Remember

Guest post by AnonT

Less then a year ago, the world mourned as Leiby Kletzky was found, brutally murdered and butchered. Jews as a nation and the world mourned. Jews everywhere stood together, were unified in trying to understand this travesty, in trying to bring comfort to a shocked and bereaved family. This past summer, two young boys were tragically killed as they drove home from the mountains. And just months ago, Jews around the world, regardless of affiliation, spent 25 hours standing, praying and fasting on Yom Kippur.

Yet today, I open up the news and see Jews against Jews. I see children petrified and other children being used in horrific ways. I see comparisons of Jews, by Jews, to the vile evil that were/are the Nazis. It is enough to make you sick.

It is unfortunate, but I have been told for many years that it is imperative that we don’t Judaism by its practitioners but by the religion itself. While I accept this, it any wonder that so many Jews are leaving Judaism? Is it a wonder that those of us who are sticking it out with Judasim are disillusioned? When we Jews tear ourselves apart, when we fight with each other, when we tear each other down, when we lose sight of what our life is supposed to be about, the value of God, Torah and mitzvoth, are eradicated right before our eyes.

What does it take to make us Jews remember that we are all one? What will it take to ensure we remain united, even in our disagreements? Our enemies seem to have no problem remembering that a Jew is a Jew is a Jew. When 6 million jews were murdered in Europe less than 100 years ago, there was no discrimination. When Jews were burnt on the auto de fay in the Inquisition, a Jew was a Jew. When pogroms occurred, blood libels, tach ve’tat, it did not matter! We were all Jews. When bombings go off on buses, in restaurants, in wedding halls and in dance clubs, a Jew is a Jew.

Almost 10 years ago to this day, Daniel Pearl was beheaded and it was because, as he said himself, "My name is Daniel Pearl. I am a Jewish American from Encino, California, USA. I come from, uh, on my father's side the family is Zionist. My father's Jewish, my mother's Jewish, I'm Jewish. My family follows Judaism.” His captors did not care if he was from NY or California, if he was Reform, Conservative, or Chassidic. He was a Jew. His mother was a Jew. He was Jewish. That was enough. Do we forget? Do we forget the murder of the young Israeli in Europe a few years ago? I don’t remember his name, or what country he was in. But I remember the picture of him, in his happy days, sitting on a fence. And I know that he is no longer alive. Killed because he was a Jew.

Yaakov and Eisav were given brachot, the essential foundation of our nation. The brachot said that while one nation was up, the other nation would be forced serve the other. We are pulling ourselves down, and in doing so, we are forcing ourselves to serve those who have sought to kill us in every generation, at every chance they can get.

We are told countless times in our religion, zachor, remember! And if we weren’t told to remember, then the way of the world is to remember in order to understand history, and refrain from making mistakes again. We just had Chanukah, have we forgotten so recently the destruction of what we had? Purim is so soon, have we forgotten that we as a nation were so almost annihilated? Do we need MORE calamities and deaths and near destructions of our entire nation, to learn the lesson achdut!?!?!?!?

What else has to happen? How many more people, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends have to weep because their loved one, OUR brother or sister, are killed? How much more pain and suffering do we as a nation have to endure!?!?

I don’t know how to stop the conflict in Israel. I don’t know how to stop sinat chinam. I don’t know any of these answers. But I do know, that if we remember, recall and never forget, we, as a nation will find an answer. Let's make sure that each and every Jew that was murdered, for just that, being a Jew, has not died in vain. Let's make sure every Daniel, every Leiby is remembered.

Patience in Building

'Tis a very rare occasion in life which does not warrant patience. From relationships (contrary to the belief of some) to marriage to raising children to career opportunities, having patience is key to being more successful.

Lately, people in certain circles cannot help but keep reading about a particular subject and people's reactions to and opinions on it, and it has been truly irksome. The lack of patience, particularly toward people and an approach in an area of life in which people are almost completely unfamiliar is astounding. More frustrating than that is how incredibly repetitively self-destructive this lack of patience has proven to be in the past, and to see people calling to do it again makes one wonder if people are simply deserving of the fate they are receiving: 'Fool me once...' Instead, here is the key: Stop looking at what everyone else is doing, and realize that to be successful, you have to build what works best for you.

In the case of the Cleveland Browns, this is an incredibly important lesson. (What, not what you thought this was going to be about?) I've been a Browns fan my entire life, with my first football memory (of course) The Fumble, and my first game a season-opening 13-3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers (woo!). For much of my life, the Browns have tried to be copycats in a copycat league... except what everyone neglects to realize is that the copycats are never the ones who are ultimately the champions. It is only the trend-setters who are able to succeed in their schemes, and everyone else is merely a weak copy.

