheshbon HaNefesh, too.
To hear this “Healthy Minute” from WBBM (CBS-Chciago) click the link below:
The Healthy Minute For August 26th « WBBM Newsradio 780
