A Soulful Journey

After I became president, I asked my escort to go to a restaurant for lunch. We sat down and each of us asked what we wanted. On the front table, there was a man waiting to be served. When he was served, I said to one of my soldiers: go and ask that gentleman to join us. The soldier went and conveyed my invitation to him. The man got up, took his plate and sat down right next to me. While he ate his hands trembled constantly and he did not lift his head from his food. When we finished, he said goodbye without looking at me, I shook his hand and he left. The soldier told me: Madiba that man must have been very ill, seeing as his hands didn't stop shaking while he ate.- Absolutely no! the reason for his trembling is another. Then I told him: That man was the warden of the prison where I stayed. After he tortured me, I screamed and cried asking for some water and he came humiliated me, laughed at me and instead of giving me water, he urinated in my head. He is not sick, he was afraid ...

Rabbi Israel Spira, the Grand Rabbi of Bluzhov, recalled how one night during the Holocaust he and other Jews imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp were ordered to try to jump over a large pit. If they fell into the pit, they would be shot immediately. If they managed to jump to the other side, they would live another day,”  Rav Yisrael stood next to another man, a companion who was not religiously observant. His companion said, ‘Why are we even trying? We are giving entertainment to the Germans. Let’s lie down and die with dignity.’ Instead, the Rebbe said, ‘Let’s jump to the other side,’ and they did. “The non-observant man asked, ‘How did you do it?’ The Rebbe replied, ‘I was hanging onto the coattails of my father and grandfather and great grandfather.’ The Rebbe asked his friend, ‘How did you do it?’ His reply? ‘I was holding onto you!’” - Rabbi Hammer-Kossoy of Pardes    Now is when we hold onto each other.

A  man who came to Rabbi Akiva with a question: "If I confess my sins, won't God forgive me anyway?" Rabbi Akiva replied, "Yes, God will forgive you. But the purpose of Yom Kippur is not merely about forgiveness; it's about healing." Through forgiveness of self and other we are healed.

  Ran Abbahu speaks of God having created and destroyed multiple worlds before creating the one we now inhabit (Bereishit Rabbah 3:7). Commenting on this  midrash , Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik  strikingly observes that “here we have God not only creating, as in the Biblical text, but also recreating, rebuilding after destructions.” Why is this important? Because, Rabbi Soloveitchik suggests, the way God is portrayed here is meant to teach us a profound ethical and spiritual lesson: “As God creates and recreates… so too, should [human beings] be ready to rebuild and reconstruct, even as previous structures collapse.” This is not easy, Soloveitchik admits: “To build initially is difficult, but to rebuild is even more challenging.” Faced with destruction and devastation, we are nevertheless “bidden to start over again with faith and resourcefulness, as God did. … This, then, is what the Torah requires of [human beings]: to act, to create and, when necessary, to recreate, ...

The disciples of the Baal Shem Tov heard that a certain man was a sage. Some of them were anxious to see and hear his "Torah." The master gave them permission to go, but first they asked him: How will we know that he is a true teacher? The Baal Shem replied: Ask him for advice on how to pray and learn without distraction. If he answers, you will know there is nothing to him.  -Stern,   Day by Day , p.335

  Note to me :   Before Rosh Hashanah it is time to reflect and do an account of the year that has just passed.  What happened this past twelve months?  Have I grown?  I am one year older.  And a bit more forgetful.  So, not to overlook what has happened…. > I remember the day it almost ended.  A car racing by swerved into my lane with no warning. Do not forget the feeling of screeching tires, the racing heart and the sudden realization, “I could have died.” > The doctor appointment when you knew something was askew.  The doctor acknowledged the anomaly.  His face was serious after the EKG. Thoughts immediately went into fearful overdrive….  Later, the heavy sigh that accompanied the news that “I dodged a bullet.” > I watched my body change, saw new lines appear where skin used to be smooth and wondered how I got this old.  Am I not aging gracefully and not full of rese...