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Our Gemara on this daf relates two incidents about people who work for a living, which actually represent contradictory ideas.
On Amud Aleph we learned of two sages, Rabbi Yochanan and Ilfa. They both were in extreme poverty, and at a crisis point, pondered leaving torah study in order to engage in business. Ilfa decides to leave, while Rabbi Yochanan continues to engage in Torah study, obviously with great sacrifice. Years later, we find o …
Our Gemara in Amud Aleph extols the virtue of flexibility:
A person should always be soft like a reed, and he should not be stiff like a cedar.
What does psychology have to say about this important quality? According to researcher Todd Kashdan:
“Psychological flexibility spans a wide range of human abilities to: recognize and adapt to various situational demands; shift mindsets or behavioral repertoires when these strategies compromise pers …
Our Gemara on Amud Aleph records Shimon ben Shetach’s bemused reaction to the famous Choni HaMeagel’s antics in prayer. We are all familiar with Choni’s petulant demands of God during a drought, refusing to leave a circle he drew until God made it rain, according to his specific requirements. Shimon ben Shetach said,
שָׁלַח לוֹ שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן שָׁטַח: אִלְמָלֵא חוֹנ …
Dear Readers
Welcome to the November issue of Mind Body & Soul, titled “staying the course”. The term “staying the course” may not be familiar to everyone.
Staying the course, in its most literal sense, refers to those on a sea journey, facing forces – be they powerful storms, loss of power, or even pirates – that jeopardize their reaching an intended destination. A skilled traveler calmly adjusts in a mann …
"Your life does not get better by chance; it gets better by change." (Jim Rohn)
I am not trying to be a contrarian, but when I saw that the theme for this Mind-Body-Soul is Staying the Course, I thought to myself that one foundation of our field of mental health is to NOT stay the course. The founder of Emotionally Focused Therapy, Dr. Sue Johnson explains it this way: clients come into our offices with one story, and we help them leave with …
The Gemara Beutza 35b describes the halakhic status of water dripping into a house from a leaky roof, and if it is permitted to put a pot underneath it to collect the drippings. You can imagine this man’s wife begging him to get the roof fixed before Yom Tov (the Holidays), and him procrastinating. While we are on the subject of leaky roofs and nagging, let us take a look at what Mishlei (Proverbs) has to say about this:
משלי כ״ …
