A Soulful Journey

There are many instances where justice is are articulated and dispensed.  Here are three examples: “You shall not render an unfair decision. Do not favor the poor or show deference to the rich. Judge your kinsmen fairly.”  Leviticus 19:15 “Through those near to Me I will show myself holy.”  Leviticus 10:3 These words were spoken to Aaron after his sons decided they knew better how to approach God. “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you do not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land I have given them.”  Numbers 20:12 This admonition is directed at Moses when he did not follow God’s instructions.

The laws and stories that revolve around tzedaka are many.  They all aim to change human nature by changing the way we think about poverty and the poor: A rich man once came to the Maggid of Kiznitz.  “What are you in the habit of eating?” the Maggid asked.  “I am modest in my demands,” the rich man reply. “Bread and salt and a drink of water all that I need.” ”What are you thinking of??” the rabbi reproved him.  “You must eat roast meat and drink mead like all rich people.”  He did not let the man go until he promised to do as he said.  Later Hasidim asked him the reason for this odd request. “Not until he eats meat,” said the Maggid, “will he realize that the poor man needs bread.  As long as he himself eats bread, he will think the poor man can live on stones.”

  Justice said to Power, “It is a well known fact that as partners, we go well together. Individually you are of low rank. Quite frequently you commit heinous crimes. Justice without power still divine and impartial in dealing with man, but power without justice is brutal. ”It does not interest me whether or not you laud me,” Power retorted.  “Your condemnation does not wound my vanity, for I know that whatever you possess you gain through me.  It is rarely that you make a step without me, for justice without power is always humiliated and treated with insolence.  If you want to accomplish things you must have me for protection.” Moral: Justice would have to endure torture and bloodshed if Power were not her partner.

The words in Scriptures, “Justice, Justice shalt thou follow,” were interpreted in the following way by the Rabbi of Lublin: When a man believes that he is wholly just and need not to strive further, then justice does not not recognize him. You must follow and follow justice and remember stand still, and in your own eyes, you must always be like a newborn child that has not yet achieved anything at all -- for that is pure justice. – Yaacov Yitzhak of Lublin

Elie Wiesel told of a woman who lived in the Carpathian Mountains during the time of Hitler. She had heard that people in Warsaw rebelling and fighting back. She exclaimed, “They should be quiet not protest. The war will end and everything will be all right.” At this point in his address, Elie Wiesel turned to President Clinton who was sitting on the dais and said, “I have recently visited Bosnia and cannot sleep at night. Why don’t we intervene?  There are those in America today who say we should do nothing about this was the slaughter, just as the woman in the Carpathian Mountains counseled inaction in the face of the Nazis.”  And then Elie Wiesel resumed his story: “This woman never knew that the war against Hitler had come to an end, for she perished with her entire family in Auschwitz.” He paused for a moment and concluded, “That woman which my mother!”

Called for jury duty woman asked to be excused on the ground that she was supposed to capital punishment. ”But this is a civil suit,” explained the judge.  “A woman is suing her ex-husband.  It seems she put money aside for six years for a special vacation but he blew it at the track.” ”In that case,” she replied, “I could change my views on capital punishment.”

"Because you trample upon the poor and tape from him exactions of wheat, you have built houses of hewed stone, but you shall not live in them.  For I hate, I despise your feasts. I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Take away from me the voice of your songs, to the melody of your harp and I will not listen. But let justice to roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."   –AMOS

Rabbi Samuel bar Nachmani said:  Whatever the leaders do, the masses also do.  How is that?  The Nasi rules that something [previously forbidden] is permissible.  The President of the Court then says: If the Nasi has ruled that the thing is permissible, shall I forbid it?  Then the masses say: The judges ruled that this thing is permissible; why should we forbid it?  Who then caused the whole generation to sin?  It is surely the Nasi, who was the first to sin.  Rabbi Simlai said: It is written, For their mother played the harlot, she that conceived them has done shamefully.   [This verse alludes to the leaders] who make a mockery of their own words before the ordinary people.  How? If the sage expounds in public the prohibition against lending money on usury and he himself lends his money on usury, he teaches “you shall not rob,” and yet he himself robs; “you shall not steal," and he himself steals.  Rabbi Berekiah also said: Once, a man who had his kettle stolen went to complain

“Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” (Genesis 18:25):  Abraham tried to persuade God not to kill the innocent together with the guilty on the planned destruction of Sodom and Gemorrah.  Even God must obey the rules.

