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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

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– 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.

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# 29 / 40 – September 2007

Mangos.
 

Mango Tree with OrangesIf 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 . . . . .

. . . . 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.

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Two reasons:
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2) In school 77% was a passing grade and ROTB wants to remind you that life isn’t graded, it’s pass/fail.

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