A Soulful Journey

In the midst of great joy, do not promise anyone anything. In the midst of anger, do not answer anyone’s letter.  – Chinese proverb Emotions and deliberate thought to dot always corroborate one anther.  Think first,  Then do.

“Sinister” is the almost exact translation in Latin for “left.”  The left hand or side is associated with weakness, evil and the feminine. Gauche is French for “right” and is related the words gawky and to gawk. Navelo is Russian for left. Navelo also means surreptitious. Mancino , Italian for left, also means deceitful. The etymology of the world left is lyft , Anglo-Saxon for weak or worthless. What is a left –handed compliment but one whose real meaning is disguised?

A traditional Jew decides that all the mitzvot have become a burden, so he decides to convert to Christianity. The next morning, after his conversion, his wife sees him putting on his tefillin and she yells, "I thought you converted!" He responds by slapping his forehead and saying "Oy, a goyishe kop!" * A Wall Street financier becomes exceedingly wealthy, moves into a multimillion $ condo on Park Ave. and decides to have a housewarming. He invites his elderly Jewish mother but she never shows up. Very concerned, he calls her the first thing next morning: "Mom, I thought you were coming to my party. Where were you?" She replies, "I was in your lobby but I couldn't remember your name." * An (apocryphal) story was told by Groucho Marx about the banker Otto Kahn. Kahn was walking in New York with a friend who suffered from kyphosis.  They passed a synagogue, and Kahn said, "You know, I used to be a Jew." The friend replied,

Three men were sitting on the side of the road chipping stone.  A passerby asks, "What are you doing?" The first answers, "I am chipping stone." The second responds, "I am earning a living." The third says, "I am helping to build the sanctuary." They are all doing the same thing but have significantly different perspectives.  And that perspective makes all the difference in the world.

Simon Wiesenthal in  The Murderers Among Us described on of his most painful death camp experiences: A new arrival had smuggled in a siddur and Wiesenthal admired his courage; risking discovery, he was risking death. His feelings soon changed when he discovered that the courageous smuggler was bartering 15 minutes rental of the siddur in exchange for one fourth of a day’s meager rations.  The inmates were emaciated but willingly made the exchange. After the war, Rabbi Eliezer Silver visited the DP camps and arranged for prayers and words of encouragement to the survivors.  After noticing that Wiesenthal did not come to the synagogue, Rabbi Silver decided to visit him.  As Simon Wiesenthal recorded: “He put his hand on my shoulder. “So they tell me you are still angry with the Almighty.” He said in Yiddish. And he smiled at me.  “I said, “Not with Him but one of his servants.”  And then Wiesenthal proceeded to tell him what happened.  He kept smiling.  “And that’s all you have to