A Soulful Journey

  Rabbi Eliezer said, "Repent one day before your death." "But," his disciples asked, "how does a person know when they are going to die?" "All the more reason, said Rabbi Eliezar "to repent today lest you die tomorrow. In this way, a person will spend their whole life in teshuva."   -Shabbat 153a 

  Good morning to You, Lord of the world! I, Levi Yitzhak, son of Sarah of Berditchev, am coming to You, in a legal matter concerning Your people Israel. What do You want of Israel? It is always, "Command the children of Israel," It is always, "Speak unto the children of Israel." Merciful Father! How many people are there in the world? Persians, Babylonians, Edomites! The Russians, what do they say? Our emperor is the emperor. The Germans, what do they say? Our kingdom is the kingdom. The English, what do they say? Our kingdom is the kingdom. But I, Levi Yitzhak, son of Sarah of Berditchev, say: I shall not go hence, nor nudge from my place until there be a finish until there be an end of exile - Glorified and sanctified be His great name." -Nahum Glatzer in  A Jewish Reader   How wonderful it would be if each of us would care for one another to this dredger.  Surely the Master of Creation would be moved to tears.

  "Please, God, make her well." Numbers 12:13   -Rabbi Joseph Telushkin  Moses' prayer for his sister, Miriam.

  When the Lord created Adam, the first being, He took the man through the Garden of Eden.  "See My works.  Look at how exquisite they are!  All that has been created is for you.  Do not spoil or desecrate this word because there is no one to repair it after you." Kohelet Rabbah 7:13  

As the etymology of that term [charity] (from the Latin root  caritas , or "love") implies, charity is a voluntary act of love by one person fo another. The analogous Hebrew term  tzedakah  (from a root meaning "to be just") has an altogether different connotation:  tzedakah  is an obligation rather than a voluntary act of grace, an obligation inherent in one’s membership in the community. Although benevolence ( khesed , in Hebrew) and acts of loving-kindness ( gemilut khasadim)  are valued, Jewish tradition holds that the poor should not be dependent on them; as human beings they have the right to a decent life - hence the non-poor are expected to help, in accordance with their means. As Jacob Neusener puts it: "The Jew no more ‘gives’ tzedekah than the citizen ‘gives’ incomes taxes to the government. You pay our taxes because you must."  From:  Charles Silberman,  A Certain People: American Jews and Their Lives Today

  Living is not difficult.  We were not consulted - as far as we can recall - about being born.  The same will be true when we exit this world; it will happen without or permission. Living is easy: living a quality life is the hard part.  That is why the vast majority of our literature attempts to give meaning to the mundane.  Starting with the Torah, God guides us through various stages of moral devlopment.  From the simple living of Eden to the Laws of Noah to Sinai and the culmination of the revealing of the 613 mitzvot God teaches us through example and law. Countless times throughout history, it has been has proven that humanity, left to its own minds, are ingenious crafters of vicious behavior. With a navigational guide to point us in the right direction we have a much better track record. With this thought in mind it is curious that the Talmud warns us, "In a place where you drink water do not throw stones." - Baba Kamma 92b