reJEWvination

ReJEWvination© #13 Finding Oneself In Torah with Kemosabe We find ourselves in Torah A statement repeated by many a Rabbi           Where was the Lone Ranger without Tonto’s guidance? And so, where are The Lone Strangers’ (whose ancestors were strangers in a strange land) and their Tontos? In form and function, the synagogue and its …

ReJEWvination #12:  Boundary Crossers, Religion & Wayne’s World (Way, No Way!) No Way! – Wayne Way!  Garth Wayne’s World           Exodus was ‘the route’ for the Israelites from physical slavery to Sinai. Sinai was command, connection & a covenant to free the Israelites from both physical and spiritual slavery.            Way!            The ‘YES and …

Re-JEWvination#11 Re-Thinking Again (The Distribution of Judaism – Bundled & Unbundling) By Yaakov Schwartz of Judaism On Purpose™ In the annual series for corporate planning sessions I facilitated, the very first step was the Myopia Martian Exercise. Assuming the participants were from Mars and were to create the corporation from scratch again – with no …

Torah Goes To The Movies: The Frozen 2 or “The Frozen Chosen”: Picking & Choosing Updated from June 8, 2011 “A big question that fans may have about Frozen 2 is why only Elsa was given ice powers and became the fifth spirit, whereas Anna is normal. It’s explained that the two sisters represent the …

ReJEWvination© VIII Torah Goes To The Movies (But Talmud Goes To The Concession Stands?) By Yaakov (Jim) Schwartz, author Judaism On Purpose™ Operating much like a book club, once a month the concierge of meaning rabbi/cantor selects or delegates the selection of a movie for all the members (if they so desire to watch) and …

ReJEWvination© VII The MUZZLE Tov Service (During Torah Portion Noah – The Lumber Liquidator) By Yaakov (Jim) Schwartz, author Judaism On Purpose™  In the world to come, the wolf will spin silk and the dog will open gates Ecclesiastes, Rabbah 1         Years ago when pricing a potential pet health insurance product with then the …

Torah Goes To The Movies: The Chosen In the film, The Chosen, Danny Saunders, next in line to inherit Reb Saunders’ Chasidic Rebbe dynasty, employs an analogy to emphasis the superiority of the intellect over the heart. To paraphrase, melech, the word for king starts with a ‘m’ (mem) and then there is an ‘l’ …

ReJEWvination© VI ‘The INventory’ #4 “Aligning Means With Meaning” (Jewish Personal Financial Life Planning) (disclaimer: I was a fee only personal financial planner & author retired from practice since the late ‘90’s) Objectives of this optional 6 week workshop course: Aligning means with meaning. Healing personal financial anxiety Putting money in its place to align, …

Torah Goes To The Movies: Megamind All is foreseen but not ordained Judaic thought (However, dogs are preordained not purchased regardless of price) Schwartz After super-villain Megamind (Ferrell) kills his good-guy nemesis, Metro Man (Pitt), he becomes bored since there is no one left to fight. He creates a new foe, Titan (Hill), who, instead …

ReJEWvination© V ‘The INventory’ #3 Why I Am A Jew (in contrast to: Talk Yiddish; Dress British) By Yaakov (Jim) Schwartz, author Judaism On Purpose™ Judaism is how one lives, not how one is born. When one knows the “why,” then the “how” becomes easier and motivated. In my experience, when I have asked fellow …

As “Goad” As It Gets – What if this is as good as it gets Jack Nicholson Is that all there is, is that all there is, my friend? Song rendition by Peggy Lee Sure™ A deorderant           The quest to avoid extinction and the derivative actions of seeking to “acquire (Cain)”certainty, continuity, permanence ironically …

ReJEWvination© IV ‘The INventory’ #2 The Ethical Will (Where There’s A Will There’s An Heir?) By Yaakov (Jim) Schwartz, author Judaism On Purpose™ When the game is over, the king and the pawn go in the same box           In the end, all we take with us is character. And while we may leave a …

Remember Me – ‘The Soul Resume©’ After Life Insurance By Yaakov (Jim) Schwartz, author Judaism On Purpose™ When the day comes that I must account for my life, I will not be asked: “Why weren’t you Moses?” I was not equipped to be Moses. But I dread the question, “Why weren’t you Zusia?” Reb Zusia …

Slicing & Dicing Without A Vegamatic By Yaakov (Jim) Schwartz, author Judaism On Purpose™           In Kepner Tregoe’s Decision Analysis – there is the ‘is’ and ‘the is not’ to delineate. Without defining both ‘the is’ AND ‘the is not’ of the problem or objective one gets ‘snot.’             The synagogue is (including but not …

By Yaakov (Jim) Schwartz, author Judaism On Purpose™ [Humans] are motivated by a will to meaning. Victor Frankl In the movie, City Slickers, Mitch (Billy Crystal) and his friends Ed (Daniel Stern) and Phil (Bruno Kirby) are having mid-life crises. To shake the ennui, what next, and the something’s wrong: I just can’t put my …