One Torah for All

at Beit Torah Jewish Congregation

More
  • Home
  • Calendar
  • Weekly Torah Portion
  • Weekly Torah Commentary
  • Parasha Commentaries
  • commentary5781
  • commentary 5780
  • commentary5779
  • Commentary 5778
  • Commentaries 5777
  • Commentaries 5776
  • Commentaries 5775
  • Our Principles
  • Contact Info
  • What We Do
  • Folk Insights
  • Courier Holiday Articles
  • Events Archive
  • 13 Principles of Rambam
  • Laws for all Nations

Important notices
See HOME Page

Interesting quotes from famous Jews

My father never lived to see his dream come true of an all-Yiddish-speaking Canada.
-David Steinberg

I once wanted to become an atheist but I gave up. They have no holidays.
-Henny Youngman

Look at Jewish history. Unrelieved lamenting would be intolerable. So, for every ten Jews beating their breasts, God designated one to be crazy and amuse the breast beaters. By the time I was five I knew I was that one.
-Mel Brooks

The time is at hand when the wearing of a prayer shawl and skullcap will not bar a man from the White House, unless, of course, the man is Jewish.
-Jules Farber

Even if you are Catholic, if you live in New York, you're Jewish. If you live in Butte, Montana, you are going to be a goy even if you are Jewish.
-Lenny Bruce

The remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served us nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.
-Calvin Trillin

Let me tell you the one thing I have against Moses. He took us forty years into the desert in order to bring us to the one place in the Middle East that has no oil!
-Golda Meir

Even a secret agent can't lie to a Jewish mother.
-Peter Malkin

My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me.
-Benjamin Disraeli

It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don't say it.
-Sam Levenson

Don't be humble; you are not that great.
-Golda Meir

I went on a diet, swore off drinking and heavy eating, and in fourteen days I had lost exactly two weeks.
-Joe E. Lewis

A spoken contract isn't worth the paper it's written on.
-Sam Goldwyn

I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve immortality through not dying.
-Woody Allen

Whoever called it necking was a poor judge of anatomy.
-Groucho Marx

A politician is a man who will double cross that bridge when he comes to it.
-Oscar Levant

Too bad that all the people who know how to run this country are busy driving taxis and cutting hair.
-George Burns

A committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours.
-Milton Berle

I don't want any yes-men around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth, even if it costs them their jobs.
-Sam Goldwyn

Television is a medium because it is neither rare nor well done.
-Ernie Kovacs

When I bore people at a party, they think it is their fault.
-Henry Kissinger

"DAILY JEWISH WISDOM" is found @ Beliefnet.com

JEWISH WISDOM:

Fear builds walls to bar the light.  - Baal Shem Tov

 

Engage in Torah and charity even with an ulterior motive, for that habit of right doing will lead also to right motivation.  - Talmud: Pesahim, 50b

The sword comes into the world because of justice delayed and because of justice perverted.- Ethics of the Fathers 5:8

Ever since Rabbi Akiba used the Passover seder to plan a revolutionary struggle against the Roman occupiers, the Jews have used the seder to begin concrete work on tikkun (healing and transformation).

- Rabbi Michael Lerner, the Tikkun Magazine Passover supplement 2006

To work out ends of righteousness and love are you called; not merely to enjoy or suffer.

- S.R. Hirsch, "Nineteen Letters," 1836

“Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself.”  Golda Meir

The worship of God, though desirable as an end itself, can somehow never be in the right spirit, unless it impels one to the service of man.  - Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan

Concentrate on three things and you will not fall into the grip of sin. Know from where you came, where you are going, and before Whom you will have to give account and reckoning.- Pirkei Avot 3:1

We cannot learn from general principles: there may be exceptions.  - Johanan, Talmud: Kiddushin

A truly generous man is he that always gives, whether it be much or little, before he is asked.- Orchot Tsadiqim

The best security for old age: respect your children.- Sholem Asch

 A Jew can be Jewish with God, against God, but not without God.- Elie Wiesel

He who promotes his own honor at the expense of his neighbor's has no portion in the world to come.- Judah b. Hanina, Genesis Rabbah

Even if all the world tells you, "You are righteous," consider yourself a sinner.  - Rabbi Simlai

Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism and falsehood. The liturgical movement must become a revolutionary movement, seeking to overthrow the forces that continue to destroy the promise, the hope, the vision.- Abraham Joshua Heschel, "On Prayer"

Lose with truth and right rather than gain with falsehood and wrong.- Maimonides, "Tzavaah"

Seek the good in everyone, and reveal it, bring it forth.- Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (1772-1811), "Likutey Moharan"

Just as we love ourselves despite the faults we know we have, so should we love our neighbors despite the faults we see in them.- Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov

A man should never impose an overpowering fear upon his household.  - Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 6b

If you add to the truth, you subtract from it.- The Talmud

Love unaccompanied by criticism is not love....Peace unaccompanied by reproof is not peace.- Genesis Rabbah 54:3

Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day
The least outlay is not always the greatest gain.
Aesop
(620 BC-560 BC)
Quote of the Day provided by The Free Library

Site Visits

Fair Use Act

FAIR USE NOTICE: Many of the articles on this site contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making this material available in its efforts to advance the understanding of different issues related to this site. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use such copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

 5773 – What We Did

 SO here we are, almost Pesach time and hardly keeping up with reporting what we have done.  Did we have a great Chanukah party?  You betcha...

