Friday, November 28, 2008

ערב מדהים


תודות לצוות של בית המדרש ובמיוחד לבני הורביץ ותומר קורינאלדי, הערב חוויתי אחד הערבים היפים בחיי
בערב החברה שערכנו לכבוד ראש חודש כסלו הופיעו שלושה שחקנים מקבוצת "פליי בק" עם ליווי מוזיקאלי מרשים. הם לקחו סיפורים שאנשים בקהל סיפרו ושיחקו על פיהם. היה ממש מדהים, החברה נהנו כל כך, הרב אוריאל כמעט איבד הכרה מרוב צחוק. הערב היה מושלם. אחרי ההצגות, בני ניגן לנו בגיטרה ונשארנו לשיר עד שכבר כלו כוחותינו.
בקרוב תמונות באתר
let me translate...

Thanks to the wonderfull Beit Midrash staff and especially Beni Horowitz and Tomer Korinaldi, tonight I experienced one of the most beautiful evenings in my life. In tonight's Rosh Hodesh party, we had three preformers from the "playback" group, accompanied with a wonderfull organist. They took the audience's stories and acted them out in a witty way. It was amazing, we almost busted our guts laughing out loud.
The evening was perfect and after the acting, Beni, who was one of the preformers, stayed on and played the guitar with us until we dropped off our feet.
soon, pictures on the website




Thursday, November 27, 2008

גמרא

אתמול הסברתי למישהו למה אני כל כך שמח ללמוד גמרא ולמה אני כל כך קשור לדף היומי. חשבתי על הנושא לא מעט ולמסקנה, יש כמה דברים עיקריים שמושכים אותי תמיד
הדבר הראשון הוא האינטראקציה עם האנשים. מדהים אותי ומדליק אותי מחדש כל פעם שאנשים מביאים דוגמאות מחייהם כדי להסביר את הגמרא. זה מחייה את הגמרא ומחייה את האנשים (אותי גם כן, אני לא מוציא את עצמי מהכלל - להיפך) כשאדם מתחבר ללימוד בצורה כזאת הגמרא היא כאילו חדשה, ולא בת אלפי שנים, והאדם הוא כבן אלפי שנה ולא מוגבל לשנות חייו
הדבר השני הוא שהגמרא מחייבת אותך להיות גמיש בדעתך ולא להתחפר יותר מדי עמוק בעמדות מוצא. למשל, אם הגמרא מסבירה את שיטת אביי, בתור לומד אתה צריך להבין לגמרי את ההגיון שעומד מאחורי האימרה, ולשם כך אתה צריך להזדהות עם שיטתו של אביי. כשהגמרא שואלת שאלה, אתה צריך לדחות את טענותיה ולהגן על נקודת המוצא שלך
מייד לאחר מכן, רבא חולק לגמרי על אביי ואת החייב לזנוח את העמדה הישנה שלך ולעבור לצד השני. גם כן אתה צריך להגן על האימרה ולהזדהות עם השיטה. מתרגלים את זה בגמרא, כדי שיהיה אפשרי לעשות את זה בחיים
לא להתבלבל, כשמגיעים להלכה צריך לקבל את הפסק - להפסיק להילחם נגד. אבל הדרך רצופה בראייה כוללת ומקיפה
תודה לקב"ה שזיכה אותי לחיות חיים מלאי תורה וסדנאות בריאות נפש יומיות בדף היומי - כך החיים לא רק מלאים תורה אלא הם מלאים

Empathy

Empathy can be the most fake thing. It's easy to fake empathy. I don't mean people can't tell when you are truly empathetic and when you are just going through the motions, I mean it's easy to fool yourself.
It is especially hard when you are in position of power such as parent, teacher, counselor, or other professional capacity vis-a-vis the other person. after all, you are supposed to lead them, aren't you???
well, yes and no. You have to share from your knowledge where it's relevant, but you can't make the other person in your own image. It wont work, and it is senseless. The Torah teaches us: "who is wise? one who learns from every person" but it doesn't end there. The fact of the matter is we are incapable of completely understanding the other, since we only share some experiences. You can see that even brothers that grew up in the same home have different ways of thinking and looking at the world.
If you want to relate to the other, you have to listen to them, you have to respect them. It's not a trick. I often tell my students, if you can repeat exactly what I said in today's lesson - I've failed! I want to hear the idea presented through your prism.

The Gemara gives us these tools, teaches this to us without beating us over the head with it. The fact every page of Gemara has extreme disagreements is a great tool to teach us how to look at matters from different points of view. We must understand beit Hillel's view just as much as we have to listen and understand the logic and thought process presented by the opposite side. Halacha is different, that's where there is no wavering, you can't pick and choose, but the process is a building one. IF YOU PRACTICE LISTENNING TO OPPOSING VIEWS DURING LEARNING, IT MAKES IT A LOT EASIER TO DO IT IN REAL LIFE. At that point, you are not faking yourself out.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Prayer -Daily Paradigm Shift

Wow, what a title - right into the deep end with this one...
well, this is a subject I've been thinking of for a while and will probably occupy much of my thought in the future - why do we pray? and why do Jews pray in such a set way???

When I was younger, I asked my father one time, why do we pray everyday using the same words? isn't it better to have a specific prayer for each day of the week? I was really bored with prayer and saw that people around me were not so elated as well... I didn't get a streight answer, or at least one that I remember which satisfied me.

over the years I pondered this point and the more I prayed the more I was connected to the process. I figured there are 2 aspects of prayer consciense and unconsciense.

There is a consciense part that helps you direct your thoughts, forces you to take action, physical action to thank God. thought is not enough, you have to GET OUT OF BED, get dressed , and SAY THE WORDS. It's very hard to be thankful, we have to minimize ourselves and control our ego. Prayer forces us to do that everyday.
the unconscience (some prefer subconscience) part of prayer is in the repitition. The world we live in is focused on us as individuals and what we do, It's a world of doing - of action. Prayer helps us connect to the world of being. It’s a daily paradigm shift; we repeat the words of faith and belief in connection to God every day. The familiarity makes for a reality in which we don't actually focus on the words and their meanings (sometimes!?!), but repeat them as mantras. Thank you God, You give water, you make me understand, and you give health and so on...

What’s the point in all this???

I think the point is clear; it's a mental health issue...
This world can be a heavy Burdon if we take on our own shoulders. When we make ourselves realize it's not all up to us to fix, the main responsibility is God's, all we have to do is contribute our part, not to the world, to God, we have much less pressure and are better equipped to take on the day.

This was a sliver of thought, I have to go on now and prepare myself to take on the day... to be continued

Sunday, November 16, 2008

I'm Back

Well, after quite a hiatus, i'm back.

Since my last post we went through a great time period, the chagim were energizing, and getting back to regular pace is not very easy. We are learning a lot, so much in fact it's hard to keep up.

Today, the Hebrew version of our website is up and now the blog will take on new life, B.H.

It's nice to write a blog no one reads because it's a nice preperation to when people will actually start reading it.

Some of our students are dating, some are finding new jobs afternoon, some are continuing on, to University, to another Yeshivah... I'm such a proud father.

The book and lecture series are on course and I am very happy.

Rav Guy