A Soulful Journey

A rabbi stood in front of his congregation and said, “Before I begin my sermon I want to tell you something interesting.    I have a story to tell.    A Dutch Jew survived the Nazis by hiding in attics and cellars.    He came to the United States after the war and finished his education.    He was appointed head of the philosophy department at a university.    He assimilated, married a gentile woman, and had no interest in the Jewish community. His marriage was unhappy and he was on the verge of divorce.     A lecturer had been invited to the university and the President, a Catholic, asked the professor to greet the guest.    “Who is he?” The President answered, “He is a Jewish theologian and philosopher.” The professor, somewhat annoyed, asked the President, “Why are you sending me?” “There are two reasons.    First of all, you are a Jew.    Second, you are the chairman of the Philo...

“O Master of the universe, I am Yours and my dreams are Yours…” –Zohar, recited during birkat kohanim

Is the following a compliment or insult?              “You haven’t changed a bit.”

George Bernard Shaw once remarked, “The smartest man I know is my tailor.   Whenever I go to him to be fitted he always measures me. “   The tailor assumed his customers would change by the time he next saw them.   Shouldn’t we look at people the same way?

Rabbi Sidney Greenberg used to tell the story of a town hall meeting where the discussion centered on the use of a new electric chair for the condemned.   One man stood up and shouted, “Hanging was good enough for my father.   It’s good enough for me!” From birth we move and grow.   What was good enough for daddy requires personal analysis.     It may be good enough for us.   Or not.    

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz has written, “It is not what a person says or performs.   After an experience, change must be affected or the total experience has been wasted.”