Last week I was with a group of people when the question went round of how each of us defined a “good life.” I reached into my pocket of cliches and tossed a few out, such as “feeling needed, feeling productive, feeling I’ve helped people.”
As always (even when I disagreed :) ), I enjoyed this read. In what I call my Dark Days, I learned to think in terms of gratitude, to remind myself of all I had for which I was grateful, the least important being anything material. It was a wonderful lesson still with me nearly 20 years later. I recall it each night after the Sh'mah. As for Hillel, I have to crow a bit. This is my father's book: https://www.abebooks.com/9780838102190/story-Hillel-Aaron-H-Blumenthal-0838102190/plp
Live a good life? Hillel's famous answer might also serve us well. ""What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation of this—go and study it!"
If I recall correctly, and I offer no assurance of that, it is reminiscent of a discussion about the Ten Commandments, of which 8 are written in the negative. It makes it easier to obey them as they set minimums that are easy to understand and obey. "You can do what you want, just don't do this" is not a high bar. Hillel actually asks little of us in his version. Affirmative rules are much more complex, requiring thought and interpretation. What does it mean to honor your parents? Certainly it means more than do not embarrass them.
I like rabbinical beard pulls. They usually (as in the parable) precede valuable outside-the-box thinking!
My beard is rabbinical, but only my beard is rabbinical.
i hope my brother grows a RB this year.
As always (even when I disagreed :) ), I enjoyed this read. In what I call my Dark Days, I learned to think in terms of gratitude, to remind myself of all I had for which I was grateful, the least important being anything material. It was a wonderful lesson still with me nearly 20 years later. I recall it each night after the Sh'mah. As for Hillel, I have to crow a bit. This is my father's book: https://www.abebooks.com/9780838102190/story-Hillel-Aaron-H-Blumenthal-0838102190/plp
Live a good life? Hillel's famous answer might also serve us well. ""What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation of this—go and study it!"
I've always been fascinated by the difference between Hillel's golden rule expressed as prohibition and the golden rule expressed as action.
I prefer the Hillel version.
If I recall correctly, and I offer no assurance of that, it is reminiscent of a discussion about the Ten Commandments, of which 8 are written in the negative. It makes it easier to obey them as they set minimums that are easy to understand and obey. "You can do what you want, just don't do this" is not a high bar. Hillel actually asks little of us in his version. Affirmative rules are much more complex, requiring thought and interpretation. What does it mean to honor your parents? Certainly it means more than do not embarrass them.
One of my kids’ favourite books is A Squash And A Squeeze