A Soulful Journey

  Rabbi Levi Yitschak of Berdichev stood before the Holy Ark of the great day, Yom Kippur.  He cried out, “Lord, You forbade us to write anything on the Holy Days.  The only exception is to save a life.  Therefore, O Master, even You are bound by the Law of not writing – except to save us by inscribing our names in the Book of Life.” Life often seems like a contest to see who gets the prize for longevity, or amasses the most money, who becomes the most prolific writer, or any number of infinite things when we measure ourselves against other people.   “If someone loses, we win” goes the general attitude. A religious mindset is one that does not pit us against one another but one that cheers on our neighbor.  We root for other to cross the finish line alongside us.  Life is not a contest of “us versus them” but a journey where when one succeeds we all do better.

"Any love which is dependent on something, when the 'something' ceases, the love ceases. Any love which is not dependent on anything will never cease . " - Avot 5:19 It is good to ask our motivations for doing anything. If we better understand why we act the way we do, we can learn how to be more giving, less selfish. To learn to give from the depths of love is to learn how to always give. We do not need to always vie or compete against one another. Sometimes , when you win, I win. When you lose I also suffer. A farmer grew award-winning corn. He entered his corn in the State Fair each year. It always won a blue ribbon. What was his secret? People swarmed to the farmer to find out how he managed to always grow a great crop. The farmer looked at the inquirer directly in the eye and responded, “I share my seeds with my neighbors." After their stunned silence, the farmer went on to explain, All farmers know that the wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and ...