Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 30, 2009
When I first began dating Marylu, she was a waitress. Fortunately, I was brought up with good etiquette, & knew to tip 15% for good service. Now the protocol is 20%, and I try to do that, if the service is good. If not, I leave less.
This week, an interesting story broke out of
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 30, 2009
REVENGE VS. BEARING A GRUDGE
Tractate Yoma, Chapter 2 (aka, 23a): "What is called revenge, and what is called bearing a grudge? Revenge is such a case: When one comes to the other, and asks him to lend a sickle to him, he says: Nay. On the morrow, the second comes to the first, and wants to borrow
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 30, 2009
Matters of debate between rabbis included how to implement the commands. Contrast later Rabbis words, "How far should you go in admonishing people? Rav said: Until they beat you up for reprimanding them (Arachin 16b)…I might think that you should admonish him even if his face turned white for
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 16, 2009
Unexpected guests were on the way, and my mother, an impeccable housekeeper, rushed around straightening up. She put my father and brother to work cleaning the guest bathroom. Later, when she went to inspect it, she was surprised that the once-cluttered room had been tidied up so quickly. Then she
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 16, 2009
Marylu and I often take a walk in the evening; a few years ago, she bought me this massive, bright, rechargeable flashlight; everyday, after our walk, I plug it in to the charger; if I fail to recharge it,
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 16, 2009
"The house of Shammai say, a man may not put away his wife, unless he finds some uncleanness in her, according to Deu. 24:1. The house of Hillel say, if she should spoil his food, (that is, as Jarchi and Bartenora explain it, burns it either at the fire, or with salt, i.e. over-roasts or over-salts
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 9, 2009
In the trenches of life when decisions need to be made quickly, we often depend upon short principles that offer us immediate direction and give us spiritual instincts. C. Everett Koop is a great medical ethicist; when addressing end of life decision-making in a booklet he wrote for
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 9, 2009
The Jewish people tried to work around some of the commands of the Torah that could not be practically enforced once the Jewish nation was no longer sovereign. One of those commands was the Sabbath Year. All debts were to be cancelled, but, under Roman rule, this could not work economically for
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 2, 2009
The Talmud contains a similar statement, ""He who humbles himself, him will God elevate; he who elevates himself, him will God humiliate. He who runs after greatness, from him greatness will flee; he who flees from greatness, him will greatness follow" (’Er. 13a). [Jewish Encyclopedia]
• Hillel
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 2, 2009
The Talmud records a similar parable by Rabbi Johanan b. Zakkai - b. Shabbat 153a* [It is like] a king who invited his servants to a feast and did not appoint them a time. The wise among them adorned themselves and sat down by the door of the palace, for they said: Is anything lacking in a palace?
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 26, 2009
"In contradistinction to literal interpretation, subsequently called "peshaṭ" (comp. Geiger’s "Wiss. Zeit. Jüd. Theol." v. 244), the term "midrash" designates an exegesis which, going more deeply than the mere literal sense, attempts to penetrate into the spirit of the Scriptures, to examine
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 19, 2009
"Our daughter took the afternoon off from her job at the funeral home to visit her daughter in preschool. When one of the kids asked what she did for a living, my granddaughter answered
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 19, 2009
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SHEMA: HEAR
"SHEMA (sshee’ mah) Transliteration of Hebrew imperative meaning, ’Hear,’ (Deuteronomy 6:4) and applied to Deuteronomy 6:4-9, as the basic statement of the Jewish law. The Shema became for the people of God a confession of faith by which they
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 19, 2009
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GOOD JEALOUSY
Dennis De Haan illustrates:
Shep, the newest member of our family, is a young Shetland sheepdog who openly displays his jealousy when I kiss my wife. He doesn’t snarl or bite, but in the language of barking he seems to be saying, "Hey, Master, you belong to me!" His jealousy gives
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 12, 2009
RABBIS AND DISCIPLES
"Parables such as those Jesus used were extremely prevalent among ancient Jewish sages, and over 4,000 of them have survived in rabbinic literature...the rabbis of Jesus’ day spent much of their time traveling throughout the country...to communicate their teachings and
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 12, 2009
GOOD AND EVIL KIDNEYS
According to the Talmud, "Our Rabbis taught: Man has two kidneys, one of which prompts him to good, the other to evil; and it is natural to suppose that the good one is on his right side and the bad one on his left, as it is written, ’A wise man’s
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Sep 28, 2009
HEAVIEST-EVER NEWBORN
KISARAN, Indonesia – Indonesia’s heaviest-ever newborn drew curious crowds Friday to a hospital where the boy named Akbar — or the "Great" in Arabic — came into the world at a record 19.2 pounds (8.7 kilograms).
Akbar Risuddin was born to a diabetic mother in a 40-minute
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Sep 14, 2009
THOSE STRONG URGES
Gary Dougherty, a co-worker at RBC Ministries, was walking home from church one evening when he saw a young man coming from the opposite direction. A strong urge came over Gary to talk with him about becoming a Christian. He hesitated at first, but then he said to this total
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