Jewish Musings, Fri./Sat, Shabbat. July 29-30

[gazelle18]

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

Please join us, and let us know if you would like to help lead periodically!

[gazelle18]

Hi everyone, and good shabbos!

Some comments first.


1. Frieda, I laughed out loud when you cast your vote yesterday from the "great state of happy savta." Very appropriate for convention season.
2. I reached out to Louise yesterday via email. Her DXH has passed away, and I believe the funeral is today.

I just finished watching Hillary's acceptance speech. It is very meaningful to me that a female has now been finally nominated to run for president from a major party.

I admit to being rather stressed out by the prospect that Trump might win. (This is no longer a WW board, so I guess it's kosher to talk politics.) I live in a red state, so I expect to see lots of Trump bumper stickers in the coming months.

Do any of you guys permit world/national events to effect your moods? I wish I was better at just trusting that things will turn out ok.

[gazelle18]

I sincerely apologize if the above post offended anyone.

[peachymom1]

Hi everyone! I'm not offended, Lynne, this is an interesting time in history indeed, no matter who you support for POTUS. World and national events do affect my moods; I can't help but feel despair when bad things happen, but the optimist in me keeps looking for hope. I don't think it's enough to simply trust that things will turn out OK. It's in our hands and up to us to make certain that they do. We can't solve all the world's problems, but everyone can do some little thing to brighten up a dark corner here and there.

I didn't get a chance to answer yesterday's questions, so here I go.

I enjoy the variety we've shared on this board. I am interested in what everyone has to say, to add, to explore, to share. I like to hear people's opinions and perspectives, and I have learned a great deal from the ideas, experiences and wisdom of everyone who posts.

I do like to explore the weekly Torah portion, but not just for the sake of Torah study itself. I want to know how it applies to our lives today. That to me is the eternal character of the Torah. It is a gift that keeps teaching us, because we keep learning, growing and evolving, and our perspectives expand as we get older and wiser. I have been interested in religion since I was very young, and I have always been a questioner. So I like to ask you (and myself) questions about the Torah text and what we can learn about ourselves and our lives. If I get too pedantic or boring, I hope you will tell me, and I'll try to be more accommodating.

I'll try to be back tomorrow -- it will be another nutty day at work, and I'm looking forward to some peace and quiet on Shabbat!

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well today. I'm feeling good. I got my new air conditioner put in yesterday; the techs didn't finish up until almost 9:30PM! It's working this morning so I am very happy about that. The only thing I am not happy about is what a mess I allowed the house to get into when it was so hot. I need to clean it up before I go out. Today, DS and I are going food shopping (H wants to make Vietnamese summer rolls tomorrow), and later on, to the cheap theater to see Alice Through the Looking Glass again. I love the cheap theater bargains because I love going to the movies, and the regular theaters are about $9. for matinees. The cheaper theater is $5.

Re politics: I am a Democrat and I support Hillary whole-heartedly. I think she is wonderful, and I hope very strongly that she becomes our next President!!! Not just because she is a woman, but because she is by far the best person for the job, although of course I am thrilled to see that particular glass ceiling disappear.

Re world events affecting my thoughts and feelings: Yes, they do, sometimes a LOT. There is so much commotion going on in the world that it is painful, yet there are many good things as well (even if the media don't pay as much attention to them).

In short, I would be happy to write about whatever people are interested in (as I said yesterday)! If I can think of a response, I will put it here in our thread. I love being part of our thread!