In the last couple of years, it looked like the Browns were finally going to give a front office a chance to build from the foundation up. That they too quickly undermined Eric Mangini's approach is academic at this point; now, they are building toward a Mike Holmgren-style team, with some adjustments from lessons learned over many years. It is mind-boggling to call for Coach Pat Shurmur to be fired after a single year on the job, a year in which with no real training camp, nearly no offensive talent, incredible gaffes, and countless injuries in a difficult division he still managed to keep nearly every game close with a team that always strongly supported him. To even discuss firing Shurmur smacks of an impatience that will never allow success unless it occurs via miracle (insert Tebow joke here).

Instead, let's take a step back and look at how the Browns are being built, particularly giving credence to the front office as if they're actually telling the truth (gasp!) when they discuss how they plan to build the team: Via the draft, with strategic free agency signings only once the core is established to push the team over the top. Currently, the Browns have three picks in the first 37 of the 2012 draft (#s 4, 22, and 37). They also have a very strong young core on defense, and a relatively good offensive line, certainly on the left side.

Perhaps the most interesting overlooked aspect of the team is how it is structured defensively. The Browns' defense is structured primarily to stop intermediate and long passes and short-yardage runs. Perhaps more importantly, the Browns' defense is built to play with a lead. It is a pass-rushing line, including the defensive tackles, and a defense which does not utilize many blitzes except an occasional safety blitz with a clear lane (think forcing the QB to throw quickly) and linebackers covering short zones. The linebackers are zone coverage players who even on short-yardage run situations start 4-5 yards back and rush forward into gaps. And the corners, especially Joe Haden, are trusted to cover their man on their own in the short time the line is designed to give the opposing QB to throw. Only one team (Pittsburgh) gave up less passes of 20 or more yards. Only seven gave up less of 40+ yards, and Browns fans will recall that most of those eight long gains were actually short passes that had missed tackles. In essence, the Browns' defense is built as a hybrid of the Steelers (stable design), Jets/Eagles (corners first), Giants (pass rush), and Niners (goal line) defenses, with stud players in the pass rush and secondary, allowing otherwise slightly above average LBs to truly excel.

It is worth noting that based on the above, it would actually be interesting to see if the Browns take LSU's stud cornerback Morris Claiborne if he's available at the 4th pick. If he is as good as advertised, it would give the Browns two "#1" CBs, allowing TJ Ward to give even greater focus to what he does best, which is supporting the run defense. (It would also give the Browns incredible depth in the secondary, with at least Claiborne, Haden, Patterson, Skrine, Ward, Young, Adams, and Hagg.) Even if they don't feel a need to get Claiborne, there will certainly be excellent cover corners available in the early second round for them. This - especially coupled with a RDE - could make the Browns' defense a truly dominant one, and for many years to come, as nearly everyone in the starting lineup would be in their early-mid 20s. It would also make it easier for the Browns to bring projects in in future years to learn the defense, similar to how the Steelers have been able to stick nearly anyone into their scheme thanks to the support around them as they learned and improved.

That leaves the big question: How can such a team have a lead to play with? Here, too, the Browns' direction may show an answer. One of the interesting notes when looking at successful lines is that they often have Pro-Bowl caliber players at two or three spots, allowing the other linemen to excel. The Browns have a future Hall of Famer at LT in Joe Thomas, and a Pro Bowler at C in Alex Mack. Unsurprisingly, a 6th round rookie had a reasonably good year working in between the two of them, while the other side of the line struggled mightily. It would be interesting to see if the Browns - assuming they don't pick Claiborne - either take Matt Kalil if he's still available, or actually choose to trade down a few spots to a team desperate for Griffin III and pick up Iowa's Riley Reiff and put him at RT, adding another 2nd round pick or similar in the process. Between Kalil/Reiff and the return of Pro Bowler Eric Steinbach, the Browns could have a line that is incredibly dominant and also mostly rather young (outside of Steinbach). More impressively, it would be a nice innovation to approach a West Coast Offense with the mindset of having All-Pro level tackles on each side and another at center, and even another at guard. Having that extra time until wide receivers can find the proper seams and having that kind of line to run behind has helped spur many a champion.

In addition, the Browns made the clear decision to not pursue free agent WRs last season, choosing instead to spend their extra money on locking up many other key players into long-term deals and keeping a lot of money available for this year and next. This year's free agent WR list is stacked, and while it's unclear if the Browns plan on pursuing any of the really big names, they certainly have more quality options than existed last year. Even bringing in one above average WR would dramatically alter the Browns' abilities on the offensive side, with Greg Little in his second season and Jordan Norwood showing the ability to stretch the field as a 3rd or 4th option.

Running back is a bit more of a question mark - while re-signing Peyton Hillis and the return of Brandon Jackson would basically solve it, it is possible the Browns feel they don't need a RB such as Hillis, particularly with his durability issues both seasons. There are plenty of RBs with similar or better "pedigrees" available for less, and in the West Coast Offense the Browns are running, it's possible they'll go without Hillis. That said, I think that they'll try to re-sign Hillis to an incentive-laden contract and that he'll come back to take it.

Finally, this approach, starting with a strong offensive line, should allow Colt McCoy to truly succeed. McCoy showed the ability to throw very well given enough time, and in fact has been far better than many great QBs from history over the same period of their careers, throwing for more TDs than INTs, more yards, and a much higher completion percentage (despite a team which led the league in drops). Even if he shows he cannot, the Browns would still be in a strong position to bring in a rookie QB the following year (Matt Barkley?) into a stacked team with a great line.

All in all, it is quite possible that the following scenario will occur for the Browns: They will draft a top tackle, a strong right defensive end, and an elite cover cornerback in the first two rounds of the draft, and pick up a decent but not spectacular WR on the free agent market for relatively cheap (such as an Early Doucet). They will then be a upper-middle of the pack team, with a standout defense and a middling offense led by a great line which shows flashes, but which ultimately both wins and loses a number of close games in a pretty difficult schedule against similar level teams (facing the NFC East and AFC West), winning about half their division games as well. They will then head into the 2013 season with a couple of small holes discovered during the year and easily solved through free agency (prediction: LB, DL depth) and one gaping hole at WR, and will have the opportunity - much as Atlanta did - to trade up to grab the WR they desire in the draft, and they will do so. The biggest difference is that the Browns will be starting with a much better defense than Atlanta, and this may be the difference between being a playoff loser and a team that can make a run at a Super Bowl... or a few.

It just takes a little time, that's all.

Maybe

Via the cuz: 

Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away, and all the neighbors came around to commiserate that evening. "So sorry to hear your horse ran away. This is most unfortunate." The farmer said, "Maybe." The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and everybody came back in the evening and said "Oh, isn't that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!" And he said "Maybe." The next day his son tried to break one of these horses and ride it but he was thrown, and broke his leg, and they all said, "Oh dear, that's too bad," and he said, "Maybe." The following day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the people came around and said, "Isn't that great!" And he said, "Maybe."

The last couple of years have been interesting ones for us, as many readers of this blog are well aware. 2010 started wonderfully, took not one but a number of sharp turns for the worst, before finally ending on a bad note. 2011 started on a bad note, the bad news piled on... and then everything started to change for the better, culminating in a bit of awesome near the end. 

I have always felt that everything happens for a reason - and that much of the time, it will be years before we can possibly understand what that reason was. 

At the moment, while there are still clouds that lurk over us from the past that it will take years to fully get away from, life seems overall rather bright and sunny - certainly, our lives (finally) seem to be headed in the right direction. It saddens me somewhat to know that I cannot fully shake the worry that yet another unforeseen occurrence, some new twist, will ruin it all, that I cannot simply enjoy life as it occurs and be completely optimistic about the future - that no matter what, I am compelled to feel only that "maybe" the positives will last. But despite this, I am optimistic overall, and hope that this path ahead of us is not just another "maybe" along the way. 

It is difficult to think about our lives and notice that others have had generally easier lives in many ways. Certainly nobody knows what truly goes on 'behind closed doors', nor does anybody know what everyone else's troubles are. Nevertheless, it is not difficult to have a general idea of what trials and tribulations people have or have not faced in their lives. It is not out of jealousy nor out of hate that I cannot help but wonder how life might have been had our lives been as easy-going as others have experienced. That said, I can't imagine having lived without learning all the lessons I have learned over these years. 

But I certainly wouldn't mind some easy time...

The Economics of Dating

From Forbes.com

Money matters because dating is a way of sizing someone up and assessing the value of their company.  Every decision on a date can be broken down on an economic level.  Which place did you choose, what clothes are you wearing, which beer did you order, what words did you use to describe your job, your living situation, your family?
Serial daters just want another person in their lives, one might say, at any cost.  And it’s true.  Dating does cost something.  Patience, time, vulnerability, and dollars and cents.  Long distance relationships have larger opportunity costs.  Plane or bus tickets might have been used to pay for a nicer apartment.
Fairy tales have an even steeper price.  Girls my age grew up on Disney movies and some attribute unrealistic expectations to them, but they should remember that Ariel sold her voice and Belle traded her freedom—Prince Charmings don’t come cheap and neither do plain, ordinary significant others.  Some might say that it’s all worth it.  It’s certainly good for the economy: every failed movie date provides capital to make yet another independent romantic dramedy.  Yet, I often hear people complaining about the complexity of dating and it might be because they aren’t thinking about it economically.

 Its interesting to think about dating that way. I hardly ever went to a restaurant on earlier dates because I did not think it was worth the money, especially since I paid for my own dates. But I think the final line of the article makes a lot of sense; people should not put a dollar sign on everything, but should not disregard the fact that they should look at how one chooses a partner from an economical standpoint (how much love, patience, and attention you are able to spread out over a dating period).

Unorthodox

(Hat tip: Mirie) This fundraising project on Kickstarter looks interesting:

Unorthodox is a feature documentary that follows three teenagers from the modern Orthodox community as they spend a post-high school year studying in Israel. Tzipi, an intellectually gifted young woman, travels with intentions of clarifying her problems with Orthodox interpretations of Jewish law. Jake, a musician, wants to follow the religion but doesn’t see how he can reconcile his faith with his professional ambitions. Chaim, a half-Dominican bad-boy, undertakes his year of study without thinking about the possibilities of religious growth; he goes to Israel because tuition is paid for by his rabbis. In addition to documentary cinematography shot in the US and Israel, Tzipi, Chaim and Jake film themselves throughout the year with video diaries, offering an incredibly vivid and intimate glimpse into their lives. Narration throughout the film weaves Anna’s own story—of leaving the modern Orthodox community—with that of the three subjects, lending a very personal glimpse into the world of Orthodox Judaism.

They're looking to gather many small donations to complete the project, which is most of the way there already (all filming was completed, etc.). If you're interested in seeing this, read about it and donate!

Speaking of unorthodox, Chana sums up the YU Beacon story best: Writing a (poor) weak erotica-style piece with some confusing details about a girl's first-or-not time having sex with a guy she is-or-isn't in a serious relationship with is about attention-seeking, not about discussing an issue seriously. If they wished to discuss the issue of pre-marital sex among Orthodox people seriously, they could have done so by actually discussing it as a serious piece [much as Chana did with other aspects of the subject, as she notes]. Yes, there would still be much objection to this - a reasonable argument could be made for or against YU's school newspapers being the proper forum for such discussions - but at least it would be defensible [I should disclose that I did not think even Chana's were all necessary/appropriate, but they were at least defensible]. Oh, and in case it wasn't clear this was about attention, leaking it to national media is rather immature as well: Deal with the fallout within the context you wrote a piece, don't seek media to try and force and/or embarrass your university. Kudos to YU and its students for standing strongly against this, and it seems that the general consensus even from media was "...that was crappy writing."

And finally, singer/rapper Matisyahu shaved his beard. He's also still Orthodox, not "Un-Orthodox" (and looks really tired). So... who cares?

And Then There Were Three

Welcome to the world, Ariella Shalvah Goldish! Born 8 pounds, 12 ounces (3,970 grams it said, not that anyone knows what that means) at Mt. Sinai hospital yesterday afternoon.

Elianna and Kayla are incredibly excited to be big sisters! Serach and Ariella are doing great, bH.

House Over Health = ...Hero?

(HT: Josh Yuter)

A lady named Spike Ward penned an op-ed yesterday in the LA Times discussing how she was formerly against ObamaCare, but now that she has cancer, she has changed her mind. In her words:

The time finally came when we had to make a choice between paying our mortgage or paying for health insurance. We chose to keep our house. We made a nerve-racking gamble, and we lost.

Now, she has discovered that ObamaCare has a provision which allows her to get insurance, and this may now help save her life.

From the comments on her op-ed and on Facebook, etc., it seems as if many people are hailing this as a proof that ObamaCare is wonderful. While certainly it is wonderful for Mrs. Ward that she can now be treated without going broke, isn't this absurd? Mr. and Mrs. Ward made a conscious decision to choose their house over their health insurance, and contrary to her statement that "We chose to keep our house. We made a nerve-racking gamble, and we lost", they in fact won: They got to keep their house, and their health insurance tab is now being picked up by the rest of the country (somewhat indirectly, as she is paying premiums, but that is not the point).

Contrast that with the decisions made by millions of people each day who consciously choose to keep their health insurance intact and sacrifice in other ways: Nobody is picking up the tab for their foreclosed (or sold at a loss) homes or their cars. They don't get to keep everything they had and then have the rest of the country cover anything they can't afford anymore. It is a horrible testament to this country that someone's irresponsible and selfish "gamble" is being guaranteed by the federal government* and that that burden is being carried by people who made responsible decisions.

* Note that this is no different than the bank bailouts in that sense, except that at least the argument there was (however much I may disagree) that despite their irresponsibility, a bailout was necessary to avoid others being hurt as well. Here, the only beneficiary is Mrs. Ward and her family, who get to keep their house and have her healthcare paid for by everyone else.

Jewish Economics Survey - Redux

A few years back, a number of friends kept asking me questions about finances, particularly when it came to getting married. "What does it cost to live for a young couple in their first few months? First year? First three years? With a kid? In a 2-bedroom apartment vs. a 1-bedroom?" ...You get the idea.

While I would try to answer as best as I could, at the end of the day, everybody's expenses are different. I decided to try e-mailing some questions to friends, and as friends and I thought of more and more questions, it was decided to make it into a Google form. From there, it turned into a questionnaire, and finally, the Jewish Economics Survey was born. Thanks to the help of many individuals (particularly Tamar Snyder Chaitovsky) and through much discussion, the data gathered was formally presented to extremely engaging crowds, and the knowledge gained has impacted many people tremendously - including myself. For example, it was only after creating the survey that we finally took to heart how important having life insurance is. My favorite letter has always been this one:

Right when you came out with the survey, I took it. I also emailed you to say thank you for giving me the nudge to speak to my chasan. I am happy to announce that one year into our marriage, we are DEBT FREE and even have savings (two-months of salary!).

What's truly great (besides this couple) is that this was a completely side benefit of the survey, one which admittedly wasn't realized until after a number of people had already taken it. The primary purpose of the survey was to have information for people to utilize while preparing for different stages of life, whether sharing a singles apartment in Washington Heights, being a newly married couple in Baltimore, having two kids in Brooklyn, raising three teenagers in Cleveland, or surviving five tuition payments in Houston. What people have taken out of the survey for themselves has been nothing short of incredible.

It's now about to be 2012, and with some tweaks, I'd like to give the survey another go-round. A number of organizations have expressed serious interest in the survey and its potential utilities, and it would be incredible if we had the resources to do this in a more formal fashion - but first, let's see what can be done just like this. To have at least some understanding of what the cost of living is in various Orthodox communities in the country is would be fantastic; and to be able to identify just what people are struggling with most - and to what extent - is incredibly important.

The Jewish Economics Survey is completely anonymous and takes most people about 10-15 minutes to complete*. Please take the time to fill out the survey and help us all have a more clear picture of both our present and our future.

Please also pass along and share the survey with friends and family, spouses and Facebook friends at http://tinyurl.com/jeconomics. Please share any feedback you have so this can continually be improved upon, and thanks so much for your time and help!

~ Ezzie

P.S. If you have formal survey training, actuarial skills, and/or programming skills and would like to help, we would love to improve upon both the survey itself and its presentation via a dedicated website which would present information for members of the community to prepare themselves for various changes, from a move to a marriage, from a birth to a child entering high school. If you are interested, please reach out to us at jeconomics@gmail.com or myself directly at serandez@gmail.com. Thank you very much.

* If you find that it takes longer, a) please let me know! and b) it's probably good that you took it. :)

Boring

"Boring is the new exciting." ~ Cymbaline

When we're young, we often tend to love chaos. Chaos is exciting! Disorganization makes life interesting! Being all over the place is fun!

...and then, it gets tiring. A friend who was dating a few years back had what seemed to some people a very "boring" life: He would get up, go to work, come home, learn, watch some TV shows on his computer, travel to date sometimes... some people didn't understand it. "That seems so... dull." But he was happy. Some of those people had "exciting" lives, but they often were not.

Stability and predictability (in any aspect of life) are often the key to allowing people to adjust to difficult times. If life is chaotic, then everything that doesn't go perfectly can sends things into disarray. When everything is going smoothly, if something goes wrong, it's far easier to handle and fix. This is true at home, at work, in school, and in life.

