A Soulful Journey

A pygmy tale tells of a little boy who found a great bird which sang beautiful song in the deep forest. He brought the bird home with him to share its voice and song with everyone he loved. The boy asked his father to help him by feeding the bird food to keep it happy and nourished. The father thought the bird was useless, though. He took a knife to it and slew the animal. the bird was killed. The song was lost. Joseph Campbell Every person has a unique song. Every person is a great and beautiful bird. Treasure the soul. Feed the gift. Do not destroy for there is no other like it.

A tale is told of Solomon Schechter , the real founder of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Schechter became angry with the German scholar Wellhausen who was highly critical of the Bible. Wellhausen published well-researched material that stated that the Bible was not the work of God. Instead, Wellhausen stated, the Bible was a hodge - podge of variant stories that someone tried to tie together, badly. Wellhausen called it "Higher Critical Theory" but Schechter preferred to call it Higher anti- Semitism . Schechter went on to say that he would love to take this German scholar from his cloistered office and bring him to the devout old Jew who rises every midnight to cry over the exile of the Jewish people. - Louis Jacobs It is easy to decry and far more emotionally taxing to believe, trust and have faith. We all must choose our path.