Plot Twists and Endings!

Day 360: Wronging with Words

When I was walking with my brother over Thanksgiving in Chicago, a homeless man asked us for money. We had nothing to give so we kept walking. The man called after us "someday you'll have a heart." It stung a little and I'll remember that for a long time, but my brother laughed it off. He's stronger than I am and a lot of other things I'm not.

This man knew nothing about us. Had he known us, he might have used more personalized insults that would have hurt us more, caused more pain. Judaism regards insults based on knowledge of a person to be evil. Think for a moment about your best friend. You know so much about them. On one hand, that means you've gotten to know them especially well and you have a very close bond; on the other hand, with all that knowledge, you could easily hurt them.

Something I'll be keeping in mind when times are tough or I'm stressed and being annoying.

Be careful with what you know, knowledge is power.

Day 361: The Telephone as an Instrument for Good

Phones are very different inventions depending on who is using it. A teenager is more likely to use a phone for texting, playing games, or using social media, whereas an adult is more likely to keep in touch via phone calls.

No matter what you do with a phone, remember that it is not only catching up with each other or catching up on gossip that phones can be used for. Phones are also good tools for checking in on loved ones or loved ones who are ill.

Day 362: Torah Study and the Importance of Review

Plot twist!

I've been considering for a while the prospect of reading through this book again and doing a similar project for 2016. While I'm not sure I'll read the book cover to cover again, I will certainly want to pick it up and look at different days' values and maybe relearn some of the things I've read this year.

I see the value in reading through it a second time: the more you read something, the better it sticks with you. This is why flashcards and graphic organizers can be such useful study tools.

Especially with Jewish texts, I think the more you read them, the more you get out of them, the more personal you find them. As I read and reread parshiot and different sections of Talmud, as well as more modern books, I find relevance and different meanings in them. As Disney's Pocahontas aptly remarks, "you can't step in the same river twice, the water's always changing, always flowing." The Torah has been compared to water and each time we approach it, we are different people seeing the text differently.

Day 363: A Week of Kindness, A Week of Gemilut Chesed

I don't believe that I'm any better than anyone else. I believe I have strengths and that my strengths and skills are different than anybody else's. That makes me special, not better. But I must say, I did feel proud of myself when I saw R' Telushkin's and Mr. Jack Doueck's list of easy daily kindnesses to slip in: I'm a generous driver and let people merge into my lane, I gave my box of Tic-Tacs to a homeless person two weeks ago, I always hold the door for people behind me, etc.

What saddens me is that often, these kindnesses are surprising: the man behind me didn't expect me to hold the door or the homeless person didn't expect me to stop.

What makes me happy? This year more than ever, I've heard of dozens of places across our nation in which people have paid for the meal of the person behind them. I think that is truly beautiful.

Doing good things for others does make us feel good, and even if our motive is to achieve that good feeling, eventually we will do good deeds simply because they are good.

Day 364: Shabbat

Since it is nearly the end of the year, rather than reflect here on the sections I read this week, I will include these reflections in my final wrap-up reflection.

Day 365: Your First Check for the New Year

If I'd ever written a real check in my life...

The idea in this section is to start off your year by giving charity (in this case, making the first check you write for the year a charitable donation). I love this idea! I'll be in Israel for New Year's and if possible, I think it would incredibly special to end this year and start next year by giving charity. I'll see what I can do...

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We did it. We did it!