A Soulful Journey

The story is told of Lawrence of Arabia who travelled to Britain to represent the Bedouins. Returning from the foreign office and ready to return to the Arab lands he noticed that in every room of the hotel the faucets were missing. Confronting the Bedouins they admitted their crime.  “If these faucets can produce such water here imagine the benefit it would bring to our arid land!” Most of us have wishful or magical thinking.  We hope we will win the lottery, inherit a fortune, be the most compelling person in the room…. Yet water does not magically appear without hard work and an infrastructure.  Everything worthwhile takes much effort.  And only then grants rich rewards.

" They are Jews on horseback. "  - Benjamin Disraeli

A class at the Soviet War College. "Professor, I have a question.  How can we, 260 million people, ever rebuff an attack by one billion Chinese?" "Easy.  Just look at how the 3 million Jews in Israel have handled 100 million Arabs." "Yes, you're absolutely right.  But where are we going to find 3 million Jews to fight the Chinese for us?"

"When Elijah went up to heaven he travelled by chariot.  When Mohammed did the same he travelled by horse - which is probably why Disraeli referred to Arabs as as "Jews on horseback." - Chaim Bermant We are all related.

Two young Israeli soldiers were on miluim (reserve duty).  Their task was to patrol an area where Jews and Arabs lived in the same neighborhood in Jerusalem.  It was a tense area and time.  One of them chanced to see an Arab woman rummaging through the garbage.  He took pity on her and gave her his sandwich. His solider buddy then said to him, "I don't know whether I can go to war with you.  You might shoot too late." The other replied, "I don't know whether I can go to war with you.  You might shoot too soon." This tale also applies to judgments we make without a rifle in our hands.  Every day we make decisions about others.  Those decisions are more of a reflection on us than them.