From Odyssey Network’s Faith on the Record series: This week, NASA announced that they plan to do the “first life sciences experiment on another world” in 2015 when they send a terrarium with basil, turnips and cress to the moon via their Lunar Plant Growth Habitat project.? It’s exciting not just on its own merits, but for the message of hope and optimism it sends, says Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, “…we don’t just build what we need in the present, but we actually invest the future because in investing in the future we......
Continue Reading
Check out what I picked for this week’s top inspiring video:? Much work has been done in recent years on the science of happiness and one recurring finding is that expressing gratitude significantly increases our happiness.? Interestingly, the more specific we are about what we are grateful for the greater the increase in our happiness. Try doing this practice this week. 1.?? ?Think about who in your life has been really influential.? Who has had the greatest impact? Who did something really amazing or important for you? 2.?? ?Write down as much......
Continue Reading
Inspired by this article, “Thanksgivukkah: This November 28th, Celebrate Abundance and Possibility” and courtesy of Odyssey Network’s Faith on the Record series: This week, America sees the convergence of Thanksgiving and the beginning of Hanukkah, a rare quirk of calendar synchronicity that hasn’t happened in over a hundred years and won’t happen again for thousands more.? At first glance, these two celebrations don’t seem to have much in common, but look deeper at the stories of the Pilgrims and the Maccabees, says Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, “Each is a celebration of possibility and......
Continue Reading
Inspiring People, Videos, Wisdom Warehouse |
November 23, 2013
Video: Reflections on JFK and Flawed Heroes
From Odyssey Network’s Faith on the Record series: “On the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield reflects on the concept of the “flawed hero” in the Bible and how the extreme scrutiny of politicians in America today makes no allowance for flaws.??? Rabbi Hirschfield asks if we can embrace the flawed heroes around us and strive to be heroic ourselves, in spite our our own flaws.” Odyssey Networks tells the stories of faith in action changing the world for the better.? Their stories explore a......
Continue Reading
News & Politics, Videos, Wisdom Warehouse |
November 14, 2013
Video: Our Shrinking World and the Typhoon in the Philippines
From Odyssey Network’s Faith on the Record series: “Can our sense of neighborhood expand to those who are 10,000 miles away?”? That’s the question Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, President of CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership asks in the wake of the typhoon in the Philippines which has taken the lives of thousands of people.? As the initial media coverage recedes in favor of front-page stories that are more immediately relevant to our lives as Americans, how do we respond to the humanitarian crisis that continues to unfold? Odyssey Networks......
Continue Reading
Many Americans today who are asked about the role of faith in their lives identify themselves as “None” – no religious identification.? For me, if I’m honest, religion alone is increasingly not getting the job done (that it used to) of nurturing the virtues we all need in life to flourish: awe, wonder, humility, transcendence, responsibility, kindness and love. As an eighth-generation rabbi, this is a significant challenge! Lately I’ve been looking at the intersection of popular culture and science for new “sacred” wisdom that works to evoke and nurture these qualities.......
Continue Reading
Daily Life, Videos, Wisdom Warehouse |
November 06, 2013
Sights Unseen — The Monkey Business Illusion
Before you read on, watch this video that was an Internet sensation. I guarantee you will be surprised. If you are like the majority of people, including myself, who have watched this video you missed something that was right before your eyes.? You experienced the phenomenon called “inattentional blindness”. It turns out that we consciously see only a small subset of our visual world, and when our attention is focused on one thing, we often fail to notice other, unexpected things around us — including very major things going on right......
Continue Reading
Inspiring People, Videos, Wisdom Warehouse |
October 28, 2013
Video: Innovating Compassion. A Discussion with Irwin Kula, Angela Maiers and James Doty, M.D.
So a neurosurgeon, a visionary educator and a rabbi walk into a bar…? I met Dr. James Doty and Angela Maiers a few weeks back at BIF9, a remarkable gathering of over 400 innovators from across fields – science, technology, business, health, music, education, design, and social justice. Thirty-two people were invited to tell their innovation stories, each of which enchanted and elevated heart, mind and spirit. The first three stories – mine, Angela’s, and James’ were just released and there has been such buzz around them that we decided it would......
Continue Reading
News & Politics, Videos, Wisdom Warehouse |
October 04, 2013
Video: Brad Hirschfield on Washington’s Bad Example
From Odyssey Network’s Faith on the Record series: “This week the political fight in Washington came to a crisis point over the Affordable Care Act and the debt ceiling, leading to a shutdown of the federal government.? There is a lot we can learn from the bad example being set in our nation’s capital, says Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, President of CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.? “When doctrine and dogma get in the way of addressing the real pain that people are feeling, something is terribly wrong.”” Odyssey Networks......
Continue Reading
Spirituality & Faith, Videos, Wisdom Warehouse |
September 26, 2013
Video: Brad Hirschfield on Nairobi, Peshawar, and the Simchat Torah
From Odyssey Network’s Faith on the Record series: “This week saw two horrific acts of violence – a suicide bombing of a Christian church in Peshawar, Pakistan and the siege at an upscale mall Nairobi, Kenya – which left hundreds of people dead and injured.? Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, President of CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, reflects on these events through the lens of Simchat Torah, the Jewish celebration of the end of the annual reading of the Torah and the beginning of a new cycle of reading the......
Continue Reading