Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
And, it would really set a great example for your students, and everyone else, if you took a moment (less time than it takes to tie one student’s shoe laces) to clean up your English usage before posting.
You wrote:
There are several things that are clearly wrong with this sentence.
1. It needs to begin with a capital letter
3. It is customary to make it clear what is being spent, I believe you meant time in this case
Had you taken the time to proofread, a skill at least as important as shoe tying, some would say more important for a teacher, you might have written something like:
While I would still disagree with your premise, at least it would have been cogently and correctly presented.
Please know that my critique of your writing is not meant to be anything other than a slightly tongue-in-cheek object lesson.
Sorry folks, I didn’t meant to go on so long…
Hello lucky employed teacher
If you have a problem tying the shoes of kindergarteners, you should try teaching middle school or high school. Seriously, what would you do with a kid who got a bloody nose during the Regents, or threw up on your desk because she could not stay home while mom was at work, or needed her shoes tied because she was too pregnant to tie them herself. (I am not making this up.) I was under the impression that compassion was the first ingredient in making up a teacher… maybe I am wrong.
And, if you don’t want to tie the kids’ shoes, you can try sending a note home asking all the parents to buy their kids new shoes that are either slip-ons or have velcro closures. That ought to go over well in the current economy. Alternatively, I bet there are a dozen unemployed kindergarten teachers out there willing and able to take your job.
Personally, as a currently unemployed secondary teacher, I would take a job that required me to tie my kids shoes over unemployment any day…
You guys are hysterical, and where can I get a copy of that dino show?
Also, I am not a scholar, but, I do recall that there is some provision about putting others down because they don’t do things the way you do/think they should. Something about how we should be so busy keeping our own houses in order that we would not have time to tell others how to keep theirs? Or was it that those who live in glass houses (as we all do) should not throw stones?
On the topic of the Olympics, did anyone else hear that the ITALIANS were the only ones to observe the minute of silence with the ISRAELIS for the Munich murder victims? Interesting but not surprising that the US and all the other “great friends of Israel” were not willing, and that the Olympic Committee as a whole was unwilling to make it part of the official opening ceremony as requested.
I saw her floor routine using Hava Nagila as her sound-track and was moved by it, and amused by the announcer saying that she had chosen it as a representation and in honor of her background (couldn’t’ quite bring himself to say the J word). I believe that she won the gold medal too.
This thread is fascinating.
Simply stating that something is forbidden doesn’t make it not so. This person clearly understands that she is meant to forgive while also being cognizant of the fact that she is having a hard time completing this mitzvah with her whole heart — which is the only way to do them, no?
So, she is left sitting on the horns of a dilemma.
Much of the information she has received here seems as though it would be helpful, and I hope I can add to that with my thoughts.
1. I like that Kollel_Wife is so clear that this person is not deranged or unstable, just a normal person with a lack of sensitivity (or concern) about how his words/actions make others feel. This explanation shows you to be thoughtful and sensitive, and not trying to make this guy out to be just a jerk.
2. If you have not had any success trying to explain to this colleague that his way of communicating is not working for you, is there someone over his head to whom you can talk? I am not saying you should commit loshon hora, or try to get him in trouble, but most companies have some sort of policy designed to help those without social graces to get along with their colleagues and perhaps a reminder from someone more powerful than yourself would help this person get the message.
2a. If you are feeling this way, it is likely that you are not the only one. I bet that if you talk to a superior you will learn that you are not the first to complain — you might be the straw that breaks the bosses back, just what is needed to get this person the help he needs.
2b. Again, without gossiping, you might be able to find out if others feel as you do. There is power in numbers. If you all agree to speak with the boss independently over a few days, it will become clear that something needs to be done and most bosses will take the needs of the many for a pleasant workplace to heart.
3. If this guy IS the boss, that does make it trickier. But I didn’t get the impression that was the case here.
4. Labor law in most places states that if a work environment becomes toxic or unhealthy it is the responsibility of management to fix it, and you cannot be punished for filing a toxic work environment claim with the department of labor. This is a last-ditch response of course, however, if all of the above fail to get management to talk to the person in question, and/or if he fails to comply with their requests and they don’t get rid of him, it is something that is worth mentioning… maybe.
