A Soulful Journey

"While praying, listen to the words very carefully. When your heart is attentive, your entire being enters your prayer without your having to force it." Rebbe Nachman, The Empty Chair

Some random thoughts on language: Abstinence is a good thing if practiced in moderation. A virgin forest is a place where that hand of man has never set foot. A virtuoso is a musician with high morals. To collect sulfur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube. -Richard Lederer, Anguished English It is always a good idea to think first, speak afterward (not vice versa)

While the crowds exult in "I like Ike (or Adlai)," the Jew wonders instead 'Does Ike like me?' -Shalom Carmy quoting Nathan Alterman We all want acceptance and the more alienated we have felt in our life the more we gravitate toward this unanswerable question.

"The woman in the taxi is having a discussion with the driver.  "The point is," says the driver, "that God is always with the Jews, always." What then, asks the woman, about the Christians, the Moslems, the Buddhists.  God has not time for them?  "Yes," concedes the driver, "he does, but he has more time for the Jews." What about the Holocaust? the woman asks.  The driver is silent for the rest of the journey.  As the woman gets out of the taxi, he turns to her and says: "Lady, you're OK as a person.  Your problem is that you have too little faith."

Eugene Borowitz was in Brixton, England at the time of the Six Day War.  When he first heard about it, he remarked, "if we don't win I won't believe in God." -Albert Friedlander Real faith is accepting life not making it contingent on the outcome events pleasing us.

"A casual stroll through a lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything."   -Nietsche Which statement more true: Does the observation describe reality?  Or does the observation describe the person?

Rabbi Akiva teaches: “Love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18) constitutes the greatest principle of the Torah.  Note that the Torah does not say, “Since I was humiliated, let it be just the same for my neighbor, or “Since I was insulted, let my neighbor be insulted as well.”  Rabbi Tanhuma says, “If you choose to behave in such a manner, know well whom you are actually insulting, for “God created humankind in the divine image.” (Genesis 5:1) – Shabbat 156b When we give the best of ourselves, we become the best self.