…[T]he Rabbis were not unaware of the fact that the Romans tried to put a face of legality on their robberies. A Rabbi of the third century summarized it in the following phrase: …"This wicked government robs and extorts and makes it appear as though it were holding court.”   -Professor Saul Leiberman The law must not be  above morality.

“If you have to accuse a person, do it in the right place.” ”Prove yourself worthy of the millions of victims among you and refrain from any individual acts of revenge and terror.”   - Oscar Schindler If such a man as Schindler could dispense this advice shouldn't we listen?

A station wagon puled up to the entrance of a Springfield, MO. mall and a gaggle of kids in their early teens spilled out of the back seat.   “Hey, you kids,” the woman behind the wheel called after the disappearing brood, “I’ll be waiting right here when the movie gets out.  If you are not here, I’ll come in and find you.” She turned to the adult friend in the seat beside her.  “That’ll get em,” she said.  “They’d rather die than have their friends see them in the company of their mom.” – Mike O’Brien, Springfield, MO News Leader When young we behave in ways that we would gladly pay a king’s ransom to do a “redo.”  Since that is not possible why not choose wisely today?

Rabbi Amiel used to say, If a heathen were ever to approach me and ask me to teach him the whole Torah while standing on one foot, I would say to him, "The Lord wages war from generation to generation against the unjust.  This is the essence of Torah.  The rest is commentary.  Go study."  -Seymour Siegel quoting Hayim Rambani Contrast that statement with Hillel's comment, " That which is hateful to you, do not do unto others."

At the time of the Camp David accords, there was a joke making the rounds that then President Carter divulged to his partners at Camp David that he had had a special phone line installed, long distance, directly to God. They consulted with God throughout the deliberations, running up quite a bill. Despite the expense, President Sadat of Egypt immediately installed such a phone at his office in Cairo, and he, too, regularly used the connection. On one occasion, complaining to Israeli Prime Minister about the high cost of the service, Begin responded: "Oh, I just use my desk phone, and it doesnít cost me anything."  "How is that possible?," fumed Sadat. Said Begin, "From here it is a local call."  - Rabbi Avram Reisner

"Justice is a certain rectitude of mind whereby a man does what he ought to do in the circumstances confronting him." -Thomas Aquinas Each moment we are called to make judgments about how we respond to life.  In every one of these moments we must think before acting or speaking.

Our duty is not to see through one another, but to see one another through.  — LEONARD SWEET Go often to the house of your friend, for weeds soon choke up the unused path.  — SCANDINAVIAN PROVERB The sweetness of friendship issues from the response to a basic need in human nature.  One needs friends, companions, to supplement the intimacy of family relationships if his life is to be complete.   — BERYL COHON So unique and important is friendship that God Himself teaches the skill to human beings and creates friendships among people.  — RABBI DAVID WOLPE A friend may well be reckoned a masterpiece of nature.  — RALPH WALDO EMERSON Friendship must be kept in constant repair.    — SAMUEL JOHNSON He makes no friend who never made a foe.  — ALFRED LORD TENNYSON A friend is one who knows your song, and sings it to you when you forget.  — ANONYMOUS It is highly necessary for every person to have at least one sincere friend, one true companion.

Rabbi Shmelke of Nicholsburg said, "When a poor man asks you for aid, do not use his faults as an excuse for not helping him.  For then God will look upon your offenses and He is sure to find many of them.  Keep in mind that the poor man's transgressions have been atoned by his poverty while yours remains with you." -fun Under Alter Other II, p. 99

A judge must feel as he himself is faced with a sword pointing at his heart when he is about to pronounce judgement.  - Sanhedrin 7b A life is at stake.  A person can be ruined in the blink of an eye.  This applies to a court of law as well as in our personal interactions.