Was Purim yummy with both gluten free and regular hamantaschen, holiday silliness, and other great food?  Oh, yeh!  And this even despite a bit of icy roads ...

A couple morning Shabbat services had to be cancelled due to winter weather warnings [not to mention actual winter weather].  However Kabbalat Shabbat and Seudat Shlishi/Havdalah services have not been affected.  An amazing thing happened this mid-March.  We were having a Havdalah service and talking about opposing oppression and honoring righteous gentiles.  Unanimously we decided to all stay and see Argo after Havdalah.  WOW!  A really enjoyable evening that is now making us think to do such once a month after Havdalah...  our own 'movie night'!

First though... Passover seder just a week from now!

 

Holy Days Season 5773 – What We Did

         What a wonderful Holy Day Season filled with such loving, caring, giving people!  Many thanks to all the people who shared their experiences in wonderful kernels of wisdom and who made it possible including among others in no special order:

·         Cory                                 fruit

·         Ellie                                  drinks, egg salad

·         Candy                               challah baking and vegetables

·         Leah                                 challah baking, salads, desserts

·         Mattetyahu                       salad, vegetables, fruits

·         Merle                                cucumber salad, transportation

·         Raina                                borekas

·         Adele                                soup, main dishes, sukkah building

·         Oryan                               apples

·         Jerry                                 vegetables, Sukkah building

·         John                                 drinks, roof work

·         Heather                            all around help

·         Rut                                   clean up, set up

·         Cheryl                              transportation

        The Rosh HaShanah dinners were educational about the many foods associated with the Rosh HaShanah seder and fun, especially on the 2nd night when punning was taken to new heights.  Once started it didn’t stop all evening.

        Rosh HaShanah days were also lovely.  First day had lovely weather for an enjoyable taschlich with excited fish and fat ducks.  This was followed by a great lunch in the park.  The comfort of the Stepping Stones meeting room only enhanced the enjoyment of the Holy Days.  We are fortunate to have found such pleasant accommodations.

        Kabbalat Shabbat Shuva at Leah’s had such a spread that the 8 of us [10 counting the cats] barely made a dent in the spread.  Not surprisingly, leftovers somehow found their way to the break-the-fast!

        Kol Nidre, led by Leah and Adele, started the Day of Atonement out with less cacophony than last year.  No duets were attempted this year – probably to everyone’s relief!  Yom Kippur went smoothly, on time, and with an interesting afternoon discussion on translations and interpretations of the liturgy.  While the Shofar blowing was not the best, the break-the-fast more than made up for it. 

        With help from a couple of the guys, the Beit Torah Sukkah was put up in a timely fashion and survived intact the entire week despite the winds.  JR took some pictures which should be posted shortly if not already.  Lulavim and etrogim were beautiful and also survived the week well even with the daily handling.  Visitors to the Sukkah all helped decorate it.  First night of Sukkot had dinner conversation that traipsed off into science fiction!  Second night turned more serious with discussions about Sukkah traditions , services decorum, and special foods for the season.

        These discussions were continued on Thursday at the open Sukkah hop day visits which lasted about four hours and included breakfast and snacks.  It was rather like a preview for Shabbat Sukkot that had a theme of Ushpizim, Honored Guests. Hoshanah Rabah was the ideal time for JR and his wife to take sukkah pictures which will be posted soon.  Not only was Shmini Atzeret a day for remembering our loved ones no longer with us, but also we reflected on other difficulties that plague our daily lives such as insurance problems, auto wrecks, recent losses of friends, and prayers for healing for the survivors of tragedies including Leah's friend's daughter, Tori Wheat, who has a long road to recovery unlike her uncle who did not survive the wreck the previous week.

        Then there was a marvelously lovely day with a brisk breeze and ideal temperature for Simchat Torah in the Park!  One could have complained that the breeze challenged the table cloths and the flags, but the pushke charity box was full enough to keep the flags from flying away and there were many lovely things on the tablecloths to keep them from flying off.  More importantly, it was a miracle breeze preventing the smoke from the one nearby smoker in the park from bothering anyone!

        Two Torah scrolls were re-rolled back to the beginning: one adult and one child’s.  While the end of D’varim and then the Genesis creation story were chanted in Hebrew, English was added in intermittently for the creation story, giving practice in reading to the volunteer child.   Of course the highlight was the food.  Especially liked were the milk chocolate coins, the apples, and the orange juice.  The cranberry nut bread apparently was an adult acquired taste…and prunes…well, prunes are prunes.  Conversation was less spiritual and was mostly about animal rescue [maybe a preview for when we get to Noach in a couple weeks?].  Doris entertained with heart-warming stories of dog and cat rescues, including that of her five month old puppy who distracted the kids with his antics.  Cat rescue was also the topic for Adele, including the latest stories about Ilan, the special needs kitten who at 8 months is already a healthy 7.5 pounds!

        Who knows what the future holds for us?  One thing is certain:  we will all be rather exhausted from so many services and looking forward to quieter times until the renewed joy that will come with Chanukah.

p.s.  Not only are we filled up with holiday goodies, but also the pushka is much fatter now, with special thanks in particular to JR.

FOOTER...: