VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, [7], 8, 9, 10 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 02:50:50 08/14/12 Tue
Author: d
Subject: fb201


#546 Study and Emulate Great People

Here is a tool for greatness: Watch a truly righteous person very carefully and observe what he does in order to emulate him.

Today, think of three great people that you know, heard of, or have read about. What can you learn from each one?

(see Vilna Gaon - Proverbs 12:26; Rabbi Pliskin - "Consulting the Wise")


See Rabbi Pliskin's new book "Life Is Now"




26 Av

In 1809, a group of 70 disciples of the great Lithuanian sage the Vilna Gaon, arrived in Israel, after traveling via Turkey by horse and wagon. The Vilna Gaon set out for the Holy Land in 1783, but for unknown reasons did not attain his goal. However he inspired his disciples to make the move, and they became pioneers of modern settlement in Israel. (A large contingent of chassidic Jews arrived in Tzfat around the same time.) The leader of the 1809 group, Rabbi Israel of Shklov, settled in Tzfat, and six years later moved to Jerusalem where he founded the modern Ashkenazic community. The early years were fraught with Arab attacks, earthquakes, and a cholera epidemic. Rabbi Israel authored, Pe'at Hashulchan, a digest of the Jewish agricultural laws relating to the Land of Israel. (He had to rewrite the book after the first manuscript was destroyed in a fire.) The location of his grave remained unknown until it was discovered in Tiberias, 125 years after his death. Today, the descendants of that original group are amongst the most prominent families in Jerusalem.



26 Av

Greet every person in a pleasant manner (Ethics of the Fathers 1:15).


Occasionally, when I walk into an office, the receptionist greets me rudely. Granted, I came to see someone else, and a receptionist's disposition is immaterial to me. Yet, an unpleasant reception may cast a pall.

A smile costs nothing. Greeting someone with a smile even when one does not feel like smiling is not duplicity. It is simply providing a pleasant atmosphere, such as we might do with flowers or attractive pictures.

As a rule, "How are you?" is not a question to which we expect an answer. However, when someone with whom I have some kind of relationship poses this question, I may respond, "Not all that great. Would you like to listen?" We may then spend a few minutes, in which I unburden myself and invariably begin to feel better. This favor is usually reciprocated, and we are both thus beneficiaries of free psychotherapy.

This, too, complies with the Talmudic requirement to greet a person in a pleasant manner. An exchange of feelings that can alleviate someone's emotional stress is even more pleasant than an exchange of smiles.

It takes so little effort to be a real mentsch.


Today I shall ...
...

try to greet everyone in a pleasant manner, and where appropriate offer a listening ear.


See more books by Rabbi Abraham Twerski at Artscroll.com


26 Av

Honey

Since honey is produced by bees, and bees are not a kosher species, how can honey be kosher?
The Aish Rabbi Replies:

The Talmud (Bechoros 5b) asks your very question! The Talmud bases this question on the principle that “whatever comes from a non-kosher species is non-kosher, and that which comes from something kosher is kosher.”

So why is bee-honey kosher? Because even though bees bring the honey into their bodies, it is not a 'product' of their bodies – i.e. it is stored, but not produced there. (see Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 81:8)

By the way, the Torah (Deuteronomy 8:8) praises the Land of Israel as "flowing with milk and honey." But it may surprise you to know that the honey mentioned in the verse is actually referring to fig-honey!



Featured at Aish.com

* The Power of Gratitude
* Torah and Thoreau
* The Sikh Temple Shooting


What do you think of this email?
Help us make these personalized newsletters — and our site — better.
Send us your questions and comments to tellus@aish.com.

Forward this email to a friend.
• You are currently subscribed to The Aish Daily list as alacil@yahoo.com.

• To unsubscribe from this list only, click on the link below:

Unsubscribe me from the Aish Daily

• To modify your subscriptions, change your e-mail, or unsubscribe, go to
click here


Aish.com is the most complete online Jewish resource.
We hope you enjoy receiving this personalized newsletter.

Aish.com
One Western Wall Plaza
PO Box 14149
Jerusalem 91141
Israel

Tel - 972-2-628-5666
Fax - 972-2-627-3172


© 2012 Aish.com

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.