Worst Day Ever? By Chani Gorkin Chanie Gorkin, an 11th grader who attends the Bais Rivka high school and lives in the Chasidic Community of Crown Heights, posted the poem to the site poetrynation.com earlier this year Today was the absolute worst day ever And don't try to convince me that There's something good in every day Because, when you take a closer look, This world is a pretty evil place. Even if Some goodness does shine through once in a while Satisfaction and happiness don't last. And it's not true that It's all in the mind and heart Because True happiness can be attained Only if one's surroundings are good It's not true that good exists I'm sure you can agree that The reality Creates My attitude It's all beyond my control And you'll never in a million years hear me say Today was a very good day Now read it from bottom to top, the other way, And see what I really feel abou...
It happened 2000 years ago. There was a plague that ravaged 24,000 disciples of Rabbi Akiva. The Talmud (Yevamot 62b) teaches us that the reason for it was a lack of decency amongst the students toward each other. Commentators question how it is possible that Rabbi Akiva, who taught that love of a fellow is the foundation of the entire Torah, would have so many students who could possibly show such intolerance toward each other? Their explanation is as relevant today as it was then. The students saw all of the future of Judaism dependent on interpretations and halachic decisions of the time. Because of that, they could not tolerate another person who had a different view because they believed that the other's view would veer Judaism off its path. In G-d’s eyes this was appalling. Even when you believe the other person is wrong and even if you believe that the repercussions of their beliefs will derail Judaism for generations, you still must never lose the dignity and r...
Have you ever tried snapping out of a bad habit only to find yourself falling right back into it? I don’t think you should quit your bad habit entirely. That seems too much, and apparently hasn’t worked for you in the past. I suggest you quit just for one day. This would be manageable. I’m sure you can control yourself for a single day. Especially when you know that it isn’t forever. You can go back to your vice tomorrow. But today, just today, you are over it. Then do the same thing again tomorrow. And the next day. This is an old hack to fool the Yetzer Harah - the evil urge inside us that pushes us to do the wrong thing. When you say that you are quitting forever, your evil urge fights back ferociously. But if you reassure it that you’ll be back to your devious ways tomorrow, and you’re just taking a day off, it doesn't feel threatened and leaves you be. After one vice-free day, you have reclaimed a tiny bit of control over your urges. Now yo...