A Soulful Journey

On this day in our history a plague ceased.  In total some 24,000 students and student of students of the famed Rabbi Akiva perished.  On Lag B'Omer the plague abruptly stopped. And then, the remaining students were admonished to be careful and deliberate with every word utter - from the most steamed teacher to the poorest student, all must be treated with respect. What if... What if after every terrible event the person or community affected asked how it can resolve to be more thoughtful, deliberate and kind?  Instead of dialing up the volume or rhetoric; instead of getting angrier and angrier; instead of attending to our wounded ego, what if we asked how we can live better lives?

 God’s world is great and holy. Among the holy lands in the world is the Holy Land of ישראל. In the land of Israel the holiest city is ירושלים.  In ירושלים the holiest place was the בית המקדש, and in the בית המקדש the holiest spot was the קודש הקודשים. There are seventy peoples (nations) in the world.  Among these holy nations is עם ישראל.  Within the nation of Israel, are twelve tribes and the holiest tribe is שבט לוי.  In the tribe of Levi, שבט לוי the holiest are the priests,  כהנים.  Among the כהנים, the holiest was the High Priest, the כהן גדול. There are 354 days in a Lunar/Jewish year (when it isn’t a שנה מעוברת leap year).  Among the days of the year are special days, holidays, holy days, ימים קדושים.  Among these holidays is the holiness of שבת,  known as שבת קודש.  Every seven days we celebrate שבת קודש.  But among the holy Sabbath days is one called יום כפור and is known as שבת שבתון, the Sabbath of Sabbaths! Th...

  Aging is not for the faint of heart. One day, you wake up and realize — youth has quietly slipped away. But it didn’t leave alone. It took with it your insecurities, your rush to please, your fear of not being enough. And in its place? It left you with something stronger: A slower pace, but a steadier step. The wisdom to say goodbye without fear. The grace to cherish those who choose to stay. The power to be you, unapologetically. Aging isn’t about losing — it’s about letting go. It’s about learning to accept, to release, and to truly see: That beauty was never just in the mirror… It lived in every story, scar, and silent strength we carried within. Aging is a gift. Wear it with dignity. — Inspired by Meryl Streep

 In   Pirkei Avot 5:22 , a section of the Mishna, the sage Ben Bag Bag reveals, " Turn it over, and again turn it over, for all is therein. And look into it; And become gray and old therein; And do not move away from it, for you have no better portion than it." The questions come unbidden by circumstances in life.  The answers are all there, in the Torah.  

            " There is immense silent agony in the world, and the task of                     man is to be a voice for the plundered poor, to prevent the                     desecration of the soul and the violation of our dream of                     honesty." "The more deeply immersed I became in the thinking of the prophets, the more powerfully it became clear to me what the lives of the Prophets sought to convey: that morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible." Abraham Joshua Heschel