Nov 24th, 2009
by rabbifink.
I am sure you are familiar with the Christmas Creep phenomena. You can’t miss it!
The basic principle of Christmas Creep is that each year Christmas celebrations begin earlier and earlier.
The cynical view is that retailers use the earlier Christmas season to maximize sales. I can’t imagine that works very well. People are going to buy a certain number of gifts, no matter when they start seeing Christmas displays. Right? For more on Christmas Creep read the Wikipedia article here.
There are some holdouts. The contrast between the holdouts and the creepers is evident at the nearby outdoor mall – The Grove. Continue reading →
Posted in: All Posts, Musings & Observations.
Tagged: Christmas Creep · Gregg Easterbrook · Judaism · living in the moment · Nordstrom · pleasure · The Grove · TMQ · Unified Theory of Creep
Nov 22nd, 2009
by rabbifink.
Today’s class was another really informative and relevent topic.
We learned about fear, worry and anxiety.
With anxiety affecting tons of us it was interesting to find sources bemoaning the difficulty of dealing with anxiety as well as its debilitating nature.
Very enjoyable class, as always.
Audio is below.
All audio classes are available by clicking podcasts on the top of this page. Or just click here.
You can also subscribe to all classes in iTunes by clicking here.
Posted in: All Posts, Classes, Messilas Yesharim.
Tagged: anxiety · Classes · fear · Luzzatto · Messilas Yesharim · Pacific Jewish Center · podcasts · Ramchal · Shiur · Torah · Venice · worry
Nov 20th, 2009
by rabbifink.
A guest post by Rabbi Aaron Fink (my father), Dean of Ateres Bais Yaakov on Monsey NY. Part of a weekly Dvar Torah (Torah “Thought”) series.
Yaakov, Eisav & The Simple Things in Life
This week’s parsha presents the fundamental distinction between Klal Yisrael and the Umos HaOlam, defined by Yaakov Avinu and Eisav Harasha. Exploring these differences can help us understand what defines us and which values to seek and transmit to our children. One insight is especially relevant to the contemporary milieu. Continue reading →
Posted in: All Posts, Guest Post, Rabbi Aaron Fink.
Tagged: Eisav · happiness · instant gratification · Rabbi Aaron Fink · Toldos · Yaakov
Nov 19th, 2009
by rabbifink.
In the last few months there have been a few death penalty executions. Most notably the D.C. Sniper was executed on November 10, 2009. Since that time I have been thinking about the death penalty. I have discussed it on Twitter and in real life.
The last unit of our Criminal Law course was the Death Penalty. Professor Levenson asked for volunteers to argue for and against the death penal. Normally, I don’t jump at opportunities like this, I prefer to watch and observe other students try to make coherent arguments in front of their skeptical peers… Yet, my had shot up. It was almost involuntary. And I found myself on the side representing “against” the Death Penalty.
There were three of us and we split duties. I chose to make the moral argument against the death penalty. What follows was my basic argument. Continue reading →
Posted in: All Posts, Musings & Observations.
Tagged: capital punishment · death penalty · Laurie Levenson · law · law school · morality
Nov 18th, 2009
by rabbifink.
The book of Proverbs has so many great lessons for life. One very well known lesson is that we can learn from so many people, animals and things useful tools for life. The ant provides a great lesson in industriousness. An ant can lift things many times more than its body weight. Ants work hard and don’t rest.
A great message to the lazy person is to look to the ant for inspiration.
Recently, scientists have discovered something else that we can learn from ants. Continue reading →
Posted in: All Posts, Musings & Observations, My Links.
Tagged: ants · MYOB · Proverbs · responsibility · science
Nov 17th, 2009
by rabbifink.
Every casual sports fan in the universe has heard about the big 4th down play that cost the Patriots a victory in their epic matchup with the Colts this past Sunday
Facing 4 and 2 yards to go on their own 28 yard line, Belichik elected to go for the first down and not punt the ball away. The stakes were very high as a failed attempt would give the Colts an almost certain victory and a punt would make their task more difficult but far from impossible. So Belichik rolled the dice. The play actually worked, but they did not get the yardage needed for the 1st down.
The Colts took over on downs and patiently scored the winning touchdown with mere seconds left on the clock.
Below is a video of the play. Continue reading →
Posted in: All Posts, Musings & Observations.
Tagged: Belichik · crybabies · espn · Gregg Easterbrook · Patriots · sports · TMQ · video · Wall Street Journal · wimps · youtube
Nov 15th, 2009
by rabbifink.
Last week we talked about the Healthcare plan that was ratified by the house the night before.
This week we got back on track and started Chapter 9.
In my opinion, this was one of the best Mesillas Yesharim classes to date. The Ramchal was so insightful and I shared an insight of my own which I think is very poignant. It all goes back to Adam and Eve being ousted from the Garden of Eden.
Audio is below.
All audio classes are available by clicking podcasts on the top of this page. Or just click here.
You can also subscribe to all classes in iTunes by clicking here. Continue reading →
Posted in: All Posts, Classes, Messilas Yesharim.
Tagged: Classes · Luzzatto · Messilas Yesharim · Pacific Jewish Center · Ramchal · Shiur · talmud · Venice
Nov 13th, 2009
by rabbifink.
A guest post by Rabbi Aaron Fink (my father), Dean of Ateres Bais Yaakov on Monsey NY. Part of a weekly Dvar Torah (Torah “Thought”) series.
Well at Home
The tale of Eliezer’s search for a wife for Yizchok is replete with important messages still relevant today. Significantly, the spot where Eliezer stopped to pray is the same location where Yaakov Avinu discovered Rachel and where Moshe Rabbeinu was introduced to his wife Tzippora. It is the be’er, the communal well. It is interesting to note that two of our patriarchs, Yitzchak and Yaakov as well as Moshe Rabbeinu, each met their life’s partner in an identical venue. What message is being imparted by this “coincidence”? Continue reading →
Posted in: All Posts, Guest Post, Rabbi Aaron Fink.
Tagged: Be'er · Chayei Sara · Parsha · Torah · well · Yitzchak
Nov 12th, 2009
by rabbifink.
That is Sneetches, not snitches. For Jewish snitches you can read my post on Mesira, the Jewish Informant. Sneetches are a Dr. Seuss invention that teach us on of the simplest, yet profound lessons in bias, peer-pressure, segregation and of course capitalism. It is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books.
Yesterday I wrote about the portrayal of chasidic Jews in The Good Wife.
I cross-posted a portion of the post to DovBear and a discussion developed about the nuanced differences within the Orthodox Jewish community. Different style hats, kippas and other subtle changes within each group exist and commenter G*3 thinks that these differences are like the differences between the sneetches.
I disagree. Continue reading →
Posted in: All Posts, Musings & Observations.
Tagged: bias · capitalism · dovbear · Dr. Seuss · G*3 · Kipa · Sneetches · The Good Wife
Nov 11th, 2009
by rabbifink.
The Good Wife is a new legal drama on CBS. The show is great. Usually the legal issues are portrayed correctly (at least from a law student’s perspective) and the character development of the main character has been superb.
This week’s episode revolved around a chasidic couple living in Chicago who were responsible to fix a fallen eruv wire, but since it fell on Shabbos they had to wait until Shabbos had ended and in the meantime a woman claims she fell over the wire and is suing for 1.2 million dollars in punitive damages. The title of the episode does not refer to the couple, rather it refers to their lawyer with an unorthodox approach to law.
Read on for my comments, critiques and a HUGE PLOT HOLE. Continue reading →
Posted in: All Posts, Musings & Observations, My Links.
Tagged: CBS · chasidic · Chicago · eruv · law · law school · lawyer · plot hole · The Good Wife · TV · Unorthodox
