A Soulful Journey

My grandmother would ask me, whenever someone complained. “Sister, did you hear what Brother So-and-So or Sister Much-to-Do complained about?” I would nod. “Sister, there are people who went to sleep all over the world last night, poor and rich and white and black, but they will never wake again. Sister, those who expected to rise did not, their beds became their cooling boards and their blankets became their winding sheets. And those dead folks would give anything, anything at all, for just five minutes of this weather or ten minutes of that [work] that person was grumbling about. So, watch yourself about complaining, Sister. What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. And if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.” – Maya Angelou.

On the door of a doctor’s waiting room: “There is so much bad in the best of us And so much good in the worst of us That is behooves all of us not to talk about the rest of us.”

Moses is called the “Master of Prophets.”   In Exodus (33:8) it states, “Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand… and gaze after Moses.”   In the Talmud (Yerushalmi shekalim 5:2) there is a disagreement over the meaning of “gaze after him.”   An opinion has it that it means people would praise Moses.   They would say, “Look how well-fed he is!   All that he eats and drinks, all that he has, comes from us.” The truest measure of righteousness and spirituality is refraining from listening to the sitra achra , the poisonous whisper that makes us jealous.   Every person has it.   Whether we listen to it or not is the measure of our stature.

Bernard Baruch was quoted as saying: A man sentenced to death obtained a reprieve by assuring the king he would teach his majesty’s horse to fly within the year, on the condition that if he didn’t succeed he would be put to death at the end of the year. “Within a year, the man explained later, “the king may die, or I may die, or the horse may die.   Furthermore, in a year, who knows?   Maybe the horse will learn to fly.” My philosophy is like that man’s. I take the long range view.” Take you time.   Any thing is possible. Do not give up. - Leonard Lyons, New York Post

Akiva, a young student, comes before Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Meisels, a posek (rabbinic expert).   It seems Akiva’s best friend, Moshe Rosenberg is a brilliant student.   But Moshe has been “selected” to die.   The Nazis were insistent that all their numbers tallied at the end of the day.   The question: Could Akiva offer up his life in pace of Moshe? Akiva said, “I have seen the destruction of my family…led away to be burned while I am alone and bereft.   In what way am I better than they?   What is my life now worth on the face of the earth?   But if I can still have the merit to do one exalted thing….perhaps I can save dear Moshele, whose life is worth much, whom the world needs.”        - Rabbi Phil Scheim Imagine what a world with such pathos would look like.

Gloating does not become us.   Craning our necks to witness another’s pain is unworthy.   Watching someone fall only adds to the cruelty. “Do not strive to see what your neighbor looks like in his hour of shame.” - Avot 4:23

“I know of no other group in Jewish life which has developed such a tendency to believe the best in about others and the worst about themselves.” - Rabbi Wolfe Kelman Question: How many groups/people could this possibly apply to? Next Question: Is this a good attribute?  Would you want this said about you?  Why?

“If you’re not a liberal at twenty you have no heart and if you’re not a conservative at forty you have no head.” -Winston Churchill Some things are predictable.   One of them is growth.   We change as we age.   Hopefully.

A grandmotherly woman saw Yogi Berra practicing at Spring Training in Florida.     She said, “My, you look mighty cool today.” “Thank you, ma’am.   You don’t look so hot yourself.”

A Giant pine, magnificent and old, Stood staunch against the sky and all around Shed beauty, grace and power.   Within its fold Birds safely reared their young.   The velvet ground Beneath was gentle and the cooling shade Gave cheer to passers-by.   Its towering arms A landmark stood, erect and unafraid, As if to say, “Fear not from life’s alarms.” It fell one day, where it had dauntless stood Was loneliness and void.   But men who passed Paid tribute – said, “To know this life was good. It left its mark on me.   Its work stands fast.” And so it lives.   Such life no bounds can hold – This giant pine, magnificent and old. To My Father , Georgia Harkness

There is a tale of a rabbi who had a funeral oration to deliver.   The rabbi went to all the relatives inquiring about the deceased’s reputation.   No one had a good word to say about him.   Finally, the rabbi approached a friend for advice.   “What should I say about him?” “Well, all I can tell you is that his brother was worse.”             - Louis Jacobs Moral? There is always someone worse than the one you hate. Moral? There is inevitably some morsel of goodness in everyone.   But you may have to search to find it.

“When a siege is laid to a city for the purpose of its capture, it may not be surrounded on all four sides, only on three sides in order t give an opportunity for escape to those who want to flee and save their lives.   It has been learned by tradition that this was the instruction given to Moses.”           - Rambam, Code, Laws Concerning Kings and Wars, chapter 6. Rules of engagement for Jews are not like the world’s rules.   Each life is holy precious.   Each soul is irreplaceable.   If we think this about war, what does this mean for us the next time we have an argument and see our “edge,” our “advantage”?   Should we go for it?

The midrash tells of God's offer to the moon.  The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the moon that it would reign in the daytime.  However, the moon fiercely objected saying that a candle in the daylight was useless.   - Bereshit Rabba Isn't this foolish?  The moon complaining to God?   And yet. This is the worst of the human condition, when we are unhappy because someone has more than we. Question: Who is more foolish?

