Rabbi’s Musings & Amusings

Every time that I have had the opportunity to meet one of the G’dolei Yisrael, it’s been an uplifting experience. The common denominator is that these great, busy people, who bear such immense responsibility and have to make such weighty decisions, somehow make time to make everyone feel special.

What is the secret to leadership, accomplishment, and growth? Why do some people achieve great things while other driven, well-meaning people do not?

Here’s the understatement of the day: Life is complicated, challenging, and confusing. But along the way Hashem provides us with guides – spiritual lights, emotional lights, and psychological lights, i.e., great individuals who infuse us with encouragement and chizuk to keep us going.

On the way to shul on Simchas Torah morning, someone noted that he often wondered why we have hakafos before K’rias HaTorah. Do we ever dance and celebrate at a siyum before the actual siyum?

Years ago, I heard the following joke: Why was six afraid of seven?

As of this writing, the answer to the joke is largely irrelevant. When I attempted to tell this joke in front of my class this week, before I had a chance to say the answer, there was an uproar of kids waving their hands, alternatingly chanting, “Six, seven!”

I made an interesting observation during the first day of Sukkos. Pesach is very focused on the foods we eat and the stories we share. The mouth is the primary part of the body used to fulfill the mitzvos of redemption. Shavuos, the holiday when we celebrate and recommit ourselves to the study of Torah, is primarily cerebrally focused. It is a celebration of our ability to think and immerse ourselves in Torah study and Torah living.