* I get it that young women must tell people that our relationship is purely platonic, but why do that have to add “LOL”?
* There’s a type of girl who’s just really nice to everyone, smiles at everyone, is courteous to everyone, says hi to everyone. I love this type of girl. I guess I’m attracted to co-dependents aka nurses.
* Luke to a buddy: “We’re the wimps. We gave up our power and surrendered to women. It’s not their fault that they are so manipulative and acquisitive. Evolution made them this way. Women tend to lack agency. They do what their friends do.”
Buddy: “What do my wife’s friends do? They get divorced.”
* I’ve often seen that when an attractive woman gets a divorce, it sets off a destabilizing force in her shul. Many married guys start hitting on her and think about dumping their wives. Other couples divorce. It seems like divorce is contagious. If a man has friends who cheat, he’ll likely cheat on his wife.
B. says: “In my little shtiebel back in America our community was turned upside down when a married man slept with the wife of another man in the shul. Everyone was shell shocked. The man who cheated moved away with his family. The woman who cheated for divorced. We were all traumatized by the whole thing.”
* These days a dozen adults get hushed so one baby can sleep.
Brad: What happened in the old days?
Luke Ford: I assume that adults carried on and babies were not as sheltered from adult noise?
Brad Salzman: I think you are right. What changed?
Luke Ford: I don’t think things changed in the 70s, I think they started changing in the 80s or 90s, and kids were allowed to run the lives and homes of parents much more. I think I might attribute this change primarily to TV and movies which usually portray children as smarter than their parents.
Brad Salzman: Interesting hypothesis. I listened to a really interesting book that dealt with this subject called Scream-Free Parenting. He talks a lot about how in our culture we have placed our children above their parents, to the detriment of everyone.
* I asked my therapist how I could get over my pure annoyance with somebody and instead develop a more compassionate perspective. He suggested I begin with compassion and empathy for myself and maybe that empathy will spread out to include others.
* I propose that we go around and test reactions to the American flag. For those who don’t tear up, we ask them to leave America.
* On my morning walk, I often see old Japanese ladies weeding their lawn with a diligence that no other race exhibits.
* Reform Jewish teenage boy goes to Catholic church for the first time Easter Sunday (for his shiksa girlfriend) and comes back and says, “I was scared. There was all this talk about dying for your sins. And the Jews did this and the Jews did that. And there were all these bloody idols everywhere. I went to a Buddhist temple and it was fine. It made sense. It was like temple.”
* I rarely argue with anyone online. If someone challenges my facts or my logic, I may respond, but as all other types of argument are not honorable, I ignore them.
* Jews can triumph over discrimination, but what about Mexicans? How many hospitals or universities were founded by Mexicans or Hondurans?
* Bibi Netanyahu now is willing to negotiate with Iran rather than just make demands. As this is Israel’s opening position, it must be willing to accept something less.
D. replies: Actually, we spill out some of the wine from our Seder cup on Passover to express our sadness over innocent Egyptians dying.
And the joy we express on Purim is over the Jewish people being spared annihilation. The deaths of Haman’s allies were just a consequence of their choice to side with evil.
Christopher Donnellan: Jewish holidays are usually celebrations of triumph over their enemies and adversity.
Daniel: Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Succoth, Simchas Torah and Shavuos are some of the most important holidays and have nothing to with fighting and overcoming and enemy.
Christopher Donnellan: Purim and Passover certainly do.
Daniel: Purim, like Chanuka, is a minor holiday. Passover includes an aspect of triumphing over an enemy. But it is not the main cause of celebration. We are celebrating God taking us away from serving human masters so that we may serve Him. We don’t rejoice in the deaths of our enemies.
