A Soulful Journey

The great philanthropist, Nathan Strauss, was once asked, "How rich are you?"  Do you know what his answer was?  "When I add up my charity receipts, I shall be able to tell you how wealthy I am."  The only criterion of wealth is what we share with others." - Rabbi Irving Lehman

Merciful God,   Lead me through the confusion of this world, along the path of truth.   Be gracious to me, and share Your wisdom with me so that I will be able to cleave to You through   everything that the world contains—to decipher the countless hidden messages that You have   woven into the fabric of everyday life,   to bring me closer to You.     Rebbe Nachman, The Flame of the hEart

As you read the following story, as yourself: Is this a good story or bad one? Russell Baker decided this would be a "good idea" spring.  It was a time of love, crocuses, life, and planting.  He put in a fish pond in his back yard.  Russell sat and watched as his 12 fish swam lazily around.  He passed nay evening like that.  About a week later the water beams dark so he put in a filter.  Again, he sat and watched as the fish turned lazily about.  He fed them and watched their mouths pucker and such in mouthfuls of food.  About a week passed before the water began to grow cloudy again.  So Russell brought a frog to his pond.  The frog spat water and was a lovely fountain.  The frog sat on top of a brick.  It looked real and spat rings of water into the fish pond.  But mosquitoes gathered so Russell sprayed.  Then the frog turned a dark chartreuse.  It looked diseased.  So Russell bought water lilies and the ...

I recently came upon a view of charity that I had never thought of:   Charity, not as good deed, but as privilege; charity as the gift of the opportunity to contribute to ongoing life….   All the above is a prelude to a true story…. It was a religious custom in Jewish homes to put a coin into a charity box just before the arrival of the Sabbath.   Sam's  mother usually gave him a penny to drop into the slit.   This time she turned him down.   Why?   “Today you were not a good boy and you have not earned the great honor of giving charity.” -Sam Levenson What a wonderful way to bring up a child!

Be like God and don't look for 
 people's shortcomings and 
 weak points. You will then be at 
 peace with everyone. 
  -  Rebbe Nachman, The Empty Chair

At the brink of the World War, “I am looking for peace.   I am looking for a way to stop war, but you will not stop war by pious statements and appeals.   You will only stop it by making practical arrangements.”  -Winston Churchill, March 26, 1936 Churchill's legacy? You are what you do, not what you think.

“All whose actions exceed his wisdom, his wisdom will endure.   All whose wisdom exceeds his deeds, his wisdom will not last.”   - Pirkay Avot 3:5    What leads to lasting knowledge is when we practice what we learn.

A wealthy man approached the Gates of Heaven.   He tried to enter but the Ministering Angel blocked his way.   Finally, he took out his checkbook and said, “Everyone has a price.   How much do you want?” “You don’t understand.   We don not take checks up here.   Only receipts.”  -Bernard Greenfield What we do counts in their eyes and in His.

“I call upon heaven and earth to bear witness that whether Jew or gentile, whether man or woman…the Divine Spirit rests upon him in accordance with the deed he performs.” –Tanna d’bei Eliahu Rabba   We may think lofty thoughts but ultimately it is what we do that matters.

"Lots of the wealthy are like bagels - nothing surrounded by dough." - Sam Levenson

"When it comes to giving, some people stop at nothing." - Sam Levenson

Rabbi Jacob Isaac of Lublin had a shrewish wife.  She nagged at him constantly yet he restrained himself.  He suffered in silence.   At last one day when his patience wore thin, he retorted with some sharp words.  When his friend, Rabbi Bunam heard, he was shocked. “What made you talk back to your wife?” Bunam asked. “It would have been cruel not to answer her.  What irritated her more than anything else was the fact that I did not respond to her nagging." Some people believe that the opposite of love is hate. It is not true. The opposite of love is when you do not care.

Az a khazer fort keyn Vilne, zet er nor blote. When a pig travels to Vilna, he sees only mud.   - Yiddish expression It pays to have an open mind for then we see what is real and not only what we are prepared to see.  We may then learn more than we ever conceived.

A student once devalued, "I have learned [or taught] Isaiah."  "Yes'" responded the elder.  "What did Isaiah teach you?" A woman was greatly moved by the brilliance of a lecturing professor and rushed up to this all-wise man and asked enthusiastically, "Professor, what do you think of God?"  The learned gentleman quietly replied, "It's not important.  What is important is what God thinks of me."   -Simon A. Dolgin

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.” –Henry David Thoreau The great sages and wisest of people agree with the Torah about the ability of man: We are the genius that steers our greatness or brings us low.

When the great Reb Moshe Leib of Sassov passed away, he did not eagerly tread the path to the Next Universe.   Instead, he fretted that his opportunity for doing mitzvahs had ended.   No longer in the land of the living the venerated rabbi sighed.   “In death I am free from doing the Will of the Almighty.   Now what can I do to please my Maker?   How can I serve my Lord, God?” He thought, “It must surely be God’s desire that I be punished for all my many transgressions.”   Immediately Reb Moshe Leib jumped straight down into the pit of Gehenna.   Heaven flew into an uproar.   How could the holy rabbi do such a thing?   Gehenna was not his place!   This sainted leader was destined for great reward, not terrible punishment! Heaven issued a decree that Gehenna was to cease all its excoriating, terrible fires.    As long as the vaunted Sassover Rabbi was there, Gehenna was directed to be silent.   That is ...

"I got married in the summer.   When I returned to teaching in September, I informed my first-graders, most of whom I had taught in kindergarten, that they were now to call me Mrs. Dundas rather than Miss Dolan.   That afternoon, the mother of one of my pupils asked her daughter her teacher’s name.   “She says her name is Mrs. Dundas,” the child replied.   “But she sure looks like Miss Dolan to me.”   - Joyce Dundas in Reader’s Digest Thank God children are smarter than grown-ups.