Standing at our Trees of the Knowledge of TOV & RA

As I was reading Genesis 1, I noticed something that had not occurred to me before. Adam and Eve are standing in front of the tree of the knowledge of TOV (good) and RA (evil). They know that they are told not to eat from the tree. That was their boundary. When I was very young, I used to think that there was some type of magic in the fruit. I later understood that there was no magic. What they learned, was that they could disobey. From that moment on, every choice they made led to anger, violence and death.

It is interesting, that for each of us, we stand before that tree every day and make our choices knowing that even when we make a choice for TOV, there are consequences. Making the choice to create TOV or RA is an everyday affair.

This approach allows us to learn a valuable lesson from a very ancient story. We need a standard, a yardstick with which to measure our actions. We need to understand that our decisions have great impact on our lives and the lives of others. The message of the TOV Standard – acts that are pleasing to the eye, protects life, preserves life, makes life more functional, and/or increase the quality of life -- established in Genesis 1, repeats itself throughout our common Biblical heritage.

In Jewish tradition, we as a people and as individuals stand at Sinai and accept the instruction of Torah not only at the Festival of Shavuot, but every day. In the same way, all humans stand before the tree and decide whether they will choose TOV or RA, light or darkness, life or death every day. We have the instructions – let’s choose life.

Choose Life By Doing TOV!

Rabbi Leynor

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The calendar reflects the seasons of our lives

I was teaching someone who is in the process of conversion about the Jewish calendar and I mentioned that in a number of ways, the calendar reflects the seasons of our lives. It is an all-encompassing journey which includes birth, life, death and rebirth.

● We are required to "remember" those things we have forgotten, those who are no longer by our side and incidents we'd like to forget.  

● We celebrate victories and dance with the Torah, we sit on the floor and by candlelight we read Lamentations and recognize and accept our losses.

● We are required to address the "victims", those we have wronged and be open to others asking for forgiveness for the pain they have caused us.

● We are obligated to reconcile relationships, that's not YAH's problem! We are supposed to recognize injustice and establish Tzedek, righteousness, and bring light and warmth to the cold darkness of winter.

● We celebrate the spring and the life giving rains. We cope with the expulsion from what is familiar to the wilderness.

● We stand before the Creator at the mountain and accept responsibility for ourselves and the rest of creation.

● We recognize that we must recharge our souls every week to maintain our humanity and learn to be grateful, thankful and appreciative for all our blessings and gifts every day. 

Choose Life By Doing TOV!

Rabbi Leynor

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TOV Wisdom - Sex

Imperfect people with issues and imperfect relationships choose to have sex for many different reasons without first considering, discussing or planning for the consequences of that decision.

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Leaders and Managers Have Nothing in Common

Managers are one of the core Business Diseases of the Industrial Age. They are a sacred cow that have only been around for a little over a century, but should go away as quickly as possible. Few things are as disruptive, unhelpful, and unproductive in the workplace as managers. 

The manager's worst habits are to a) solve things and b) decide things. No other actions are as debilitating to others. When a manager solves and decides, the only thing left is to delegate tasks to be executed--"put this nut on that bolt, at this rate". But when we delegate tasks, people feel used. Managers who solve and decide things are fundamental in the dehumanizing of the workplace, because tasks are for machines. Leaders do it quite differently. Read the complete article at -- http://www.inc.com/chuck-blakeman/leaders-and-managers-have-nothing-in-common.html?cid=sf01001