A Soulful Journey

A poor man came to the Berdichever and petitioned him to offer prayers for his deliverance from poverty.  The rabbi asked the man to remind him of his request the next day.  “But rabbi,” protested the supplicant, “today I have a chance for a free trip home." “What can I do?” replied the rabbi.   “At this moment, my heart is full of another man’s troubles.   When the Lord will aid him, my heart will be free to take up yours.   I can assist you only when my heart feels your trouble as you do yourself.”   -Newman, Hasidic Anthology When you pray strive to rid your mind of other random thoughts.  Focus.

The Berditcher [Rabbi Levi Yitschak] began his discourse, “A world turned topsy-turvy I see before my eyes.   In years gone by, the Jews spoke the truth in the streets and the marketplaces, but in the House of Prayer they told a lie.   It is the other way around now.   On the streets and in the marketplaces they all speak falsehood, but h in the house of Prayer they tell the truth. “A riddle?” “The explanation: honesty and good faith were the torches lighting their paths in the olden days.   And so they made good the Scriptural world of a righteous aye and nay, and all their trading was done in good faith.   But when they came into the House of Prayer, they would beat their breasts and say” ‘We have defrauded, we have robbed.’   That was then a lie, for they had been true to God and their fellow man.   Today it is the reverse: in the trading place, they lie and defraud, and in their confessional prayer, they speak the truth.” – Ne...