I'll be back later. Have a peaceful day, Lee

[momof2]

Boker Tov!
I'm usually up early, and it is my quiet time. I posted before the topic yesterday. I do enjoy chatting. Also talking about Judaism, Torah, etc. I don't have much time between the two kids. This is my source of daily Jewish interaction, study, and friendship.
Yes, world/national events do effect my mood. I don't let them effect me too much, I need to be present with my kids. Sometimes my daily life, stress, effects me and I don't make healthy choices. Like last night, getting ready for our trip, then DSIL called and asked if it was okay for her to stop by and crash. Of course, we have an airbed. It's just one more thing in the mix. At least she wants to get on the road early, to see her kids. She was in San Francisco, and wanted to break up the drive to San Diego.
I still tracked everything. Completed day 10 of tracking, ready for day 11.
Ready for the drive to Stockton, usually 2-2.5 hours. It'll be longer with DD potty training. We are bringing a potty with us for if we need to pull off on the side of the road. Also for my parent's house too.
Shabbat dinner will be with my parents, sister and niece. My niece hasn't met DS yet. Looking forward to it.
Shabbat shalom.
Tamara

[hollygail]

National (and for that matter, although to a lesser extent, local) news used to get to me all the time. I've grown out of that phase of my life. There have been times when I was ready to pack it all in and leave the country because of some of the b.s. going on here. However, here I still am... The universe has always taken care of me; I have no reason to think the universe will stop taking care of me...

This, from the person who picketed Five & Dime stores in NYC when those in Winston-Salem, NC refused service at their lunch counters to (what were at the time) Negroes. This, from the person who demonstrated against racial inequality (I walked with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, countless times in Washington, DC) and against the Vietnam War (and was a stop on the "underground railway" getting draft-age men to Canada) and was trained as a draft counselor. This from a person who volunteered for my local rape crisis center (on the speakers bureau). Do I really need to go on?

I've put my a$$ on the line since I was a child. I've been involved in tikkun olam (repairing the world) projects my whole life. I'm still helping to shape the next generation of Jews. I'm in this for good.

And I fully believe the universe has always taken care of me, and I have no reason to think the universe won't continue to take care of me. I guess I just do my part in taking care of the universe too...

[peachymom1]

I'm so excited -- I found another kosher bakery that sells chocolate-chip challah! Usually DH orders it in advance (along with raisin challah) from a bakery near his work, but it's too far for me to go on my lunch break, now that he's home after his hip replacement surgery. I don't know why I never thought to try this one I went to today - it's in the same shopping center as the kosher butcher we go to, less than a mile from home. Duh! My kids and our Shabbat dinner hosts will be delighted!

Today is my weigh-in day, and I've committed myself to getting back on track. One day at a time. My eating has been crazy for the last three weeks, I've been so tired, I haven't had time to exercise, and I need to change all that. I do need to study my Torah reading for next week; I'm reading 5 aliyot, but I've done them all before, so it's just brush-up.

If I don't get back here today, I'll be leading on Sunday, and I wish you all a Shabbat shalom!

[happysavta]

Peachy, you are always so profound. What you wrote, "I don't think it's enough to simply trust that things will turn out OK. It's in our hands and up to us to make certain that they do."

I think that same philosophy applies to our WLJ, don't you?

And then you wrote, "We can't solve all the world's problems, but everyone can do some little thing to brighten up a dark corner here and there."

Again, I think you can rephrase that same idea and apply it to WL. We can't get to goal weight all at once, but taking small measures and making small changes will throw some light into the darkest corners of being overweight.

[happysavta]

I watch the news on TV or listen to the radio. I watched both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and many other speakers at both conventions.

While I prefer most of the Republican platform to the Democratic platform, I just can't bring myself to vote for Trump. His temperament is so far from presidential. Ugh. I want to send him to the principal's office every time he opens his mouth. And his preparedness and experience for this office are Zero. We just had 8 years of an inexperienced, unprepared president who had to learn on the job.

Hillary Clinton has the credentials and the temperament, but not the character. She has become a politician in the worst sense of the word over the years. She knows how to give the idealistic stump speech, but she also knows how to milk Wall Street for her own gain. And when the head of the FBI publically calls her "extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified matter," I just can't see putting her in the White House. And that bogus crap about an inflammatory video causing the death of 4 Americans in Bengazi is shameful. She knew it was a planned, orchestrated terrorist attack on the anniversary of 9-11

There's no one to vote for in this election, but the country can't run itself either.