A Soulful Journey

Rav Assi said: "At first the  evil impulse is as thin as a  spider's gossame r, but in the end it  is as thick as a  cart-rope."   -  Sukkah  52 ` Rava said: "At first the evil impulse is  call a "wayfarer", then  a "guest", then finally  a "master"." - Sukkah  52b

Sitting quietly, eating dinner together, walking on a path is a uniting experience.  It is what cements relationships.  The avoidance of people does the opposite.  Perhaps this is a wise warning to the hand-held computer generation. “Sociologists say that going to the movies is a bonding experience.  It probably has to do with the way your feet stick to the floor.”   - Robert Orben Wall Street Journal

Life of the World, 
 grant me a full life— 
 a life which may be considered long 
 because it has been filled with right living, 
 and considered rich 
 because it has been filled with 
 holy acts. 
 - Rebbe Nachman, The Gentle Weapon

The woods are lovely, dark and deep. 
But I have promises to keep, 
And miles to go before I sleep, 
And miles to go before I sleep. 
 -- Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods On a Snowy Evening Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, 
And sorry I could not travel both 
And be one traveler, long I stood 
And looked down one as far as I could 
To where it bent in the undergrowth. 
 -- Robert Frost, Two Roads Our life is a journey.  It is not the destination; it never was.  It is the journey itself.

"Do not grumble.  It can lead to other sins."   -  Derekh Erets Zuta

"First tell me this: Is there some secluded spot in the vicinity where I can go to pray?" Rebbe   Nachman asked. He had just arrived in Breslov, the town whose name the Breslov movement has borne ever since. "I know of a place that would be most suitable, the Hasid replied, "but it's quite far from here." "Far?" the Rebbe exclaimed. "What do you mean by 'far'? Far from the mind…or from the heart?" The Gentle Weapon, p. 2 Rebbe Nachman later taught: When your heart yearns, distance is no obstacle.

“…the obsessive concern with money, goods, and things is a reflection not of capitalism or socialism, but of industrialism.   It is a reflection of the central role of the marketplace in all societies in which production is divorced from consumption, in which everyone is dependent upon the marketplace rather than on his or her own productive skills for the necessities of life.”   - Alvin Toffler , The Third Wave Written decades ago, the basic human core and desire for more has not changed.   Has it?  Can human nature change?

Why must a cantor, according to Jewish Law, be married? Because he has to pray before the people with a broken heart and a plaintive voice. In a relationship there is growth. To get along with another person, live with their idiosyncrasies, and to give up a part of ourselves for the other is the path of personal development.   It works the same way with prayer.   We seek leaders who have bled and grown, not saints.

The town of Sharm-al-Sheikh sits at a magnificent crossroads.   It is rich, luxuriant and beautiful.   Sharm-al-Sheikh was relinquished to Egypt as a part of peace agreement.   That is why Moshe Dayan once said, “If I had to choose between peace without Sharm-al-Sheikh and Sharm-al-Sheikh without peace, I would certainly take Sharm-al-Sheikh.” And yet when it came time to consider giving up the land there was little dissention for the sake of peace.   See how shalom can change the most hardened soul?

It is hard to conceive of Judaism existing in a vacuum.   For the great length of most of our past we have been subsumed under power more vast than our own.   One of the more difficult objectives for Jews and Christians alike is to grow beyond history, to not be limited by it. “We know what the figure of Christ has meant to the art, music and literature of the west….   It is much harder to say what Torah would have meant to creative arts, the course of relations among nations and men, the hopes and aspirations of ordinary folk.   For between Christ, universally known and triumphant, and Torah, the spiritual treasure of a tiny, harassed, abused people, seldom fully known and never victorious, stands the abyss…”   - Jacob Neusner, There We Sat Down

“I have doubts whether every one of us suffers from the Oedipus complex.   I am inclined to believe that many of us are afflicted with and Abraham complex.   Of Abraham, the Lord says, “I have chosen him so that he can command his sons and his household after him, to teach them the way of the Lord; to act in charity and in justice.” (Genesis 18:19)   To keep the Abraham complex alive in our children remains our responsibility.” – Abraham Joshua Heschel

It is imperative that we see ourselves as both unique and indispensable.   Both, despite the fact that they contradict, are true.   On the other hand, perhaps neither is true.   Maybe the truth lies somewhere between those polar opposites. One great Native American teacher said, “Of course our village is at the center of the world.   But then, every village is at the center of the world.” –Jonathan Omer-Man

There are many types of criticism.  Some are damaging while others are intended for growth.  Sometimes it is totally dependent on the way they are taken. “The secret of Reviews is that you don’t read them.” – Dick Cavett quoting Woody Allen Know yourself.  Know your limitations as well as expansiveness.