A Soulful Journey

“We shall miss him of the infield and shall miss him at the bat, but he’s true to his religion- and honor him for that.”     -Edgar Guest poem written after Hank Greenberg’s refusal to play baseball on Yom Kippur, 1954

“Unfortunately, the average private citizen is long on principle and short on principal.” – Stanley J. Lieberman

“I dwell in possibility.” - Emily Dickinson

A sales manager assembled his team for a pep talk.  On the screen was a big white spot with a single black dot in the middle. He asked, “What do you see?”  All replied, “A big black dot.”  The manager said, “That is a poor outlook.  Look at all the white space surrounding it.  Those are all possibilities which are far greater than the dot.”

"The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was - and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands."  -Lyndon B. Johnson Aspire to greatness but beware the price.

Numerologists  had predicted that President Ronald Reagan would die in office.  After all, every president elected in a year ending with a zero since 1840 had failed to complete his full term.  Lincoln Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy (1860, 1880, 1900, 1960) were assassinated.  Harrison, Harding, and Roosevelt (1840, 1920, 1940) died of illness while in office. Believe in God not in people.

" One word frees us of all the weight and pain in life: That word is Love."   - Socrates  

The Talmud tells us that "it would be better for a person to allow himself to be tossed into a furnace than to willingly embarrass another person."   - Baba Metsia, 59a

"Please, God. Drop from Heaven a gift of one thousand dollars and I promise not to keep it all. Not me! I give you my word that I will give half to the congregation.  And if you doubt my word, I am willing to accept five hundred net."  - Sam Levenson

"Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would  be affected by it." —      MARIAN ANDERSON

A person never gets his head above the crowd unless he is willing to stick his neck out.    —       Benjamin  Disraeli

"It may get me crucified, I may even die. But I want it said even if I die in the struggle that, “He died to make men free".”  —      MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

"I often think how comforting life must have been for early man because he believed in a powerful, benevolent Creator who looked after all things.   Imagine his disappointment when he saw his wife putting on weight.”   -Woody Allen

A Jew made a wager that the Rebbe could not tell the difference between a Jew and a non-Jew.  To prove the point the hasid dressed up a bearded non-Jew in the streimle and kapota and sat him at the Rebbe's table for the third meal on Shabbat. After the meal, everyone said Birkat HaMazon, Grace.  The non-Jew followed his instructions to look in his prayer book and pretend to follow.  Later, the Rebbe asked who invited the non-Jew. "How did you know?" "By the fact that he did not move when he said his prayers.  A Jew can always be distinguished by the fact that he is physically moved by his words.  A Jew is not a stone."

When Abraham approached the mountain where he was to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, the Torah says, “And Abraham saw.”   What exactly did he “see?” He saw a cloud enveloping a mountain.   Recognizing the sign Abraham said, “This is the place where the Holy One, blessed be He, told me to bring my son.”   Abraham, then turned to Isaac and asked, “My son, do you see what I see?”    “Yes.” Abraham then turned to his servants and asked, “Do you see what I see?” “No,” they answered.   – Midrash Rabbah At this point Abraham and his son went on alone.   Here are four people all facing the same direction yet coming up with radically different worldviews.   The servants see emptiness while Abraham observes majesty.   What we see in life is determined how we see.