What do Investing in the Stock Market, Biking, Eating, Sleeping, Reading, Socializing, Social Media, Internet have in common?
If you figure out a good answer please let me know!
However, there is one interesting point about all of the above, they all seem to have nothing to do with Judaism and perhaps are not mentioned in Jewish thought and teachings. Phew, right!
Very often people think of Judaism as a book of rules and regulations about what you can and can't do. Along this line of thinking, if something isn't mentioned it has nothing to do with Judaism. But actually, in this week's Torah Portion there is an idea called "Kedoshim Tiheyu" which is taught to mean, that we should imbue our mundane life with meaning and purpose. Nothing is beyond reach, and anything that we do in life can have "spiritual" and "Jewish" value when done with meaning, dignity, purpose and for the purpose of bettering oneself and the world around us.
So actually, all of the above mentioned categories can have a lot to do with your Jewish Identity, and each time we do one of those activities with a purpose beyond the simple external motive of those activities then we are in fact helping to shape the world around us with meaning and purpose.
Anyway time to get back to the kitchen, there are a lot of guests coming this evening for our community Shabbos Dinner.
Good Shabbos
Rabbi Yisroel Freeman