Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor | | | | Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement Love Yehuda Lave | | Telc Czech One of Two 082319 On a beautiful Czech afternoon we head to the med-evil town of Telc, Driving on Czech roads is an experience itself and then in a short time to have a magical adventure. Many Jewish connections in this town and we go to the Jewish cemetery and bring some spirituality to a wedding at a closed synagogue. | | Prayer (31 views) A prayer in its simplest definition is merely a wish turned Godward. Phillips Brooks clergyman A simple grateful thought turned heavenwards is the most perfect prayer. Doris Lessing novelist As long as algebra is taught in school, there will be prayer in school. Cokie Roberts journalist/author. Each heartfelt prayer, each Church meeting attended, each worthy friend, each righteous decision, each act of service performed all precede that goal of eternal life. Thomas S. Monson religious leader Every one should find some suitable time, day or night, to sink into his depths, each according to his own fashion. Not every one is able to engage in contemplative prayer. Johannes Tauler preacher Experience teaches us that we do not always receive the blessings we ask for in prayer. Mary Baker Eddy religious leader Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul; man cannot live in health without them. Mahalia Jackson singer For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God. Saint Teresa religious leader I believe in prayer and in strong belief. Tina Turner singer I close my eyes, then I drift away, into the magic night I softly say. A silent prayer, like dreamers do, then I fall asleep to dream my dreams of you. Roy Orbison singer I deepen my experience of God through prayer, meditation, and forgiveness. Marianne Williamson Commentator I do believe in the power of prayer. Geraldine Ferraro politician I don't know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, I'm some sort of Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer. Henri Matisse artist I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "O Lord make my enemies ridiculous." And God granted it. Voltaire PHILOSOPHER In a world of prayer, we are all equal in the sense that each of us is a unique person, with a unique perspective on the world, a member of a class of one. W. H. Auden NATURALIST In our home there was always prayer - aloud, proud and unapologetic. Lyndon B. Johnson politician In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. Mahatma Gandhi PHILOSOPHER In the Lord's Prayer, the first petition is for daily bread. No one can worship God or love his neighbor on an empty stomach. Woodrow Wilson politician Of all duties, prayer certainly is the sweetest and most easy. Laurence Sterne religious leader Prayer does not use up artificial energy, doesn't burn up any fossil fuel, doesn't pollute. Neither does song, neither does love, neither does the dance. Margaret Mead scientist Prayer gives a man the opportunity of getting to know a gentleman he hardly ever meets. I do not mean his maker, but himself. William Ralph Inge playwright Prayer holds together the shattered fragments of the creation. It makes history possible. Jacques Ellul PHILOSOPHER Prayer in private results in boldness in public. Edwin Louis Cole religious leader Prayer indeed is good, but while calling on the gods a man should himself lend a hand. Hippocrates PHILOSOPHER Prayer is more than meditation. In meditation the source of strength is one's self. When one prays he goes to a source of strength greater than his own. Chiang Kai-shek politician Prayer is simply a two-way conversation between you and God. Billy Graham religious leader Prayer is translation. A man translates himself into a child asking for all there is in a language he has barely mastered. Leonard Cohen singer The fewer the words, the better the prayer. Martin Luther religious leader The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays. Soren Kierkegaard PHILOSOPHER There is no greater distance than that between a man in prayer and God. Ivan Illich PHILOSOPHER When the fire of prayer goes out, the barrenness of busyness takes over. George Carey religious leader Who rises from prayer a better man, his prayer is answered. George Meredith author Your cravings as a human animal do not become a prayer just because it is God whom you ask to attend to them. Dag Hammarskjold politician | | A little off the top please (CNN) A man who was mistakenly circumcised in a hospital mix-up has been awarded compensation, the hospital said. Terry Brazier, aged 70, went into Leicester Royal Infirmary for a bladder procedure known as a cystoscopy but was mistaken for another patient by hospital staff and circumcised. The hospital apologized and carried out an investigation, before confirming on Monday it had awarded Brazier a £20,000 ($24,300) payout.
