Eight Tips to a Better Perspective

I had a brief, yet substantial conversation with my cousin’s spouse, Dawn. Both Dawn and Mike retired from the military after a 30-year career as high-ranking officials in intelligence. Mike now works as a Program Manager for a government agency, and because of his experience in the military, he looks at things with a different perspective. This article is a result of my conversation with Dawn.

“How is everything going with work?” Dawn asked.

“Pretty good,” I said. “There are some frustrating points, but, I love my family, and that is my focus, especially when things get crazy Monday-Friday.” read more

I am delighted to get emails from the president that say, “I need you Ayala.” I know that emails from the president are mass-produced, yet they have a personal appeal for me because they use my first name. Yesterday, I got an email from President Obama asking me to join him, “before the ball drops and we close the books on 2015, will you join me and pitch in to help Democrats retake the Senate.” Since I like the spirit of being asked to join the president I respond to his appeal with a reciprocal email request: read more

I hate to say it, but Donald Trump has probably earned his “ism.” Of course, this is not to defend the message, but to merely acknowledge its potency, But like Joseph McCarthy, Juan Peron, Joseph Stalin, or (less benightedly, Mahatma Gandhi or Charles Darwin) Donald Trump has come to embody a mood, a movement, or a political stance. Although Time magazine chose Angela Merkel, a sort of anti-Trump, as the person of the year, there’s no doubt that the most important person of the year, certainly in the United States, has been Donald Trump, as depressing as that thought is. read more

President Obama celebrated Christmas in beautiful Hawaii, while his administration told children there would be no presents for them, and no Christmas cards saying peace and joy. When the knock would come on their door it would not be UPS with lovely presents; it would be government agents to send them back to places of terror.

These children and mothers, asylum seekers from Central America are fleeing unspeakable violence, and have risked their lives to come here, because remaining in their countries of origin is a death sentence. Yet the Obama administration decided that the week before Christmas would be an auspicious time to announce that it would intensify deportation of the mothers and children. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders rightly denounced the administration’s act as outrageous, “We need to take steps to protect children and families seeking refuge here, not cast them out. Our nation has always been a beacon of hope, a refuge for the oppressed.” read more

Perhaps you’ve heard? A new Star Wars film opened this week “The Force Awakens.” I can’t say I’m that much of a Star Wars aficionado, but I enjoyed the first three films, before the genre of science fiction-action-adventure films Star Wars wrought became so routinized as to become unwatchable. The new film has received very respectable reviews, and I suspect sometime in the next few weeks I will go see it.

What I liked about the Star Wars films was mystical conceit known as “The Force.” And what I liked most about “the force” is that is reminded me of the philosophy of Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi. Perhaps the most basic and familiar concept of Gandhi is that of satyagraha, a Sanskrit term that he liked to translate as “soul force.” Another term for it might be “the force.” Gandhi loved to speak of satyagraha, systematic campaigns of nonviolence, and ahimsa, a Jainist term meaning the respect for all life as forces. read more

To celebrate the eighth night of Hanukkah, Temple B’rith Kodesh issued an invitation to “light the candles with interfaith and community guests.” On Sunday, we gather in the attractive Atrium with its large collection of Menorahs from all over the world, representing centuries of artistic/artisan creativity. The collection infuses the space with intimate history and a presence of ancestors that encircle/embrace the local Hanukkah event. Ready to light the candles, Rabbis Peter Stein and Kelly Levy are joined by Bill Moehle, the Brighton Town Supervisor and we the people of different faith communities chant the traditional Hanukkah blessings. read more

Do you remember the Kellogg-Briand Treaty? It was big news in 1928. A big pact signed in Paris, 62 nations came together, promising to outlaw war as a tactic of national policy. The signatories all pledged not to use war to resolve “disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which might arise among them.” A great idea, and a very popular one, worldwide, in the wake of World War I. Americans loved the idea as well—the Kellogg of the pact was Frank K. Kellogg, the US Secretary of State. The treaty passed the US Senate 85–1. Peace, it’s wonderful. read more

This Saturday, December 12^th, will mark the centenary of the birth of Frank Sinatra. That he was one of the greatest of America’s popular singers—many would say the greatest–is beyond question.   The security and the richness of his vibrant baritone, the impeccable diction, his sensitivity and his swagger, his ability to both soar and swing, his unmistakable intelligence as a singer both in his selection of material and phrasing, all mark him as unique.

To properly listen to Frank Sinatra you must extricate the artist from his myths, and must forget about his rat pack chums, the women, the mob, his explosive temper, his boozing, his tough guy affectations, and all the other aspects of his personal life that intruded on the musician. In some ways he is not unlike the other great popular singer born in 1915—my choice, if anyone cares, for the greatest popular singer of the century—Billie Holiday, another singer whose myth sometimes obscures the art. But if Holiday is the myth of the damned artist, self-destructive, hooking up with a series of terrible men, hooked on drugs, whose life’s downward trajectory ended while she was in custody for heroin possession, Sinatra’s myth is the opposite, no scandal, no setback ever got in the way of his relentless ambition to become, in the words of perhaps his most famous song, “king of the hill/top of the heap.” The contrasting myths no doubt reflect what it meant, on the one hand, to be black and female, and on the other, white and male. read more

This is a case of a young man of humble origins who suddenly and unexpectedly becomes the first king of the Israelites. His first coronation is done privately and God’s spirit comes upon him as he needs to immediately step into his new national role for which he does not receive a set of instructions, nor does he have role models; he is the first one and he starts his role as king with God’s spirit upon him. It seems to be a promising and fortuitous beginning but it does not last. As a result of his sin of which he says, “I have transgressed the word of God and your word because I feared the people,” he is being punished. read more