ODE TO THE MIGHTY VIOLIN

ODE TO THE MIGHTY VIOLIN

Jacques Wiesel

         

          My wife Carole and I just returned home from a Sabbath service at the Chai Temple in Margate. My head was still humming from the beautiful sounds which emanated from a corner of the temple. The notes came from a trio of players, comprised of Mel Olman, age 70, playing a Roland keyboard. Accompanying him was Mike Gold, age 73. who played a trio of instruments, including the flute, clarinet and saxophone. Finally, my fellow Holocaust survivor and friend Saul Drier, age 88 manned the drums. Rabbi Dov Forman, at 63 the new kid on the block, completed the musical group for an exhilarating 90 minutes.

          These Klezmerians needed only 1 more instrument to elevate their renderings into a new dimension. I’m referring to the mightiest of all the musical instruments, ergo the violin, called the most versatile of all. Since its sound many times echoes the mournful notes of the Shofar, used for almost 6,000 years by the Jews. It quickly became a part of the Jewish arsenal, as many of the world’s greatest violinists will attest to. The current list includes the following but is not limited to them: Joshua BELL, Fritz KREISLER, Julia FISCHER, Yitzhak PERLMAN, Isaac STERN, David OISTRAKH, Glenn GOULD, Mischa ELMAN and Nathan MILLSTEIN 

          First introduced in Northern Italy by Andrea Amato of Cremana in 1564; he melded 3 string instruments into one; the Rebec, the Viola da Braccio and the Lira da Braccio.  In 1716 the first Stradivarius made its debut, followed by Guarneri.

          My first exposure to it came soon after my family and I landed in America in April 1943 from Casablanca, where we lived as refugees, having escaped from both Belgium and France during WW2. My aunt Goldie took my brother Irving and I to see Walt Disney’s “FANTASIA”. We heard the works of the classicists Schubert, Mussorgsky, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Paul Dukas and Ponchielli. They accompanied cartoons. It was the first time in 3 years that my eyes and ears had been assaulted in such a pleasant way.

          I first fully discovered the joys of the violin through Miss Ruth Schaefer, my Music Appreciation teacher in Public School 16 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 1944. She introduced me to the 4^th Movement of “Scheherazade” by Rimsky Korsakov. These days, as I type my essays and lectures I constantly listen to classical music. My favorites include violin and piano concertos. Speaking of pianos, and the ability to influence millions through great music, here is a current example. World class Chinese pianist Lang Lang first heard the instrument played when he was 2 years old. He was watching a “Tom & Jerry” cartoon while the background music was Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody”, which they called the “cat concerto”. In the year 2008, at the summer Olympics in Beijing he played the piano with over 1 billion people worldwide listening. As a direct result over 60,000 Chinese children signed up for piano lessons. There are no figures for the rest of the world. Thus the enduring power of classical music.

A CONSPIRANCY OF SILENCE! AGAINST WOMEN …engineered by women.

Edit HTML

A CONSPIRANCY OF SILENCE!

AGAINST WOMEN …engineered by women.

            Yogi Berra, master of the malapropism once said “The future ain’t what it used to be”. Today this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, as more women look into the future with apprehension when it comes to their health.

           

            For the past 2 years I’ve knocked on the doors of no less than six highly respected women’s organizations in South Florida, asking for an 18 minute meeting. This includes our own Congresswoman Debby Wasserman Schultz. My reason for this short one-on-one with the heads of these organizations; I believe I can help educate women on how to eliminate the fear many of them have about breast cancer.

           

            One of these women’s groups held a meeting awhile back which was attended by over 800 interested attendees. Knowing that at this seminar at least 100 women (1/8) will develop breast cancer. Also, since the eminent cancer specialist

Dr. Bernie Siegel*** tells us that only 20% of his patients are cured, it looks as though 20 of the 100 have a living chance IF they fully understood the dynamics of becoming whole once again. As a survivor of both cancer and the Holocaust, I’ve researched both for years. My conclusion: both share common psychological reasons for their occurrence.

           

            The American Institute claims that 9 out of 10 cancers are related to factors WE CONTROL. In the past I’ve used this knowledge to heal a fractured femur and bleeding ulcers. I also walked out on a surgeon who recommended an immediate triple bypass in St Francis Hospital (LI) by telling him “I choose to bypass your triple!.”

           

            The National Cancer Institute claims the money spent on the “business” (my word) of cancer now averages $4.900,000,000 ($5 Billion) per year. Those who make $ off the suffering of others are not interested in cures.

