Why is it that some people in leadership positions feel they succeed only when others are held back? Whether it’s a boss, a politician, an athlete, or even a family member, we’ve all known someone who felt it was their job to push people down rather than lift them up. Why do people engage in smack talk or bullying in order to make their case or keep others quiet?
“No good deed goes unpunished.”
Is there anyone alive who hasn’t entertained that notion for at least a dejected moment?
Recording from Shabbat Services, November 30, 2018 D’var from Friday, November 30, 2018 – Rabbi David Kosak *If you would like to download the recording and listen later, right click on the link then click “Save as” and it will save onto your computer for later listening. Recorded and edited by Ed Kraus. Click here for an archive of past recordings
If I had a dollar for every time someone either told me I looked too young to be a rabbi or that I was an old soul, I could have finished paying back my student loans long ago. I have always been an old soul in a younger body. When I was younger, I often preferred to hang out with the adults over my peers, and I was more comfortable in situations that seemed “adult” and less “angst-filled teen” even when I was an “angst-filled teen.”
This past Wednesday marked the sheloshim, the thirtieth day since the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Jewish custom has established guideposts by which we observe and mourn. The periods of time closest to a death are considered to carry our deepest grief; as time passes, the intensity of our pain tends to lessen.
Recording from Shabbat Services, November 23-24, 2018 - Rabbi David Kosak and Rabbi Eve Posen
A while back someone asked me what I like to do with my free time, and it took me a second to come up with an answer that was simply about me. Before having kids, I loved going on long walks, cooking, reading a book (often in just a day), learning, and going to movies.
