A couple of days ago I stumbled upon this short interview clip in which Reb Zalman is asked if he could impart one thing about Teshuvah to his grandchildren what would it be.

Reb Zalman replied with a lovely little snip it taken(I believe) from some Hassidic teaching tale which went something like this.

G-D is more angry that we don’t take advantage of Teshuvah then he is over the sin.

Actually it’s so short and easy enough for me to embed into this post why don’t you watch Reb Zalman tell the story himself.

I can’t really speak for anyone other than myself but I feel this simple and pithy statement hits the nail right on the head. I’m often able to realize when I’ve made a mistake (after the fact that is). I can even take such insights and integrate them into my conscious mind so that I’m less likely to fall into the same trap in the future. However I don’t really like copping to my mistakes so much.  I mean I’m good with learning from the past and do my best not to repeat mistakes but I have a hard time stopping myself once I realize I’ve screwed up and then go apologize to the person.  I think it’s often a combination of pride and embarrassment.

Reb Zalman’s thoughts on the subject really hit home in that I unfortunately all too often engage in the exact opposite of what he’s suggesting. Anyhow I guess there’s always room to grow and improve. I think that I will end this post with a Thank you to Reb Zalman for gently and accurately shining a little light on one of my many blind spots.

Be well

Listen to this podcast

Now for something on the lighter (actually brownish) side of things.

For the past while I’ve been telling Tamara about this machine but I’m not sure that she actually believed me. So I’ve decided to provide a little proof.

Warning there is some strong language used in the following video not to mention a high fecal content.

So viewers discretion is advised.

Listen to this podcast

This past weekend was crazy busy for me (which probably equals regular busy to most people) but it was a lot of fun.

Here’s the short version of what went down.

Friday Night

• A lovely Shabbos dinner with friends over at their place.

Saturday

• Tamara and I went for a 5 & 1/2 km Shabbos walk including a lovely visit with friends.
• Tamara made me what is probably the best homemade sandwich I’ve ever had in my entire life (no joke).
• A last-minute coffee date with a buddy to talk about Kaplanian Theology and gelato.

Sunday

• An Early Sunday morning trip to San Diego in order to attend a headstone unveiling.
• Two power stops at what I’m told are San Diego’s only two Judaica stores, where I bought Shabbat candles and a book.
• A power drive to Orange County from San Diego in order to spend Father’s Day with some of Tamara’s family.

Monday

Tamara decided not to go to work so we made it a fun day!

• Went out for a kick ass Israeli style kosher breakfast at a great little restaurant in the valley called Cafe Eilat.
• Checked out a few kosher shops in the valley where Tamara picked up some of her favorite kosher gum.
• Spontaneously decided to go and check out VBS which is one of the finalists in our current shul shopping as a couple thing.
• Found this kosher meat restaurant where we proceeded to buy some take out vegetarian lunch.
• Drove down to the La Brea Tar Pits where we enjoyed a picnic style lunch and then toured the park.

I realize that it doesn’t look like that much but it sure felt like a lot to me. I mean I’m a guy who spent the last eight months or so trying to go out no more than once or twice a week. I’m not complaining rather just sitting here thinking, wow I did more this past weekend and I normally do in a week back home. All in all it was very fun and I look forward to doing more of this kind of stuff with Tamara. It really is great that we are finally together as a couple.

Anyhow that’s about it for now, so ttyl.

Listen to this podcast

Today considering it’s Friday and all I decided to kick back, watch a few videos online and to my pleasant surprise I stumbled upon something I’d never seen before. It’s an hour and a half long documentary based on Karen Armstrong’s book ? a brief history of G-D?. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Karen she is probably one of the most important contemporary theologians around. This documentary which as I’ve mentioned is based on one of her best-selling books tracks the origins of man’s understanding, beliefs in and relationship with the G-D from its beginnings right up to the modern-day. Although it is based on Armstrong’s book it a also includes interviews with other academic and religious experts from all three major streams of monotheism. There’s even a little time dedicated to a kabbalistic understanding of G-D.

