Rabbi’s Musings & Amusings

 Dear Rabbi:

Rabbi, I was wondering about our prayers. What’s with all the praises of G-d? It seems like we say a lot of similar stuff in different ways, over and over. I’ve always been taught that because G-d is infinite, He doesn’t need our praises. Instead, the praises we say are for us; somehow it helps us when we keep praising G-d. I don’t get that concept. How does it help us to say the same praises about G-d every day? I mean, don’t we get it already? G-d is great, it’s great to be close to Him, He is all powerful, mighty, eternal, and incredible, He makes everything happen, etc.

This past Friday night, I’m sure everyone who davened at Kehillas Zichron Yaakov came home from shul and spoke about the d’var Torah recited before Maariv. I’m also sure I’m not the only one whose wife asked her husband when he walked in from shul if davening was over already. Why? Because the speech consisted of an excellent thought from the Brisker Rav, that was repeated – from start to finish – in under 90 seconds.

As far as the weather was concerned, this was a Thanksgiving to remember. Across the United States, the holiday celebration was impacted. In the Northwest there were powerful winds; the Midwest was hit with blizzard-like conditions. Flights were canceled, travel plans were disrupted, and thousands lost power. And in the Northeast, the balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade were in danger of being grounded. The headlines kept repeating the national forecast: “Strong winds, white-out conditions, and balloons may not fly in New York.”

 A few weeks ago, our family celebrated the upsherin (first haircut, at the age of three) of our twins, Gavriel and Michael. Before their official haircuts, we took them for the “first cutting” and to receive brachos from our rebbe Rabbi Chaim Schabes, my uncle Rabbi Yaakov Cohn, and the Nikolsburg Rebbe. Needless to say, the cutting and brachos of their grandparents were special and meaningful, too.

 I’m just going to be forthright about it: I have weird thumbs. The truth is that weird is relative (especially my relatives), and I’m pretty convinced that the rest of the world has weird thumbs, and I’m one of the few who have normal and proper thumbs. But by majority standards, I have unusual thumbs, especially my left thumb, which is somewhat short and stumpy. They say no one is perfect, so I guess that’s why I need to have unusual thumbs.

Last week, Air Canada announced that flight attendants will no longer be addressing passengers as “ladies and gentlemen.”¹ They claim that the move is being made to respect “identity, diversity, and inclusion.” From now on, passengers will be addressed as “Everybody.”