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Showing posts from July, 2011

True Friends

Motel Kamenetz was a wealthy contractor in Kiev.   Many people benefited from his business acumen.   One day he lost a fortune in real estate and his friends began to avoid him.   Luck was with Motel, however, and once again his business flourished.   As he grew rich friends also came around.   On the next holiday many of the townsfolk came to visit.   When Motel saw them coming he ordered his servant to place a money box on the table. The crowd entered his home and cheerfully wished him a good holiday but when they saw the money box, they asked, “What does this mean?” “Friends,” said Motel, “I am well aware that you have not come to greet me.   The fact is you have come to greet my money.   Here it is.   Rejoice with it.” True friends are present when the sun shines and when it is overcast.

Personal Responsibility verses the Devil

Thomas Merton once characterized the moral theology of the devil like this: “Another characteristic of the devil’s moral theology is the exaggeration of all distinctiveness between this and that, good and evil, wrong and right.   These distinctions become irreducible division.   No longer is there any sense that we might perhaps all be more or less at fault, and that we all might be expected to take upon our own shoulders the wrongs of others by forgiveness, acceptance, patient understanding and love, and thus help one another to find the truth.   On the contrary, in the devil’s theology, the important thing is to be absolutely right and to prove that everybody else is absolutely wrong.   This does not exactly make for peace and unity….because it means that everyone wants to are absolutely right….    And in order to prove their rightness they have to punish and eliminate those who are wrong.” -From New Seeds of Contemplation, 1962 It’s all about personal responsibility.   That is w
Rebbe Menachem Mendl of Kotsk once spoke to his acolytes about a parable in midrash: A man passed by a castle and saw it ablaze.   No one was trying to extinguish the flames.   He thought, 'the castle must be abandoned, without an owner.' Then, looking again, he saw the lord of the castle peering from a window.   The lord stated, “I am the owner of this castle.” When he repeated the lord’s words, “I am the owner of the castle,” Rebbe Menachem Mendl and all those around him were struck with a great reverence for they all felt, “the castle is burning but it has a Master.”

Worldly

“I am a citizen, not of Athens or Greece, but of the world.” -Socrates Once we stop defining ourselves by what we are (or what we are not) we can find reason to live together harmoniously. Question: Is this possible?

On Learning

Sometimes the things that give the greatest inspiration are our greatest nightmares.   It can be useful to peer at what causes us angst and learn from it. “When Freud went to see a production of Oedipus he had to be carried out in a cold sweat.” -Woody Allen in Getting Even

Lucky Toad

In the seventeenth century Italian violinists were known to keep toads in their violin cases.   Just before a concert these violinists would pull out their toad and stroke it for good luck.   There was a superstition that the toad would keep their hands dry and enable the musician to not slip during their performance. Wisdom or ignorance?   According to herpetologists, toads secrete alkaloids which dries out human skin. Sometimes it is good to be open and not dismissive of things that seem wrong.   We still have a lot to learn.   It is good to be humble.

Chuckle

We can agonize over every crevice in our skin.  We can lose sleep over new wrinkles.  We can spend fortunes at trying to look beautiful or young.  Maybe the best investment is to learn to chuckle. The late first Lady, Barbara Bush liked to compare herself to former First Lady, Nancy Reagan. She noted both were wives, both had careers, both were devoted. The difference was that, “she takes a size three. So does my leg.”

To Tell the Truth

“Guidelines for Bureaucrats: 1.When in charge, ponder. 2. When in trouble, delegate. 3. When in doubt, mumble.” –James H Boren Ego, or our self-centeredness does not like to make room for error. It perceives error as a stain that will never disappear. This is a falsehood. It misleads us from the right path.

On Bending

Confidence is generally a good thing.   Taken to an extreme, it becomes arrogance and an unwillingness to see the merits of the other side.   “To be a flexible as a reed,” is an admonition from the Talmud. Through the pitch black night, the captain sees a light dead ahead on a collision course with his ship.   He sends a signal: “Change your course ten degrees east.” The light signals back: “Change yours, ten degrees west.” Angry, the captains sends: “I’m a Navy captain! Change your course, sir!” “I’m a seaman, second class,” comes the reply. “Change your course, sir!” Now the captain is furious.   “I’m a battleship! I’m not changing course!” There’s one last reply. “I’m a lighthouse.   Your call.”

The Fight

It is important to realize the value of a good argument.  A legitimate argument is one that argues for the sake of finding the right solution.  A misdirected argument is one that argues for the sake of being heard above the din.  In the first instance, people listen to one another's side. In the second instance, they simply bellow to be heard. We often get the two confused. “…the old inner-city synagogue that had just moved to the suburbs acquired both a modern building and a modern rabbi. At the first Sabbath service, when the congregation recited the Shema Yisrael prayer (“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One…”) half the congregation stood up while half remained seated.  The standing half yelled. “Stand up!” to the seated half, while the seated half yelled, “Sit down!” to the standing half. The new rabbi was upset at the boisterous commotion, and after the service he asked representatives of both groups to meet with him and the old rabbi to ascertain the tradition

What We Do Not Know

“Nothing of course begins at the time you think it did.” - Lillian Hellman There is a great story behind all things.   There is more than we see and know to each episode of life.   Accept the fact that you only know a fragment of reality and with that knowledge comes hope.

The Emptiness of Absence

“And when he fell in a whirlwind, he went down As when a lordly cedar, green with boughs Goes down with a great shout upon the hills And leaves a lonesome place against the sky.” -          Edwin Markham’s eulogy for Abraham Lincoln You are not alone in your pain, your solitude.   We all experience in turn when death takes away something that we love.   You are not alone.

A Set Table

Rabbi Akiva Eiger once invited a poor man to his home on Friday evening for Shabbat dinner.   At the meal, a beautiful white tablecloth covered the table.   When the poor man lifted his glass of wine, it slipped out of his hand and the red liquid spread across the pure white cloth leaving an ugly stain. Seeing the discomfort of the poor man, Rabbi Akiva Eiger immediately lifted his own glass of wine and “accidentally” spilled it over the tablecloth.   As the poor man looked on with great relief, Rabbi Eiger remarked, “it seems to me as if the table or floor is shaking, doesn’t it?” - related by Mordecai Katz How damaging this situation could have been! How difficult is it to protect the honor of another?  
When faced with the destruction by fire of the great library of Alexandria, the Caliph Omar said: “If the books contain that which is in the Koran they are superfluous. If they contain that which is not in the Koran they are false and should be allowed to burn.”   - Louis Jacobs While being dogmatic is not a virtue there is a great truth in the Caliph’s words.   We must know the difference between that which must be released and that which must be held.   In the former instance it is almost everything.   In the latter, almost nothing.

Fulfillment

William Spooner, inventor of 'Spoonerisms,' was once asked whether there was much Christian Socialism at Oxford University.  He replied, " No...I think there are only two Christian Socialists in Oxford, Dr. Rashadall and myself... I'm not very much of a Socialist and Dr. Rashdall isn't very much of a Christian."   from Oxford Book of Literary Anecdotes T o not believe takes little effort.  To believe is the hard route.  It takes real and continued effort.