Mitchell Wohlberg shared: Once, the plight of the Jewish people in a certain small village in Eastern Europe was so great that they cried to God to send the Messiah.  God heard their prayer.  But when the Messiah arrived, he had a problem.  Where should he announce his arrival?  If he announced his presence in the Chasidic shteibel, the MItnagdim would be offended.  If he announced his presence in the Mitnagdic synagogue, the Chasidim would be offended. What should he do? He thought it over and decided that he wouldn’t come so as not to offend either group.”- Robert Orkand W hen will he arrive?  When we are deserving of him.

Perhaps you have heard about the young man who asked the girl, “How about a kiss?”  The girl was silent.  Them he asked, “May I kiss you?”  There was only silence from the girl.  Then he asked, “May I please kiss you?”  Again, there was silence.  Then he asked, “Are you deaf?” She replied, “No, are you paralyzed?”  – Stan Meade Sometimes, action is called for, not words.

The teakettle puffed its chest and boasted, “All pots have such pungent odors!  They reek of that which they cook.  Only we teakettles have the good fortune to be odorless.” An old pot standing nearby spurt a sizzling drop on the kettle’s head and scornfully retorted, “See how he tilts his crooked nose.  What else can you do, my great hero, but spout with steam? That is indeed funny!  What do you amount to?  Yes, you have no door because your contents are tasteless and odorless; you boil nothing but plain water.” Moral: To be faultless signifies nothing.  Life is about what you accomplish.

Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Hiyya were arguing about the best mechanism to save the Torah when it seemed on the cusp of being neglected and forgotten by our people.  Rabbi Hanina insisted that he would bring the people back by his reasoning.  Rabbi Hiyya said that he would sow flax, catch a deer, make scrolls from their skins and copy the Torah onto them.  Then he would find five children and teach them the five books of the Torah.  He would then instruct six children on the six orders of the MIshna.  He would then have them teach one another what they had learned.  That is how he would preserve the Torah.  – Baba Metsia 85b It is a powerful and meaningful story.  One personality may be strong and capable to imparting wisdom while others are more adept at teaching by example.

In Russia, the Czar had absolute power. Once the czar was on an army maneuvers but had to return in the evening for a party. Alas, the bridge was washed away by storm and the Czar could not cross the river. What could be done? Would the Czar then miss his entertainment? Not at all. The order to march was given. Thousands of soldiers burdened with heavy supplies and weapons marched into the river. The current carried many of them to their deaths. Hundreds died, their corpses floated with the current until bodies snagged by the rivers obstacles formed a huge pile, and the Czar drove across the bridge of dead soldiers to his party. As terrible as it was, people saw a king knew what fear was, what fear of judgment was. We have little comprehension of what it means when we call God a "melekh."

“If a man does not judge himself, all things judge him, and all things become messengers of God.” – Nachman of Bratslav ”If I do not accept responsibility for the evil I do, the very earth will rise up to judge and condemn me. The stars, the trees in the wind will provide sentence…”   -Julius Lester

“A judge who renders a true verdict causes the Shechina to dwell in Israel…. a judge must regard himself as if a sword lay between his thighs and as if hell were open the beneath him… Whoever appoints a unqualified judge over the community it is as if he had planted in idolatrous tree in the Jewish community.”   -Yevamot 109b

We must learn to respect God and stand in awe of Him by knowing Him through prayer and Torah study. This is very hard, and, indeed never in our history have we had such difficulty in approaching Rosh Hashanah. We simply don't have the concept of being judged by a king . –unknown

The tale is told that during the Hadrianic persecution in the second century, Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, an avowed critic of Roman rule and culture, was forced to seek refuge in a cave along with his son for 12 years to avoid capture. The miraculous appearance of a carob tree and a spring provided them with the bare nutriments been enabled them to survive. To preserve their garments, they wore them only when praying. Otherwise, they burrowed themselves naked into the soil and studied Torah.  For 12 years they endured this monotonous routine until rescued by the prophet Elijah, whose presence at the mouth of the cave signaled the demise of the emperor and the end of their travail. But when they returned safely to society they were crestfallen by what they saw. Jews were not studying Torah but plowing and planting.   Their values had gone awry.  Mundane concerns diverted them from the pursuit of salvation. And so it happened, that wherever Rabbi Shimon and his son gazed upon went up in

Throughout history the Jewish people have feared that they were the last generation.  Afraid that they would be the last link in Jewish civilization,  Abraham started the process when he complained, "What can You give me seeing that I am childless?" (Genesis 15:2) He thought himself to be the first and last Jew.  -Sam Rawidowicz, Israel, The Ever Dying People We are the eternal people.