Brazier told the British newspaper the Daily Star that he was so distracted talking to hospital staff that he didn't notice he was getting the incorrect procedure until it was too late.
"They didn't know what to say when they found out they'd done it, they said they can't send me back to the ward and they needed to talk to me," he told the newspaper.
Brazier added that finding out he had been circumcised was "a real surprise." CNN 081319 | | At the other end A man's false teeth got stuck in his throat during a surgery. It was eight days before anyone noticed. By Rob Picheta, CNN Updated 4:54 AM ET, Tue August 13, 2019
The man was having surgery to remove a harmless lump in his abdominal wall, but the operating team neglected to take out his dentures before the operation.
He returned to the hospital six days later complaining of blood in his mouth and difficulties breathing and swallowing, which had prevented him from eating solid food.
Ultimately, more surgery was needed to resolve the problem, which was revealed in a case report published by the British Medical Journal on Monday. Lead author Harriet Cunniffe, from James Paget Hospital in eastern England, is calling for surgeons to ensure dentures are removed from patients before an operation. . During the patient's first return to the emergency room, doctors were unable to diagnose the problem and the unnamed man was sent home with a prescription for mouthwash, antibiotics and steroids.
But he returned two days later with worsening symptoms and was admitted to the hospital with suspected aspiration pneumonia -- a severe chest infection.
Eventually a diagnostic procedure identified a semicircular object lying across his vocal cords, which had caused internal blistering and swelling. The man, who said he had lost his dentures during his initial visit to hospital, was subsequently rushed into surgery to remove the false teeth. He remained in the hospital for another six days.
| | Thoughts to consider HEY ALGEBRA, PLEASE STOP ASKING US TO FIND YOUR X.
SHE'S NEVER COMING BACK AND DON'T ASK Y.
DO YOU KNOW THAT THE HQ FOR APPLE HAS NO WINDOWS?
THE FIRST FIVE DAYS AFTER THE WEEKEND ARE THE HARDEST. "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch and do nothing" - Albert Einstein
INTERNATIONAL LEFT HANDERS DAY International Left Handers Day on August 13th recognizes all those individuals who have mastered using their left hand in a right-handed world. We take our hats off to you – left-handed!
| | A Charity I highly Recomend Machon Ahavat Emet, 2 Ibn Ezra Street, Jerusalem 92424 B"H Rosh Chodesh Elul 5779 Our Problem & Its Solution Dear Friends, For twenty five years we have been working consistently to solve a major problem in Israel – the lack of achdut, true unity. Resolving this would cause many other problems to disappear as well. The solution: an all-encompassing drive to increase awareness and practice of midot tovot, good character traits, ahavat yisrael, love of one's fellow Jew and derech eretz, basic human decency. Only a grass-roots approach such as this will work in the long run. Despite the inadequate funds available to us, we have had much success, baruch Hashem. The feedback we have received is that shalom bayit in general has been strengthened, people going "off the derech" have come back onto track, children are being more respectful to their parents, there is a greater sensitivity to the feelings of others, increased kindness towards others, and improved self-control of negative character traits. Our method: we have been publishing a four-page weekly leaflet called Ish lere'ehu, (lit. between man and his friend) for 25 years consecutively, on these very topics. Families use it at their Shabbos table, teachers discuss it in class, and rabbis and speakers use it in their speeches and sermons. It reaches many different cities and countries, and there are new requests for it weekly. Out of twenty-five top parshah sheets, Ish lere'ehu was voted the most popular in Israel, within the religious community. The cost of its publication is $72,000 (approx. 250,000 shekel) a year at the present, and it is read by tens of thousands of Jews weekly. We also produce curriculum workbooks for religious elementary schools. At present, five to six thousand students use them weekly. Schools around the country are beginning to realize the importance of having this topic in their curriculum. We get positive feedback from the schools, and many of them are reordering. Our aim, bezrat Hashem, is to distribute 50,000 workbooks in the next two years. To do that we will need to raise at least $300,000. As we approach Rosh Hashanah, we would like to offer you the opportunity to share in and support this tremendous program through your generous donation. In the US: Checks, kindly make payable to "Cong. Tiferes Yakov" and send to Mrs. Esther Silberberg, 1084 East 28th St. Brooklyn, New York 11210. For bank transfers: Santander bank Account# 0611170752 Name: Cong. Tiferes Yaakov - routing number 231372691. In Israel: Checks, kindly make payable to "Machon Ahavat Emet" and send to R'chov Ibn Ezra 2, Jerusalem 9242402. For bank transfers in Israel and tax deductions, please call our office at 02 567 1812. May you be blessed with a sweet year, good health and happiness, brocho and hatzlocho and kol tuv. Naftali Weinberg, director Email: ahavemet@012.net.il | | ART IS IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.
Michelangelo [an Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer] Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.
Andy Warhol [an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art] I write for the same reason I breathe - because if I didn't, I would die.
Isaac Asimov [the quintessential author, who wrote over 500 books that enlightened, entertained, and spanned the realm of human knowledge.] Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Maimonides [Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides or Rambam was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages.] If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when? Rabbi Hillel [Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history.] Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. As a peacemaker the lawyer has superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.
Abraham Lincoln [the 16th President of the United States.] Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.
Buddha [Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha was a spiritual teacher from ancient India who founded Buddhism] Writers will happen in the best of families.
Rita Mae Brown [an American mystery writer and screenwriter.] Cynicism is the humor of hatred. Herbert Beerbohm actor and theatre manager.] Perhaps this is the basis of friendships, I do not know. Each man seeks in another that part of himself, which is missing. Thus do people make themselves more whole. — Christopher Peachment (Caravaggio) [Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque school of painting] Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.
Marcus Tullius Cicero [Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist.] Grief can take care if itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.
Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist.] Grief is the price we pay for love.
Queen Elizabeth II []
I am certain that I speak on behalf of my entire nation when I say: September 11th we are all Americans - in grief, as in defiance.
Benjamin Netanyahu [Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the Prime Minister of Israel.] I have always fought for ideas - until I learned that it isn't ideas but grief, struggle, and flashes of vision which enlighten.
Margaret Anderson [Margaret Caroline Anderson was the American founder, editor and publisher of the art and literary magazine The Little Review, which published a collection of modern American, English and Irish writers between 1914 and 1929. The periodical is most noted for introducing many prominent American and British writers of the 20th century, such as Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot in the United States, and publishing the first thirteen chapters of James Joyce's then-unpublished novel, Ulysses.] Poetry is about the grief. Politics is about the grievance.
Robert Frost [Robert Lee Frost was an American poet.] Tears are the silent language of grief.
Voltaire [François-Marie Arouet better known by the pen name Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and free trade.] There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.
Washington Irving author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century.] When a child can be brought to tears, and not from fear of punishment, but from repentance he needs no chastisement. When the tears begin to flow from the grief of their conduct you can be sure there is an angel nestling in their heart. Horace Mann
Horace Mann was an American educational reformer and Whig politician known for his commitment to promoting public education. Where grief is fresh, any attempt to divert it only irritates. Samuel Johnson English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. You don't go around grieving all the time, but the grief is still there and always will be. Nigella Lawson food writer and cooking show host. | | Israel's First New Bank In Half A Century Seeks Poor Customers Eased requirements for bank formation in Israel will allow the country's first new lender in nearly half a century to open in 2020, with a mission to serve low-income customers shunned by other institutions. Ogen, a non-profit bank, will offer affordable credit to poor clients. One-fifth of Israel's population cannot get affordable loans from Israel's five largest banks, which provide 95% of all trade credit and 65% of all commercial credit, according to a 2015 Milken Institute report.
