Ethics and Auctions at MHDC: "I made a G today." "But you made it in a sleazy way."

Due to a recent neck injury that sidelined me from kickball today, this month’s posting will be devoid of wit and humor.

March was one for the books at MHDC. Our Ethical Kashrut event, led by NYC-based activist and rabbinical student Ari Hart of the Orthodox social justice movement Uri L’tzedek, provided a compelling examination of the Jewish textual basis for worker’s rights, the importance of ethics in food preparation, and his organization’s campaign to introduce ethical certification at up-to-snuff kosher restaurants. We discussed the state of affairs of the kosher meat industry, including the shameful case of Agriproccesors, the gargantuan Postville, IA - based plant that supplies most of the kosher beef and poultry in the US, which, following a federal raid that exposed atrocious labor and human rights abuses, has left many Jews questioning how kosher their meat really is when it’s produced at the expense of the workers (most of whom are undocumented immigrants at Agriprocessors.)

Our date auction was (by most male accounts) a resounding success, and has led some to postulate that it may have done more to up the Tribe's birthrate than a Birthright. Our most recent Shabbat dinner was attended by a photographer from the Washington Post, so look out for an article on MHDC, most likely in the April 19 edition. Pesach begins this week, and as the last-born of the MHDC clan, I'd bet that our doorpost won't be slathered in any paschal juice.

חג שמח

The Importance of Charity

The following is a parable and lesson from the great Ben Ish Chai, I recently read this in a book called "Parables of the Ben Ish Chai", by Yaakov Kahn:

"Ten birds roosted upon our roof," the father said to his clever son. Along came four hunters and each shot one. How many birds were left on the roof?"

"Four!" replied the boy.

"Why do you you say that?" asked the father. "Don't you know your arithmettic? If four were killed, six were left."

The Boy calmly explained, "When the hunters fired their rifles," he said, "they must have made a  loud noise, frightening away the other birds. Thus, only the four dead birds who will no longer be frightened by any noise in the world remained. We can sell the birds and use the money!"

How right you are my son," beamed the father. "You are a clever lad!"

A person, with his limited vision, tends to think that the money he gives away to charity is gone, lost forever - 'dead', while the money he still owns is all his. It is 'live' money, to do with as he pleases. The father hinted to his son that the six birds on the roof were alive and his to enjoy, while the clever boy pointed out that the live birds could fly away and were not necessarily theirs to keep. The only ones they could be sure of were the four dead birds which would never 

fly away!

This is exactly how it is with money. The money a person thinks he possesses can easily leave him and go to another person while the money a person gives to charity is his eternally; for the reward of that good deed is set aside for him in the World to Come.

"If you lend money to My people, to the poor man in your midst..." (Shemot 22:24) - If you lend the money and give charity to the poor, that money will remain in your midst', that is, in your possession, forever! Such money cannot fly away to any other person for it is yours eternally and will accompany you to the World to Come.

Rabbi Asher Vaknin, our Rabbi who gives lectures for our Moishe House Monthly program in New York, also discusses the importance of giving money to the needy. He stresses that individually, the next time we come across someone asking you for some money, if they are asking for a small amount, we should not hesitate, and we should just give the money; rather than trying to convince ourselves that maybe the person is trying to scam us. The fact remains, that the person is asking for money.

As a Moishe House, after reading the parable and these lessons, I hope that we can all be inspired to run a Moishe House event that would focus on raising money for a specific charity or even as a fundraiser for Moishe House.  

I wish you all a Happy Passover,

Joey Yadgar

Moishe House Great Neck

Today

was nice in DC.  There were cherry blossoms and also a breeze.  Except whenever there are cherry blossoms and also a breeze in DC, there are lots of tourists too, these perfect Christian families of four from Iowa, probably, and mommy and daddy always have fanny packs, though they wear them not quite as sucessfully as Steven, and they stand on the left side of the Metro escalator so I have to ask them, "Please, kiddo, chipper, scout, sport, etc., could you move to the right-hand side, so me and my fractured but improving relationship with modernity and my decent metabolism that likes actually MOVING if I am able can walk down these here stairs and make the train that I hear arriving in the station?"

