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Post by hollygail on Aug 30, 2023 7:34:04 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:
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy
And for those of you who stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in. Don’t be shy!
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Post by hollygail on Aug 30, 2023 7:43:03 GMT -5
Another ritual we find in this week's Torah portion marks the Israelites’ eventual entry into the Land of Israel. The Israelites divide up into their individual tribes and stand on two facing mountains — Mount G’rizim and Mount Eval. The tribes on one mountain recite a list of things that are to be prohibited (and therefore are curses) to which the tribes on the other mountain have to respond, "Amein." That's followed by the blessings recited by the tribes on the other mountain (to which the tribes on the first mountain respond, "Amein") that will occur if those prohibitions are observed.
One more modern way of interpreting that strange ritual may be this: actions have consequences. This may be one of the most important things that people learn as they grow into maturity, and this is what the ancient Israelites apparently had to learn as well. If you do bad things, bad stuff will happen. If you do good things, good stuff will happen. It is interesting to note that the prohibitions list in this Torah portion consists of sins that are committed mainly in private, which reminds us that everything we do is part of our moral and spiritual make up. Moreover, while some laws contained in the list can be found elsewhere in the Torah (especially the laws about sexual behaviors), some are new — like moving a neighbor’s landmark, which can easily be equated with trespassing on someone else’s property. Finally, in place of the original Ten Commandments (found in Exodus 20), here there are twelve — a number that can also remind us of the twelve tribes of ancient Israel.
In your life, how have you succeeded (or not succeeded) in keeping away from bad influences? What were the consequences you either had to face (by failing to avoid the bad influences) or avoided having to face (by succeeding in avoiding them)?
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Post by louise on Aug 30, 2023 9:00:25 GMT -5
Chiming in off topic here. The president and owner of the company I work for, Abbeville Press, died yesterday. He had heart trouble for the last 5 years or so, so I am not completely surprised but still in shock. He was a visionary and a charismatic presence at Abbeville. It's my understanding that his wife will honor his desire to continue the company, but I don't know how to think about that yet - and I'm sure neither does she. We are stronger now than we hve been but still not in the black. Still integrating the news.
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Post by gazelle18 on Aug 30, 2023 9:01:31 GMT -5
Because of my lifelong obsession with food, which of course has caused me all kinds of challenges and miseries, I have scrupulously avoided becoming overly dependent upon other substances. I never smoked, did drugs, or slept with total strangers. I’m careful with pain pills, which I’ve gotten every once in a while when I’ve had dental surgery. I throw them out when I no longer need them! Nowadays, I’m careful with alcohol consumption. I happen to love wine , and in addition to being caloric, it can obviously be addictive. So I’m careful with how much I allow myself to imbibe.
As a consequence of these “good” behaviors, my health has not been negatively impacted by the various harmful substances that are out there. Self medication is not particularly helpful for me.
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lee058
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Post by lee058 on Aug 30, 2023 13:16:53 GMT -5
Good afternoon everybody. Hope you are all well and SAFE!
Re today's topic: As for avoiding bad influences, I think that avoiding negative thinking is very important, as well as avoiding negative people. As for self-medication, I stopped drinking when I started taking medications that would interact with alcohol (also grapefruit juice, but I don't think that counts as a negative influence).
Have a peaceful day, Lee
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Post by peachymom1 on Aug 30, 2023 18:45:48 GMT -5
I can think of people I was friends with growing up who were not good influences, yet I did what they wanted to do because I didn't believe I had choices. I wasn't brought up to believe I could contradict or disagree with anyone - I had to go along with whatever other people wanted. What a crock, huh! It took a long time to learn to be my own person and make my own decisions about what I wanted to do, who I wanted to spend my time with, and what ethics I wanted to adopt.
I think of my in-laws as bad influences, and I am much, much happier since I removed them from my life. I put up with way too much from my monster boss many years ago, but I did finally ditch the jerk, and I've been happy with the two jobs I've had since him. I know now that I don't have to take just any job because my family needs to eat. And I love my current job and hope I can keep it until I can't work anymore.
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