דוד, זה לא פשוט

Today, I was walking all over Yerushalayim (that part is exaggerated), trying to find an ATM machine, or כספומט- as any American should know. First I went to my bank, Discount Bank, and their ATM was "temporarily" out of service. Then, I walked down a few blocks to בנק הפועלים, but it was absolutely packed- I mean like a 15 minute wait. Next to that was another branch of Discount Bank which was also "temporarily" out of service. I walked to another בנק הפועלים which had nobody there, and that was awesome.

I think it is a good thing, all in all, that Yerushalayim is bustling on Friday.

Cya here soon!

שבת שלום!!

נצחתי ואנצח גמרתי ואגמור

This is the e-mail that I just received from YU that I have officially graduated as of June 1, 2011. This means that I have won. My plan was that I was not going to take the exit exam and to see what happens. If they were to realize, then I would just have to take one like everyone else. But, if they don't realize, then, after three difficult years, I have gotten the last laugh. And this is what has just occured:

Hello Seth,

Your degree was officially conferred on June 1^st. My apologies for the delay in emailing you. Your diploma has been ordered and is expected to arrive no later than 6-8 weeks from June 1^st. Your transcript now reflects that you have graduated as of May 28, 2010.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Can You Guess?

Can anybody guess which member of the extended Stollel crew, stated the following statement:

"My fondest memories from Reishit are definitely the one-on-one Chavrusas that I had learning with my Rabbeim. The fact that these Rabbeim who I truly looked up to would take time out of their day to learn with me, and talk about really anything that was on my mind was truly inspirational."

Hint: check the Reishi.org "Spotlight on Our Alumni" (if you see this post in time), or recognize the picture.

So It Has Been a Year

On this day, May 26, last year I graduated college. I still have not yet received my diploma, but I'm working on it.

To all my friends: enjoy!

כֶּסֶף נִבְחָר לְשׁוֹן צַדִּיק לֵב רְשָׁעִים כִּמְעָט

לָמָּה תֹאמַר יַעֲקֹב וּתְדַבֵּר יִשְׂרָאֵל נִסְתְּרָה דַרְכִּי מֵיְקֹוָק וּמֵאֱלֹהַי מִשְׁפָּטִי יַעֲבוֹר:

(כח) הֲלוֹא יָדַעְתָּ אִם לֹא שָׁמַעְתָּ אֱלֹהֵי עוֹלָם יְקֹוָק בּוֹרֵא קְצוֹת הָאָרֶץ לֹא יִיעַף וְלֹא יִיגָע אֵין חֵקֶר לִתְבוּנָתוֹ:

(כט) נֹתֵן לַיָּעֵף כֹּחַ וּלְאֵין אוֹנִים עָצְמָה יַרְבֶּה:

(ל) וְיִעֲפוּ נְעָרִים וְיִגָעוּ וּבַחוּרִים כָּשׁוֹל יִכָּשֵׁלוּ:

(לא) וְקוֹיֵ יְקֹוָק יַחֲלִיפוּ כֹחַ יַעֲלוּ אֵבֶר כַּנְּשָׁרִים יָרוּצוּ וְלֹא יִיגָעוּ יֵלְכוּ וְלֹא יִיעָפוּ

For Example

For example, if a person buys a chocolate bar and offers some to his friend, that seems like a noble act. However, what if a random person were then to say: "Hey, may I please have some?," the owner of the chocolate bar may be like: "Who are you?" Even though he may then honor the request, not wishing to insult the person, the giver may not really want to give him. This example shows that the person who offers to share his chocolate bar, does so because he feels a level of comfort and connection with the person he is offering, and offers out of a natural desire to want to share with that person. Therefore, although it seems like a noble act on the outside, I am not sure of the extent to which we could consider that person a tzaddik. It does not show a courageous act of fighting his instincts.