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...
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...
Spirituality and healing are fundamentally intertwined. Modern medicine has opened its mind to the power of the mind to help heal the body, and the impact of a patient's spiritual state on the healing process. Any attempt to better our physical health should be coupled with an upgrade in our spiritual health. On many levels, the body and soul go side-by-side. A medical treatment will only be effective if it is well-matched for the patient. Factors such as blood type, genetic make-up and family history will help make a determination whether a particular treatment is appropriate for a particular person. A practitioner would be negligent in their duty if they did not first investigate the patient's background prior to deciding how to treat them. The same applies to remedies of the spiritual nature. Your soul's family history must be thought about before embarking on any spiritual path. If your soul’s DNA is Jewish, it needs Jewish spirituality to be healthy. Heal...