A Soulful Journey

  Ran Abbahu speaks of God having created and destroyed multiple worlds before creating the one we now inhabit (Bereishit Rabbah 3:7). Commenting on this  midrash , Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik  strikingly observes that “here we have God not only creating, as in the Biblical text, but also recreating, rebuilding after destructions.” Why is this important? Because, Rabbi Soloveitchik suggests, the way God is portrayed here is meant to teach us a profound ethical and spiritual lesson: “As God creates and recreates… so too, should [human beings] be ready to rebuild and reconstruct, even as previous structures collapse.” This is not easy, Soloveitchik admits: “To build initially is difficult, but to rebuild is even more challenging.” Faced with destruction and devastation, we are nevertheless “bidden to start over again with faith and resourcefulness, as God did. … This, then, is what the Torah requires of [human beings]: to act, to create and, when necessary, to recreate, ...

"He who sees his first wife die, it is as though he has been witness to the destruction of the Temple."   Sanhedrin 22b Human relations, love are paramount.  They bring us life and when they leaves we are empty and vapid.  And still, we never give up hope.

“A student of Rabbi Eliyahu Dushnitzer relates that once while walking with his teacher, the two became involved in a deep discussion. At one point they stopped walking and stood in the same spot for a long time.  Without realizing what he had done, the student tore off a leaf from a nearby tree. Rabbi Dushnitzer grabbed his hand and censured him, “What did you do?  Even if the value of what you took is less than one “prutah” it is considered stealing.” - Mordecai Katz Nature is our responsibility to live in, appreciate and use, not abuse or take for granted.  That is why we have blessings that we recite when seeing magnificent aspects of nature, God’s work.

A few years ago while in Jerusalem on a Shabbas, I walked into Meah Shearim to see the Rebbe of Ger.   I had known his father, who was the most respected and influential Hasidic Rebbe of Polish Jewry.   The gestures and mannerism of the son were exactly the sane as those of his father in pre-Auschwitz Poland.   I walked out depressed, with tears in my eyes.   We are told that when a few Egyptians drowned in the Sea, and the angels wanted to sing praise, God silenced them.   “My creatures have drowned in the Sea and you are going to sing praise?”   But the Gerer Rebbe, who witnessed the destruction of his family, of his disciples, continues to sing a pre-Auschwitz song in a post-Auschwitz world.”   - Rabbi Morris Shapiro Sing your song as if the fate of the universe depended on it.

Why was the holy Temple destroyed? There are three reasons given by the Sages: 1.      Avodah Zarah (idol worship) 2.      Inappropriate relations 3.      Spilling of blood. But in the Second Temple the people were immersed in Torah and mitzvot and acts of kindness.   Why then was it destroyed? Because of baseless animosity.   This teaches that baseless animosity is equivalent to Avodah Zarah, inappropriate relations and the spilling of blood.   –Yoma 5b

“I made one great mistake on my life - when I signed the letter to president Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made.” -Albert Einstein I wonder if God thinks: I created humans to develop better, more efficient ways to destroy each another?"