dis-illusion-ment

Groveling for Broke




Look, it's really quite simple. I am ideologically opposed to groveling!

Whether it is John McCain casting everything of value aside for his last shot to be president, or trying to make a deal with BSBI, I don't go there.

Don’t get me wrong. You can look back in the posts of the Forum to see that I support the need for unity and growth in the Charleston Jewish community. I firmly believe that eventually the fragmented "orthodox" groups in Charleston will be united. But unification without a new standard of conduct is a sell-out. Dreams or no dreams, this is crystal clear! BSBI is not ready, and the time to negotiate is not now.

As always, History is calling. But, Don't Panic. Hold true to your principles, be clear about reality ( i.e. the facts as they have been tested over time), and don't back down. It has been shown, time-and-again and time-and-again and time-and-again: change does not come from within BSBI.

Do you want proof? Here is a simple example. Since the formation of the New West Ashley Minyan, BSBI has substantially improved its efforts to provide more than it used to. You can see it in your mail boxes - regular and electronic. There is more going on under the umbrella of BSBI, with the New WAM as a competitor, than there ever was with just the Minyan House as the "orthodox" annex. And I bet they fight less with each other now that they have us to unite over. Frankly, in a measured way for everyone, that's all to the good.

Now, I am no fan of Dennis Prager, but it is a custom of ours to acknowledge a source we like to quote, or parrot-phrase, and I heard this from him once, long ago, when he spoke in Charleston. It goes something like this - "the measure of a person's Un-happiness is in proportion to (their) expectations minus reality". There is pitfall and pain in Great Expectations!

The Pirkei Avot - aka the Ethics of the Fathers, touches the same matter as follows:

"Who is rich? One who is happy with his lot.
Who is wise? One who learns from everyone."

So, if I may conclude with my very own 90 percent rule:

"90 percent is 100 percent"

This is true of medical tests and treatments, and of the essence of negotiation. If you are getting 90 percent of everything that you want from a given deal, don't go for broke. Because broke is what you'll get.

And listen to me, as I speak more south'rn - if it ain't broke . . .
don' fix it . . .

Now, Ain' that the truth? . . . go figure . . .