Stick Figure Vignettes

Stick Figure Vignettes http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=749657 Copyright 2009, Chabad.org - Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center, all rights reserved. Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=816403 The Wheel http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=816403 So, what I liked about the wheel quote is that it just put things in perspective. It didn't say that we don't have moments that are better or worse than others, it just says that there's a cycle, and maybe that perspective can help soften the blow. Or, maybe we can just relate to those dudes going through the cycle over an over again and still getting surprised each time. But the really cool thing about the watering wheel analogy is something kind of subtle: The whole point of a watering wheel is to collect water from the river or whatever, and put it somewhere else where it can be used by people. So, if the buckets never get filled up, we never get the water out of the river. But if the buckets never empty, the water never gets distributed. And the buckets become useless. So what is that purpose that our potentially frustrating cycle of wealth and poverty is serving? I tried to ask some economy experts what that means in economic terms, but I couldn't follow the answer. But honestly I’m not sure the answer will be the same for everybody. I'd love to hear your reactions... Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=824746 Worth http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=824746 So, the basic idea of this cartoon should be pretty obvious: People are worth more than any sum of money you can assign to them. And when times are tough economically, we tend to start valuing others, and more importantly, ourselves, based on how we're doing financially. So this seemed like a good message to try to convey. The funny thing is, it was reaaaally hard to find a quote for this. I just went ahead and animated it, assuming that there were dozens of perfect quotes to express this idea. But it was much harder than I expected. When I finally did find the perfect quote, it wasn't where I expected it. This statement is not from "The Ethics of Our Fathers", or from an ethical midrashic teaching. It actually shows up right in the middle of a legal discussion in the Talmud. The discussion is like this: A guy is running for his life from a killer, and during the course of his escape he breaks some stuff. Is he responsible for the damages? The answer is no, "a person's money should not be valued above his life." Sounds right. The guy was running for his life, that's all that mattered at the moment. So why am I revealing the somewhat technical context of an otherwise non-technical ethical statement? Here's why: The entire tractate of the Talmud that this quote is from discusses monetary damages: how much things and people are worth if you break or hurt them, and how much you'd have to pay. And in that context, when we're trying to figure out how a person should take responsibility in financial situations, it's actually important to be focused on the person's money. But as soon as the topic of discussion shifts over to life itself, the monetary values become irrelevant. What this means to me is that while I'm trying to figure out what my most responsible course of action is in a time of financial difficulty, then it's appropriate for me to be focusing on monetary values. But if I start thinking about my life, and what it's worth, then I have to remember that my life means so much more than my money. That's what I got out of it. But the nice thing about these stick figures cartoons is that I'm never really sure what they're supposed to mean. So if y'all have a different take on it, I'd love to hear it. Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=793593 Cows http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=793593 Hooray! Strange Cows! I had a whole page and a half long blog about this, but I realized that it was really unnecessary. I think we (or at least I) can get kind of spoiled by the nearly vast library of Jewish wisdom, and forget that we (i) don’t always have to flip through piles of books to get something new and exciting from the Torah portion. It was my editor who reminded me this week of the verse quoted at the end of the cartoon, and how eye opening it is. : “And they went inside them, but it was not known that they had gone inside of them, for their appearance was as ugly as in the beginning. And I Awoke.” Just the idea of the good, productive times being completely and utterly erased by the negative, destructive moments, and how disturbing it can be when we isolate one experience from the next. Enough that it made Pharaoh wake up, and although he didn’t know how to change it, he knew he had to ask for help. And what was Joseph’s answer? "Not I; God will give an answer [that will bring] peace to Pharaoh." Alternatively, this was just a crazy cartoon about talking cows. Moo. Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=782219 Disposable Cups http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=782219 I’m going to confess something to y’all, and I beg of you not to be too hard on me about it, because I already stopped doing it. My wife recently bought a bulk package of like a bajillion paper cups at Sam’s Club. But for some silly reason I really didn’t like them. I think maybe because they’re too waxy or something, I can’t even remember. So I noticed after a little while that I was kind of purposely going through them super fast, so as to use them up and move on to a more satisfactory paper cup. I know, it’s terrible. But once I realized, I stopped and slowed down. The full quote from the Talmud goes like this: “He remained for the sake of some small jars he had left behind. Hence [it is learned] that to the righteous, their possessions are dearer than their body.” When I rediscovered this statement while looking for ideas for this cartoon, it was kind of counterintuitive for me. Why would a righteous person value possessions more than his/her own body? Why would they value physical possessions at all? So, in comes the Chassidic explanation that there are “sparks of holiness” invested within physical objects, and the righteous perceive this and understand that it is their responsibility to “elevate” those sparks by using the object for good. The way that’s all coming together in my mind right now is that it is so easy to look at things in terms of what we need them for (valuing our selves over our possessions). Which isn’t necessarily bad, but is simply insensitive to the fact that this object has its own existence, one that should at least be acknowledged, and perhaps it needs you. If I see a paper cup only as something I can drink from, then I can drink from 20 of them in a row, and they’ll all serve that purpose just fine. But if I see the cup as a part of creation that’s there for a reason and deserves acknowledgement, I might not be so quick to plow through them. Sat, 6 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST