Category Archives: Simcha Techniques

Learning from David Blatt

No first-time NBA coach has been as analyzed and criticized as the Cavaliers’ David Blatt — maybe ever. (Sam Amico)

Writing for Fox Sports Ohio, Sam Amico also notes that a national basketball writer with 30 years of experience said he has never seen another NBA coach so “loathed by the media.” LeBron James, Blatt’s star player, has sometimes also seemed to undermine and openly disagree with his coach.

We can debate why  Blatt, an American-Israeli Jew,  has come under such fire, but I think it’s his response that is actually more important from the perspective of obtaining greater simcha (Jewish joy).

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G-d Bless the Comedians

The Talmud contains a fascinating story about an act that is apparently so important and noble that it GUARANTEES the one who performs it a spot in the World to Come (Heaven).

Which singular action could be so powerful and meaningful? Does a Jew have to donate major sums of his money to earn his place in the Next World? Does he have to learn Torah 18 hours a day?

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The Happiness of Rosh Chodesh

Maybe something in your life isn’t going well. You’re struggling with a relationship; you’re unemployed or you hate your job; you can’t seem to lose weight and get in shape. Whatever the issue is, Rosh Chodesh (the beginning of a new month in the Jewish calendar) reminds us to NEVER give up, because things can get better. Perseverance and optimism are keys to simcha (Jewish joy), which we can learn by thinking about Rosh Chodesh and the cycles of the moon.

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Perseverance is Key to Happiness

Sometimes the road to simcha (Jewish happiness) is a “Rocky” one:

Writing this blog is great and I’m learning new things every day and improving, but I don’t want to act like I’m always happy, or that I have all the answers.

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Blessings in the Bathroom

Blessings in the Bathroom

My ten-day hospital stay approximately two years ago was a good spiritual refresher course. Perhaps surprisingly, many of my best lessons occurred in my hospital room’s bathroom.

I was hospitalized in Israel’s excellent Tel HaShomer hospital after suffering a painful urinary blockage that caused my lower pelvis to swell. In the preceding days I went to the restroom much more often than usual, but I simply could not empty my bladder. If you’ve never had that experience, it is frustrating, uncomfortable and worrisome.

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A Happiness Visualization for the Mikveh

After deciding to start my current search for simcha (Jewish joy) on Hoshana Rabbah, one of the first things I did that morning was immerse myself in one of the local mikvehs. Hoshana Rabbah is the day when the judgment process that has started on Rosh HaShana is sealed, and I wanted to feel spiritually pure.

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For Happiness, Empty One Pocket

Rabbi Simcha Bunim, may the memory of  the righteous be for a blessing, had a famous oral teaching:

Everyone must have two pockets, with a note in each pocket, so that he or she can reach into the one or the other, depending on the need. When feeling lowly and depressed, discouraged or disconsolate, one should reach into the right pocket, and, there, find the words: “For my sake was the world created.”

But when feeling high and mighty one should reach into the left pocket, and find the words: “I am but dust and ashes.”*

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