A Soulful Journey

"Worldly riches are like nuts; many a tooth is broke in cracking them, but never is the stomach filled with eating them . "   - Rebbe Nachman

  “Our lives are fashioned by our choices. First we make our choices. Then our choices make us.” –  Anne Frank

  When Death Comes  When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument. I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world. -Mary Oliver

God of patience,   teach me   patience.   Help me learn   to wait—   for the good   that is just around the corner;  for the assistance   that will soon be within my reach;  for the relief   that is just a moment away.    - Rebbe Nachman,  The Gentle Weapon

  What shall I ask You for, God? I have everything. There's nothing I lack. I ask only for one thing And not for myself alone; It's for many mothers, and children, and fathers - Not just in this land, but in many lands hostile to each other. I'd like to ask for Peace. Yes, it's Peace I want, And You, You won't deny the single wish of a child. You created the Land of Peace, Where stands the City of Peace, Where stood the Temple of Peace, But where still there is no Peace...   What shall I ask You for, God?  I have everything. Peace is what I ask for, Only Peace.   Shlomit Grossberg , Age 13, Jerusalem (translated by Dov Vardi)

A group of Chasidim approached their rebbe the Magid Dov Ber of Mezritch. They could not understand a passage in the Talmud, which teaches us to thank God for our bad days with the same fervor we use to thank Him for his goodness! How can we be honestly be grateful for bad things?! Their rebbe directed them to go to Hanipol and find Reb Zusya. He would explain it all. Hanipol was a great distance for the Hasidim, but they obeyed their rebbe and traveled there. They finally arrived and asked where to find the great Reb Zusya. Imagine their surprise when they came to a tiny, ramshackle house that looked as if a gust of wind would tear it apart! They entered, and round Reb Zusya sitting at a rickety table and trying to read by the light of a tiny window. He welcomed his visitors, but apologized for not getting up – but his leg hurt. He had some bread, so he offered them food. He had water, so he offered them drink. The hasidim, disturbed at Reb Zusya’s poverty, declined his offer. They on...

A rabbi stood in front of his congregation and said, “Before I begin my sermon I want to tell you something interesting.     I have a story to tell.     A Dutch Jew survived the Nazis by hiding in attics and cellars.     He came to the United States after the war and finished his education.     He was appointed head of the philosophy department at a university.     He assimilated, married a gentile woman, and had no interest in the Jewish community. His marriage was unhappy and he was on the verge of divorce.   A lecturer had been invited to the university and the President, a Catholic, asked the professor to greet the guest.  “Who is he?” The President answered, “He is a Jewish theologian and philosopher.” The professor, somewhat annoyed, asked the President, “Why are you sending me?” “There are two reasons.  First of all, you are a Jew.  Second, you are the chairman of the Philosophy Departm...

What is an idol? Any god who is mine but not yours, any god concerned with me but not with you, is an idol… Racial or religious bigotry must be recognized for what it is: blasphemy… To think of man in terms of white, black or yellow is more than an error. It is an eye disease, a cancer of the soul… God is every man’s pedigree. He is either the Father of all men or of no man. The image of God is either in every man or in no man… Equality as a religious commandment goes beyond the principle of equality before the law. Equality as a religious commandment means personal involvement, fellowship, mutual reverence and concern .   Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel