A Soulful Journey

"The profession of teaching is a noble one.  The profession of the teaching of religion is the noblest.  Teaching is vital for the survival of any civilization.  It is the sine qua non – the indispensable condition for our survival as a Jewish community…. This is the major highway leading to the solution of nearly all our problems – more time, more teachers and better teachers."   - Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver -         

" Anyone who thinks disparagingly of his teacher is considered as if he thought disparagingly against the Divine Presence, as it says: 'And the people spoke against God and Moshe.'"  (Numbers 21:5)    -quoted from The Eulogy Book          

"Teacher – despite the low material status of this title – is a highly sacred term.  It is a word that carries us back to that day of which it was said: ‘Today you became a people – the day the Torah was given."     - Hayim N. Bialik

"Teachers should be settled in every country, every province, every city.  Where a city has no children engaged in the study of Torah, its people are to be excluded from the Jewish community until teachers are provided." - Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Talmud Torah

A visitor to  Israel attended a recital and concert at the Moscovitz Auditorium. He was quite impressed with the architecture and the acoustics. He inquired of the tour guide, "Is this magnificent auditorium named after Chaim Moscovitz, the famous Talmudic scholar?" "No," replied the guide. "It is named after Sam Moscovitz, the writer." "Never heard of him," said the visitor. "What did he write?" "A check," replied the guide.

Doctor Bloom, who was known for miraculous cures for arthritis, had a waiting-room full of people when a little old lady, completely bent over in half, shuffled in slowly, leaning on her cane. When her turn came, she went into the doctor's office, and emerged within half an hour walking completely erect, with her head held high. A woman in the waiting room who had seen all this walked up to the little old lady and said, "It's a miracle! You walked in bent in half and now you're walking erect. What did that doctor do?" She answered, "Miracle, shmiracle. . . he gave me a longer cane."

Moishe Goldberg was heading out of the Synagogue one day, and as always Rabbi Mendel was standing at the door, shaking hands as the Congregation departed.  The rabbi grabbed Moishe by the hand, pulled him aside and whispered these words at him: "You need to join the Army of God!"Moishe replied: "I'm already in the Army of God, Rabbi."The rabbi questioned: "Then how come I don't see you except for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?"Moishe whispered back: "I'm in the secret service."