A Soulful Journey

  When Reb Hayim Brisker was a young boy he was obstinate in not wanting to spend his time studying.     His father, exasperated, asked, “Why is it that you refuse to learn?” The boy replied, “It is my yetser ha-ra, my evil inclination, that prevents me. It holds me back.” “But,” the father asked, “Doesn’t the yetser ha-ra also do God’s bidding?  You too, should push yourself to God’s will by studying.” “Yes,” said Hayim.  “But the yester ha-ra doesn’t have a yester ha-ra.”  - Rabbi Louis Jacobs   Moral: If you really do not want to do something you will find any excuse.

A rabbi, a priest, and a minister are having coffee together.  "So," the minister asks, "have you ever thought about what you'd like people to say about you at your funeral when you die?" "Hmm," says the priest. "I'd like them to say he was a faithful servant of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Church, that he guided his flock with devotion, that he observed all the rites properly..." "Yes, pretty much the same," says the minister.  "She was a kind and gentle and wise pastor to her people, a humble servant of the Lord, a voice for righteous and moral living..." "Actually, friends," the rabbi interjects.  "With all due respect, I'd like someone to say 'Wait, I think he's still breathing!'" * A follower of the Brisker is walking down the street and gets mugged. The mugger pulls a gun on him and says "Give me your wallet or I'll kill you." The bochur isn...

The overseers of the Brisker Synagogue decided to discharge the shammes, sexton.   They asked the rabbi, Reb Yoshe Ber, to break the news to him.   Reb Yoshe Ber refused. “Why won’t you do it?” the overseers questioned.   “You are the rabbi.   And he is your shammes!” Reb Yoshe Ber answered, “You recite every morning the passage where God ordered Abraham our Father to bring his son Isaac to the altar as a sacrifice.   That command God gave himself.   But when He told him to hold back his hand and not strike his son, God spoke through an angel.   Why didn’t God send an angel to speak at the beginning?   Because an angel would have said, ‘If you want to kill a Jew, do it yourself’.” Lesson? We need to protect one another.