A Soulful Journey

Sam and Irving are led to a wall to face a firing squad.  The commander comes over and blindfolds them.  Disdainful, Sam rips his from his face and hurls it to the ground. "Please, Sam," pleads his buddy.  "Don't make trouble." - Joey Adams Speak up.  Let your voice be heard.

  "Poor is he who carries his fortune in another's head."  - Schopenhauer Be your own guide in life and love.

  "There is an art to wandering.  If I have a destination, a plan -an objective - I've lost the ability find serendipity.  I've become too focused, too single-minded.  I am on a quest, not a ramble.  I search for the Holy Grail of particularity and miss the chalice freely offered, filled and overflowing."  - from On Becoming Lost: A Naturalist's Search for Meaning.

 "The Tablets and the broken Tablets were both placed in the holy Ark."  - Talmud, brachot 8b This is a powerful lesson about accepting everyone as a part of our community- those who are whole and those who are broken all have a place with God and us. 

"When we were young we called ourselves men.  Now as we are old, we are schoolboys."  - Baba Kamma 92b It is remarkable how much we realize we do not know as we age.  That does not indicate we are getting less smart, the opposite.

 "...organized crime in America takes over in forty billion dollars a year.  This is quite a profitable sum, especially when one considers that the Mafia spends very little for office supplies."  - Woody Allen

“I [who study Torah all day] am God’s creature and my fellow [at his work] is His creature.  My work is in the city.  His work is in the field.   I rise early to do my work and he, likewise, rises early to do his.  Just as he is not able to boast of being able to do my work, so I cannot boast of being able to do his. And in case your disciples ever say, 'but I study much Torah while he studies little,' have we not learned that whether you study much or little, the reward is yours, providing you direct your heart to heaven.”   - Berachot 17a

  "We cannot know who first discovered water, but we can be sure it was not the fish."   Santanaya or Einstein Sometimes it is the most obvious things in the world that escapes our attention.  Look around and you might be surprised by what you have missed.

  "Most important things in life are obvious once you see them."  - Professor Sune L Carlson Look carefully.  Examine.  Then you will see. 

Rabbi Hanina Ben Dosa watched all the people going up to Jerusalem, taking with them fine gifts and offerings for the Temple. How he longed to go with them and bring something wonderful for God. Alas, Rabbi Hanina was very poor. He had nothing he could offer. He wandered sadly in the desert field. Suddenly he saw an interesting stone on the ground. It was very large and beautiful. What a splendid idea, thought Rabbi Hanina. I will take this stone to the holy Temple as my gift to God. Rabbi Hanina ran home and got his tools. He cut the stone and polished it until its colors shone beautifully. At last, it was fit to create the holy Temple. But how would he ever get it there? He looked for someone to help. He would need five strong men to carry it and they would have to be paid but he knew he barely had five gold coins as his whole life’s savings. Suddenly five men appeared as if out of nowhere. “We will help you carry the stone,” they said. You can give us each one gold coin.” That was e...

Rabbi Avraham Hager remarked once that converts are not good for Jews because they are put to shame by them.  --Rabbi Louis Jacobs Maybe we need to more grateful for (and observant of) the heritage with which we have been blessed.

 "The individual who parks around of the synagogue blames himself for his shortcomings; the individual who parks in front blames Judaism."   -Rabbi Cyril Harris Think and do for yourself.

Smith climbs to the top of Mt. Sinai to get close enough to talk to God. Looking up, he asks the Lord. "God, what does a million years mean to you?" The Lord replies, "A minute." Smith asks, "And what does a million dollars mean to you?" The Lord replies, "A penny." Smith asks, "Can I have a penny?" The Lord replies, "In a minute."

"If you want to find out what it means to have a society without any rituals; read the New York Times, the news of the day....all the destructive and violent acts by young people who don't know how to behave in a civilized society." -J oseph Campbell Better to know who you were created to be.

“The premodern challenge was why be Jewish rather than Christian or Muslim. The modern challenge was why be Jewish rather than universal, modern, American or a human self. The postmodern challenge is why be, how can one be a self at all, rather than “a protean being” who feasts at many tables and consists of many selves?” - Arnold Eisen Who are you?  How do you define yourself?  

"Sandy Koufax is now on the (Brooklyn) Dodgers, but he is still like one of us.  Spring has ended.  The season has ended.  The season is about the begin.  And it is Passover.  We took matzo sandwiches to Ebbets Field with chicken fat.  We go to the dugout give it to Sandy and he's saying, "Get out.  Get away.  They are crazy.  They are tumlers!" Jackie Robinson came over and said, "What's this?" "Matzo." We had the whole Dodger bench eating matzo and chicken fat."  - Larry King As Jews, we are called upon to share with the world our understanding of what God wants.  While this story may not be exactly applicable to what God wants us to share with the world, it illustrates that we should not be shy about sharing with others our truth, our way.

 "I have a relative who uses what I call a "frum-o-meter" to measure the religiosity of her family and friends. Those who are less religiously observant or characterized as "goyim." Those who are more observant are fanatics. Only those who equal her style of observance are properly religious." -Rabbi Stanley Schachter These are insightful words for our time  Do we do the same?  Denigrate those whose values or opinions differ from us as uniformed, ignorant or dumb?  Or can we hear ideas which differ from our world view?

“Little Aby’s parents were not religious and he was not in the habit of saying his prayers at night.  One day he went to spend a holiday with his grandfather, who was very frum and who insisted on prayers.  The night before his return home, Aby finished his evening devotions with the words, “…and goodbye, God, I’m, going home tomorrow.”  - Friday Nite Book   You have a task, a vital one.

 "We have become a fire-engine religion...we only come in emergencies."   - Rabbi Lopian Come for the good times. It will make the bad times less painful and severe.

Ben Azzai teaches: “Don’t be despising/scornful / Al   t’hi baz to any person/adam, and don’t be rejecting / v’al t’hi maflig   to any thing/davar, for you don’t have a person who does not have his  hour, and you don’t have a thing that does not have its place.” (4:3) Here is the moral: Everyone has their place and every person has their moment. Make some space. Let someone become who they need to be.

“I am not here to worry about your needs and I don’t expect you to worry about mine.  It’s every man for himself.”  - Narcissist’s creed     It is not about you.  It is about us.

 "When I was a kid, thy told me to do what my parents wanted.  When I became a parent, they told me to do what my kids wanted.  When do I get to do what I want?'  - Sam Levinson The real question is, what do you want to do that will make the world a better place?

An oath, with the knowledge of the community, or words committed to or before a community cannot be cancelled.  It is as if it were sworn in perpetuity at Mt. Sinai.  - Shulchan Aruch We must be very careful with our utterances.  They are heard Above and below.