Jewish musings, Thurs. Sept. 5

[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:
Frieda (hopefully)?
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in. Don’t be shy!

[gazelle18]

Last evening, when looking up the quote about “who is rich”, I came across an adjacent verse, which I also love.

“Who is mighty? He who subdues his passions. One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and one whose temper is controlled is mightier than one who captures a city.”

Random thoughts here:
1. I used to be a hothead. My maturity, which has caused me to be slower to temper, is a form of “might.” I used to think I had simply mellowed. But no, I have become more powerful.
2. Could this teaching be a new mantra for resisting all manner of goodies? Instead of feeling deprived when I “subdue my passion” for, say, a doughnut, could I reframe it as a show of “might”?

How does this resonate with you?

[hollygail]

Absolutely! It takes strength (including strength of character) to resist temptation, whether for a doughnut (in my case, an entire box of chocolate) or venting one's anger on another human being, or anything else. Good for you for the ability to say "no" to that doughnut!

It's not light yet and already it's 70 degrees. We're headed for a high of 99 this afternoon. What happened to last week's cooling trend? Alas...

[peachymom1]

I hear ya, Holly, it's 83 degrees here and it's not even 7 a.m.! And it's supposed to get to 109 today. Luckily, there's plenty of iced tea in the fridge!

I'm familiar with this quote from Pirkei Avot about who is strong. I hadn't applied it to resisting goodies though - definitely a helpful application! I'll keep that in mind!

[lee058]

Good afternoon everybody. Hope you are all well and SAFE! Please pray for Israel.

Re today's topic: This brings to mind something I said yesterday (here? I think so but am not sure; it might have been on the main board). I saw a woman in the supermarket wearing a "Women for Trump" shirt. I felt like getting into an argument with her, but refrained. It took will power to not tell her off!! I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for not making a scene, even though I felt like it. So, yay me.

Have a peaceful rest of the day, Lee

[louise]

Reframing is a handy and powerful tool. I thik youhave given us a realy good idea!