A Soulful Journey

In Emile Durkheim’s  Elementary Forms of Religious Life,  he reasons that the initial purpose of religion was not to meet with God but to reach out to others.  Primitive rituals centered around experiences of birth, marriage and death when we all have a great need to share our sadness and joy with one another. “When we feel so terribly alone, singled out by the hand of fate, when we are tempted to crawl off into a dark corner and feel sorry for ourselves, we need to be reminded that we are part of a community, that there are people who care about us and that we are still part of the stream of life.” – quoted from When Bad Things Happen to Good People .  We are one community, one extended family.

When the Temple was destroyed, the number of Nazitites was increased, who would neither drink wine nor eat any meat.  Rabbi Yehoshua went to them and asked why.  They said: "How can we eat flesh now that the Temple is destroyed ?  It was the Temple that made flesh holy through sacrifices to God.  And how can we drink wine, seeing that wine was used as a part of the Temple ceremony?" Rabbi Yehoshua replied, "In that case how can you eat bread, seeing that the Temple's meal offerings are no more?" They said: "Perhaps we shall live on fruit." Yehoshua replied, "In that case we cannot eat fruit, for the offerings of the first fruit [on Shavuout] are no more." They replied, "Perhaps we can manage of fruits that were not used in the Temple ritual." Rabbi Yehoshua then said, "Still, you may drink no water, for water was used as a part of the Temple service." Then they were silent. But then Rabbi Yehoshua added, "Not t...

"Everyone who sheds tears for a pious man, HaKadosh Baruch Hu stores those those tears in a treasure house in heaven."  - Shabbat 105b

Give me the patience when little hands Tug at me with ceaseless small demands. Give me gentle words and smiling eyes, And keep my lips from hasty, sharp replies, Let me not in weariness, confusion or noise Obscure my vision from life's fleeting joys That when in years to come my house is still Beautiful memories its rooms may fill.  - unknown author

Slender deer run over the snowy mountains and their silvery horns prick the moon, but the moon pours goodness over them. My mother keeps them; she follows them carefully and for the wood’s wolves not to send them she erases their tracks on the snow. My mother died years ago but with her arms stretched out in the wind she keeps on walking her love through the space. She cradles the uneasiness of the paths; takes away the evil-eye from the little hares and calls the least worm my child. Neither in her grave if she left alone by her love. Here is that she opens her prayer book at the stars and prays, prays, so God may hear her. In my sleep her crying shines. – Itzik Manger   Never forget the love and lessons you have been taught.  And be selective.  Choose to recall what is most meaningful.

The growing dismay Of a wearying day No more for her. Through ancient release In softest peace Without a stir She Stays. She stays! I count the ways She's lost to me. Then turn my head And cry instead Too quietly. -Sada Applebaum

When baseball’s Henry Aaron hit his 175th home run breaking Babe Ruth’s record, he said, “I don’t remember the noise, or the two kids that ran on the field. My teammates at home plate,  I remember seeing them. I remember my mother out there and she hugging me. That’s what I’ll remember more than anything about that home run when I think back on it.  I don’t know where she came from, but she was there…” - interview with George Plimpton This is what matters, what we yearn for.  Connection with the people who love us most dearly and whom we look up to.  Make that call today.  You know which ones.

Once when Lyndon Johnson received a particularly complimentary introduction by the governor of Michigan he commented, “I wish my parents were here to hear that.  My father would be most proud and my mother would believe it.”

" Great things are done  when men and mountains meet."  - William Blake These are challenging times.  We need to call upon our inner resources to plumb depths and climb mountains.  When we rise to such challenges we achieve new heights of personal growth. Challenge yourself.

"Never measure the height of of a mountain until you have reached the top.  Then you will see how low it was."  - Dag Hammarskjold Do not be intimidated by what you have not tried.  You have more in you than you know.

 “In God’s scheme for this material universe we inhabit, amassing has its limitations.  We are not what we own, for, in fact, we do not “own” anything.  We better define ourselves by what we accomplish, with what we “own,” by how effectively we use the resources that we acquire and with which we are blessed to do God’s work in the world.” - Rabbi Elias Lieberman

There once was a man who suffered greatly. Many bad things happened to him and he was tired of all the tragedies he had endured. So we went to his rabbi seeking advice.  He asked, “How do I get rid of this sadness, these terrible tragedies?” The rabbi in soft language told him, “You could live a life free from sadness but it comes at a high price.” “And what is that price?” asked the man. “The price,” answered the rabbi, “is that you end all love.  Banish your children, get rid of your friends, divorce your wife.  Then you will never have to endure the sadness of illness or death.” “But I will be lonely beyond words!” exclaimed the man. “Ah!” said the rabbi.  “That is the price of living without love.” "It is not good for man to be alone " are the words God uttered when he saw His first creation Adam, pining away because he had no one in his life.  This is an important lesson in life.

Be comforted you all, friends. Only a fool thinks he has for every time the adequate words. But I want to remind you: a mother also needs to rest some day. Let her have it grant her a rest, my beloved ones. rise and with a silent smile sweep away the sorrow from your house.  - Malke Jeifetz-Tuzman Death is the ultimate silence.  And yet it is also the ultimate rest from a life of giving.

In Basic Training at Fort Benning. Ga., a solider received a package from home containing cookies.  After troll call, the drill sergeant gave the trainee the choice of throwing the cookies out or eating them while he did one-arm pushups.  To our surprise, he chose the latter.  As we watched in amazement, the solider looked up and said through a mouthful of cookies, “This is a breeze compared to what my mother would do if she heard I threw her cookies out.” – Scott Gorski

A man, after visiting an elderly woman in the hospital, called the doctor aside and asked, "Doctor, is the case critical or is there still hope?" "That depends," the doctor casually replied, "on whether she is your mother, or mother-in-law." Real love is not dependent on any thing.

"Since there was no sense in waiting for mama to take us to Coney Island, we usually went by ourselves, or, as mama said, "alone."  Anywhere you went without your mother was known as going "alone" even if there were 30 of you."  - Sam Levenson That is an expression of love.  When someone yearns to be with you (you know this because they call, visit, pray for you, and are constantly concerned about your welfare) you are never alone.