A Soulful Journey

"Socrates was a suicide - or so they said.  Christ was murdered. Nietzsche went nuts.  If there was someone out there, he sure as hell didn’t want anyone to know it.” –Woody Allen. It is funny how many of us take this as absolute proof of a caring God.   That would be tantamount to saying “Because you got in a car accident your parents do not love you.”

“When Samuel F.B. Morse invented the telegraph more than one hundred years ago the first words he sent by wireless was, “What has God wrought!” When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon in 1969 his first words were, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Notice who gets the credit and who gets left out when it comes to twentieth-century marvels.” - Harold Kushner ,  Who Needs God

“The two aspects of God recognizable or definable by man are: Deuis Absatus Deuis Revelatus."

When Torah was given God introduces the event in an odd, seemingly redundant manner.   Yet the Midrash places it in context: “Because the Holy One, blessed be He, appeared to them at the Sea as a warrior, and at Mt. Sinai as a Scribe teaching Torah, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to them:   “I is I who was at the Sea.   It was I who was at Sinai.   I am the Lord, thy God.” -        - Midrash Tanhuma, Yitro

“There are times when, as C.S. Lewis said, we do not so much want a Father in Heaven, but a Grandfather in Heaven, a senile deity who can only say at the end of the day: “A good time was had by one and all.”  -Louis Jacobs It has been said that we twist the Biblical phrase from Genesis to read, “And man made God in his image.”   This is not what our tradition teaches.  We are supposed to ask, "God, what do You want from me?"

There is a story of a woman with fourteen children, whose ages were one through fourteen. She decided to sue her husband for divorce on grounds of desertion.         “When did he desert you?” the judge asked.         “Thirteen years ago,” she replied.         “He left 13 years ago? Where did all the children come from?”         The woman looked sheepish.         “He kept coming back to say he was sorry.” -Rabbi Toba August

It's Erev Rosh Hashanah, and services are about to begin. The Synagogue is packed.  As the congregants are milling around, shmoozing before services, everyone seems to be distracted by a man who has brought with him a St. Bernard dog. "What chutzpah! " an elderly woman whispers aloud. Services begin, and everyone is fascinated by how well the dog behaves. The next morning, the man and his dog arrive early and promptly begin dovening. This time, the dog is wearing its own little tallis and yarmulke, and even appears, upon closer inspection, to be shuckling back and forth as the hazzan intones the prayers. The congregation is amazed. The week goes by and Kol Nidre arrives. The solemn worship service begins.  The man and his dog are back, and this time, just as the hazzan is about to begin the prayers, the dog stands up on its hind legs and howls "Ba-ROOOOOOOCH....!" more melodically than the best hazzan. After the service, everyone is clamoring to...

“Some theologians talk as if they just had lunch with the Deity.”   - Rabbi Louis Jacobs It is good to know (and admit) what we do not know.