Renaissance Pundit's Posterous

Confronting The Beautiful Mess of Adult Life

Op-Ed Contributor - Yom Kippur at Sea - NYTimes.com

Pretty cool story of a Jewish guy who works on a lobster boat off the coast of Maine and his Tom Kippur story there. Hatzlakha and bracha to you, Sam! Gmar Hatima Tova!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/18/opinion/18kestenbaum.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=h...

Yom Kippur Mother

>
> A Story for Yom Kippur
> On a normal Shabbat this space is usually reserved for a Torah > thought of the week. You'll forgive me for taking the liberty of > breaking with tradition to share a story I just heard a few days ago > from my colleague in Antwerp, Belgium, Rabbi Shabtai Slaviticki that > happened with anacquaintanceof his, a follower of the Belzer > movement, Mr. Feivel Schapiro.
> One of the fondest memories many have during the High Holidays with > the Rebbe, was the blessing he would give moments before Yom Kippur. > In transcripts and recordings of the early years one hears how the > Rebbe's voice chokes with emotion, as a father blessing his only > children in these sacred moments. When the Rebbe would give that > blessing he was talking as a father to his beloved children.
> Feivel Shapiro, a member of the Antwerp Jewish community, lost his > mother early on when she sadly passedaway after an illness when he > was still a young child, only a tender 12 years old, shortly before > his Bar Mitzvah. She orphaneda home full of children and he was the > youngest of the family. Under these harshest of circumstances he > grew up and as time passed on matured into adulthood becoming a > businessman and breadwinner in his own right.
> Some twenty fiveyears after his mother's tragic illness and passing, > Feivel's business pursuits found him in New York City. During one of > those hot NYC summer nights he came to 770 Eastern Parkway, the > Lubavitch World Headquarters, to pray Maariv, the evening service, > with the Rebbe's Minyan.
> After Maariv he noticed a commotion of people going in andout of the > hallway adjacent to the Rebbe's study and it was obvious there was > something going on. Asking around he found outthat this is a night > of Yechidus, personal audiences, with the Rebbe receiving peoplewho > have made appointments to come and hear the sage counsel of this > great Jewish leader.
> Feivel, a person who, perhaps by virtue of his orphaned childhood, > was not afraid of anything and alively kind of fellow, was hanging > around thefoyeroutside of the Rebbe'sroom, decides he is going to go > in and see the Rebbe even though he doesnot have an appointment. > Unassumingly he goes over to the person in the front of the lineand > says I need to go in before you, as I urgently need to leave soon, > and the person agrees.
> The door opens and the person from the previous Yechidus comes out > andFeivel walks into the Rebbe's room. The Rebbe's secretary is > shocked by hisChutzpah and follows himin, intending to shlep out > this brazen intruder. The Rebbe looksup and tells Feivel to sit > down. The door closes. Silence.
> Not having intended to be there, he did not bring along the > traditional note outlining the requests, questions or concerns one > would normally hand the Rebbe - in fact he had nothing to say at > all. For a few short, but very long, moments, the middle aged > Belgian businessman sat, opposite the Rebbe facing him, in complete > silence.
> Then, as if on cue, the Rebbe goes over to a drawer and begins > looking forsomething. The Rebbe returns to his desk with a letter > and begins to read from it, which as it turns out, is an actual > letter from Feivel's mother to the Rebbe from just over 25 years > earlier. In this letter she writes that she realizes that she is > going to pass away but I amnot concerned about myself. Rebbe, I am > only asking you to arouse Rachamim Rabim,extraordinarymercy, from G- > d on behalf of my children. She goes onwith a passionate plea that G- > d should protect and bless her children, soon to be left without a > mother in this world.
> Feivel is just in shock and overwhelmed. He was just a child when > his motherpassed away, his memories of her in his childhood were all > he really had to keep her with him, and was never aware that this > letter of hers to the Rebbe, on behalf of him and his siblings, even > existed. Twenty five years letter, her love and concern were still > alive there in the Rebbe's room.
> But the greatest revelation was yet to come. When asking the Rebbe > if he could perhaps take the letter, the Rebbe gently requested > otherwise. Before I go out to Kol Nidrei the Rebbe explained (at > which point he would first stop in the little Shul and give the > Yeshiva Bachurim the children's blessings), I read your mother's > letter.
> Perhaps, as the Rebbe began the prayers of Kol Nidrei, pleading with > our Father in Heaven that we be inscribed and sealed for a Sweet and > Good New Year, he chose to evoke the divine mercy of G-d to His > children with the selfless love of this mother to her children.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> This email is sent from Chabad for Young Professionals.

NYTimes.com: Tug of War Pits Genes of Parents in the Fetus


One of the more intriguing new bits of genetics research I've heard recently... So, apparently our mother and father are generically arguing in our brains and bodies as to how we should develop and behave. It's more than just a silly joke, I guess ;)

HEALTH   | September 14, 2010
Tug of War Pits Genes of Parents in the Fetus
By NICHOLAS WADE
It has long been suggested that a mother's and father's genes do not play exactly equal roles, and new research points to asymmetry that could be far more substantial than thought.


The American Spectator : America's Ruling Class -- And the Perils of Revolution

A coolly scathing send-up of the Ruling Class, its self-reinforcing and self-preserving mechanisms and perverse pervasiveness, which may well be beyond the point of treatment as a symptom. He sad part is that the elites are not exactly full of the best and brightest, just those most willing to conform to the prevailing ideology. Result: both major parties sound and act alike, despite the superficial animosity. Talk about taxation without representation, 21st century version. One of the best reads on the subject in a good while. http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the/print

Op-Ed Contributor - Dreams of a Desk Job - NYTimes.com

A tremendous story in itself, Grisham's long and winding path to becoming a writer after lawncare, selling underwear and politics definitely gives one hope...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/opinion/06Grisham.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=home...

Juilliard | The Juilliard Journal Online |

William, you are a true inspiration, my friend! All the best of luck and may your mission be wildly successful! Cheers. (Readers, please feel free to
support William's organization, Cultures in Harmony).

http://www.juilliard.edu/journal/2010-2011/1009/articles/afghanistan.html

Op-Ed Contributor - Pakistan, Drowning in Neglect - NYTimes.com

Bewildering account of a nuclear-tipped Muslim nation armed to the teeth and yet unable to help hundreds and hundreds of thousands of it's people under water and in deep poverty. If you read nothing else, look at the last paragraph. Yes, all nations are inextricable knots of paradoxes, and Pakistan is no exception, but perhaps with an imagination colored by the work of Salman Rushdie, the reality in rural areas bordering Afghanistan is that much more stark.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/opinion/26sethi.html?_r=2

Does Your Language Shape How You Think? - NYTimes.com

One of the most interesting articles I've ever read on NYT.

The extent to which our mother tongue(s) influence(s) our spatial orientation, appreciation of color, form and pitch, and other critical aspects of the human experience is truly profound . The field of cognitive linguistics is only beginning to unravel the myriad mysteries of the mind as revealed through our conception of the universe vis-a-vis language. Enjoy!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html

Book Review - Encounter - By Milan Kundera - NYTimes.com

Great collection of Kundera essays on art, music, history and the downfall of aesthetic importance in Europe. Promises to be a real treat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/books/review/Simon-t.html?hp


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Yuri Kruman