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Post by louise on Feb 12, 2017 23:50:44 GMT -5
What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.
Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:
Angelika
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy
And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to do that but you are also welcome to chime in!
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Post by louise on Feb 12, 2017 23:51:38 GMT -5
Continuing with selections from “Personal Prayers Before the Open Ark” from Siddur Lev Shalem:
A Prayer When Sad
Master of the universe, see the sadness in my soul. Heal my grief and despair. I wish to do Your will but my sadness overwhelms me. Let Your instruction touch my being that I might find comfort in the world You have created, and that I might in turn be a comfort to others. May the soul You have given me give me the strength to turn sadness into joy and despair into song. Master of the Universe, send healing.
I think this is a fine example of the very personal nature that even a printed prayer can have and it can also open the way for further personalization or perhaps for crystalizing a thought that may already be there. A way to say something to yourself and to God that you may not have had the words for at the moment.
And while I’m on personal notes, I can’t explain my eating very nearly a whole bag of chocolate chips over this weekend. Yes, dear hearts, while I’m on this very expensive program. In the torah we are now reading about being delivered from slavery. In the dvar torah this past Shabbat Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (until fairly recently Chief Rabbi in the UK) was quoted as saying:
“But the Torah is acutely aware that not every slave wants liberty. This too emerges out of Israelite history. More than once in the wilderness the Israelites wanted to go back to Egypt. They say: “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost – also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic” (Num 11:5). As Rashi points out the phrase “at no cost” [chinam] cannot be understood literally. They paid for it with their labour and their lives. “At no cost” means “free of mitzvot,” of commands, obligations, duties. Freedom carries a highest price, namely moral responsibility. Many people have shown what Erich Fromm called “fear of freedom.” Rousseau spoke of “forcing people to be free” – a view that led in time to the reign of terror following the French Revolution.”
Oy. In that context the bag of chips was even more expensive.
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Post by savtele on Feb 13, 2017 10:30:12 GMT -5
Boker Tov All! Well, after hours at Urgent care, John finally called me. Apparently something called a "Baker's cyst" - and when his kneecap slipped, it caused all the fluid in his knee to drain out into the leg - which is what caused the pain & swelling. He's on anti-inflammatories now, supposed to keep his leg elevated & he has a brace for his knee. Perhaps surgery for the cyst down the line. Oy! The body wears out!
Regarding the high price of freedom: I think we are seeing it in our country at this time. From a desire to "be kept safe" from terrorist attacks, foreign or domestic, just under 1/2 the country is willing and happy to give up their freedoms to a lunatic who has promised them that he is the only one who can do this!
It's always interesting to me that the 1 thing they missed - out of generations of being slaves in what was then the great 1st world power - is the food! Food is life, it is community, in many ways it defines us. Whether Israeli salad, Italian pasta or German sausage with sauerkraut - food defines who we are. They were now, literally, without a country!
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose, Nothing ain't nothing, honey, if it ain't free!"
Please excuse my ramblings - I'm tired & need to get some coffee into me & then head to the pool. The warmer/colder weather, the health concerns right and left, & then dealing with my car - I'm a bit worn out!
Have a good day ladies!
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lee058
This space for rent
Posts: 23,285 
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Post by lee058 on Feb 13, 2017 11:41:31 GMT -5
Good morning everybody. This is going to be just a quick note to say hi. I had my physical therapy evaluation for my shoulder this morning. I will be going to PT 3x a week through the end of March, and we'll see how things go after that.
I appreciate the quotes about freedom and slavery! I will try to comment later.
Have a peaceful day, Lee
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Post by happysavta on Feb 13, 2017 12:24:42 GMT -5
Today's musing is exceptionally on spot for me. Louise, thank you. Why do we wake up some mornings heavy with sadness? MY DH isn't like that. He wakes up curious to see what the day will bring and eager to get going. I need an hour just to get out of bed, then some pills to balance my brain and then some time at the computer to muse a bit with you all before I can tackle the day and make it productive.
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