A Soulful Journey

A dog following his master comes to a triple fork. He takes the left, and then the dog comes back.  He then tries the center path. He races back without a sniff and finally chooses the third and final path. This is a conundrum that Pliny and Plutarch debated. Montaigne commented that the dog does not need to chase down the third pass by smell. He is figured out it must be the last and final choice. Aquinas believes that it was a fluke. The dog is not intelligent. Be careful not to attach human characteristics to animals.

The Dubner Maggid overheard a group of freethinkers scoffing at the Jewish religion and at the idea of a Messiah.  He turned to them and said, “A hungry fox saw a crow standing on a branch of a tall tree and called up, “Why are you afraid to come down to me?  The Messiah has come; no animal will now devour the other.  All will live in peace with one another.”   While the fox was talking to the crow, he heard the voices of barking dogs.  He became frightened and asked the crow to see where the barking came from.   “Hunter and ferocious-looking dogs are coming this way,” the crow informed him.   Instantly the fox began to run.   “Didn’t you say that the Messiah had come?” the crow asked. “Why are you running?”   “What else should I do?” the fox replied.  “Dogs don’t believe in a Messiah.”

A prominent merchant, whenever he visited Warsaw, always stayed that the same hotel, the most elegant hotel in the city.   O n one occasion, however, he stayed in a shabby place much to the dismay of the owner of the other hotel keeper. The following day the merchant visited the proprietor of the grand hotel and said, “I understand that you are amazed that I stayed at such a   common place. I assure you that my not staying at your hotel this time was an honor.    "The midrash relates that when one comes to a city regarding a shidduch (an marriage arrangement) he should be attentive to barking dogs.   I have come to the city to check on the reputation of the family, whose daughter was suggested as a bride for my son.   Since I know that both your guests and your staff are highly reputed, decent people, who would speak no evil of others, I decided to go tot a place where I could obtain such information.   I know that if the bride or her family had a...

An atheist came to a rabbi and asked him to interpret a dream. “What was your dream?” “I saw a dog gnashing his teeth at me and straining his leash to leap at me.   It was terrible!” “Do not be afraid,” the rabbi replied.   “You have nothing to fear.   You saw only your own shadow.” We all possess shadows, dark sides of ourselves that we hide and are ashamed of.   Why then did the rabbi advise to not fear his shadow? Because fear gives power.   Also, we  can never disown what we truly are.

“Personally, I don’t see why a man can’t have a dog and a girl.   But if you can only afford one, get a dog.   For example, if your dog sees you playing with another dog, does he rush up to his lawyer and bark that your marriage is on the rocks and that he wants 600 bones a month alimony…” - Memoirs , Groucho Marx We know that at least dogs are faithful....

“This guy came by trying to sell me a talking dog for $10,” related the bartender.   “I said, ‘Get out of here!’   But then the dog said, ‘Please, sir, this man is mean to me; he never takes me for walks, hardly feeds me, coops me up for days….’   I said, ‘Hey he really can talk.   Why are you selling him for only $10?’ “The guy said, ‘I’m sick and tired of all his lies!’”    - Jay Trachman, One to One

"The dog has got more fun out of Man Than Man has got out of the dog, For the clearly, demonstrable reason that Man Is the most laughable of the two animals.” -James Thurber, Thurber’s Dogs We need to go a a long way before humans can be called humane .