Amen, Cymbaline.

How I Met Serach, Part XV: You're WHAT?! and Rockefeller Park

This is Part XV of a series about how I proposed to Serach. To see the series, you could simply use the guide link under the header of the blog or this link right here titled "How I Met Serach".

Ezzie's note:  In Part XIII, I explained the difficulty in writing this series. We spent this past weekend at my in-laws in Monsey, and I realized on Friday night that Shabbos was the 8th (!!) anniversary of when I first met Serach that fateful pre-Thanksgiving eve. I determined yet again to complete the series as best as I could, so here goes. 

When we last left off, I was calling my parents to tell them about the girl I was dating. While perhaps initially surprised that I was dating, I believe they were at first fine with the idea... until they realized that I meant it was serious. And by serious, I meant Serious - that I wanted to marry this girl. At this point, they... panicked a bit. I am pretty sure I remember my mother explaining to my father, dumbfounded herself, that I was quite serious about this. My friends and roommates from that semester claim that it was a rather... "loud" discussion from what they could make out from the other rooms in the apartment, which rings a bell.

I do know that I discovered shortly thereafter that they had, late that night, called my Rebbe and principal from high school whom I and they both respect heavily and who knows Serach's family well from growing up to discuss it with him (more on that later), and I found out months later that they had also woken up our best friends in Israel in the middle of the night to ask them about her and her family as well. Luckily, they all had only positive things to say, so that mitigated many of their initial concerns and at least kept things from going insane... for a bit, anyway.

This is the point in our dating where a lot of the history merges together. A lot of what I remember in an order makes no sense, as they had to have happened earlier or later, so if stories seem to contradict, that's why.

One of our most beautiful dates, one which I recommend to most people who've dated a little bit (NOT for early dates), was when we went to the Rockefeller Center area in late December one night. You don't need to be Christian to appreciate the snowy and lit up trees, the beautiful ice sculptures, and the generally calm yet festive atmosphere in the air. You don't have to ice skate to appreciate watching people having fun on the ice skating rink. It's fun, it's relaxing, and it's romantic (shut off your phones). I still remember it as one of our most relaxing, fun dates, walking slowly through the area with the sculptures and stopping every now and then to just look around.

Eight years later, it's easy to see that the calm times are hard to come by. Between our jobs, the kids, and everything else that goes on, life always seems to be incredibly busy. I personally take advantage of quiet hours in the middle of the night to think and reflect, but it's not the same, and certainly isn't something we're able to share - if we're both up, then there's always something that needs to get done, something we need to remind each other about or a story we need to tell. A friend who stopped by today once told me a great analogy for marriage: When Troy Aikman was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, in their first training camp session, he would take the snaps, step back... and hold the ball, waiting and waiting and waiting, until someone would tag him for a "sack". After this happened a few times, he was asked what he was waiting for. He answered that he was waiting for a receiver to get open - he was used to a college game where his WRs would be able to get wide open and it was easy for him to throw to them. One of the coaches told him, "This is the pros. Here, that IS open." Once you're married (or hit other major transitions in life), time disappears rapidly. You have to take advantage of every opportunity, or everything that needs to get done slowly (or rapidly) piles up on you, until it's impossible to manage. Troy Aikman learned his lesson and became a very good NFL quarterback, winning a few Super Bowls along the way. In a marriage, that's not as easy, but it's a lesson worth learning.

That all said, as important as it is to try and make some calm and quiet time, even when we can't, we can always think back to times when we could - and strive to capture more of those in the future. That night, walking around Rockefeller Center with Serach, was beautiful, and I always remember it.

Next up: It's Shidduch Time!

Some People Dream Big

When I watched this video it made me think about how people make career choices. I mean does anybody actually grow thinking they want to be an accountant or do they fall into their career choice because they found something they want to do or because they happen to be good at it? When I think about my career choice, I know that I love my field and when I first heard about it, I knew thats what I wanted to do with my life. But would I have chosen it as a child and followed that dream of this job? Unlikely. As a child I thought I wanted to be a Rebbi. I adored my rebbeim and I had some really good ones as a child. Then I entered high-school and had such bad experiences that I never wanted to look at that profession. 

So my question is specifically in terms of dreams and modeling (not economic factors)

A) Do we have a shortage of good teachers because of the bad teacher experience, because of the shortage of good male role-models in education? 

B) Is there an interplay of having more women going into education because of the difference in quality of women educators? 

C) Any other comments?