Freedom (3/5)

The 77% Weekly

The 40/52 weeks-a-year, spiritual-religious newsletter

10/40

From Rabbi Brian

Free & Freedom

(This is article 3 out of 5 on the topic of freedom.)

Free.

The English word free comes from the German frei which means dear or beloved. (Similarly, the word liberty parallels it as it comes from the Latin liberi — meaning both free and children.)

The idea is that if you are dear to those in charge, then you have certain privileges.

This makes sense. We cut slack for people closest to us more than we do for those people – the ones we think of as far away and who we pretend we are nothing like.

Can you imagine that the universe or God (whatever you want to call it) finds you to be dear? Can you imagine that you are beloved in this world?

I think of it this way: pretend that a benefactor has given you the keys to a weekend house and told you to make yourself comfortable… do you?

If your personal theology gets all mixed up in the letters gee-oh-dee, you aren’t alone. Many adults get confused when we introduce those three letters. If you want to learn about having an adult understanding of the word God, click to download the notes or click to download the audio of the 3/17 meaningful talk on God. Or take a look at my book on the subject.

Spiritual-religious advice: contemplate your freedom and that to God or the universe, you are dear.

Rabbi Brian Zachary Mayer is the founder of Religion-Outside-The-Box.

After being ordained as a rabbi, he left mainstream congregational life to encourage people to find and be with (the) God (of their understanding) through podcasts, books, tweets, and internet-based seminars.

His day job is teaching mathematics to Los Angeleno High School students. The rest of the time is with his family.

The last rabbibrian.com Meaningful Talk on a Topic that Matters was on 3/17/12.

The topic was:

GOD
Click to information about downloading the audio or notes from it.

With love,

Rabbi Brian

Support ROTB…

Schedule a monthly recurring donation to ROTB and receive a FREE DOWNLOAD “How To Deal With Impossible People.”

$77 a month

$6.42 a month
($77 a year)

$3.34 a month

($1 an issue)

Or, make a one-time donation …

$1000	$180	$77	$15

I thank you. -Rb

ROTB’s newsletter, website, and podcasts cost thousands of dollars to publish and maintain. Please consider making a US tax-deductible contribution to help defray the costs. Details about donations to ROTB.

Stuff Gets To Me

March 6, 2026

✧✧✧ As I pack up to leave after my workout, someone asks me, “Hey, Rabbi, how are things going?” I’m not one for small talk. Especially after being called by my title. “Well,” I reply. “I’m sad.” “Why?” “I’m thinking about the girls who went to school in the morning in Minab, Iran—over a hundred of them—killed by a bomb.”

My Letter to Habakkuk

February 26, 2026

✧✧✧ To my dearest pen pal, Habbakuk: First, let me say, no one remembers the prophets who did not deliver on the goods. Your predictions came true. And, 2500+ years later, you are still remembered. Do you remember Lenny, that guy? Kept going around Judea telling people “the goats will lay down in green pastures,” and, then, remember? It started

Me, Rabbi.

February 25, 2026

✧✧✧ I am a rabbi. I have a Masters Degree in Hebrew letters and a Doctorate of Divinity, and I am ordained as a rabbi. I have each credential framed, in my office, just behind where I sit. They’re not individually affixed to the wall—they lean against one another in a stack. I like the

Freedom (3/5)