Louis Ginzberg said in his commencement address in 1919, "You are graduates of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Jewish without any tag attached to it." Imagine how great this world would be if we put aside labels.  Each person would be judged by their actions, not their skin color, choice of faith or quirks.

"Do not judge another until you have stood in his place." -Pirkay Avot 2:5 So, does this mean that we can judge another person when the find ourselves in the same circumstances as our fellow?  No.  because no two circumstances will ever be exactly alike.

“I have always been far more pleased by my good fortune in being born a Jew and then my critics may begin to imagine. It’s a complicated, interesting, morally demanding and very singular experience, and I like that.”   - Philip Roth

Jesus said he had never been to a football match.  So we took him, my friends and I.  It was a furious battle between the Protestant Punchers and the Catholic Crusaders. The Crusaders scored first. Jesus cheered wildly and threw his hat high in the air.  Then the Punchers scored.  And Jesus cheered wildly and threw his hat high in the air. This seemed to puzzle the man behind us.  He tapped Jesus an the shoulder and asked, “Which side are you rooting for, my good man?” “Me?” replied Jesus, visibly excited by the game.  “Oh, I’m not rooting for either side.  I’m just enjoying the game.” The questioner turned to his neighbor and sneered, “Hmm, and atheist.”  -Anonymous You know when there will be peace?  When each person can be himself or herself without inviting derision.

The Brisker Rav, Reb Yoshe Baer, looked out the window and noticed three wagons filled with hay drawn by three horses, one directly behind the other. Two horses ate the hay from the wagons in front of their own.  The Brisker Rav turned to a man along side and asked, “Which horse do you think is more fortunate than the others?” The man looked puzzled and did not know what to say.   “The center one,” the rabbi replied.  “Not only does he eat, but his load also becomes lighter.” Maybe this is the meaning of life.  Be full of joy.  Lighten your load.

It is related that once a gentile put the question to Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai.  “We have festivals and you have festivals. We have Calends, Saturnalia and Kratesis, and you have Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. Which is the day whereon on we and you have festivals and rejoice alike?” Rabbi Yohanan replied.  “It is the day when the rain falls. For it is said, “The meadows are clothed with flocks, the valleys are covered with corn. They should shout for joy, they sing. What follows? The Psalm, “Shout unto God all the earth.”   -Rabbi Jacob Chinitz That which every human being possesses is a capacity for appreciation.  This is a gift from us to every person.

Rabbi Akiva teaches: Note that the Torah does not say, “Since I was humiliated, let it be just the same for my neighbor, or “Since I was insulted, let my neighbor be insulted as well.”  Rabbi Tanhuma says, “If you choose to behave in such a manner, know well whom you are actually insulting, for “God created humankind in the divine image.” (Genesis 5:1)  – Talmud

In a supermarket, a woman parked herself and her shopping cart in front of a young woman demonstrating a “total health muffin.” He gave his sales pitch, telling her how the muffin was “scientifically formulated by a physician to address your most important health concerns.”  He continued earnestly, reciting the fat-free, sugar-free ingredients and the low calorie count. When the young man finished his sales talk, the woman pointed to a high shelf nearby.  “Could you reach up,” she said, “and hand me one of those large chocolate bars in back of you?”  - Ron Alexander, NY Times

A poor farmer suddenly acquired great wealth. He built a beautiful house, but luxurious furniture, and gave a large party. All his friends ate, drank and were merry, but the teacher had taught the farmer’s children, was the merriest of all. The farmer could not understand what made him so joyful. "Why do you dance so much and why are you so thrilled with the house and furnishings?” he asked. “What of it?” the teacher replied. “Does it make you any less happier now because your time too, will eventually be up?” Be joyful. Today is the present.