Hello? Is there anyone out there listening?

***Love, Medicine and Miracles.

Jacques Wiesel

Master of Human Engineering.

THE ORGAN RECITAL

THE ORGAN RECITAL

Jacques Weisel

                        Piano recitals I love; organ recitals leave me cold. Having to listen to my friends and neighbors complain about this organ or that makes me want to scoot out of the sickroom atmosphere as quickly as my feet will run in cadence. I have no time to listen while being silent…notice the same letters in both words; no coincidence there I always say. I don’t ever intend to get sick listening to someone else’s organ recital, consisting of but not limited to  ruptures, transplants, fractures, cancer, heart attack, back pain etc…I’m no doctor, and  I don’t believe I deserve the lack of respect shown by one human for another when they trap you into listening. Since there is so much specialization nowadays most physicians are only interested in listening to a tale of woe regarding one organ, ergo their area of expertise.

            Talk to me about Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D. Minor and I listen with both ears, complete with hearing aids. With my friends and relatives I listen only ONCE to their ailments. After that I am interested in the steps they have taken to ameliorate the offending organ. Speaking of hearing aids, I agree with Thomas Edison. He said he did not have to listen to the plethora of nonsense thrown at him vocally because of his deafness. I wear the aural plugs with friends and/or when giving a lecture, lest I miss an important question or comment.

            I just turned on Bach’s Toccata while I type, 10 minutes of inner silence, peace and tranquility. Beats taking a ‘depression’ pill any day, with no side effects except a feeling of joy. Positive expectancy of normal health is natural; don’t fight it. I like what John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet, wrote in 1856 apropos the medical profession:   “Health that mocks the doctor’s rules,

            Knowledge never learned in schools”.

Jacques Weisel website created by NYC Agent Michael Resnik, office on 244 Fifth Avenue

POSITIVE ATTITUDES…CURRENT OR ANCIENT?

POSITIVE ATTITUDES…CURRENT OR ANCIENT?

A Modern guide for Sales Managers and Supervisors

            Since I am a  staunch proponent of Positive Living I need to retrace its movement in order to find out if this is a relatively new idea…or not. As a teacher as well as personal coach for over 50 years I was curious to see who else espoused my hard-won philosophies. Imagine my delight when I found out that the first writings on the subject come from the ancient land of Egypt, and the author was named Ptah-Hotep. He was

the feudal lord and king of the South and the North. He is also the author of the oldest known piece of literature in the world, called the PAPYRUS PRISSE. Remembering the French aphorism ‘plus ca change plus c’est la meme chose’…’the more things change the more they remain the same’, I want to share the king’s wisdom, which I could hardly improve upon. The following is 5,600 years old, yet could have been written today by a Harvard MBA. My comments will be in ( ). He is writing about his subjects.

1- BE NOT ARROGANT BECAUSE OF THAT WHICH THOU KNOWEST

    (I recommend a grateful and humble acceptance of our gift of intelligence)

2- IN CONVERSATION WITH AN IGNORANT PERSON DO NOT ANSWER IN     A CRUSHING WAY TO SHAME HIM. TREAT HIM WITH COURTESY.

    (Always be grateful you are not walking in his shoes)

3- INSPIRE NOT MEN WITH FEAR, ELSE GOD WILL TURN AGAINST THEE

    (I teach that fear motivation has the opposite effect desired)

4- BE ACTIVE DURING THE TIME OF THY EXISTENCE, DOING MORE  THAN IS COMMANDED

    (I call that giving $1.10’s worth of value for every $1.00 earned)

5- GRUMBLE NOT OVER THY AFFAIRS

    (My formula is simple re complaints: 80% of the people you tell them to don’t give a     damn…and the other 20% are glad you have them)

6- LET THY THOUGHTS BE ABUNDANT. BUT LET THY MOUTH BE UNDER    RESTRAINT

(From an old Arabic saying: you are the master of the unspoken word, but slave to those you have uttered. Also, my father taught me to ‘talk less and do more’)

7        ENTER IN A DISCUSSION WITH HIM AFTER GIVING HIM TIME TO SATURATE HIS MIND WITH THE  SUBJECT BEING DISCUSSED

      (Problems are solved more quickly and easily when all the facts are known)

8        THE WISE MAN IS SATIATED BY KNOWLEDGE: HE IS A GREAT MAN

         THROUGH HIS OWN MERITS

      (He does not need approval from outside sources to feel good about himself; he is       self-actualized)

Jacques Wiesel…Master of Human Engineering

#954.718.8421

Jacques Weisel website created by NYC Agent Michael Resnik

Copyright 2011

THE NEW MATH…$AVE BY $PENDING!

THE NEW MATH…$AVE BY $PENDING!

Jacques Weisel

            Yes, it’s on the top-right hand corner of my Sunday paper, front page no less. The message is simple: SAVE MONEY…$1821 IN COUPONS INSIDE. Wow, I can’t wait to open this treasure trove of goodies. I can start a new bank account using the $1,821 which I have saved by…Uh Oh, by spending $18,210 (at 10% off)…or  only $7,284 if the discount is a full 25% off. Such a bargain! I can’t wait to go out and spend so that I can save. Talk about the new New Math.

            Coupon, from the French ‘couper’ mean to cut, as out of a newspaper or magazine. My wife Carole and her best friends have been avid ‘savers’ for many decades. The monies earned by spending enabled one of her friends to go on trips with her husband, where they could start spending again in order to save.

            Actually math is needed to figure out whether restaurant coupons, when half-off are better than ‘buy one, get one free’, OR is a full 10% off the entire bill better? And to think I almost received the Math medal in high school. The guy who beat me had an Eiffel Tower built from ice-cream pop sticks, and who could beat that? I really lost the medal because of my propensity for speaking out of turn, making jokes, since math was such a dull subject. I also lost the French Medal for the same reason, “La Comedie”.

            Anyway, Sunday morning are ‘quiet’ times, while the little woman sifts through the ads, looking for the illusive $1,821. When I hear an Ah Ha I know she’s closing in on the deal of the New Year. She does know we must be ready to spend 90, 50 or 25% in order to qualify for this week’s ‘largesse’, i.e. the offerings of the stores and restaurants.

            Sometimes we go out with friends who have matching discounts, and really put it over the eating establishments. I may be old-fashioned (no, not me) but I prefer to be able to afford full prices. What an antique idea, coming from an antique me. But I still smile watching them work the convoluted discounts into tangible, palpable savings.

            Stores are notorious for having sales all year round. They inflate their prices, then ‘cut’ them down during the 24/7 year-round sales. Since most of the goods come from China, chains of clothing and dollar stores would go out of business overnight, if China decided to trade elsewhere only. So, get your savings while you can, and enjoy!

Jacques Weisel website through NYC Agent Michael Resnik

JUDGE NOT…LEST YOU SCREW UP!

JUDGE NOT…LEST YOU SCREW UP!

Reprinted from ‘Personal Selling Power’

by Jacques Weisel 

This story is different because it has to do with the bad habit some of us possess apropos JUDGING OTHERS! Since I have been selling product, service and then myself for over 50 years I still had no problem choosing this vignette, in keeping with my personal values. It’s called My Most Memorable Sale!

        In 1959 I purchased a lead from Encyclopaedia Brittanica for the usual $3.00. It requested a free EB booklet describing the New Edition. It had an East Side address yet, when I got to the block she lived on I was appalled at the poverty of the street. I almost turned back because of the ear-piercing notes that pass for music coming from her apartment. Steady ringing of her doorbell failed to produce results.

            Just as I turned to leave the door opened, and an elderly lady answered wearing a shabby housecoat. The room was a slovenly mess, and I gingerly lowered myself onto a shaky folding chair. Miss P.E. (age 68) questioned me about the new Britannica at length.

            Ever since she was a child, she confided to me, her ambition was to own a set of the Encyclopaedia Brirannica, since she had grown up with it. She left the room shortly and came back with a brand new $100 as a deposit. This represented more than 25% of the full amount, and meant a special bonus added to my commission.

            Within sixty days my secretary ushered in a well-coiffed, well-dressed lady whom I failed to recognize at first. It turned out to be my ‘impoverished’ 68 year old lady. She had stopped by to pay the balance of her account ($276) in cash because she had just bought a lifetime contract with a dance studio, and was preparing to leave for Europe with other dance students and the instructor. Cost, $3,000.

            I learned several lessons in non-judging others.

First, never underestimate the power of a person’s motivation when trying to fill their personal needs. Second, never judge anyone’s ability to pay for what they want.

Finally, I received a commission plus 2 bonuses for her quick payment, and Personal Selling Power magazine paid me $50 for submitting this story. Total reward for not judging who was behind that door, $190 in the 1950s, worth $1,520 in 2010. (Source: Consumer Price Index Conversion. I repeat, JUDGE NOT LEST YOU SCREW UP!