A Soulful Journey

In Midrash Yalkut Shimoni we read, "A person died after sneezing a terminal sneeze.  What this means is their nishmat hayim , their living soul, which God breathed into primordial man [and every person at birth], departed." - Lech Lecha 77 Each of us possesses a sacred animating spirit given by God.  It lives within us for a finite period and returns to its Maker when He calls.

Chanukah 5783/2022 Ari Mark Cartun             At the end of the last day of Chanukah my wife, our twins, and I wanted to eat dinner on the lanai of our timeshare on Maui. We turned on the lanai lights and all the lights in the living room to make it as bright as it could be. However, there was one ceiling light we could not get to go on.              These timeshare apartments are kind of goofy when it comes to light switch placement, and this was one of the goofier ones, inasmuch as it was in a ceiling fan and the fan/light switches are just bizarre. We tried every switch in the room many times over and were still in the dark about how to turn on the ceiling fan light, so we called down to the front desk for tech support to show us how to turn it on.             An engineer came up to look at it and quickly determined...

  If I hadn’t lifted the shard off the ground, would you have found a precious stone underneath? - Yevamot 92b Look.  Examine. Think. Explore. There is more than you think.  Always.

The unborn child is told, “You must realize that God is pure, His servants are pure, and the soul that He gave you is pure. If you keep it pure, all is good and well but if you defile your soul, it will be taken from you.  Three partners partook in your creation, God, your father and your mother. Your father and your mother provided you with a body. But it was still dead, it could neither speak, walk, nor hear. Then God provided it with a divine soul, giving your face expression, and providing you with the power to see, hear, speak and move. He also gave you wisdom and understanding." -Me’am Loez    

Called upon to take over the Hasidic movement, Rabbi Hirsch found the position empty.  He withdrew and ultimately spoke only to his deceased father.  In his dreams, he asked, "How can I best serve God?" The Baal Shem climbed a high mountain and threw himself into the abyss.  "Like this," he said. Another time the Baal Shem appeared to him as a mountain on fire, erupting into a thousand fragments.  "Like this as well." There are times when we want to close to the Almighty but the first step is to rid oneself of ego.

In legend and mysticism there is the belief that the soul is transcendent, immortal.     “…and from this we learn that ‘all Israel has a share in the World to Come,’ that is the innermost, untouched core of the soul which is forever pure, that enters the World to Come.”     - Rabbi R. J. Soloveitchik

Two thousand years ago, Rabbi Tarfon exclaimed, "You know the problem with our generation? No one knows how to accept criticism." And Rabbi Akiva replied, "You know the problem with our generation?  No one knows how to give criticism." Be careful with every spoken word as they can lift up or destroy.

 "He has gone where fierce indignation can lacerate his heart no more." -epitaph of Jonathan Swift Life can be hard. But if we take care of one another it does not have to be so.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu declared that went the sun sets on a tzaddik a new sun will rise for another: When Akiva passed, Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi was born When Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi passed, Rabbi Ada bar Ahava was born, When Rabbi Ada died, Rabbi Akiva was born. The world goes on and is never without its guiding luminaries to show us the way.

The lulav represents four types of Jews, but is not kosher if one of the arba minim (four species) is missing. Everyone has a place at the table.  No one can be missing.  Leave no one outside or we all suffer.

    "I don’t care what denomination you belong to as long as you’re embarrassed by it!" Rabbi  Yitz Greenberg Do not be overly prideful but work to make whatever you are, wherever you affiliate, better.

  A guest speaker was extolling the beauty of Jewish culture.     He said, “The symbols of the Jewish people give you a deep insight into the character of the nation.” Saul Levinsky, present at the lecture, was a bit cynical and interrupted the talk. “Your point is well illustrated by the Magen David, the Star of David.  It truly describes Jewish psychology.  While the first triangle points one way, the second triangle insists on pointing in the opposite direction.”    It is good to thoughtful and think for oneself rather than just accept whatever is being said.  In this way, we continually search the pathway of truth. 

 "...it was the task of shelving to give meaning to the sacrifices of the dead."   -Stephen Donaldson We are the inheritors of a great chain of tradition that stems back millennia. They strove, crafted, worked and suffered to ensure that their legacy would survive them and be handed down to generations yet unborn, you.

  A dying man is considered the same as a living person in every respect.     They may inherit property and bequeath property.     If a limb is severed from the body, it is regarded as from any living person and if flesh, as flesh from a living person…. He may not be stirred nor be washed and they should not be laid out while alive. Their eyes may not be closed.     Whosoever touches or strs them is guilty of shedding blood. Rabbi Meir uses to compare a dying person to a flickering lamp: the moment one touches it he extinguishes it.     So to with closing the eyes of a person dying is accounted as though they snuffed out his life.    - Tractate Mourning 1 We are taught gentility with the dying.

  “They give testimony about the identity of a corpse during the first three days after death.”     - Mishna Yevamot 16   It is vital for the community as well as the family that the identity of the deceased be established so that mourning can commence, no matter the circumstances.   Rabbi Bereh, Rabbi Pappi, Rabbi, Joshua of Sikhnin in the name of Rabbi Levy said, ”Three days after death, the soul floats above the body, thinking that will return. When the soul sees the body, that the appearance of the face has changed, it leaves and goes its way.”   - Yerushalmi Yevamot 16   This passage informs us that the wellbeing of the soul of the person is also considered when death occurs.  We take into account the family, the community and the soul.   

  A powerful Emperor advertised for a new Chief Samurai. Only three applied for the job: a Japanese, a Chinese and a Jewish Samurai, Number One Samurai, "Demonstrate your skills!" commanded the Emperor. The Japanese samurai stepped forward, opened a tiny box, and released a fly. He drew his samurai sword and "swish"; the fly fell to the floor, neatly divided in two! "What a feat!" said the Emperor. "Number Two Samurai, show me what you can do." The Chinese samurai smiled confidently, stepped forward and opened a tiny box, releasing a fly. He drew his samurai sword and "swish, swish"; the fly fell to the floor, neatly quartered! "That is skill!" nodded the Emperor. "How are you going to top that, Number Three Samurai?"  Number Three Samurai stepped forward, opened a tiny box, released one fly, drew his Samurai sword, and "swoooooosh" flourished his sword so mightily that a gust of wind blew through the room...

 When Rabbi Moshe Feinstein died a crowd of 40,000 people came.  Professor Jacob Katz said to Elie Wiesel, "You can say what you like about the heredim (ultra Orthodox) certainly know how to bury their gedolim." Wiesel retorts, "Indeed they do.  Even while they are still alive."  - Rabbi Louis Jacobs It is said that we idolize the dead fir their many real and imagined accomplishments.  Think of how wonderful this lief would be if we did this while alive.

We light new candles for each night.  And tradition, and law, demands that we use the shamash candle to light the other wicks.  No  beracha , blessing, is said for the poor shamash. Only the other candles receive a blessing.  Why is this? When we give tzedakah we do not say a  beracha  either.  We do not say a blessing because it might embarrass the one who receives the gift. We know that tzedakah is so great that it is one of the highest mitzvot.  So, perhaps the lowly shamash is the greatest candle of all since it spreads light to all the others just as tzedakah does. Could the same be said of us?  

The late Rabbi J.L. Maimon used to say, "The world would be a far better place if Orthodox rabbis were as afraid of God as they are of one another."  -Rabbi Louis Jacobs We should all be more fearful, in awe, of God than of other people.