Use Great People as Models
Use the lives of great people as models for your own life. When you see the elevated behavior of people who achieved excellence, learn from them and walk in their footsteps. This will help you to be successful in all areas of your life.
Today, think of five great people you would like to emulate. As you reflect on these people, you will become more and more like them.
Use the lives of great people as models for your own life. When you see the elevated behavior of people who achieved excellence, learn from them and walk in their footsteps. This will help you to be successful in all areas of your life.
Today, think of five great people you would like to emulate. As you reflect on these people, you will become more and more like them.
See the story about Rabbi Mayor Schuster at the bottom of this email.
Love Yehuda Lave
Puns for Educated Minds
1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.
He acquired his size from too much pi.
2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.
4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.
5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.
10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'
13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
17. A backward poet writes inverse.
18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.
19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris, you'd be in Seine.
21. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.'
22. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says 'Dam!'
23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.
24. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.' The other says 'Are you sure?' The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'
25. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.
26. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNwFoLa3Vzw&feature=youtu.be
Rabbi Meir Schuster: Every Jew Counts
What one person can do when he really cares about the Jewish people.
by Bracha Goetz
One day, when Meir Schuster and his friend were in their early twenties, they had just finished praying at the Western Wall. They watched other young people going to the Wall and being lit up by the experience. And the thought struck both of them at the same time: Why can’t someone connect with all these people and bring them closer to their heritage? They noticed one young backpacker leaning against the wall and crying. They watched as he composed himself, and started walking away from his moving encounter.
That was the moment of epiphany: this fellow had nowhere to go with the feelings that had just emerged. Rabbi Schuster’s friend walked over to the young man, gently tapped him on the shoulder, and said, “Hi, I’m Chaim Kass – I hope we are not bothering you, but it looks like something happened for you there. Can we introduce you to learn some more about Judaism?” This young man's reaction was one of appreciation, and they introduced him to a rabbi with whom he could study a little Torah.The two young yeshiva students were captivated by this experience, and they started going back every afternoon during their breaks to speak with more young people. They connected with a dozen more people in the first two weeks, inviting some to come to Meir Schuster’s house for a Shabbos meal. Seeing the impact he could make in connection young Jews to their heritage, Meir Schuster took over completely, and he continued doing this for the next 40 years.
Day in, day out, feeling sick, with a sprained ankle, in the hottest weather and the coldest, in the rain and in the snow, wanting to share his love for Judaism with his fellow Jew, Meir Schuster was there. He did this out of pure kindness, receiving no monetary payment.
It was Rabbi Schuster's pure earnestness that found its way into another's heart gently and directly.People think they need to be a charismatic charmer to be successful at reaching people, but it was Rabbi Schuster's pure earnestness that found its way into another's heart gently and directly. Rabbi Schuster would typically ask both men and women if they wanted to attend a class or come for a Shabbos meal. He would remain in touch with as many individuals he met that he could, sending cards of encouragement that managed to make major impacts - even thousands of miles away. As one friend said, “No one cared more deeply about a soul than Rabbi Meir Schuster.”
In the 1980's, seeing that there were only youth hostels run by Moslems or Christians in the Old City, Reb Meir became determined to create a Jewish youth hostel where young Jewish men and women could stay and learn about Judaism in a warm and relaxed atmosphere. This unlikely speaker then became a fundraiser, establishing the men's and women's Heritage House, and traveling around the world for three months a year.
Then, beginning in 2000, after terrorist attacks in Israel were on the rise and tourism dropped off substantially, Rabbi Schuster established the Shorashim Heritage Centers for young Israelis in several locations throughout Israel. Over 50,000 young Israelis have attended classes at these centers already.
Meir Schuster, in a way, brings to mind the greatest and the most humble leader of the Jewish people, Moses, who was determined to overcome his most glaring weakness of being a shy and awkward speaker in order to fulfill his role for the Jewish people. Meir Schuster’s wife said that she saw how her husband went against all odds to do what he did for years after year.
Rabbi Noah Weinberg, of blessed memory, said that if Rabbi Meir Schuster, who was by nature an extremely shy individual, could rise above his limitations to reach out to help so many Jewish people reconnect with their heritage, then anyone – no matter how shy or reserved they are – could do it. He is a model who can inspire everyone to pursue their deepest goals, even if they don’t think they have “the right stuff.”
“When he decided to do something, he believed that the Almighty would help him, and he wouldn't give up until the end,” Rebbetzin Schuster said.
Two years ago, Rabbi Schuster began to develop Lewy Body Disease, a rare degenerative disorder whose symptoms are those of both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. His wife said that “when he was barely able to even walk anymore, he still wanted to go to England to raise funds for the Heritage House. He is a real fighter. Nothing could stand in his way because every action he did, he did for a Divine purpose.”
As the disease began stealing away his ability to think and remember and communicate, he redoubled his efforts.
Rabbi Michel Twerski describes Rabbi Meir Schuster as “an unpretentious, self-effacing legend of our time. A rare figure of history who has touched so many lives through his profound authenticity.” And he could care less about any recognition for himself.
Today he can no longer be the man beside the beloved Wall. He came to require full-time care from his devoted wife and daughter at home, and is now in a nursing facility connected to a feeding tube.
Visit www.RebMeirSchuster.org, a site lovingly created by Reb Meir's students to honor him.
With great sadness we inform you the Rabbi Schuster passed away Monday, Feb. 17, 2014, 17th of Adar 1, 5774. May his soul be bound to the bond of eternal life.
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