Although this documentary is trimmed down content wise compared to the near 500 page book , it is nonetheless entertaining and informative.

Anyhow if you do wind up watching it please let me know what you thought.

Listen to this podcast

As I mentioned in my last post I’m here in LA and getting settled in quite nicely I might add. But before I get into what’s new down here, I would like to catch up on a few things that I missed in the hustle and bustle of getting ready for my trip to Los Angeles.

First and foremost sometime on May 28 (or May 29 depending on my mood) I hit my three year sobriety mark. Unfortunately despite the fact that I, my family and Tamara all knew it was coming up we all managed to somehow forget about it when the day actually came. To be honest I’m disappointed that I forgot but it’s not a huge deal to me because I’m a little divided about this whole recovery thing. At this point I just don’t identify a whole bunch with the idea of being an alcoholic. That’s not to suggest that I think I could handle taking booze on again as a hobby because I know I’m a person who should never (and I mean never) start drinking again. It’s just that I don’t wake up every morning and think to myself “Hello my name is TikkunGer and I’m an alcoholic”. I also haven’t been to a meeting in probably a little over a year and a half now. I guess I just kind of feel that it was an issue at one point and I’ve handled it so why try to force myself into an environment I no longer need. Things might be different if I hung out with people who were habitual drinkers but I don’t. Of course having said all of that I know that if things ever got rough and I began to feel the urge to start up again I’d certainly start hitting meetings again. But I’m pretty optimistic that that’s not going to be happening anytime soon. I guess the bottom line is that in my mind three years deserves a little bit of recognition and so it would’ve been nice to have done something, but oh well life goes on.

Something else I’ve wanted to blog about I haven’t is that over last couple of months I’ve been actively working on part one of my final (= honors thesis) project for my bachelors program. It’s spread out over three courses the first part being a research project, the second being a project/program design course and the last being a project/program implementation course. I’ve completed my research proposal as well as my literature review and managed to get A+’s for both of them which has me quite happy about school at the moment. All that remains for part one is to complete a 25 page final research report. I’m actually doing it on a Jewish topic so I’ll probably be doing a fair amount of blogging about it in the not-too-distant future.

As for preparing to come down to Los Angeles it was stressful but it went unbelievably well from start to finish. I mean there were problems like it taking well over two months to renew my passport but everything got dealt with in a completely reasonable manner, which is not something I’m accustomed to. Probably the most difficult thing was giving away and selling off pretty much everything that I own. I didn’t own all that much but I certainly did have a well furnished one-bedroom apartment. I managed to make about $1200 but I gave away thousands just in books (no joke) and hundreds and hundreds of dollars in art that I had been collecting over the years. I basically came down with Judaica and education/psychology books, a few pieces of Jewish art, some electronics and clothing but that’s it. I actually have reduced my material possessions to about four boxes and two suitcases worth of stuff and it was an extremely painful process. Don’t get me wrong it was completely worth it but it was just hard to go through, I’m sure many of you can relate.

Anyhow this post has gotten a lot longer than I expected it to, so I think I will wrap up for now.

Be well.

Listen to this podcast

Just a quick note to let those of you who are actually curious about my whereabouts that I have in fact landed in Los Angeles and am well into unpacking and getting comfortable with things.

I?m a little bit tight on time so no real posting just yet but I wanted to get a quick note up for those of you who are interested. I am now indeed in Los Angeles and settling in quite nicely. It?s great to be here with Tamara and once I?m a little bit more settled in I?m sure I will do a proper update for everyone.

Until then take care

Listen to this podcast

Sorry for the no posting thing but as of the 1st I have become homeless! Ok not really, I’m at my parents place but it feels like I’m homeless. Anyhow I should be in LA sometime on the 9th, so hopefully blogging will return to normal shortly there after.

Until then be well 

Listen to this podcast