I remember an experience for my student days. I went to a wedding, and when I came back I met him in the Seminary courtyard. He asked me where he had been and I told him. “What kind of wedding was it?” he asked. I began by saying that it was a sad wedding because the groom had no relatives in the bride had no relatives, and the groom had a physical handicap and the bride was up in years. I got less than halfway through what I was going to say when he interrupted me with an exclamation: “How wonderful!” And then I realized that he was right. To me the wedding had seemed sad, but when I saw it through his eyes, from his perspective, I realized he was right. When two lonely people find each other, when two people, each of whom has little beauty, are able to discover the beauty in each other, how wonderful that is! I hadn’t realized it until he showed it to me.  – Rabbi Jack Reimer

“One thing I charge you. As you live, believe in life! Always human beings will live! Always human beings will progress to greater, broader and fuller life.  The only possible death is to lose belief in this truth simply because the great end comes slowly, because time is long.”   W.E. B. Du Bois

Lord Byron said he did not like an author who was “all author.”   How many of us are “all lawyer,” “all mother,” “all reverend,” “all physician?”  We need a life. ...and what is life if not different every day?

The  Talmud  rules that "A man's wife is as his own body."  Rabbi Aryeh Levine (d. 1969), known as "the  Tzaddik of Jerusalem ," exemplified this ideal. On one occasion, when accompanying his wife to a  Jerusalem  clinic, he explained to the physician: "Doctor, my wife's foot is hurting us."

“They held in their hands the light of creation – and returned to the world the light of death.” - Chaim Potok in  The Book of Lights. Things are good or evil dependent upon the way we look at them.  What is evil to one person may be a blessing to another.  Think of the farmer who anxiously awaits rain and the entrepreneur who has planned an outdoor exhibition for months.  One wants a clear day while the other prays for a sopping rain. Seen in this light, perhaps not all prayers can be answered at the same time, granting each hope.

Prophecy will not come to a person by means of weeping or jesting. Only through joy, as it is written: “But now you bring me a minstrel? It happened at the hand of the Lord came to him.” (2 Kings 3:15) – Pesachim 117a Joy brings many gifts.

The year was 1939, the time of the San Francisco Treasure Island World’s Fair.  Very few people in our Yakima Valley, Washington, town of 2000 made the trip.  For most folks, it was simply out of reach. The Adams family rented a little house on the edge of town for $15 a month.  Odd jobs were not plentiful, but with the help of neighbors, Mr. Adams was able to keep food on the table for his wife and three kids. He had an old trap of a car to get around in and a cow to provide milk for his children. Then came the Fair, 750 miles away.  One morning a neighbor spotted the Adams family loaded in the car, with an assortment of luggage strapped to the running board. “Where are you headed, John?” he asked. ”To the Fair!” Mr. Adams replied. The neighbor was dumbfounded.  Later, he learned that Mr. Adams had sold the cow to pay for the trip. Folks almost exploded-amazed at such irresponsibility. Many times since then, my wife and I have recalled the incident. But strangely, we have c

A Nazirite is a person who became an ascetic.  Yet, the Torah tells us that if a Nazarite sinned.... Rabbi Eleazar HaKappar said in the name of Rebbe: "Against what soul did the Nazarite sin (since he was an ascetic)? It can only mean that he denied himself enjoyment from drinking wine.  Now, if a person denies himself only the enjoyment from drinking wine is a sinner, how much moreso one who denies himself the many enjoyments of life?" -Taanit 11a

A fox was once walking alongside a river and observed fishes swarming. He said to them, “From what are you fleeing?” They answered, “From the nets cast for us by men.” The fox said to them, “Come up on dry land so that you and I can live together in the way that our ancestors lived with each other.” They replied, “And you are called the most clever of all animals??  You are foolish. If we are afraid in the element in which we live, how much more so in a foreign place. This was Rabbi Akiva’s response to a colleague when he placed himself in danger for teaching Torah.   -berachot 61b Torah is our "water," our element, our home.

A person was coming from Babylon and sat down to rest on the road when he saw two birds fighting with each other. One of them killed the other. The survivor went and checked some herb and placing it on the other, revived her.  It will be a good thing, the observer thought, if I take some of this herb and revive the dead in Israel.  As he was walking along he saw a dead fox. It will be a good thing, he thought, if I try it on this fox. He placed it on the fox and it revived. He then went to Tyre and saw a lion slain on the road. I will try it on this lion. He placed some herb on him it came back to life and devoured him. “If you have done good to the bad, you have done a bad thing.” - Vayikra Rabba 22:4 "Those who are kind to the cruel will end up being cruel to the kind." - Kohelet Rabba

“The book of Jonah with its extreme love of the enemy is holy.” – Joseph Klausner Perhaps this is the real lesson the book seeks to teach, empathy for all, even people we do not care for.

