VOLUME 20, ISSUE 35 FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 \/ 17 ELUL 5773
\nTORAH PORTION: KI-SAVO (DEUTERONOMY 26:1 – 29:8)
\nCANDLE LIGHTING: 7:18 P.M. SHABBAT ENDS: 8:2 PM (CHICAGO)<\/p>\n
This week’s CTN Shabbat Fax is sponsored by Rabbi Moshe Katz and family, in honor of the second yartzeit of his brother, Rabbi Reuven Katz z\u201dl. “Growing up you were a role model for us. We loved Torah because you loved Torah. We wanted to live elevated lives because your life was elevated!”<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018Rejoice with all the good.\u2019<\/p>\n It\u2019s a great blessing. And a very easy line to misunderstand.<\/p>\n And Jewish tradition tells us to remember what it really means.<\/p>\n Not \u2018Rejoice through all the good.\u2019<\/p>\n But \u2018Rejoice with all the good\u2019<\/p>\n Because if we know how to be happy, then having nice things is great.<\/p>\n Maybe even makes being happy easier.<\/p>\n But if we haven\u2019t mastered the tools?<\/p>\n We can have all of life\u2019s pleasures \u2026 and it won\u2019t make a difference.<\/p>\n Psychologists call it \u2018the American Paradox\u2019.<\/p>\n As a society, we\u2019re twice as rich as we used to be, but no happier.<\/p>\n In fact it looks like in many ways we\u2019re less happy.<\/p>\n Two thousand years ago the Rabbis of the Talmud made a point of reminding us:<\/p>\n \u201cWho is happy? He who is satisfied with his lot.\u201d<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t mean \u2018satisfied and not interested in making it better\u2019.<\/p>\n But \u2018satisfied\u2019 in the sense of appreciating each little thing that we do have right now.<\/p>\n Focusing on what we have, not on what we don\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u2026 Because that\u2019s the true key to happiness.<\/p>\n There’s an old story known as \u2018The Legend of the Jacket\u2019.<\/p>\n About a king who was sick. His wise men tell him that to be cured he needs to wear the jacket of a truly happy man for one day.<\/p>\n The King sends messengers all across the land. They go to the home of a fabulously wealthy man. He has everything you could possibly want.<\/p>\n Surely he must be happy.<\/p>\n … But he\u2019s not.<\/p>\n Because he\u2019s too busy being jealous of someone who has more.<\/p>\n The next wealthy man?<\/p>\n He\u2019s sitting up nights, worried he might lose it all.<\/p>\n And so on.<\/p>\n Finally, disappointed, they head back home.<\/p>\n And as they pass through the countryside, they hear the voice of a simple man singing.<\/p>\n \u201cI am so happy. I worked today and got paid. Now I can go home, put some food on the table, and spend time with my family.<\/p>\n He sounds so truly happy. So they ask him. And he says, yes, I\u2019m probably the happiest man in the whole world.<\/p>\n \u2018Great\u2019, they say. \u2018Because the king is sick and you can save his life!\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019d love to. What do I need to do?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Just lend him your jacket for a day and he\u2019ll be cured.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2026 And the man says, \u2018Sorry. I don\u2019t own a jacket.\u2019<\/p>\n Rabbi Shmuel Salant. One of last century\u2019s leading Rabbis and Torah scholars.<\/p>\n People were constantly at his door. They had questions about Jewish law. Needed advice on personal matters.<\/p>\n And many simply needed someone who would listen. As they poured out their heartaches and troubles.<\/p>\n His home was always full of people.<\/p>\n Until his family thought it was a bit too much.<\/p>\n \u2026 \u201cMaybe you should set aside specific hours to see people.<\/p>\n At least then you\u2019ll be able to rest a little during the day.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rabbi\u2019s response?<\/p>\n \u201cG-d lets me pour out my heart whenever I need to.<\/p>\n He\u2019s always ready to listen to me.<\/p>\n \u2026 G-d doesn\u2019t have special hours.<\/p>\n So neither do I.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn the facades we put on for others we demonstrate our potential; through our children we reveal our reality.\u201d (Lawrence Kelemen, To Kindle A Soul p. 195)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" VOLUME 20, ISSUE 35 FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 \/ 17 ELUL 5773 TORAH PORTION: KI-SAVO (DEUTERONOMY 26:1 – 29:8) CANDLE LIGHTING: 7:18 P.M. SHABBAT ENDS: 8:2 PM (CHICAGO) This week’s CTN Shabbat Fax is sponsored by Rabbi Moshe Katz and family, in honor of the second yartzeit of his brother, Rabbi Reuven Katz z\u201dl. “Growing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-chicago-torah-network-shabbat-fax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=897"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":899,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897\/revisions\/899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1. AND YOU SHALL REJOICE WITH ALL THE GOOD THAT G-D HAS GIVEN YOU \u2026 (24:11)<\/h4>\n
2. STORY OF THE WEEK<\/h4>\n
3. QUOTE OF THE WEEK<\/h4>\n