A Soulful Journey

I heard that we are in the same boat.  But it's not like that.  We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat.  Your ship can be shipwrecked and mine might not be.  Or vice versa.  For some, quarantine is optimal: moment of reflection, of re-connection.  Easy, in flip flops, with a whiskey or tea. For others, this is a desperate crisis.  For others it is facing loneliness.  For some, a peace, rest time, vacation. Yet for others, torture: How am I going to pay my bills? Some have experienced the near death of the virus, some have already lost someone from it; some are not sure their loved ones are going to make it, and some don't even believe this is a big deal. Some of us who are well now may end up experiencing it, and some believe they are infallible and will be blown away if or when this hits someone they know. Some have faith in God and expect miracles during this 2020. Others say the worst is yet to come. So, friends, we are not in ...

“A mother has to wear a large apron to cover the faults of her children.” –folk saying We work hard to educate, teach them how to have respect, and grow in morals as well as stature.  All the while, the protective parent puts the best face on the shortcomings of the child.   Sometimes, raising a child to be honest with their gifts and accept their deficits is the greatest gift we can give them.  Not everyone will be a rock star or football legend.  The main thing is to teach our children to find their love and excel at it.

"To survive  I had to kill her inside me."  -Frank Bidart We all have demons, voices from the past that speak to us, shame us and keep us from personal growth.  Those are usually people from our past.  Bidart writes of needing to still the voice inside him that stopped him from becoming who he was meant to be. Are there voices inside you that need to be silenced?

A man wants to go to find Elijah the prophet. So he prepares himself, gather his food, set off, because he has heard that Elijah will be at one particular Seder in the small village, in the middle of nowhere.  And finally after a long journey, he approaches a house, old and ramshackle. He looks in through a cracked window as an extended family gathered to celebrate the Seder. They are wearing their finest for Yontif and yet he can see that they are poor because the clothes are patched, the walls are bare and even for this, the greatest meal of the year, there is barely any food on the table. And he wonders, can Elijah really be here? Sadly, he realizes he must have come to the wrong house. Elijah cannot possibly be here at this table. He starts to walk away. As he walks away he forgets about Elijah in the simply heartened by the warmth, the children smiling and singing and the lights of the candles. And then he thinks about the fact that he has so much food and they h...

How many Jewish mothers are needed to change an electric lightbulb? Only one. "I will sit in the dark and cry." Guilt is good.  If it get us to do to the right thing.  Hopefully our conscious mind will speak before we need to be told.

"God could not be everywhere so He created mothers." - anon

Enrico Caruso said that his earliest childhood memory was that of his mother's beautiful voice.  His first sounds were full of music because that is what his ears heard.  - Bernard Raskas Allow you mind be filled with beautiful, fluid memories that make you smile.

Helpless before his death, unable to realize his dream of entering the Promised Land, the people saw this man, their leader - pathetic and in mourning:  “Yesterday he went up to heaven like an eagle and now he seeks to pass over the Jordan and is not able.” - Elliot Gertel Moral: always think before making a judgment about another person.

Mordecai Kalish was proprietor of an antique shop. People of the entire neighborhood congregated to admire his exquisite merchandise. One of his friends carelessly broke a costly ornament and Mordecai vowed that he would never permit him to cross his threshold. Several weeks later the friend, learning that Mordecai had imported some precious antiques, pleaded to be admitted into the store. “No, my friend,” the proprietor replied.   “A vow must never be broken.” After a great deal of cajoling, however, Mordecai decided to yield and yet not break his vowel. He displayed his new antiques in the show window of his store. The friend was satisfied and the vow was kept. Moral: The Lord vowed that Moses would not be permitted to enter into the Holy Land. Moses pleaded that he be allowed to at least see it. God told Moses to ascend the mountain peak and from there to gaze down on the land.

In a letter to Queen Elizabeth of Belgium in 1932 Albert Einstein wrote: "One has been endowed with just enough intelligence to be able to see clearly how utterly inadequate that intelligence is when confronted with what exists. If such humility could be conveyed to everybody, the world of human activities would be more appealing." Be humble.