The best that life has to offer does not come from great accumulation of knowledge but the wisdom in using it to improve the world. “All that I have achieved, I have achieved not through study, but through prayer.” - Baal Shem Tov

Compassion is the pain a father feels when his son hurts his hand playing ball, the pang a mother knows when her daughter is not invited to the party she had her heart set on….the tears a child sheds for the limp foot of his dog or the broken arm of her doll….the sigh a judge heaves when he must pronounce a strong sentence…the forgiveness a man grants toward one who has hurt him, the pleading of Moses when the people were to be destroyed because of their golden idol.   It is the eternal mercy of the Lord… - from A Contemporary High Holy Day Service

“That’s marvelous, having a lion and a monkey in the same cage,” said the visitor to a small zoo.   “How do they get along?” “Okay, usually,” answered the zookeeper.  “Occasionally they have a disagreement, and we have to get a new monkey.”          – Ohio Motorist Life is imperfect.  Our task is not to imagine it as perfect but to work toward that end.

Here is a story that will resonate with travelers: A rich Texan once visited Ireland and “did it” in a few hours. After his excursion he commented on the size of the country. “Why in my ranch I can get in my car and drive for five days from one end of my place to the other.” His guide replied, “I know what you mean. I used to have a car like that.” It is not a question of quantity when traveling (think of “It is Tuesday so it must be Belgium”). Discovering how others live, eating their fare, feeling the sense of the place is what makes travel leap into vivid colors.  It also make life meaningful...even when travel only takes us to the next town.

What does it mean to be engaged in life? "Judaism did not turn heavenward and create in heaven an eternal habitation of souls.  It found 'eternal life' on earth, by strengthening the social feeling in the individual by making him regard himself not as an isolated being with an existence bounded by birth and death, but as a part of a larger whole, as a limb of the social body...I live for the sake of the member.  I die to make room for new individuals, who will mould the community afresh and not allow it to stagnate and remain forever in one position.  When the individual thus values the community as his own life, and strives after its happiness as though it were his individual well being, he finds satisfaction, and no longer feels so keenly the bitterness of his individual existence, because he sees the end for which he lives and suffers." - Achad`HaAm

A king went walking through the forest when he saw the most   beautiful bird he had ever seen.   It sat atop a tall tree.   The king commanded his servants to climb up the tree and get the bird.   One on top of the next, the servants climbed on each other’s shoulders until they reached the bird.   Suddenly the one at the bottom had to move and the rest came tumbling down.   – Mordecai Katz Our destinies are linked.   What happens to one will be felt by the rest for we are all interconnected.  

The Rabbis teach: When Israel is in trouble and a Jew separates himself, two angels accompany that person and place their hands on his head.  They say, 'This man has separated himself from the community will not see its redemption.' It is further taught: If the community is in trouble, a person must not say, 'I will go home, eat and drink and have peace in my soul.'  Each person must share int he burdens of the community as did Moshe Rabbenu .  The one who shares its turmoil will live to its its redemption. - Taanit Our responsibility is always to assist one another.  We are charged by God and blessed by His emissaries to always be a part of k'llal Yisrael .

Idea: It is good to change as we learn. There’s an old expression that says, “A conservative is a liberal that’s been mugged, and a civil libertarian is a conservative that’s been indicted.” Question: Is it self-centered to develop a world view based solely on the bad things that happen to us?

Why is that we take sides?   Why do people have to choose a party or name for themselves? Or feel compelled to place a label on others? “I often think it’s comical How nature always does contrive That every boy and every gal That’s born into the world alive Is either a little Liberal Or else a little Conservative!” - Gilbert and Sullivan, “Iolanthe” As usual, the team of Gilbert and Sullivan make fun of the all-too-human proclivity to make trouble for itself.   Instead of taking an issue, mulling it over, and making a decision, we seem to prefer taking sides, choosing to identify “us” against “them”?   Must we?  Why do we continue to identify people so?

A Dutch missionary returned to Holland at the dawn of World War II.   Disciples surrounding him asked, “What should we do about the Jews?   Should we help them?   Should we turn them in?   Should we do nothing?” “I cannot tell you what to do.   I can only tell you who you are.   Once you know how you are, you will know what to do.” - Rabbi Ronald Schwartz When someone tells us the truth we recognize it.   That is because we knew it already.   All they did was articulate what we felt inside.   It is not possible to teach a person the right thing to do.   All we can do is show them how to behave and ask them to dig deep into their consciousness.

Time changes all things.   We are not exempt.   Time changes us in profound and sometimes unimaginable ways.   What was once critical becomes irrelevant.   What was meaningless becomes a cause célèbre. “A man who is not a liberal at sixteen has no heart; a man who is not a conservative at sixty has no head.”   - Benjamin Disraeli

Torah is quite clear about rules of justice. Like the American icons of justice, t is supposed to be blind. Some favor the poor while others lean towards the rich. The Torah commands a rule of equality. One of the members of the Rothschild family spent a weekend on a small farm in the country. When the owner gave him the bill he was startled to see how much was charged. “What? Four francs for an egg? Have you such a scarcity of eggs?” “Not of eggs,” replied the owner, “but we have a scarcity of Rothschilds.”

In the Oxford Book of Aphorisms , consensus is defined as "achieved when everyone says collectively what no one believes individually.” It is hard to reach agreement where many people are concerned.   Yet, this is the basis of Democracy and community.   Consensus means giving up something of value while others do the same.   We all give and we all receive.

The late Isaac Bashevis Singer once suggested that, “a Jew is someone who can’t sleep and won’t let others sleep either.” We have many titles and tasks in life. Perhaps the greatest of them all is to remind the world there is a God, a moral code, and ethics which transcends opinion.