![]() I was created for a specific purpose – there is no other 'me.' Consider that I am here for others – bearing the 'me' in mind, how can I make the difference to the world? Lastly, there's no time like the present. I find this to be the most inspirational and motivating message. And if not now, when?” – Hillel, Ethics of the Fathers, 1:14 “If I am not for me, who is for me and if I am (only) for myself, what am I. No one wants problems, but who doesn't want opportunities? Lori Palatnik 13. Words are powerful as soon as you reframe from "problem" to "opportunity," you pull down the covers, get out of bed, pull up your boot straps and rise to the occasion. It frames a situation not as something overwhelming that is impossible to solve, but as a puzzle that can be worked out, and the process of working it out is where real growth takes place. It prevents me from blaming others, including myself. It means that God is sending me this so that I can grow. "There are no problems, only opportunities for growth." – Rebbetzin Dena Weinberg: To me that encapsulated everything about finding a wife. “If you want to meet a princess, make yourself into a prince.” – Rabbi Dov Heller, Aish LA I find it's a clever way of saying people are crazy. And I am not sure about the universe.” – Albert Einstein “There are two things that are infinite, the universe and man's stupidity. I want to be able to keep climbing even after I fall, and Rav Noah's words have always given me the courage to fail and keep trying anyway. I love this quote because it inspires me to keep taking the risks I need in order to grow. Actually the failure to make decisions is one of life's biggest mistakes." – Rabbi Noah Weinberg. "People often avoid making decisions out of fear of making a mistake. Caring for other Jews cuts to the core of who we are as a people and we need to reach a point where that is so deep that it is impossible not to say or do something. The connection between Jews is instinctive, therefore one has no choice but to speak. This quote embodies the depth of love every Jew needs to feel for another. "I don't speak because I have the power to speak I speak because I don't have the power to remain silent" – Rabbi A.Y. When things get "hard" it reminds me that this too is for the best and I need to reorient my thinking to this realization. This too is for the good.” – Nachum Ish Gamzu, Talmud, Taanit, 21a But if I am I because I am I, and you are you because you are you, then I am I and you are you.” – Rabbi Menachem Mendel of KotzkĪ self-definition that is based on other’s perspective is untrue and deceptive. “If I am I because you are you, and you are you because I am I, then I am not I and you are not you. It’s one of my favorite quotes because it is so true! And my mother used to say it quietly about people and whenever she did, she was right. smart – but you are not so smart!” – a Yiddish saying While those pursing good deeds and actions become righteous. ![]() People who focus on being righteous can become self-absorbed and self-righteous. "I do not want followers who are righteous, rather I want followers who are too busy doing good that they won’t have time to do bad." – Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk One of my father’s priorities was getting people to ask the big questions in life, to get out of the pettiness and focus on living a life of real purpose. But we are so busy 'living' that we don't have a moment to really think about living. Everyone wants to live a life of meaning. "If you don't know what you're living for, you haven't yet lived.” – Rabbi Noah Weinberg, of blessed memory It creates a paradigm of what righteousness is – trying to do what's right, getting up from failure, and keep moving forward. The Torah defines someone who's righteous not as someone who had succeeded, but someone who has persevered. Greatness is defined as getting up one more time than what you've fallen down. ![]() Life is all about the ability to get up from challenge. "A righteous man falls down seven times and gets up." – King Solomon, Proverbs, 24:16. With the wisdom of retrospective insight I have countless times learned to acknowledge that coincidence is but God’s way of choosing to remain anonymous. The seemingly haphazard, random, and arbitrary events that comprise the story of our lives begin to form a coherent and purposeful narrative when we view them from a divine perspective. The older I get the more I am astonished by its truth, both in a national as well as personal sense. It translates into the idea that Wiesel so beautifully captured as aphorism in my favorite quote. If you would have asked me my favorite Yiddish word, I would have said bashert. ![]() “In Jewish history there are no coincidences.” – Elie Wiesel
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