Tag Archive: torah

60 Minutes, 22 Minutes, 2 Minutes. No Minutes Left?

We live in unprecedented times! With a click of a button you can communicate with practically anyone in the world, transfer funds seemingly instantaneously, and purchase items ranging from diapers to wine all on the internet. And so, gone are the days when the average American could dedicate sixty solid minutes to a sole television news magazine such as CBS’: 60 Minutes. While it still broadcasts into American homes each week, they have had to “spice it up” with additions to the staff such as CNN’s Anderson Cooper or Katie Couric (who really rose to fame on another network!). In all honesty, I don’t watch 60 Minutes, what with living in Jerusalem, not having a television and all, but I do enjoy hearing it in Podcast format. All you have to do is simply download it from iTunes (here) and you can enjoy the famous tick, tick, tick, that starts the show, as well as the vast array of topics that they cover on a weekly basis.

While on the topic of time, I always found it funny that one of the busiest places in the world is know as: Times Square. Here you will see New Yorkers and tourists who appear constantly busy. The hustle and bustle along with the lights is exhilarating to say the least. And yet, one could get soo consumed that a person could loose the importance of time, in the very area that is called, Times Square! Indeed, I’ve hear many people suggest that it’s because of the hectic scene in Manhattan, and more specifically, Times Square, that New York is known as: “The City that Never Sleeps!”

On that note, I believe it’s without coincidence that in such a city there’s a radio station, WINS (1010 kHz), known on-air as “Ten-Ten Wins” that is arguably world famous for their slogan, “You give us twenty-minutes minutes, we’ll give you the world!” Indeed, millions of commuters and listeners tune in each year to this very station to get a quick dose of news, traffic, and weather, in just twenty-two minutes.

Why you might ask?

Truthfully, they want/need to be informed, but for many people that’s all the time they have to spare in their busy chaotic life that they lead on a daily basis.

While many New Yorkers tune in to WINS to hear the latest events as they commute to work every morning, there are millions of Americans across the country who watch NBC’s Today Show to become updated with all the latest happenings across the country. People view this program as they get dressed for work, eat their breakfast, and so on and so forth. And yet, perhaps emblematic of our ever bustling society, the Today Show has just recently introduced: Today in Two Minutes.

And frankly I get it!

In a day in age in which there are many different mediums to advertise on, you need to constantly reach your consumer and target audience. The Today Show doesn’t want to become a “thing of the past!” And so, if they can retain or reel in an additional age demographic by introducing this short new feature…then as we say…Kol HaKavod!

That said, I think it’s important that every person still have some minutes left in their day that they can call: ME TIME! I encourage everyone to set aside even just two minutes that will enable you to learn, grow, and continue to improve and refine your inner-self! It’s important to not get soo wrapped up and consumed by the world we live in. Unfortunately we all know people who if they would take the time to look up from their Blackberry, they might see how much they’ve alienated everyone else around them. Moreover, they may even realize that the person they have hurt the most by constantly consuming media or the like, is the person that they know as: Me, Myself, and I!

And so, a great book I’d like to recommend is: Positive Word Power. As a Husband, Father, Educator, and Jew, there are days where I’m left gasping for air. There are days where I need to ask myself, “where did my ‘ME TIME’ go?” This book is perfect to read by yourself or along with a partner (I read it with my wife!). Through daily lessons, it succinctly allows one to focus on the power of speech and positivity, which in today’s world, can erode rather quickly.

All in all, whether you have sixty minutes, twenty-two minutes, two minutes, or think that you have NO TIME, make it a point to learn this book for your ME TIME. I assure you will only see positive results!

Can you recommend some other book or action that although read or performed quickly can impact your entire day? I’d love to hear from you in the Comments Section below.

Photo courtesy of Leo Reynolds

May 27, 2010 | Tags: , , , , | 3 Comments 

Introducing the iTalmud

iTalmudThroughout the “Tech World” many people waited with anticipation to hear Steve Jobs introduce an Apple iTaplet. While Steve Jobs has now formally made his announcement, people have been miffed as to why the iTablet was not the name for their new device! Instead, Apple is calling their new device the iPad. Indeed, there have been more than a handful of critics who have not been so kind to the name of this Tablet device that Apple will soon release.

Well, today I got to see not the iTablet, but the iTalmud for the very first time!

Allow me to explain…

During my years in Yeshiva, regardless of where I studied, be it in America or Israel, year in year out, it was necessary to have a bookbinder bind the Gemorah, the tractate of Talmud that the Yeshiva would be learning. Reason being, between learning various chapters and pouring over this Sefer, for sometimes 12 hours a day, the pages and the binding of this particular work would quickly become worn. Indeed, there is almost this silent code of understanding that if your Gemorah looks a bit “beaten,” it invariably means that you have been learning “shtark” and have been devoting much times to diligently mastering the topics in this tractate of Talmud throughout the night and day! And so, many Bachurim would not simply bind their Gemorah. Instead, many Bachurim take the opportunity to also have the binding of their Gemorah stand out and have a cool design. What’s more, while some people in contemporary society are proud of their tattoo or their shoes or what have you, for a Yeshiva Bachur, the way in which his Gemorah is binded is not only cool, but could also acts as a Siman, a sign that that this is HIS Gemorah!

You see, in large Yeshivas, where thousands of young men are pouring over the SAME text, it is quiet easy to loose your Gemorah, and never see it until several weeks later…let alone the end of the Zman (the equivalent of a Semester in the Yeshiva system). And so, in order to help differentiate your Gemorah, people would have the bookbinder etch with tape (or perhaps in different colors of tape!), on the side of the Gemorah, a neat design, your initials in Hebrew or English, and so on and so forth….

And so, when I stopped to Daven Mincha in a particular Jerusalem based Yeshiva and saw how this individual had added a creative Siman, a sign to help him quickly identify his Talmud, I took a quick picture and decided to share it with you all:-) I decided to dub this Talmud, the iTalmud. Apple and Steve Jobs has surely done a wonderful job of marketing if a Yeshiva Bachur in Jerusalem feels that it would be cool to brand his Talmud with their iconic logo!

February 2, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments 

Technology and the Message of the Midbar

Several months ago, I authored an article that appeared in Shiur Times Magazine. In a blink of an eye, we will soon celebrate the receiving of the Torah during the holiday, aptly titled, Simchat Torah. As such, being that the article discussed the location that we received the Torah, I encourage you to give this article a read here.

October 13, 2008 | Tags: , , | 2 Comments 

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