Everyone deserves to come to work in an environment that is at the least collegial and conducive to accomplishing the tasks at hand, and I hope that you are able to make that happen in your workplace. Something tells me that you are not the only one wishing for this individual to change his ways.
As far as what you are and are not obligated to do, it seems to me that you are working to the best of your ability to be truly forgiving. If my memory serves, we are absolved from those promises and/or obligations which we have made honest effort to accomplish but have been genuinely unable to do. This seems like one of those situations so, IMHO, you can go to services this Yom Kippur with a clear conscience in this regard.
Best of luck, and please let us know how it turns out…
Can someone please tell me what the addition of “sorry” to the end of my post means?
Thanks!
Moderators: Please send my email address to AhvasChinom through private channels. Thanks
AC, I am embarrassed to tell you how long it took me to figure out what you meant by your PS! I kept racking my brain for some religious/Jewish connection. Silly me!
We take a lot of our guests there (the Celestial Seasonings Factory Tour for those wondering what we’re talking about) and the mint room is one of my favorite stops on the tour.
sorry
Thanks Mensch, I hope they do send me your email.
Moderators: You have permission to share my email with Borough Park Mensch through private channels as well. Thanks.
YW-Moderator
How do I get in touch with you or others individually? And what keeps happening to my posts? Are they not being posted because I am trying to give out my email address? Can you post them without that information?
Thanks!
correct, we do not post email addresses or outside links. Sorry.
Dear Mensch
The rule about personal emails must be why my posts don’t show up. Thanks for clarifying that.
We don’t expect to be paid, nor do we expect the temple to spend a ton of money on a fancy display. We just want the key to have a home that is larger in terms of community and meaning than ours so that the current and future members will be able to see it and maybe learn a little about the founders.
Perhaps I can talk to my dad and write a little story about his dad and the founding of the temple that could be available with the key itself and maybe some photos from the past that could be displayed together.
Can someone from the site please let me know how to give current temple members who want to communicate with me my email address or other contact information?
Thanks!
I wanted to thank Yichusdik for his or her (sorry, I can’t tell from your moniker what gender you are) kind and welcoming words regarding my initial post.
As a rule, I have found the Orthodox community here, and in the other places where I have lived in the US and Israel, welcoming in the “we’re all Jews together” way exemplified in your post. And when I don’t find that, I try to just move on.
Some people (Jewish or not) think that it’s their duty to drive in the left lane at precisely the speed limit in order to police the driving of everyone behind them. They are the same type of people who told my young son that sticking cardboard cut-outs of Sabbath candles on the window and adding paper flames as the sun set on Friday night when he was in the hospital and unable to light actual matches was worse than not doing anything at all.
There is nothing anyone can say to make people like that change their minds, or to make them see that what they are doing is actually against the religion they are so bent on defending. I am sure there is a name for it, and that many people on this chat will know where to find the exact prohibition in the Talmud, but I do know enough to know that it is forbidden to deliberately make someone feel badly, and it must be doubly so to do so to a small child.
I didn’t intend to go on such a rant, but there it is. Stopping now. Shavua tov to all.
Hello
I am the grand-daughter of the founding president of this synagogue, so yes, there are people out here who are descended from the original founders.
My father, who grew up near the temple and graduated from New Utrecht High School, still lives in the New York area (Lido Beach) but I reside in Boulder, CO these days.
I have the silver key which was presented to my grandfather, Dr. Napelbaum, when the building was consecrated and opened as a temple and, as a matter of fact, I came across this posting while doing some simple internet research because my dad and I were thinking it might be nice to donate the key to the temple next time I am in town, so I want to contact the current temple president.
As to what should be done in regard to your other questions, I have no idea what would be appropriate for the current residents of this neighborhood, who I believe lean toward a different flavor of Judaism than did the temple’s founders, and a different one than is practiced by my family, but I would hate to think that the building would ever be anything but a house of Jewish worship.
B’Shalom
Cool, thanks for stopping in. Mod-95