This week we learned the beginning of Perek Alef. Going through the Perek we start to see a trend:
Passuk Alef: serves as an introduction to who is writing the sefer: "דברי קהלת" -- we decided there could be two possibilities of what the word קהלת could be giving us:
- מקהלה: implying there will be an internal dialogue.
- קהילה: implying he will be presenting ideas to congregation.
- Everything is הבל, there's no point to anything -- including G-d, religion, relationships.
- Doing something in this world is הבל so there's no point to acquiring wealth, wisdom, power, etc.
Passuk Tet - Yud Alef: Kohelet tells us that there is no memory of anything that ever came before and there will be no memory of what will be done (אין חדש תחת השמש).
Now, what do we get from all of this?
Mrs. Perl said in class that we would all leave class feeling down and depressed and like there is no point in life, because that is what we just read. I wanted to offer another possible feeling we could have. Instead of reading all of these depressing things (they certainly are upsetting) and getting down, we should rise to the challenge and try to find all the positive in life. Certainly Shlomo wasn't lying to us - it does in fact often seem like life is really just worthless/pointless/futile/ephemeral/incomrehensible/illogical, but sometimes if we instead just try to seek out the positive instead of point out the negative, it makes things seem brighter and happier.
Clearly, there will be parts of this sefer that point out negative things about life: maybe as a class we could take on the challenge together of trying to look at the positive and the positive message within the portrayal of the negative.
Jamie, Challenge accepted. First of all I totally agree with what you said about finding the positive things in life. Today especially I have a lot going on with my family and thats all I need to do is look at the positive. Second of all, it is true that there will always be some negative and positive in life and we must dig to find the positive.
ReplyDeleteJamie, Challenge accepted. First of all I totally agree with what you said about finding the positive things in life. Today especially I have a lot going on with my family and thats all I need to do is look at the positive. Second of all, it is true that there will always be some negative and positive in life and we must dig to find the positive.
ReplyDeleteTo everyone thinking about finding the positive in the negative, this is for you! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJQSQA2bwgU&list=PL95EE29729BB1C29E especially http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70hS-wS8EBY from 2:14-3:08
ReplyDeleteWe could play the glad game! Just look at the link...
To everyone thinking about finding the positive in the negative, this is for you! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJQSQA2bwgU&list=PL95EE29729BB1C29E especially http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70hS-wS8EBY from 2:14-3:08
ReplyDeleteWe could play the glad game! Just look at the link...
To everyone accepting Jamie's challenge of looking at the positive, here is your chance! A wonderful person, Orly Bat Esther, and her mother were walking to shul when they were struck by a car. The mother died instantly while Orly sustained serious injuries. She is currently in the hospital recovering. Her injuries are so severe that it will take her twelve weeks to be able to walk again. On top of the physical pain, she just lost her mother. Her father died over ten years ago and now her mother is gone too. How will she be able to deal with this? How can we, as Jewish teenagers/fellow NCSYers, support her in her time of need if her situation is bad enough to prevent any of us from seeing the good? I am accepting this challenge because I know she is strong enough to use this tragedy to literally inspire the world. I know all of her (closer) friends will do the same. If seeing the good in this particular situation is too much for you, I still ask that you keep her in mind when you daven and maybe think about her when you write your mitzvah on a sticky note in Mrs. Perl's class.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sarah. Sometimes it's good to look at the negative things in life and see what positive things can come out of them. What happened to Orly and her mother was a horrible tragedy, but we can always look and see how so many people, many of which are teens, came together to daven for Orly and find ways to help. At mishmar this past week, Rabbi Lubetski talked about 9/11. He brought up a case of someone who lost their life in the burning tower, because he was waiting with his crippled friend who could not go down the stairs because he was in a wheelchair. He then brought up the question many of us were thinking. Why do bad things happen to good people? One person said that it is situations like this that bring out the good in people. After 9/11 everyone in and outside of New York came together to help all the victims. When tragedy strikes we can chose to ignore it, wonder why it happened, complain about it, or we can all come together to make into a positive experience.
ReplyDeleteJamie,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, superb color choices. They really complement one another. Second, I totally agree with what you wrote. Sometimes, we tend to look at the negative side of a situation. After dwelling on it, we can become miserable as a result. However, looking at the positive side of a situation immediately sheds a whole new light. It can be difficult to find the good in a situation that really shakes us to our core. Once we find it, we instantly learn from it and grow as people.