A Soulful Journey

 "Doctor," the man said to his ophthalmologist, " I was looking in the mirror this morning and I noticed that one of eyes is different from the other!" "Oh?' replied the doctor.  "Which one?" - Jerry Simpson There are times when we are so self-absorbed that we fail to see that we are perfect, just the way God intended.

Two indigents stood before a judge.  The judge, addressing the first, asked, "What kind of work do you do?" He answered, "Nothing." The judge turning to the second, asked the same question, "What do you do?" He answered, "I help him." We are tasked with a sacred duty while alive, to leave the world in better condition than we found it.   What did you do today?

 "Nostalgia is like sex: Every generation thinks it is for the first time."  - Michael Barries What is important is to dwell in this moment.  To be present.  This moment will never return.  It is.

From Monday until Thursday, November 23-26, 1942, my sister and I with were without food and water hiding in the attic of a German police station. Late Thursday evening, we came down from the attic. A Polish peasant gave us each a slice of bread. We subdued our hunger and put away the two slices of bread for Friday night to be able to make Kiddush.   It was understood how critical is was to their spiritual survival to maintain the traditon, even at the cost of the gnawing hunger in their stomachs   The second Gerer Rebbe, the Safet Emet, makes a profound observation concerning Noah’s drunkenness. Noah I did not drink more wine after the flood then he had been accustomed to drink before the flood. What was his mistake? After the flood, when his system had a weekend, he could not tolerate his customary amount of wine. That is why he got drunk.  - Rabbi Morris Shapiro   As Jews we make sure that each Shabbat, every Friday evening we light our candles, bless our win...

"When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.”  - G.K. Chesterton At your own peril dismiss God.

  "Noah was a tzaddik in his generations." (Genesis 6) Why in his generations (plural)? A person lives in a single generation.  But a tzaddik must live in two generations.  he must be able to talk to the young as well as the old.  - Rabbi Israel Levinthal The task of any right person is not simply to aggregate knowledge but to disseminate it.

" My mother tells the story that they used to have gaslights and you out a quarter in a meter in the apartment and the gas went on for a period of time.  You lit the gas and the kids would do their homework and study by that.  They used to have a next-door neighbor who had a lot of children and they were very poor.  They would always ask if this little boy, Yankel, could come in and lie on the floor next to my mother and study by the gaslights.  The told me this many years ago when he got elected.  He was Jacob Javits."  - Fred Schwartz, NY furrier The good you do today may affect the whole world in a time yet to come.  You may never know.   Go out and do some good today.

 " Everything new must have its roots in what was before." - Sigmund Freud Turn the pages back in time.  The ancients were wise beyond their time. It is all here, a part of your heritage.  Learn it. 

Midrash Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:13: When God created the first human beings, God led them around the Garden of Eden and said: “Look at my works! See how beautiful they are—how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it.  And what is worse, you will bring death even to the righteous people in the future." We are the earth's guardians.  It is  irreplaceable and we must learn to tend to its needs better.  

When the curators of London’s National Gallery suggested that the paintings of the Old Masters be cleaned there was an outcry.  The accumulated grime was essential to the pictures, they reasoned.   Any art historian will tell you that accumulated grime does not enhance the artist’s creation, it diminishes it.  Yet there are some who claim that nothing should touch what has become old.      Every thing, every moment, and event should be looked at as novel.  Innovation, while not abandoning the past, should not be seen as dangerous.   We grow from each new experience under heaven.  Look with fresh eyes at God’s world.  Peel away the layers of dust and detritus and you will be richly rewarded for seeing the universe as was intended, not though smudged glasses.

HaYashan Yithadesh V’hadesh titkadesh- Rabbi A. Kook   “The old shall become new and the new shall become holy.” Powerful words spoken by the first chief rabbi of Israel.  As we read and learn about our ancient traditions we can resolve to renew them and let them infuse our lives with light.  We also have the ability to renew ourselves and our lives every day.

There is sacredness in tears. There are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition and unspeakable love…    - Washington Irving Allow yourself to feel utter joy and deep anguish.  They are both signs that you are fully engaged in life.  Do not be afraid. 

“A new broom sweeps clean.” -Russian proverb   There are times when we are frustrated by lack of change.  When this happens try something different, "a new broom," something out of character.  This is how we learn and grow.  

It happened in the days of Rabbi Landau of Krakow that there was no rain one summer.  The people of the town were called to gather at the synagogue to pray for rain.  During the service, when the prayer for rain was being said, a sinner entered to say Kaddish.  He walked over to the pulpit and began to pray.  The crowd demanded that he be thrown out but Rabbi Landau knowingly said, “Let him stay.” Afterwards, the rabbi was asked, “How is it that you allowed such a person to pray with us?”  Rabbi Landau wisely said, “Men like him brought the flood upon the earth.  If not a flood, perhaps he will bring a little rain.”   It is good to look for the best in everyone and teach that everyone has a place in the world and if we can accept the worst in others perhaps that act will teach us about forgiveness and teach them about teshuvah.

Two people were walking along a deserted path, and in the hand of one of them was a jug of water. If both of them drink, they will both die [before reaching another source of water]. If one drinks, he will reach an inhabited place [and survive]. Ben Petora explained: “It is best that both drink and both die, so that one will not see the death of his friend. But then Rabbi Akiva taught: “Let him live by your side” (Lev. 25:36) – your life comes before the life of your companion.   -Baba Metsia 62a We are obliged to do everything to save ourselves, preserve our health and wellbeing.  This does not mean, God forbid, that we would ever deign to take something from someone else that could cause them harm but we must always help ourselves first and then others.  Like they say on the airlines, "place the mask on your face first then on others." Take away in our time: In this time of covid 19 we are obligated to take the vaccine and encourage others ...