A Soulful Journey

  Rabbi Yossi said, "Adam comes before every person at the moment when they are about to leave this life in order to declare that the person is dying, not because of Adam's sin, but on account of his or her own sins.  As the Sages say, "there is no death without sin"."

  “It is customary to blame secular science and anti-religious philosophy for the eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame religion for its own defeats. Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid. When faith is completely replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when the crisis of today is ignored because of the splendor of the past; when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion--its message becomes meaningless.” ― Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism

 "At the moment when a tzaddik leaves this world the Ministering Angels declare: "A tzaddik is coming!" -Talmud The righteous are rewarded in two universes.

"The chief problem with death, incidentally, is the fear that there may be no afterlife - a depressing thought, particularly to those who have bothered to shave."  -Woody Allen   We work throughout or life to life days of integrity and making contributions to a world that leaves it better than we found it.  There is rightly a fear of death if we have not worked to those ends.  

  The late Pinchas Peli told a story about two Lubavitch Hasidim discussing the Jewish community and its future.     One said to the other, “The whole world is divided between ‘them’ and ‘us.’     No point in talking about ‘them.’     Let’s talk about us.     Among us, the Jewish world is divided between Ashkenazim and Sephardim.     No point in talking about the Sephardim.     Among the Ashkenazim, there are Misnagdim and Hasidim.     No point in talking about the Misnagdim.     Amon the Hasidim, there are Lubavitch and Satmer.     No point in talking about the Satmer.     Among the Lubavitch, there are Farbrengung and Maskilim.     No pint in talking about the Farbregung Lubavitch.     Among the Maskilim, there are only you and me, and you know how little   you  know.” Myopia is not an admirable quality. It is better to be open to everyone.

 "What sort of fellow can you be-  to sit down and play cards with a fellow who'll sit down and play cards with a fellow like you?"  - Groucho Marx What made Groucho famous was his ability to be self-deprecating and disarming about our human proclivities.  He taught us how to laugh at ourselves.  What a wonderful gift.  Think of how much kinder and friendlier the world would be if we learned to laugh at us.

  “People stopped inviting me to their homes – the same people hadn’t been inviting me for years.” – Groucho Marx Having a sense of humor is always optional, but it makes lifes difficulties and trials so much more bearable when we learn how to laugh at ourselves.

 "Improve yourself first." -Talmud

  When Benjamin Franklin discovered that lightning was a form of electricity, he sent a paper to be read for him by a friend to the Royal Society in London.  The friend reported that it was "laughed at by the connoisseurs." In 1837 Rowan Hill proposed a postage stamp for Great Britain instead of cash payments but he recipient.  The postmaster general, Lord Richfield, declared the idea "entirely repugnant to reason." Rachel Carson, who warned against the disastrous effects of DDT and other insecticides, was laughed at as a prophet of doom. New ideas are always ridiculed by those who cannot reimagine life.

  Rabbi Abba bar Yudan said: Everything that God disqualified in animals, He endorsed in people. For animals, He disqualified the blind or broken or maimed, but in man He endorsed the broken, downtrodden heart. - Vayikra Rabba 7 All the broken are cherished by God.

  “The primary purpose of prayer is not to make requests. The primary purpose is to praise, to sing, to chant. Because the essence of prayer is a song, and man cannot live without a song." -Abraham Joshua Heschel Now, go sing to God!

    “Few are guilty, but all are responsible.” ― Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets

  “Religion becomes sinful when it begins to advocate the segregation of God, to forget that the true sanctuary has no walls. Religion has always suffered from the tendency to become an end in itself, to seclude the holy, to become parochial, self-indulgent, self-seeking; as if the task were not to ennoble human nature but to enhance the power and beauty of its institutions or to enlarge the body of doctrines. It has often done more to canonize prejudices than to wrestle for truth; to petrify the sacred than to sanctify the secular. Yet the task of religion is to be a challenge to the stabilization of values.” ― Abraham Joshua Heschel God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism

 Rava said, If a righteous man deserves it, he can be a creator of a world as it is written, "But your iniquities have distinguished..." (Isaiah 59:2) Rabbah created a man and sent him to Rabbi Zeira.  Rabbi Zeira spoke to him but he did not answer.  He said to him, "You are a creature of the magicians.  Return to your dust."  -Sanhedrin 65b Only a human, a person of flesh and blood, has a soul.  What each of us possesses is more than a talent for speech but something infinitely deeper and more powerful as we are made by God and as such house something of the Ineffable in us.

