A Soulful Journey

Mankind will not perish for want of information, but only for want of appreciation. — RABBI ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL   Things easily granted are taken for granted. — ANONYMOUS   Life is like a mirror.  If you frown at it, it frowns back.  If you smile, it returns the greeting. — WILLIAM THACKERAY   The man who has forgotten to be thankful has fallen asleep in the midst of life. — ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON   People would enjoy life more if, once they got what they wanted, they could remember how much they had wanted it. — ANONYMOUS

Here is an interesting, but meaningful story: On a farm just about the size of an average room a farmer was working his land, not very energetically, when his foot hit a bottle. He bent over to pick it up in a genie came out. The genie said, “I will give you one wish.” The farmer said, “You see this piece of land I have? It is very small, it does not grow very much grass and I have a cow which gives very little milk. I have chickens and they lay very few eggs.  Maybe one each.  My slob of a wife is lousy at keeping house and I have three delinquent children. A few kilometers down the road I have a neighbor. He has a piece of land the same size as mine. His cow gives a lot of milk. His chickens lay eggs every day. His wife is gorgeous and runs a beautiful household and they have three children who are terrific.  I want you to make him like me.”   Sometimes instead of improving ourselves we want others to be diminished.  This is not the Godly, ...

In 1937 when I had been in Reading for five years, we invited a prominent guest of honor to speak at a congregational dinner. There were two rabbis in those coal mining towns of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre at that time, Max Artz and Louis Levitsky, who were known of course as the two minor prophets. Max as the minor of the minor prophets was selected to be the guest speaker.  I learned how to be a rabbi, an administrator, an executive and a manipulator that might in Reading, Pennsylvania. He turned to a lady beside him. “How long has Rabbi Routtenberg been here? Does he have a car?” She said, “No he does not have a car.” And so he said,  “Well what kind of congregation is this? This is a disgrace! This is not done.” The following morning I was presented with a 1937 Chevrolet. When I saw Max Artz a few weeks later, he asked me to give him a mazel tov. ”Why?” ”I got a new car.” ”How did you get a car?” ”Well, when I went back to Scranton and told him that you were gettin...

A large turtle once stood on the shores of the Suez about to swim across.      A scorpion approached and politely inquired, "Mr. Turtle, can you please give me a ride across on your back?"      "Why can't you fly across yourself?"      "I can't," responded the scorpion. "I recently lost two of my wings in a fight. I need a ride."      "Okay. Promise not to sting me?"      "Of course not. I need you to get safely across."      Midway across, the scorpion suddenly plunged its needle into the neck of the swimming turtle.      "What did you do?" yelled the turtle. "You poisoned me! Now we'll both drown."      "Logically, you are quite correct," responded the scorpion. "But this is the Middle East. There is no logic here." Still, we never lose hope.  One day the lion will lie with the lamb.

Bertrand Russell was once addressing a gathering and remarked that a double negative means a positive.  But this is not to say that a double positive implies a negative. To this a member of the audience shouted out, "Yeah, yeah!"   -Louis Jacobs Being mindful of our words, how we use them, is a powerful expression of creation.  Use them wisely.

“But after what he had seen of the scaffolds of Plaszow and Auschwitz, she would never take him to a children’s playground without growing hysterical at the sight of the swing frames.”  - T. Kineally , Schindler’s List   What we bring with us from our past stays with us forever.  We are the product of our environment.  That is why it is so important to remember that we are not all the same.  We have different vulnerabilities and tipping points.

Know that each and every blade of grass has its own song… How beautiful and pleasant to hear their song It is very good to pray among them and to serve God in joy. - Naomi Shemer based on  Rebbe Nachman of Bratslav

 I n the words of former Chief Justice Earl Warren, "not to mistake the urgent for the necessary." Be mindful. Think. What is needed and what is wanted.  Can you tell the difference? 

The time limit of a vow (unless the Nazirite states otherwise) was set at thirty days.  At the end of the thirty days (or at the end of a longer vow) the Nazirite had to come to the Temple bringing four sacrifices, including “one ewe of the first year without blemish for a sin offering” (Numbers 6;14)  At that time, in a special room in the Temple set aside for the purpose, the Nazirite cut his hair, which was the sign of one following a vow. Why should a person who vowed to be holy and to consecrate himself as a Nazirite have to bring a “sin offering”?  What sin did the Nazirite commit through vowing to be “holy unto the Lord”? (Numbers 6:8)   1.Words are sacred.  Every spoken word is heard below and Above. Therefore if the Nazirite made the slightest error with his or her vow they have sinned.   2. Vows are frowned upon in Judaism.  If one makes a vow intoning the holy name he could potentially violate one of the Ten Commandm...

