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 The Last Moments
Will you consider this
year a great success
or failure? A lot
depends on the next
few weeks.
by Rabbi Leiby Burnham
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 This Week's Question
I could scarcely believe my eyes when I read your claim that Judaism teaches that the purpose of life is to seek pleasure. How can you, as a rabbi, be serious?
Judaism teaches no such thing. In the deepest sense, Judaism teaches that the purpose of life - the purpose of the world, the universe, and of God Himself - is ultimately beyond human understanding. In the more mundane sense, people do have a purpose, but seeking pleasure falls far behind doing what is right, just, and kind (whether or not doing so is pleasurable). Judaism does teach that there is nothing wrong with pleasure in itself, but it DOES NOT make pleasure the central point of living!
On what basis do you make this outrageous, unbelievable, and stridently non-Jewish claim?
Click here for the answer!
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Below are three great ways to reach out before Rosh Hashana. Click on the links and use the kiruv tools yourself (send to your unaffiliated friends) AND help others reach out as well by forwarding them to your frum friends!
 1) Who's Life will You Touch This Rosh Hashanah? Share the sweetness of Rosh Hashanah with an attractive assortment of honey sticks dressed in a cone-shaped organza bag or a set of assorted larger honey tubs. Each one comes with a beautiful Rosh Hashanah card and you can add your own personalized message. Just click here to order.
 2) High Holiday Reader. An inspiring and thought-provoking compendium of 12 articles that will transform your High Holiday experience. Free! Just click here to download.
 3) Dare to Dream. Share aish.com's newest Rosh Hashana film with someone you know (or would like to get to know) and add a message from yourself to make it more personal.
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 I am an accountant and a client called me to ask about the tax status of German reparations. I wondered why she was getting them so I asked her about it and she said that her grandparents and parents are deceased but had put in a claim for an ice cream business they had in Berlin that they lost. The German government recently got back to her and asked her to prove her relationship to them so they could pay the claim. Before this point, I had no idea she was even Jewish!
Before this Kiruv seminar, I would never have even pursued this, but I asked her if she was Jewish and she said she was secular and not practicing but was very proud of being Jewish. It turns out her parents rebelled and "converted" to become Quakers! She was raised as a Quaker in a black NY neighborhood but rejected all that as an adult and is "very proud to be Jewish". I asked her what being Jewish means to her and she said that she lives by the golden rule and is very ethical and spiritual. I then discussed the fact that the Torah gave us our ethics and guides us in what is right and not right. How would we know what is right without the Torah? She reiterated that she is not interested in practicing but agrees with me that the Torah is our guide. I then asked her if she would like to identify in a small way by taking on a small mitzvah such as lighting candles Friday night. She was thrilled and asked me about the details. I told her I would email her the transliteration of the brocha ( she said "Oh is that the Boruch Ata thing?). She obviously knows a little more than nothing! I then searched the aish.com website and sent her the article on how to light sabbath candles. She sounds very excited. I just emailed her a reminder about candle lighting time today and hope to follow up again next week.
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Don't forget to email your eGroup about any Kiruv activity you have done. 
