The Rabbi on Mason

Dear Friends,

On this Shabbat, we read from Parshat Terumah, the section that reminds us that each of us has a special offering which we bring to the world in which we live. Every person had a unique contribution to make to the building of the portable Tabernacle in the Wilderness.

One of the many rewards in the rabbinate is to hear about the good works with which members of our congregation are involved. Alex is another of our special college students who faced some health challenges which you can see from the site below. I believe that through Alex’s project, he is giving back an offering that is a response to his experiences. Often, people ask, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” They question where G-d is when faced with bad news. Alex’s response to his situation is evidence to me that “When bad things happen to good people”, G-d can appear in the ways in which we respond to our situations and the ways in which others reach out to us.

I hope you are inspired by his video. Please go to http://kck.st/katzco and watch the video

I also want to share with you a special offering that was given to me by my dad after a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame. In light of this being Super Bowl weekend, I hope you find these to be as inspiring as I have.

The Ten Commandments of Sports

Thou shalt not quit

Thou shalt not alibi

Thou shalt not gloat over winning

Thou shalt not sulk over losing

Thou shalt not take unfair advantage

Thou shalt not ask odds thou art unwilling to give

Thou shalt always be willing to give the benefit of the doubt

Thou shalt not underestimate thyself

Remember the game is the thing, and he/she who thinks otherwise is no true sportsman

Honor the game thou playest, for he/she who plays the game straight and hard wins even though he/she loses the game.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Bruce Aft

This entry was posted on Friday, February 4th, 2011 at 9:55 am and is filed under Rabbi Aft, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.