  Who thinks identically alike?     “The myriad variations of human form and character have been emphasized by the rabbis who played on the text   ein tzur kelohenu , “There is no rock like our God,” and read it   ein tzayar kelohenu , “There is no artist like our God.”     -Chaim Pearl The Master Artist crafted a world remarkably  unique with every creation and creature a stand-alone work of art.  Sit back and gaze wondrously.

  Goethe’s Faust said, “In the beginning was the deed.” John states, “In the beginning was the word.” Genesis declares, “In the beginning God created heaven and earth.” All are correct, but only one of them names the Creator.

Rabbi Meir and a philosopher were debating proof of God's hand in the universe.  The philosopher was insistent that there was no evidence of God in the universe.  He gave as proof a magnificent poem crafted by a human being, written in a smooth hand on a piece of parchment.  It inspires awe but is the work of flesh and blood, not of Divinity. Rabbi Meir responded that while a person scribed the poem, the implements did not come from a human being...rather the inkwell came into being magically along with the paper. "Impossible," said the philosopher. "So how can you say the universe has no author?" -Zohar 1:2a

  Rav Nahman said: 'Pray Master, bless me.' Rabbi Yitzhak said to him: ‘Let me tell you a parable — To what may this be compared? To a man who was journeying in the desert; and he was hungry, weary and thirsty, so he happened upon a tree whose fruit was sweet and its shade pleasant, and a stream of water flowing beneath it; he ate of its fruits, drank of the water, and rested under its shade. When he was about to continue his journey, he said: Tree, O Tree, with what shall I bless you? If I say to you, ‘May thy fruits be sweet’? They are sweet already; that your shade be pleasant? It is already pleasant; that a stream of water may flow beneath you? Behold, a stream of water flows already beneath you; therefore [I will say], ‘May it be [God's] will that all the shoots taken from you be like unto you. So, too, with you. With what shall I bless you? With [the knowledge of the Torah?] You already possess [knowledge of the Torah]. With riches? You already have riches. With child

  “Instead of saying   you frighten me , what if we said   you interest me ?’ -Richard Bach   I laughed as I read those words.   Can you imagine a world where interest was a stronger impulse than fear?  There would be no more wars.  An end to hatred and likely poverty.  Much suffering would disappear from the world because we would learn from one another.

   Story No. 1:      During WWI (1914-18), a Russian Jewish soldier once received a leg wound. Some Russian medics patched him up and began to carry him back to a rear field hospital.      But, suddenly, a full retreat was called--with enemy troops quickly approaching, threatening to overrun the area.      Reluctantly, the medics had to leave the wounded soldier behind.      As an Austro-Hungarian charged upon him with fixed bayonet, the Russian cried aloud, " Shema Yisroel, Adonoi  Elohaynu, Adonoi Echad. "      The Austro-Hungarian stopped in his tracks. " Du bist a Yid ?"      The Russian nodded. " Yuh ."      The Austro-Hungarian declared, " Kum mit mir. Du bist itzt mein gefangener " ("Come with me. You are now my prisoner").  The Austro-Hungarian carried the Russian back to his Battalion HQ. The Russian ended up in a POW Camp and survived the war.      Story No. 2:      Sometime in the early 1950's, following Israel's War

  You are important. Your life matters.  What you say and do counts.  That is why your educations is so vital.  That is why an army of people has dedicated themselves to teach you what you needed to know to succeed and excel.  The best teachers were placed before you.  You only deserved the best curriculum in school and in the school of life.  Innumerable hours and incalculable information were collected and disseminated to deliver to you the best.  Countless letters, e-mails, telephone calls and conversations have been crafted and designed only for your benefit.  The universe conspired to give you what you needed or might need in the future to prepare you for the road of life and for the transition from student to teacher to new generations. Trying to navigate through a chaotic and sometimes deceptive world is difficult.  But you possess the varied skills to survive and thrive under any condition.  Do not forget to use them well.  Like muscles exercised they grow stronger with use.  M