Gratitude: the medicinal mental supplement

This may be the latest “health supplement” on the block, but it’s been around for thousands of years, hasn’t it?  You bet it’s been around for thousands of years. In Psalm 100-4, we read, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.” Even during these “sandpapering” times of COVID19, maybe especially during these times, we are being asked to look within with gratitude for the opportunity to thrive and grow. One with a grateful lens sees the proper response to this challenge being to prioritize our social connections, our network with others, and to serve each other, for the benefit of the other, for ourselves, and for the greater world. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Lifestyles, Michael Mantell

The Torah, quarantines, and wellbeing

This week’s parasha, Tzav, is filled with korbans, “offerings,” from burnt ones (“olah”), to thanksgiving ones (“todah”) , to peace ones (“shlamim”), the latter sometimes referred to as “goodwill” or “wellbeing” ones. We surely need peace and wellbeing now in the midst of the “coronapocalypse” we are asked to grow through. So, the timeliness of delving into the laws of the “sacrifice of the shlamim,”are especially timely. Why? Because as we as we learn in Tanchuma Tzav, 10, “Great is the shlamim, for they bring peace between Israel and their Father in Heaven.” [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Is Israel on its way to a 4th election?

Deafened under the constant drumbeat of the virus crisis has been the ongoing efforts to form a new Israeli unity government. What was perceived over a week ago as a quick solution between the Bibi-led Likud and the Gantz-led remnant of the Blue & White Party, cruelly named the Black & Blue Party by some members of the political right in Israel, has become bogged down in a tactical Game of Thrones, as the horse-trading for government ministries leads to friction and division. [Barry Shaw]

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Barry Shaw, Middle East

Passover and the five levels of the soul

On the first night of Nissan, we start counting until the moon is full on the fifteenth. This is Seder night, our annual birthday party as a nation. Some 3000 years ago, we were an enslaved people yearning for liberation from a decadent tyrant. Thanks to the genius of the Haggadah, every year we gather to start our calendar anew by retelling the saga of the birth of the unbreakable soul of our nation. [Sam Glaser]

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Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sam Glaser

Playing Through COVID19?

Sure, we’re all quarantined, hopefully wisely respecting the directives to stay home and not expose ourselves and others to COVID19. Indeed, someone posted this stark wake-up call recently in social media, “Coronavirus patients die alone in a hospital bed without a family member to hold hands with. Think about that before you go out.” Whew! And this article is about being playful? You bet it is. Our bodies are quarantined, not our minds. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Lifestyles, Michael Mantell

Susan Davis collects constituents’ coronavirus questions

Right now, Congress should focus on getting help to people who need it amid this coronavirus pandemic, but later on it should investigate why the United States was slow to respond to the threat of coronavirus and why necessary medical equipment was in such short supply, Congresswoman Susan Davis, D-San Diego, said Tuesday during a telephonic town hall meeting. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Pandemic and politics produce Israeli turmoil

Unemployment has gone from less than 4 percent to above 20 percent. Restaurants and bars are closed, as are virtually all shops except for food markets and drug stores. Individuals are advised to stay at home, except for buying food, medicines, medical emergencies, and if they work in what are defined as crucial jobs. We’re allowed to be within 100 meters of our homes for personal exercise. Police are stopping and questioning, and issuing fines to those considered violators. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East