A Soulful Journey

There is a Russian story about an Armenian grandmother on her deathbed.  Her children gathered to hear her final words. “Take care of the Jews,” she wheezed. “Mom, we are Armenians.   Why take care of the Jews?” “First they come for the Jews and then they come for the Armenians.”    - Rabbi  Jonathan  Miller

“The Bible tells is to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people,” wrote G.K. Chesterton

" People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other. " - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Imagine:   A second century manuscript by Shimon bar Yohai faithfully handed down through the generations from master to disciple.   And imagine more, that copies of selected portions are for sale at a modest price. A young Kabbalist named Isaac ben Samuel, fleeing the Mamaluk invasion of Acre by way of Italy, came to Castile in 1305.   There Isaac learned that these tantalizing folios were of Moses ben Shem Tov de Leon.   Isaac records the meeting in his diary.   Moses promised Isaac that he did indeed possess a copy of the coveted ancient manuscript and he could examine it for himself. But alas, before Isaac arrived, de Leon fell ill and died.   Saddened, Isaac sought out de Leon’s widow.   The manuscript apparently vanished, the woman swore it never even existed.   Professor Daniel Matt relates the account in the widow’s words: "When I saw him writing with nothing in front of him, I said to him, “Why do you say that you are copying from ...

The learning of Torah is never limited or diminished until our soul departs.  -Yalkut Shimoni, Yitro

"Whenever the saints of this world get together and discuss matters of Torah the next world also rejoices."  -Rabbi Louis Jacobs What power we wield when we are conscious of it.

"Whoever meditates over words of Torah finds new meaning in them." -Rashi Do not stop.  Never give up.  It is all there, waiting for you.

May you live to see your world fulfilled. May your destiny be for worlds still to come, And may you trust in generations past and yet to be. May your heart be filled with intuition and your words be filled with insight. May songs of praise ever be upon your tongue and your vision be a straight path before you. May your eyes shine with the light of holy words and your face reflect the brightness of the heavens...   - Talmud, Berachot 17A

May your eyes sparkle with the light of the Torah, and your ears hear the music of its words. May the space between each letter of the scrolls bring warmth and comfort to your soul. May the syllables draw holiness from your heart, and may this holiness be gentle and soothing to you and all God's creatures. May your study be passionate, and meanings bear more meanings until Life itself arrays itself to you as a dazzling wedding feast. And may your conversation, even of the commonplace, be a blessing to all who listen to your words and see the Torah glowing in your face. Danny Siegel , The Lord is a Whisper at Midnight 

Live each day to the fullest. Get the most from each hour, each day, each age of your life. Then you can look forward with confidence, and back without regrets. Be yourself - but be your best self. Dare to be different and to follow your own star. And don’t be afraid to be happy. Enjoy what is beautiful. Love with all your heart and soul. Believe that those who love, love you. Forget what you have done for your friends, and remember what they have done for you. Disregard what the world owes you and concentrate on what you owe the world. When you are faced with a decision, make that decision as wisely as possible - then forget it. The moment of absolute certainty never arrives. Blessed is the generation in which the old listens to the young; and doubly blessed is the generation in which the young listen to the old. - Talmud

The man whispered, "G-d speak to me," and a meadowlark sang but the man did not hear. So the man yelled, "G-d, speak to me!" and the thunder rolled across the sky but the man did not listen. The man looked around and said, "G-d let me see you," and a star shone brightly, but the man did not see. And the man shouted, "G-d, show me a miracle," and a life was born, but the man did not notice. So, the man cried out in despair, "Touch me G-d and let me know you are here!" Whereupon G-d reached down and touched the man.  but the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on."

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi used to listen, every Friday, to his grandson reciting the weekly parasha. One week he forgot this, and entered the bathhouse. After he had begun bathing, he remembered that he had not yet heard the weekly parasha from his grandson, and he left the bathhouse. They asked him why he was leaving in the middle of his bathing, since the Mishnah teaches that once you have begun bathing on a Friday afternoon you do not have to interrupt. He replied, “Is this such a small thing in your eyes? For whoever hears the parasha from his grandchild is as if he heard it directly from Mount Sinai . . .”  - Yerushalmi, Shabbat 1:2