The world sometimes is dark and rife with pain.   We are called by our God to speak truth to power, to convey our path is to alleviate the plight of those who are in need. This is never easy as is taught by the sacred book we read yearly: “Tell your greatest enemy that God’s love can reach him -Jonah, argues God’s right to be so generous. He emits a grudging five words of warning from God -and worlds are overturned. Things get uncomfortable when his shade disappears and suddenly he is concerned about nature, preservation and ecology. He is exasperating and impossible and splendid – and he is us!” – Rabbi Jonathan Magonet

A “Far Side” cartoon: A bearded man stands at the front door, dripping wet, and rags. The woman opening the door says, for crying out loud, Jonah! Three days late, covered with slime, and smelling like a fish! …And what story have I got to swallow this time?”

I have a question for you,  to think about, to answer and to write down. It's this:  The dove left the protected Ark  and Jonah, left the harbor to go to Nineveh.  What do they have in common, in your opinion, apart from a name a mission over water? Storms? And loneliness?  What’s your opinion of loneliness?  Imagine them in their loneliness. A myriad people in the rising water  and the children who reached the peak of Ararat  swollen with water?  And as for that man Jonah,  a person who regretted that an entire city was not destroyed after you prophesied what he had to do…I’m sorry I’ve answered your question with a question. I’ve also gone from the abstract to the simple, Perhaps plural-what can I do, I am that kind of Jew.  –  John Donne G ood questions are always better  than  good answers.  It intimates a hungry, yearning  mind.

“The story of Jonah and the whale is an example of a mythic theme that is practically universal, of the hero going into a fish’s belly and ultimately coming out again, transformed. It’s a descent into the dark.  Psychologically, the whale represents the power of life locked in the unconscious. Metaphorically, water is the unconscious, and the creature in the water is the life or the energy of the unconscious which has overwhelmed the conscious personality and must be disempowered, overcome and controlled. In the first stage of this kind of adventure, the hero leaves the realm of the familiar, over which he has some measure of control, and comes to a threshold, let us say the edge of a lake or sea, where a monster of the abyss comes to meet him.  [With] Jonah the hero is swallowed and taken into the abyss to be later resurrected….”   - Joseph Campbell

There were three kinds of prophets: Those that would honor the father and the son, Those that would honor the father but not the son, Those that would honor the son and not the father, -Jeremiah honored both -Elijah honored only God -Jonah honored only man.  - Max Kaddushin

“And it came to pass that a man who sold shirts was smitten by hard times.  Neither did any of his merchandise move nor did he prosper. And he prayed and said, “Lord, why has thou left me to suffer thus? All mine enemies sell their goods except I. And it’s the height of the season.  My shirts are good shirts.  Take a look at this rayon.  I got button downs, flare collars, nothing sells. Yet I have kept thy commandments. Why can I not earn a living when mine younger brother cleans up in children’s ready-to-wear?” “And the Lord heard the man and said, “About the shirts…” “Yes, Lord,” the man said, falling to his knees. “Put an alligator over the pocket.” “Pardon me, Lord?” “Just do what I’m telling you.  You won’t be sorry.”   - Woody Allen

“The men put their question to Jonah with profound wisdom.  The wished to find out whether he was of the seed of Joseph…They said, in effect, ‘If you are the seed of Joseph, pray that the sea man cease its raging… If you are of the seed of Jacob…Then pray to the Master that he may send his angel to save us…’  They further asked, ‘What is your occupation?’…Where do you come from?’…that is, Who were your forefathers?...And ‘What is your country?’… Is it a country that deserves punishment? Thus all the questions put by them have a good reason.” – Chaim Potok

A Hasidic Story: There once was a Rabbi who was asked by his students, “Teacher, how should one determine the hour when night ends and day begins?” One student suggested, “Is it when one can distinguish a sheep from a dog in the distance?” “No,” said the Rabbi, “It is not.” A second student ventured, “Is it when one can distinguish a date tree from a fig tree in the distance?” “No,” said the Rabbi. “Please tell us the answer,” the students begged. “It is when you can look into the face of a stranger and see your sister or brother,” said the Rabbi. “Until then night is still with us.”

