(29/40)

The 77% Weekly

The 40/52-weeks-a-year, quick-reading, thought-lingering, spiritual-religious newsletter.

Religion-Outside-The-Box is a donation supported not-for-profit empowering adults to find and be with (the) God (of their understanding).

In This Issue

A fruit metaphor for life

Ask R.Abbi

ROTB Links

About

Newsletter Archive
Ask R.Abbi Archive

Podcasts

Account Info

– Edit –

Holy Day Update…

I was delighted with the Holy Day service in Encino in which we touched on themes of death, atonement, forgiveness, re-birth, and living a life filled with God.

It was a most fulfilling Holy Day service.

Thank you to all who attended.

Sign-up!

# 29 / 40 – September 2007

Mangos.

If you plant a mango seed,
don’t expect an orange tree.

As simple as this concept seems, we all manage to forget it from time to time.

We all occasionally plant mango trees and expect oranges.

(This is a metaphor . . . you knew that, right? We’re not really talking about fruit trees here.)

The person who hasn’t done us a good turn in years probably will not all of a sudden go out of their way for us.
If being honest with loved ones has been difficult for us in the past, it isn’t miraculously going to get easier.
The doctor won’t have the best report for us if we have failed to take care of our health.

Folks, it’s pretty simple: if you plant a mango seed, don’t expect an orange tree, expect mangos.

With love,

Rabbi Brian

A web version of this article is available here.
This article was also posted at Street Prophets.

And, I want to thank my friend Penelope for introducing me to this phrase.

Ask R.Abbi – This Month’s Question

Dear R.Abbi,

Would
you please tell me what people mean when they use the word “Torah”?
I’ve heard it explained differently by different people.

— Curious about Torah

Dear Curious about Torah,

You’ve
got reason to be a bit confused – Torah can means a lot of different
things . . . and not just because every Jew has a different opinion on
the subject.

I’m going to give a full answer.

Torah
is kind of like earth. You know how “earth” refers to the planet we . . . . .

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE

. . . . So,
whether you believe that the entirety of the Torah was given to Moses,
whether there was a Moses, whether there was a God, whether there is a
God, whether your head is spinning with how much there is to know,
whether or not you know anything . . . TORAH is about learning.

Keep on learning,

R.Abbi.

If you have a question that you would like R.Abbi to answer, please e-mail: R.Abbi@rotb.org

Read the Ask R.Abbi blog at askrabbi.blogspot.com!

The 77% Weekly

The 77% Weekly: The Religion-Outside-The-Box Newsletterhelps people find and be with (the) God (of their understanding) 40 out of 52 weeks a year.

Why 77%?
Two reasons:

1) 40/52 = 0.76923 and it is sent every Monday except the last of each month.
2) In school 77% was a passing grade and ROTB wants to remind you that life isn’t graded, it’s pass/fail.

Religion-Outside-The-Box is a donation-supported,
non-denominational, internet-based, 501c3-tax exempt religious congregation.

Five Wisdom Biscuits

April 22, 2026

tasty, bite-sized, easily digestible bits of insight ✧✧✧1. Humility, Always.✧✧✧ We need to be humble when we are wrong.AndWe need to be humble when we are right. “When I am wrong, makeme willing to change.When I am right, makeme easy to live with.”—John C. Maxwell ✧✧✧2. LOFTY GOALS✧✧✧ A quote by my BFF Larry Keene: “Our standardsare beyond us for

Annoyance Bingo

April 14, 2026

Annoyance Bingo.Lose your patience. Win big. ✧✧✧ Game play begins Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at 12:00am PT — First Prize: $100 ✧✧✧ The Origin of Annoyance Bingo. For years, I’ve asked mourners at funerals to track the least compassionate things said in an attempt to comfort them — and send me the best (and worst) examples. The idea: when someone

Wastefully

April 9, 2026

Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong would answer the question “how shall we express love?” with a single word: “Wastefully.” ✧✧✧ We don’t express love wastefully. A story and then some thinking about why. ✧✧✧ It’s 2006. I’m in NYC to—among other things—celebrate the fifth birthday of my first niece, Maya. I wait outside her school

(29/40)

Related

Five Wisdom Biscuits

Annoyance Bingo

Wastefully