>>>.The Lubavitcher Rebee ZT”L used to say good morning to anyone he met in the street, even women. (I heard this from someone who constantly saw this.)<<<<

I think he had the right idea.

Every human society has greeting rituals, for some reason they are very important to us psychologically. If you think they are not, try not greeting everyone for one day, and see how many people end up disliking you.

I wish you all a wonderful Tuesday.

I have worked with people who always had a big smile and a heartfelt greeting for everyone, and they made me feel good. I wish I could always do the same.

by definition, all moderation is moderate.

Dukakis/H. Clinton

honestly, dear TMB, now you’re extrapolating from one conversation between two specific politicians and using it to tar all Jewish politicians. Isn’t that a stretch?

i read those transcripts, and they were surprising and distasteful to me.

However, these were meant to be private conversations and we don’t know the context of them at all.

Apparently, Richard Nixon had very little good to say about Blacks and Italians, too, so we Jews are in good company.

I don’t think you should rate a man by what he says in private, or what he thinks, particularly out of context.

You need to look at his actions:

Kissinger and Nixon were most definitely responsible for making possible the exodus of Jews from the Soviet Union in the 1970’s, using diplomacy and trading Jews for grain, when the USSR had a famine. What they thought of those Jews they freed is really of little consequence. Let my people go!

And don’t forget Operation Nickel Grass, that over a four-week period in 1973 hundreds of jumbo U.S. military aircraft delivered more than 22,000 tons of armaments to Israel to help win the Yom Kippur War.

You need to look at Kissinger’s contributions in the context of his entire career.

what am I missing by having only one screen name?

do you mean that all the time my mother invested in teaching me to be considerate of others, share and be a mensch were contrary to Torah?

dear popa, please let me know soon. I will call her tonight and let her know whether her efforts were worthwhile. She is 86 years old B”H, and deserves to know.

OK, this is an excellent exercise.

Someone wise once told me to think of the obituary or eulogy that you wished for yourself, then live your life in a way that someone will write that obituary or eulogy.

I would like to be remembered for my kindness and wisdom.

how do YOU explain that they were Jewish sharks?

. . . a big can of paint and a few tubes of caulk.

dear popa: does the torah ask us to be menschen? Are we not required NOT to do to others what is hateful to us?

It is hateful to me when others waste precious resources, and pollute my environment.

In a recent message the leader of a large western superpower

said to me: “Ron, why not call the editors at Yeshiva World News and urge them to make next week lurkers and first-time posters month? Why not encourage those Coffee Room members who have never posted before to step up to the plate, and post a few words – let us know how they feel and how things are in their

part of the world, along with whatever other pearls of wisdom

they might want to add; let them share an idea or two with the

huddled masses yearning to eat brie. Let them have a voice

where previously they had none! Let them be heard! Promise

them that you and the other sadists won’t rip them and their

ideas to bits, but will only send messages of support and

meaningful analyses of their thoughts.”

I said the only patriotic thing I could under the circumstances:

“Sure, Hillary, why not?”

Let’s declare next week as first-time posters week – for those who have been hiding their lights under bushel-barrels, now’s the time to come out of your closets and expose yourself (figuratively, of course) to us. Don’t be shy. We’ll be kind. And if anyone’s not kind, I’ll break his or her neck (figuratively, of course). You have my promise.

The world and all it contains is a gift from the Creator. to squander the world and its resources, or to fail to share it with ALL creatures is an insult to the giver of the gift.

Imagine if a friend gave you a gift. Of course, it is a gift, and you are free to do with it what you will.

In front of the givers’ eyes, you trash the gift. Is that an insult to the giver?

I did see a photograph of my wife before I met her. She looked OK, I didn’t think she’d be anything special, but I met her anyway.

Needless to say, I was extremely wrong.

also, I used to feel very incorrect when speaking to the bereaved. I would say something foolish, or something inadvertently painful, or worse, I would avoid saying anything to the bereaved thinking I was going to say something foolish.

Then I read a book on etiquette, and I realized I can always say something that may help the bereaved’s pain a small bit and that I would never say something that would make it worse.

This works for all but your closest friends and relatives.

Now, just because these words follow a formula doesn’t mean they don’t come from my heart:

Here is the formula I use:

1) Say how sorry or sad you are that the person has died. Be sure to mention the departed one, by name. Optionally, add a sentence about how you will miss the departed. This is comforting to the bereaved because it shows you share their sorrow, and that the departed has not been forgotten.

2) Say what a wonderful person the departed was. Cite a quick example if you can. If you did not know the deceased person personally, but you know one of the bereaved, you can say “What a wonderful person she must have been to raise a child like you.”

This raises the bereaved’s hope that their loved one had not lived in vain, and will not be forgotten.

3) Offer the bereaved a hope that they can find some solace. I use this, “May G-d grant you comfort in your sorrow.”

This will help them find solace as well as anything else you can say.

At this point, you have probably said enough words. For you to speak further will only increase the chance of inadvertently causing pain. If you feel like it, you may cry with the bereaved, or hug the bereaved, if appropriate.

e.g:

Upon meeting the father of a friend whose mother died recently.

1. I was very saddened to hear that Mrs. S. had died. She was a wonderful woman, I will miss her very much.

2. She was always so considerate: when I was hospitalized as a youngster, the first call or card I got was from a neighbor was from her. You know we had many kind and considerate neighbors, but she was the first.

3. May G-d grant you comfort in your sorrow, or a bracha appropriate to your community.

<silence from me. Let the bereaved talk if he/she so wishes.>

Dang it, Oomis, I hate it when you say exactly what I was thinking.

also:

If you have to say anything, speak only of the virtues of the deceased. Keep it brief, usually just a few words or one short story.

Look around the bereaveds’ home – see what needs to be done, and do it.

there are prayers for rain, and this fire is the result of the woodlands in the north being very dry, due to the lack of rain.

Rain would help the people threatened by fire and all the people who could be potentially harmed by fire in the future, in addition to helping the agricultural industry to raise more food.

set the accessibility settings to give you higher-contrast print, and larger text, and larger icons.

in Windows:

Start -> Control Panel -> Accessibility -> Display ->

dishes done?

Lafayette, we have arrived!

(how soon we forget)

How do you like the Mercury Montego, CantEsq (that is the official DMV abbreviation for CantorEsq.)

there was a character named moderator-80 on the Patty Duke show?

it makes sense to me.

King Ahasueros, for all his wealth, could have had 100 beautiful megillah cases, yet he couldn’t buy even one single ziplock bag. Therefore, the ziplock bag is more precious than a silver megillah case.

Q.E.D.