“And Moses carried the bones of Joseph with him” (Exodus 13:9). Moses, leading the Israelites out of Egypt toward the Promised Land, carried at the head of a vast army the mortal remains of Joseph in an Ark.  Another Ark was also carried before the people, the Ark which held the Tablets of the Divine Law, fashioned at Sinai. “Why were the Arks carried side by side?”   The answer, filled with significance for us today, echoes down the ages and hovers over the Ark  which  rests before us now:  "He who lies on the first ark fulfilled the mitzvot inscribed in the other.”   -Mekhilta, Lauterbach This is the goal of life - to live seamlessly with God's  ordinances.

Joseph ate little during the years of famine. He was always hungry.  People were perplexed. “You are hungry while our store houses bulge with grain,” they remarked. He answered them, “If I am satisfied I might forget the hungry.”  - Eruvin It is vital that we always remember the poor, especially when we are blessed.

On the Great Seal of the United States there were 13 ranges on the pyramid. In 1776 there were 13 colonies. And if you take the individual numbers of 1776 and add them up (1+7+7+6) they come to 13. 13 states declared their independence.  13 is the number of years for a Bar Mitzvah.  Jacob had 12 sons, plus Joseph, which makes 13. 12 is the number of months in a year which comes to thirteen when we observe a leap year.   There are 12 points on Solomon's seal, and if you look at the middle of the star the number equals 13. On the one dollar bill, there are 13 arrows.   There are 13 leaves on the laurel, and above there are 13 stars arranged like Solomon’s seal.

In Graham Greene's, "A Burnt-Out Case," about an internationally renowned architect, who was considered by his peers one of the greatest architects in the world, finds life tasteless, meaningless. In his search for meaning and purpose, he turns his life away from family, fortunate all else and goes to Africa where he settles in a Dominican monastery where lepers are cared for. There he discovers that when people are stricken with leprosy, there is a time when wild burning consumes that portion of their bodies that will be afflicted. Then as suddenly as the burning begins, it stops. It burns itself out. The nervous system is gone and there is no longer any feeling, any smell, any sight.  For the rest of their lives, these mutilated bodies go on without pain. The monks refer to them as the "burned out." It is better to feel than be anesthetized to life.

“There are three types of people in this world … those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened!”   - Mary Kay Ash Who are you?

Rabbi Mendel of Kotzk once referred to a man as ah tzaddik in peltz— "a righteous person in a fur coat." The Kotzker explained: When it is winter and it's freezing cold, there are two things one can do. One can build a fire, or one can wrap oneself in a fur coat. In both cases, the person is warm. But when one builds a fire, all who gather round will also be warmed. With the fur coat, the only one who is warmed is the one who wears the coat. So it is regarding spiritual warmth — one can be a tzaddik in a fur coat or a tzaddik who radiates warmth....    Shoshannah Brombacher

“Outwitted” by Edwin Markham: He drew a circle that shut me out – Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in! We all make circles by which we allow some people in and exclude others.  Who do you include?

“I was thinking about Jonah the other day.  He was a foolish man who inadvertently saved a city.  Even  Abraham couldn’t save a city.  But silly Jonah did.”   -Chaim Potok

A rabbi met a young man running rapidly along the street. “Why do you run?” the rabbi asked. “I am running after a job,” the other panted. “How do you know that your job is before you and you have to chase it?  Maybe it is behind you and you are running from it.” Stop.   Look.   Listen.

Marcel Duchamp, whom most people think of as a fixture in the world of fine art during the period before 1940, when asked the question, “What do you do?” He would answer, “I am a respirator” (a breather).  He went on to explain that since he did more breathing than anything else, he was very good at it.  – Robert Fulgham It is a good practice to review that we do with our lives.  More often than we care to admit, it has little or nothing to do with how we earn a living.  Why then respond by stating our job?

At the beginning of time, God’s presence filled the universe. When God decided to bring this world into being, to  make room for creation, He first drew in His breath, contracting Himself . From that contraction darkness was created. And when God said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3), the light that came into being filled the darkness, and  ten holy vessels came forth, each filled with primordial ligh t. In this way God sent forth those ten vessels, like a fleet of ships, each carrying its cargo of light. Had they all arrived intact, the world would have been perfect. But the vessels were too fragile to contain such a powerful, divine light.  They broke open, split asunder, and all the holy sparks were scattered like sand, like seeds, like stars. Those sparks fell everywhere, but more fell on the Holy Land than anywhere else. That is why we were created — to gather the sparks , no matter where they are hidden.   -Prof. Howard  Schwartz Our job is to raise the sparks, redeeming o

Twenty is the age, according to prevalent opinion, at which a person may legally begin selling property that he inherited from his deceased father.  - Baba Batra, 155b It is also the age at which the law generally despairs of one developing signs of sexual maturity. The sages of old were keenly aware of the developmental stages of youth.  While we celebrate Bar Mitzvah, the traditional coming of age for practicing mitzvot, our young are still in process of growth and maturity.

"One who brings up a child is to be called "father" even if he did not give birth to him." - Shmot Rabbah

A baraita in Hullin (24b) suggests in the name of Rebbi that one should not be appointed as shaliah tzibbur or perform the priestly blessing unless he is twenty. Being the leader of congregational worship is an important task, one that is not handed onto anyone less than worthy.

Turk Pipkin: “Nongolfers frequently ask what the big deal is about golf.  I’ve given up trying to explain that haunting feel of a perfect shot: the magical flight of the ball as it defied gravity, wind and all the things physical in search of the tiniest goal. While most of man’s athletic competitions imitate war, golf imitate life, each player pitting his own skills against the hazards of the way.  On the basic nine-holer, it is you against he lay of the land; and if bad breaks conspire against you, they also show whether you have what it takes to overcome them.” – Texas Monthly

A Maggid arrives in a small town and as was custom a notice was placed on the wall of the synagogue that we would deliver a sermon that Shabbat.  Saturday morning came and the notice had been torn down.  He began his discourse with this story: “One way my wife went to visit a relative and I was left alone.  In the afternoon I went to the butcher and bought a tongue.  He instructed me how to prepare it, and since I was afraid I might forget that he said, I wrote the instructions down on a piece of paper and pasted it onto the tongue.  On the way home I was a attacked by a dog, that made a dash to grab the tongue. The mongrel only managed to seize the slip of paper.  So I said, “Dog, you can keep the paper, for as long as the tongue remains with me I will be able to help myself.” There is more than one way to deal with adversity.

In Greece a young man was afflicted with a stammer.  He worked to overcome his stammering by placing pebble son his tongue and hour by hour, carefully enunciating his words.  He became one of the world's greatest orators, Demosthenes. John Milton was afflicted with blindness at the height of his literary career. Beethoven became deaf so that he could not hear many of his magnificent compositions. George Washington Carver, botanist and chemist, was born a slave on a southern plantation. Glen Cunningham, the great runner, had his legs seared at five years old in a fire. Moses had a speech impediment. Jacob limped. Isaac was blind. Let nothing stand in your way.

Jerusalem Is Mine I am the sun, Jerusalem, You are a painted sky I am a bird, Jerusalem, You have the wings to fly You are the father of my dreams, I am a gift of time I am your child, Jerusalem, Jerusalem is mine You are my shelter from the storm, I am your guiding light You are a book whose leaves are torn, I am the page you write You are the branches of a tree, I am a clinging vine I am your prayer, Jerusalem, Jerusalem is mine I have come home, Jerusalem, Jerusalem is mine

Agnon, in his book The Days of Awe, shares a teaching from Rabbi Tzvi Hakohen of Rymanov about this. The rabbi was asked, if both Yom Kippur and the Sabbath itself are called "shabbat shabbaton", how is Yom Kippur more special? And he answered, the seventh day is called "shabbat shabbaton l’adonai" – a sabbath of sabbaths for God. Yom Kippur is called "shabbat shabbaton lakhem" – a sabbath of sabbaths for all of you. On Yom Kippur we don't just reach toward the divine realm, we draw it into ourselves. Rabbi David Seidenberg   -Rabbi David  Seidenberg