And I don't like talking to strangers.

-Adam in DC

Life is a marathon not a race

Whoaa March flew by!!! I have been away several weekends so I feel a little disconnected from the house this month. I was at the beach for two weekends and in California running my first 10 K race! I have just began to develop an appreciation for running. I was nervous for the race at first but then I realized that I was only racing against myself. I did very little training for it beforehand so it was a way of finding my base fitness level. I liked how I was able to challenge myself but did not have to worry about what other people were doing. The race had people of all ages and I was at the same level as many people who were years younger and years older than myself. Without sounding completely cliche and corny I think there are many connections to be made with life itself. I have found myself being stressed about what I am doing now that I am out of college and what I "should" be doing. I think I am stressed because I compare myself to people around me and think, I should be applying to grad school or I should be volunteering or traveling more etc... Just like in a race, when you start to look around at what people around you are doing, you lose focus on your own breathing, pace and comfort level. This is when you start to breakdown and lose your own rhythm. I enjoyed the race so much because I ignored the people who were passing me and I didn't look back to see who I was ahead of. Instead I focused on keeping my own pace steady and pushing myself when I got tired. I ended up performing much better than I had expected and I even had fun. The same is true in life. There will always be people that look like they are passing you by and accomplishing more than you. There will also be people that look like they are behind you. The bottom line is you have no idea where they started from and ultimately it doesn't matter. What is important is that you focus on your own rhythm and make sure you are living up to your own potential. I hope to start training for the half marathon for next year...

An open challenge to Summer Shaprio

At 5:23 on Sunday afternoon I here by challenge Summer Shapiro to anything. That's right... anything. I do have some preferences. One would be to play a game of backgammon which I taught her how to play some 9 years ago. I would also like to play Gin a gmae new to our rep that we have some fun times playing. We could also play and game of "Um-be-gea." A game developed in highschool involving a complex system of shouts and kung fu chops and kicks.

Of course if none of these are options we can move onto something new. Here are some suggestions:

1.) Punch for punch
2.) Race to space
3.) Horse throwing
4.) America's Next Top Bocci Baller
5.) Allergy Olympics

These are but a few of the things that we could compete in. I here by challeneg you to a game of anything. Follow your heart Summer Shapiro. I will see you in the Thunder Dome!

March in Chicago

Winter just won't leave. This passover I hope to celebrate my Freedom from winter!

On another Pesach related note, Moishe House Chicago has recently transitioned into only homemade challah, although this last Shabbat it looked a bit more like focaccia than challah. Here's a thought: it would be cool if all the houses who were doing cool things for passover shared their resources either here, on the blog, or on the discussion thing on mintranet or something. keep in mind that i say this as someone who has so far put nothing together for our seder event...

March was good for our house. We took the plastic off the windows, had a big house cleaning, and then all did yoga together. Don't make fun. I'm excited for hanging out in the front yard and grilling soon, and hopefully a few spring climbing trips. Happy April everyone!

Spring Cleaning and Passover

Even though it's still hard to tell here in Chicago, Spring has arrived. It has been a long, arduous winter here and I am relieved that Spring has decided to grace us with her presence.

Spring cleaning is a very important time of year. Purging is a release of the old to make room for the new. Here in the Chicago Moishe House we made a day of it - cleaning our home and getting down to the real nitty grittiness of it all. We signed off on jobs and spent the day cleaning, scrubbing, sweeping, and tearing down all the plastic on our windows. Let the spring breeze settle in and winter dreariness be pushed out the door!

Passover is coming soon. We are all going home to our families to observe the holiday, which also recognizes the importance of spring cleaning. Even though the holiday isn't all about the importance of purging, it does help us remember the value of spring and rebirth (in many ways, as a nation, a season, as well as a community). It will be nice to return to our Moishe House after the holidays with a renewed sense of spirit for this next season of activities.

-Elana
MH Chicago