A renowned nuclear physicist, and a Nobel Prize winner was walking with a companion along the seashore when he saw a beautiful crustacean.  The scientist picked it up, examined it cautiously and then carefully put it back precisely where he found it.  His companion asked him why he replaced it so exactly.  The scientist replied, “Perhaps I have already tampered too much with the universe.”  - Bernard Raskas   This is our task to leave as few footprints on this earth as possible.  This is especially important now as we are witnessing dramatic changes due to our negligence.  What difference will I make with wasting water or not recycling or fighting for cleaner air?  The same difference as this scientist with the shell at the  shore. This is what Shabbat is all about; not making changes to the earth.  Letting it, and us, rest.

When the Holy One created the first person, God took the first human before all the trees of the Garden of Eden, and said,  ‘See how lovely and how excellent My work are.  All that I have created for you I have created.  Consider this carefully.  Do not corrupt or desolate it, there is no one to set it right after you’.”  - Kohelet Rabbah 7:28   Our task is to safeguard the earth.  If we fail in this task...

When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov Saw misfortune threatening the Jews It was his custom To go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, Say a special prayer, And the miracle would be accomplished And the misfortune averted. Later when his disciple, The celebrated Magid of Mezritch, Has occasion, for the same reason, To intercede with heaven, He would go to the same place in the forest And say: “Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, But I am still able to say the prayer.” And again the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sasov, In order to save his people once more, Would go into the forest and say: “I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, But I know the place And this must be sufficient.” It was sufficient and the miracle was accomplished. Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn To overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, He spoke to God...

There is the tale of a man who mocked God because acorns grew atop tall tees while watermelons crushed the thin vines that nourished them on the ground. “If God was so smart,” he thought, “why didn’t He place the watermelons on the tall trees and the acorns on the vines…” Until one day an acorn fell on his head.   The earth is just as He intended it to be.  Or task is twofold: to accept it and protect it.

The king’s star gazer saw that the grain harvested that year was tainted. Anyone who would eat from it would became insane. “What can we do?” said the king. “It is not possible to destroy the crop for we do not have enough grain stored to feed the entire population.” “Perhaps,” said the star gazer, “we should set aside enough grain for ourselves. At least that way we could maintain our sanity.” The king replied, “If we do that,  we’ll  be considered crazy. If everyone behaves one way and we behave differently, we’ll be considered the not normal ones. “Rather,” said the king, “I suggest that we too eat from the crop, like everyone else. However, to remind ourselves that we are not normal, we will make a mark on our foreheads. Even if we are insane, whenever we look at each other, we will remember that we are insane!” Translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan.

Rabbi Shimon said, “There exist three crowns in life: The crown of learning, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of royalty. But the crown of a good name exceeds them all. Avot 4:17   Many things follow us through our lives but our reputation, the actions we do, how we treat others is the most important factor in determining our character.

In life each person is called by three names.  One is the name you are called by your father and mother; one is the name other people call you and one is the name you acquire for yourself.  The best name is the one you acquire for yourself.  - Midrash Tanhuma Vayakhel 1 We must alway strive to reach beyond ourselves.  Good enough is not good enough.  Only the best will do.

 One warm spring day a young mother took her small son on a school picnic.  The boy wandered away from the group and after he had been missing for some time his mother began an anxious search for him. Suddenly, she heard a desperate crying voice, "Sarah!  Sarah!"  When she reached the boy and calmed him, she asked why he called her Sarah when he always called her mother at home.  The child wisely explained, "It was no use calling mother, mother - the place is full of mothers.  I wanted my mother!" We all need the comfort of love, the ability to call someone when we are desperate, knowing they will always respond.  That is love.   Thought: Not who would you call .... but for whom would do anything to help?

  Eleazar ben Pedat taught, "One's name has influence over one's life."  - Berachot 7 b Your name has meaning.  It is not arbitrary, accidental or haphazard.  It is intentional.  Your name carries with it a destiny and power.  Find out what it means and then live your name.  

n’gad shma, avad shma “A name made great is a name destroyed.”   -Avot 1:13   Why would this be?  How is it possible that the famous are destroyed?  After all, they are followed by the paparazzi.  They are celebrated and followed on twitter and instagram.  Their clothes and hairstyles are imitated. Yet, the Mishna is telling us something far deeper than surface fame.  Fame fades.  The camera swivels and catches someone else doing something more daring or being more captivating.  And it is  gone.  Now we feel worse than when we first sought notoriety. Aspiring to possess a great name comes at a Faustian price.  We forfeit the ability to do good deeds unnoticed.  We are no longer capable of hearing the inner voice of righteousness but only the one that seeks and hears the applause. Follow the path of integrity, modesty.  Do good and you will be great.