Master of the Universe, grant me the ability to be alone; may it be my custom to go outdoors each day among the trees and grass, among all growing things and there may I be alone, and enter into prayer, to talk with the One to whom I belong. ~ Rebbe Nachman as interpreted by Rabbi Nosson

“A “David” has fewer moral qualms than a “Goliath.”  - Yehoshafat Harkabi To think, consider, requires more energy as it means reflecting on the repercussions of everything we do.  Bad people have no such concerns.  Think like a David, not like a Goliath.  Kindness,  rachamim, is our "call" from God.

The Sages taught that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi and the Rabbis disagreed with regard to the language in which the Shema must be recited:  The Shema must be recited as it is written, in Hebrew — this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi.  The Rabbis say: The Shema may be recited in any language.  - Talmud berachot 13 What matters is that we say it twice each day, morning and night.  

A Master said: When Rabbi Akiva died, Rabbi was born; when Rabbi died, Rav Judah was born; when Rav Judah died, Rava was born; when Rava died, R. Ashi was born. This teaches that a righteous person does not depart from the world until [another] righteous person like him is created, as it is said, "The sun rises and the sun goes down" (Ecclesiastes 1:5): before Eli's sun was extinguished, the sun of Shmuel of Ramoth rose, as it is said, "And the lamp of God was not yet gone out, and Shmuel was lying [etc.]" (I Samuel 3:3).  - Kiddushin 72 When one sun sets a new one will arise.  Never lose faith.

Prayer:  When Jacob was about to face Esau after many years of estrangement, the midrash ( Tanhuma Buber, Vayishlah  6) tells us that he did three things — and the first was to pray. When our biblical ancestors were faced with a crisis  ויצעקו אל ה ’, they cried out to God. When Jews are faced with a health crisis, they recite Psalms such as chapters 121 and 130 and the  Mee Sheberakh  prayer for those who are ill.  Jewish Unity :  We are told in the Talmud ( Shevuot  39a)  כל ישראל ערבין זה בזה  — “All Jews are responsible for one another”. This has always been the strength of the Jewish people, how much the more so in times of crisis.  We are all in the same boat :  “Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught: It can be compared to people who were in a boat and one of them took a drill and began to drill under his seat. His fellow passengers said to him: ‘why are you doing this!’ He said to them: ‘What do you care? Am I not drilling...

Rebbe Simcha Bunem of Pshysske told his disciples, "everyone must have two pockets, with a note in each pocket, so that he can reach into the one or the other depending upon the need. When feeling lonely or depressed, discouraged or disconsolate, one should reach into the right pocket and find the words, "For my sake the world was created." ( Bishvili nivra ha-olam ) But when feeling high and mighty one should reach into the left pocket and find the words, "I am but dust and ashes."  ( Ani afar v'eife r) - Martin  Buber

"As one hand washes the other, so one person must help another."  - Leon of Modena, 1600 "If you want to pull a friend out of the mire, do not hesitate to get a  little dirty."  - Baal Shem Tov

"The frean is a sea monster with the body of a crab and the head of a certified public accountant."  - Woody Allen Living in difficult times it seems like everything is scary and monstrous.  That is why it is important to go back the Source of all. Perspective is needed. When dark clouds cover you, know that the sun sits right behind and is ready to shine.  When you feel most alone He is most close, soothing your anxieties, calming your fears.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi advised: And be careful to continue to respect an elder who has forgotten his Torah knowledge due to circumstances beyond his control. Even though he is no longer a Torah scholar, he must still be respected for the Torah that he once possessed. As we say: Both the tablets of the Covenant and the broken tablets are placed in the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple. Even though the first tablets were broken, their sanctity obligates one not to treat them with contempt. An elder who forgot the Torah knowledge he once possessed is like these broken tablets.

"Everything you see I owe to spaghetti."- Sofia Loren We all owe our success to something, usually someone.  What a wonderful gift it would be to call that "someone" and tell them "thank you."

Rabbi Zutra bar Tovia said the name of Rav, this is God's prayer: "May it be My will that My mercy will overcome my anger,  and may My mercy prevail over my other attributes,  and may I conduct myself toward My children (Israel) with the attribute of mercy,  and may I put them before the letter of the law."

Rabbi Akiva aid, 'There are 248 positive mitzvot in the Torah corresponding to the number of parts into human body. Each part of the body shouts to the person, "Do a mitzvah through me; the benefit will be that we will live and a long life." Mechilta, ki tetzay Every part us should participate in the uplifting the glory of God .