Saturday, November 21, 2009

Alef....Beis....Gimmel....

When Rabbi Mendel Futerfas was five years old learning Torah in a cheder in Russia, it happened that one of the boys forgot to bring his ink bottle and asked the boy at his side for some of his. "No," replied the latter. "I haven't enough; you should have brought from home." So the first boy had to ask someone else.

The teacher noticed this and said nothing, but a half hour later he asked the second boy if he could show the class an Aleph, a Bet and a Gimmel (the first three letters of the Hebrew alphabet). "Of course," answered the child as he pointed in one of his books. "This is an Aleph, this a Bet, and this a Gimmel."

"No," said the teacher. "You are wrong."

The boy was confused. "But teacher" he said, "this is what you taught us... this is what we have been reading for the last two years!"

"No," the teacher repeated. "You are wrong."

"Aleph is: When your friend asks you for ink, you give it to him.

"Bet is: When your friend asks for ink, you give it to him.

"Gimmel is: When your friend asks for ink, you give it to him."

Sunday, November 15, 2009

The shluchim are....

Non-Judgmental Core. But you knew that.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

I told her to write to the Rebbe to ask for a blessing.....

Her response to me:

"I wrote the Rebbe a letter. I'm glad I wrote it to the Rebbe because it will take a tzadek to understand what I wrote."

Monday, November 2, 2009

"Your last memory of someone who once mattered to you, should not be one of disappointment and hurt.
People should be able to reclaim the moments when they mattered to each other. It is worth the risk of rejection to try and do this."