A Soulful Journey

"He had made himself really comfortable, had unbuttoned his coat and put his feet up on the seat.  Just then a gentleman in modern dress entered the compartment.  The Jew promptly pulled himself together and took up a proper pose.  The stranger fingered through the pages of a notebook, made some calculations, reflected for a moment, and then suddenly asked the Jew: "Excuse me, when is Yom Kippur?"  "Oho!" said the Jew, and put his feet up on the seat again before answering."  - Charles Silberman How we wish to be viewed by others determines our behavior.  Wouldn't it be better to be consistent?

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”  ―  Lao Tzu

On 1960 a Jewish speaker was needed to address the White House Conference on Children and Youth.   Abraham Joshua Heschel was asked but declined because his English was so poor; he felt insecure. Eventually, Rabbi Wolfe Kelman convinced him to go.   He was the sensation of the conference.   He received a standing ovation from the 4,000 delegates.

When Jewish poet Layser Aychenrand escaped the train leading to Auschwitz in 1942 he reached Ammemasee on the Swiss border.  He had no documents.  Questioned by customs about his age, he replied, "I am one thousand years old..." Time ages us but pain quickens the process.

DEAR ABBY: Your "It was a wasp, not a bee column" reminds me of this story: A bee, wearing a yarmulke, met another bee who asked, "Why are you wearing that skullcap?  You're not Jewish." The bee replied, "I know,  I just don't want anyone to mistake me for a WASP."   -George H. Riesser

Jack Benny used to say , "That's where I shine.  I do my best when sitting down." - Louis Jacobs Please note the Jewish pun.  "Yeshiva" originally means "sitting."

An itinerant preacher who did not have sufficient time to memorize his sermon was on his way to a certain town.   In the back of the wagon on a heap of hay, lay his bag which contained his tallit, tefillin and speech.   Stopping at a tavern, he unhitched the horse and led him to the rear of the wagon so that he could eat some of the hay.   The horse chewed up the owner’s bag, which contained his oration.   What was intended to be food for thought ended up being food for the horse. What was he to do?   The orator was undeterred.   Ascending to the pulpit he said, “My friends, I do not know what to say.   I am a poor man with a wife and five marriageable daughters.   When I was coming to your town I had a fine sermon.   But a great misfortune has befallen me.   The horse – yes, the horse that carried me to instruct you and enlighten you – chewed up my speech.   But, my friends, if ever a horse comes to town and deliv...

In Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Lincoln said, “People will little note nor long remember what we say here but it can never forget what they did here.” Note: Not many people remember what the soldiers did at Gettysburg but they still remember Lincoln’s words there.

Once a Zen Master stood up before his students and was about to deliver a sermon.   Jut as he was about to open his mouth, a bird sang.   And he said, “The sermon has been delivered.”   -Joseph Campbell

Wilbert Robinson, manager of the old Brooklyn Dodgers, was not proficient in spelling.   One afternoon, before a game, he and one of the coaches were making the batter order. “I don’t think I’ll play Herman today,” said Robinson, referring to a young Babe Herman, the team’s star hitter.   “He’s been in a slump.   What’s the name of the new kid?” The coach could scarcely pronounce the newcomer’s name, a tongue-twister with as many letters as the alphabet.   Robinson struggled for a while over the spelling and then gave up. “Scratch his name,” he said.   “I’ll play Herman.   Maybe he’ll get lucky.”   ~E.E. Edgar

Mavet vhayyim b'yad ha-lashon.   Life and death are on the tongue.  -Talmud

I don’t know if you ever heard of the story of Mr. Schwartz, Lumber Jack Supreme, who one day walks into the offices of the North Woods Lumber Company in Wisconsin and meets with the foreman as part of his interview to become a lumberjack.  The foreman looks at Mr. Schwartz and sees an elderly man, well into his eighties, a Yiddish newspaper stuck beneath one armpit, a little ax flung over his other shoulder, who proceeds to apply for a position with the company.  The foreman tries to be sensitive to the elderly Mr. Schwartz and says to him, “You know, a lumberjack is a very strenuous job, are you sure you are up to the task?”  Mr. Schwartz says, “I’m up to the task.  I’ve been choppin’ avay all my life.”  The foreman is still skeptical so he asks, “Well, where have you worked in the past?”   Mr. Schwartz replies, “Vell, I vas choppin’ away in the Sahara Forest.”  The foreman replies, “Mr. Schwartz, you mean the Sahara Desert.”  And Mr. Schw...