Full Story (news.bloomberglaw.com)
| | What counts as charity for your account? The Mandels lived in a rented apartment, on a shoestring budget. Although both Mr. and Mrs. Mandel worked, they were unable to make ends meet, and their debt was steadily increasing. Recently, they had started receiving food packages from the local tzedakah organization. One summer, the Mandels' washing machine and refrigerator stopped working within days of each other. "How are we going to find the money to fix them?" Mrs. Mandel said to her husband worriedly. "We have to pay rent in a week, and I don't know how we'll cover even that!" Mr. Mandel contacted Mr. Fixler, an appliance repairman. "How much would it cost to repair our washing machine and fridge?" he asked. "It depends on the problem, obviously," replied Mr. Fixler. "I would estimate that the visit and repairs would come to about $350 plus parts." "That's a lot for me," said Mr. Mandel. "I'll have to check around." That evening, Mr. Mandel approached a local gabbai tzedakah. "Do you know of anyone who would be willing to help us cover the appliance repairs?" he asked. "I'll see what I can do," the gabbai replied. The gabbai's first phone call was to Mr. Fixler. "Mr. Mandel shared his predicament with me," he said. "He has no money for these repairs. Would you consider doing the work as a favor to him?" "This is my parnassah," Mr. Fixler answered, "and if I start doing favors for everybody, I'll have no business. If I can consider the work as tzedakah and deduct it from my maaser kesafim, though, then there's what to talk about." "I can't rule for you," said the gabbai, but I'm happy to put you in touch with Rabbi Dayan with this question. May Mr. Fixler perform the repairs for the Mandels free of charge and deduct his charge for those repairs from his maaser kesafim? The Gemara (Kiddushin 8a, 63a) teaches that something that has monetary value has the same status as money. Therefore, a person can purchase real estate or betroth a woman not only with money (kesef), but also with items worth money, such as a ring. Service is also considered of monetary value, but cannot be used to betroth for a technical reason (E.H. 27:1, 38:13; Aruch Hashulchan, C.M. 190:22; Pischei Choshen, Kinyanim 3:[16]). Accordingly, the obligation of maaser kesafim may be fulfilled not only through money, but also through goods and services that are worth money. If a professional provides a service pro bono, he may deduct the price of that service from his maaser; if the service does not have a set price, he may deduct only what he would have charged the recipient (Maaser Kesafim 7:1-2; Tzedakah U'mishpat 5:[43]). Maharil Diskin (Responsa #23-24) writes that even if the professional committed to working pro bono without intending to deduct the price of the work from maaser kesafim, he may still declare, before doing the job, that this will count toward his maaser. However, if he already did the work as a favor, it is doubtful whether he is permitted to retroactively deduct the cost from maaser. That is because we have a mitzvah of gemilus chessed through action, in addition to the mitzvah of tzedakah. Therefore, if a person already helped someone without intending that the monetary value of his assistance should be counted as charity, it is considered an act of gemilus chassadim, and might not be countable toward maaser kesafim (see Taz, Y.D. 249:1.). Harav Moshe Feinstein ruled that for a professional to count his pro bono work as maaser kesafim, he must draft a bill and then cancel it. Some explain that this is because the service must have a quantified, realistic value in order for it to be equivalent to money. Harav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach allowed only nine-tenths of the value of the work to be deducted from maaser, since one-tenth of the wages would have gone to maaser, anyway. Others, however, do not make these distinctions (Maaser Kesafim 7:[229]; Hilchos Tzedakah, p. 104). Ruling: Mr. Fixler may consider the repairs he performs for the Mandels as tzedakah and deduct what he would realistically charge for such work from maaser kesafim, if done with this intent. Editor's note: The IRS has different rules and this would not be allowed as charity as it had not been brought into income first. There are different rules for Masser | | See you tomorrow Love Yehuda Lave | | | |
