A Soulful Journey

“There are those who erroneously think that world peace will only come from a common character of opinions and qualities. But no – true peace will come to the world precisely by multiplication of all the opinions and perspectives… all facets of the larger truth… peace (is) the unification of all opposites. But there must be opposites, so that there be those who labor and that which will be unified… Hence peace is the name of God, who is the master of all the forces, omnipotent and gathering them all.” (Eyn Ayah to Massekhet Berakhot, vol. 2, pp. 397-398, 9:361, on BT Berakhot 64a.) –Rav Avraham Kook

“I look upon religion as a mountain upon which men are climbing towards the peak to God.  My concern is that every man shall find a road, and as long as he is in ascent I am not going to quarrel with him about who has the right road.  Let the ascent be the test.” - Rabbi Barnett Brickner

Rebbe Nachman commented on Psalm 135:5, “For I know that the Lord is great,” said King David. “For I know,” – emphasizing the “I” - the greatness of God is something that no one can communicate to his fellow man or even to himself from one day to the next.   That which is brilliantly clear to him on one day is something he cannot even tell himself on the day that follows.   That is why David said, “For I know….” because this is something that cannot be communicated.”

A Letter From Albert Einstein To His Daughter May 17, 2015     A letter from Albert Einstein to his daughter: In the late 1980s, Lieserl, the daughter of the famous genius, donated 1,400 letters, written by Einstein, to the Hebrew University, with orders not to publish their contents until two decades after his death. This is one of them, for Lieserl Einstein. "When I proposed the theory of relativity, very few understood me, and what I will reveal now to transmit to mankind will also collide with the misunderstanding and prejudice in the world. I ask you to guard the letters as long as necessary, years, decades, until society is advanced enough to accept what I will explain below. There is an extremely powerful force that, so far, science has not found a formal explanation to. It is a force that includes and governs all others, and is even behind any phenomenon operating in the universe and has not yet been identified by us. This universal force is LOVE.

When Moses approached the Burning Bush, he heard God saying, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”   Why the redundancy?   The reference to the “God of your father,” may answer the question.   There were four men who saw God, each one in a different light.   Abraham had his understanding of God, Isaac had his, as did Jacob and Moses’ own father.   Moses was being challenged to do the same.   What was his response?   “Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” –unknown Each of us will apprehend God in our own manner, according to our willingness, openness and ability.