A Soulful Journey

Dianne, a young, attractive, aerobics instructor, told me why she saw she disagreed with views I had written about in my book” When Bad Things Happen to Good People.     “I believe nothing happens to you unless you secretly want it to,” she told me.     “Last week, for example, I was driving to work. I was stopped at a traffic light when a careless driver hit me from behind, causing major damage to my car. I said to myself, now, why did this happen to me? Then I remembered that, just two days before, my father called to tell me he was buying a new car and treating in his two-year-old Lincoln Continental. My first thought was, why doesn’t he give me the Lincoln instead? But he won’t, because I’ve got a perfectly good car. Then two days later, the car I wished I didn’t have was totaled in an accident. Are you going to tell me that was just a coincidence?”   “Diane,” I said, “Let’s accept the premise that you wanted to be rid of your car.  Did the driver ...

  Mencius once asked his disciple to describe a good man.     “A good man is one who is loved by everybody,” he was told.   “No,” he rejoined.  “A good man is a man who is loved by the good and hated by the bad.” Christians would say, “A good man is one who loves everybody.” Jews would say, “A good man loves the good and hates the bad.”

  There once were two wicked brothers. They were rich and very unethical in their business dealings. In fact, that is how they got rich in the first place. They attended the same shul, they were Shabbos regulars, they donated generously to the congregation, and to everyone else, they appeared to be upstanding Jews and even pillars of the community. One day, the rabbi of their synagogue retired and a new one came onboard. But this rabbi was different.  This new rabbi was not fooled by the two evil brothers and saw right through them. He wanted to kick them out of the congregation, but the board said, “Rabbi, you can’t kick them out. The brothers may be a little shady, but their shadiness pays your salary, so please drop it.” As time passed, the synagogue started a fundraising campaign to renovate the building. But there was a problem—the economy was in a recession, and there simply wasn’t enough money to break ground. To make matters worse for the shul, one of the wicked brothe...

 "Never let a good crisis got to waste."  - Rahm Emanuel In every instance, even the negative ones, there are sparks that can awaken to a great existence.  Seek them out.

“A person is obliged to say a blessing over evil just as he/she would so so over something good.”  -Talmud     “Only a Jew says a blessing at death.”  - Rabbi Henry Fisher.   We praise God for what we have, as well as what we have lost.

Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov wrote: " If one attains holiness through affliction, and another attains holiness through indulgence, who is the greater of the two? It may be said that the one who attains holiness through indulgence is greater, for the attainment of holiness through indulgence requires an infinitely greater degree of striving and effort." Purim is almost upon us.  It is a sacred holiday where we approach God through soulful joy.  We stamp our feet, hiss at Haman's name, revel in hamentsachen, and celebrate the exuberance of God's saving grace.  Yet, the holiness still inheres in Purim even as we laugh and sing.   Mindful of the real meaning of Purim as it draws close excitement grows.

"I've been rich and I've been poor.  Rich is better."  - Sophie Tucker Sophie Tucker was on of the greatest (Jewish) performers in American history.   Like all of us, she suffered and prospered. Good and bad awaits all.  Of course we all prefer good to bad yet even bad has a purpose.  Our task is to discover its purpose and allow it to refine our being.

A rich Hasid asked his rabbi, “I can understand and fulfill with all the mitzvot in the Torah except one: “One should bless God for the bad as fervently as for the good.” His rabbi instructed, “Go to the other and the town and spend some time with Hayim, the water carrier.” The rich Hasid traveled by carriage to a slum.   Hayim, the water carrier, was in his flimsy shack, his children went barefoot, playing in the filth they were grubby and malnourished.   “The rabbi sent me to see how you fulfill the mitzvah of “One should bless God for the bad as fervently as for the good.” Hayim looked puzzled. “He sent you to see me?  I cannot understand why.  I have never been given anything from God but that which is good.” - Rabbi Gerald Zelizer What is missing in your life?

A fire broke out in the middle of the night in Hayim Yankle’s store. It happened to shoot days after his insurance had lapsed. When Hayim Yankle on the flames consume his entire business, leaving only ashes, he called out frantically, “God I wish You would strike me dead so that there would be an end to all my troubles.” Calm yourself.  Things could be better but it could be much worse.  A blessing should be uttered for life not afflicting us.  Even the Talmud states that Job was never a real person.

"The good ones slept better...while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more." - Woody Allen Is this true?  Only if you are an envious type.  The reality is that those who sleep well, live well.

"There is no person who will do an aveirah unless madness has entered into him . "   - Sotah 39 ayn Adam ovair aveirah eleh im keyn nichnas bo ruach shtut

If things go well for someone -   You!   If, God forbid, bad –also You! -Levi Yitzchak  In the final analysis we are but human beings with very limited vision.  And God, well, He is God.

Prodigious twelfth century scholar Abraham Ibn Ezra produced incredible Torah insights that still provide illumination hundreds of years after his death.     Yet, Ibn Ezra was an unhappy man.   He wrote, “If I sold shrouds no one would die.   And if I sold lamps the sun would shine by night.”      While we are obliged to keep learning and growing, equally important is our daily attitude. 

As you read the following story, as yourself: Is this a good story or bad one? Russell Baker decided this would be a "good idea" spring.  It was a time of love, crocuses, life, and planting.  He put in a fish pond in his back yard.  Russell sat and watched as his 12 fish swam lazily around.  He passed nay evening like that.  About a week later the water beams dark so he put in a filter.  Again, he sat and watched as the fish turned lazily about.  He fed them and watched their mouths pucker and such in mouthfuls of food.  About a week passed before the water began to grow cloudy again.  So Russell brought a frog to his pond.  The frog spat water and was a lovely fountain.  The frog sat on top of a brick.  It looked real and spat rings of water into the fish pond.  But mosquitoes gathered so Russell sprayed.  Then the frog turned a dark chartreuse.  It looked diseased.  So Russell bought water lilies and the ...

"I do not read advertisements -- I would spend all my time wanting things." -Archbishop of Canterbury Maintaining control over our impulses is not easy.  Often we are drawn back to the clutches of harmful pastimes.  In such instances the wisest path is to remove what is most harmful from our reach. We always have the ability to control our impulses.

A study was commissioned on spontaneous healing:  A farmer was diagnosed as having cancer.  He accepted what he was told.  There was no denial. Similarly when the EPA told him he had oil in his fields he replied, "Well, I still have corn." There is an old saying in the Jewish tradition, "One should bless God for the good and the bad."  Perhaps such realistic living allows us to become the most whole person God expects we can be.