A Soulful Journey

Said Rav Papa to Abaye, "How is it that the earlier generations had miracles performed for them but for us miracles are not performed?  It cannot be because of study because in the time of Rabbi Yehuda, all they studied was N ezikin, the tractate of damages, while we study all six orders.  Yet, when Rabbi Yehuda took off a single shoe to pray for rain during a drought, rain came.  We, on the other hand, torment ourselves and cry loudly yet no notice is taken of us!" He replied, "The earlier generations used to be ready to sacrifice themselves for the sanctification of God's name while we do no such thing."  - Berachot 20a Our priorities have changed and accordingly, so has God's.

An Israeli mayor in a small town was walking past a construction site with his wife. One of the construction workers stopped and shouted, “What’s new, Sara?” “Why, it’s nice to see you again Avi,” the mayor’s wife replied. She then introduced her husband to the construction worker, and they spoke for several minutes. After the mayor and his wife continued on, the mayor turned to his wife to asked how she knew the construction worker. “Oh,” she said. “We went together in high school. I even thought about marrying him.” The husband began to laugh. “You don’t realize how lucky you are. If I hadn’t come along, today you would be the wife of a construction worker!” The wife replied without hesitation, “Not really. If I had married him, he’d now be a mayor!” We are never alone.  We make ourselves and, at the same time, are made by those that surround us.  - Rabbi Eli Perlman

There is a midrash that tells of Abraham en route to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice his son.  On the way he met the satan.  Satan taunts Abraham saying that if he goes through with the act of sacrificing his son there will be no Jewish race as Isaac was the son from which we all come.   Considering the problem Abraham decided that this was God’s dilemma.  He, in the meanwhile, must carry out God’s will.

Two wise Babylonians became intoxicated on the holiday of Purim.  One of the them, Rabba, killed Rabbi Zeira.  When he became sober, Rabba realized what he had done.  Rabba pleaded with the Almighty who responded to his heartfelt prayer by reviving Zeira. The next year Rabba invited Rabbi Zeira to his Purim feast.  Zeira politely declined saying, "A miracle does not always occur." A miracle occurred today.  You are alive, breathing and capable of doing almost anything.  That miracle may recur or not.  So live fully today.  And when it is over, give thanks to the One.

“ All that is left to us is our being horrified at the loss of our sense of horror.”  ―  Abraham Joshua Heschel

Menashe Klein was a survivor of Buchwald with Elie Wiesel.  Klein became a rabbi and he and Wiesel spoke often. “He was a very important rabbinic authority, and he became a very pious rabbi,” said Wiesel.  “And I told him my problems.  And surely you cannot say I am a religiously pious person.  But nevertheless our relationship never suffered.  And one day, eve of Rosh Hashanah, I get up unusually very early in the morning, say my prayers, and in my prayer there are a few names- the prayer for the sick, for the ill.  And he was one of them.  And I forgot him – the prayer for his recovery. “And then, eleven o’clock: ‘Oh, God! I forgot his name in my prayer.’  I ran to the telephone, called.  Answering machine: ‘The funeral left’.”  - from  The   Inventing the Art of Hope Pray for those who are in need.  Do not forget them.

In a drunk driving case, the defense lawyer was questioning the toxicologist who had analyzed the defendant's blood alcohol level.  "You do not suggest to the jury that you don't make mistakes, do you?" the lawyer asked. "I'm not suggesting that I do, either," the expert replied. "Well, tell them," the attorney pressed, "do you ever make mistakes? There was a pause. "Well, I've been married three times." There is an old expression that if everyone in the world threw their tsooris (pain) in a pile and you could pick up whichever one you wanted, you'd invariably pick your own. What is the moral? Be happy with your imperfections.  It just means you are not God.

At the opera in Milan with my daughter and me, Needleman leaned out of his box and fell into the orchestra pit.  Too proud to admit it was a mistake he attended the opera every night for a month and repeated it each time." - Woody Allen Saying you are sorry -whether intentional or my mistake - does not diminish you.  The opposite is true, you grow immeasurably.

Rabbi Yonatan said: A potter does not test defective vessels, because he cannot give them a single blow without breaking them. What then does he test? Only strong vessels, for he will not break them even with many blows. -Beresheit Rabbah You are stronger than you think.

A young man approached James Joyce in Switzerland and said, "May I kiss the hand that wrote Ulysses?" Joyce replied, "No, it did lots of other things too." It is good to always remember that people are still people and only God is God.

I have a friend who tells the following story:  when he lived in Washington for Thanksgiving day weekend weather forecast predicted snow. He heard the report but ignored it. Early Friday morning, he went shopping and by the time he was ready to return home, there was about an inch of snow on the ground. Without snow tires, his car was immobilized.  A cab driver stopped, shoveled away the snow and finished the job with a throw of salt and sand. He said to my friend, “I want you to go back into the store and buy a shovel and a bag of salt.” My friend pulled out of the cab driver did not go away. My friend put a hand in his pocket to give him a tip. The cab driver refused the money and repeated to my friend, “I want you to go back into the store and buy a shovel and a bag of salt.”   The cab driver still did not depart. My friend began to get nervous. He asked him in desperation, “What do you want for me?” The cab driver replied, “I want you to go back in...