A Soulful Journey

 Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:  The soul that rises with us, our life's star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar. -Wordsworth Not when does life end but when does it  begin ?

When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov Saw misfortune threatening the Jews It was his custom To go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, Say a special prayer, And the miracle would be accomplished And the misfortune averted. Later when his disciple, The celebrated Magid of Mezritch, Has occasion, for the same reason, To intercede with heaven, He would go to the same place in the forest And say: “Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, But I am still able to say the prayer.” And again the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sasov, In order to save his people once more, Would go into the forest and say: “I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, But I know the place And this must be sufficient.” It was sufficient and the miracle was accomplished. Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn To overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, He spoke to God...

“There are three things I always forget.  Names, Faces - and the third I can’t remember.”   - Italo Suevo It is good to be aware of one’s flaws.

According to Greek a legend a woman came to the River Styx to be ferried across to the Region of the Departed. Charon, the kindly ferryman, reminded her that it was her privilege to drink the water of Lethe, and thus forget the life she was leaving. Eagerly, she said, "I will forget how I suffered! And, he added, "Remember too that you will forget how you rejoiced." The woman said, "I will forget my failures." Charon chimed, "And your victories." She continued, "I will forget how I have been hated." "And also how you have been loved," added the ferryman. She paused and then left the waters of Lethe untasted rather than give up on life's memories. Remember this story when darkness descends.  Once there was light.  And there will come a time when light returns.

"Happiness is good health and a bad memory." - Ingrid Bergman It is vital to remember who we are, where we come from, but learn to forget the bad.

The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history....   Before long the nation will forget what it is, and what it was."   -Thomas Butler It is our duty to study, grow and learn.  Every day. That is why we are the eternal people. Do not forget. Remember. Learn.

The great Hebrew poet Bialik was absent-minded. Once he was invited to address a conference at Kiev.  Mrs. Bialik, knowing how absent-minded her husband was, went to the railroad and bought a ticket for him.  She stuck it in his vest pocket.  On the morning he was to leave for Kiev, he hurriedly dressed and forgot to put on his vest.  The conductor called for tickets and Bialik searched but could not find the ticket. "Do not be upset," said the conductor.  "Pay me the fare and when you get back home and find the ticket you will be refunded the money for the ticket." "That is why I am so concerned," said Bialik, "I do not know where I am going." As Jews, we have to know where we are going.  That is why we study Torah.  It provides direction.

Visiting a cemetery,  a pastor noticed a pile of urns stacked one upon another.  He asked the attendant if they were his stock of empties.  The attendant replied reluctantly, "They contain the ashes of bodies that have been cremated, but the relatives never thought enough to return and claim them." -James Frasier When a yahrzeit comes we remember.  When certain actions remind us of things they said or did the dead come alive.  Nobody wants to be forgotten and it is up to us to not forget their teachings and passing on the lesson of memory.

Menashe Klein was a survivor of Buchwald with Elie Wiesel.  Klein became a rabbi and he and Wiesel spoke often. “He was a very important rabbinic authority, and he became a very pious rabbi,” said Wiesel.  “And I told him my problems.  And surely you cannot say I am a religiously pious person.  But nevertheless our relationship never suffered.  And one day, eve of Rosh Hashanah, I get up unusually very early in the morning, say my prayers, and in my prayer there are a few names- the prayer for the sick, for the ill.  And he was one of them.  And I forgot him – the prayer for his recovery. “And then, eleven o’clock: ‘Oh, God! I forgot his name in my prayer.’  I ran to the telephone, called.  Answering machine: ‘The funeral left’.”  - from  The   Inventing the Art of Hope Pray for those who are in need.  Do not forget them.

Jerry Lewis, the great comedian, once remarked that the best wedding gift he ever received was a film of the entire wedding ceremony.  He said when things got really bad in his marriage, he would go into a room, close the door and walk out a free man. Remember the best. Forget the worst. It is always your choice what you remember.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, author, physician was sometimes quite absent-minded. Once when asked for a ticket on the train he could not locate it. After searching through his pockets and briefcase he was unable to produce it and became distraught. The conductor, knowing Dr. Holmes, said reassuringly, “Never mind sir.  When you find your ticket, I am certain you will mail it in.” Holmes was not comforted. “Mr. Conductor,” he replied, “the question is not where is my ticket but where am I going?”

Three elderly men are at the doctor's office for a memory test. The doctor asks the first man, "What is three times three?" "274," came the reply. The doctor rolls his eyes and looks up at the ceiling, and says to the second man, "It's your turn. What is three times three?"  "Tuesday," replies the second man. The doctor shakes his head sadly, then asks the third man, "Okay, your turn. What's three times three?"  "Nine," says the third man.  "That's great!" says the doctor. "How did you get that?"  "Simple," he says, "just subtract 274 from Tuesday."

" The greatest sin of man is to forget that he is a prince."  -Rabbi Aaron haGadol

Three youths hid themselves on a Sabbath in a barn in order to smoke.  Hasidim discovered them and wished to flog the offenders.  One youth exclaimed: "I deserve no punishment, for I forgot that today is the Sabbath."  The second youth said: "And I forgot that smoking not he Sabbath is forbidden."  The third raised his voice and cried out: "I too, forgot."  "What did you forget?" he was asked.  The lad replied: "I forgot to lock the door of the barn."  - Newman , Maggidim and Hasidim Everyone rebels.  The important thing is to not forget that it is rebelling.  When that is lost, what is left?

As I stumble through life, help me to create more laughter than tears.  Never let me become so indifferent that I will fail to see the wonder in the eyes of a child.  Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer people, make them forget, at least momentarily, the unpleasantness of their lives.  And in my final moment, may I hear You whisper: "When you made My people smile, you made Me smile."    - The Clown's Prayer

The Baal Shem Tov also known as the Besht, undertook an urgent and perilous mission. He wanted to hasten the coming of the Messiah. The Jewish people and all humanity were suffering too much, beset by too many evils.   They had to be saved, and swiftly.    For having tried to meddle with history, the Besht was punished. He was banished along with his faithful servant to distant land. In despair, the servant implored his Master to exercise his mysterious powers to bring them both home. “Impossible,” the Besht replied. “My powers, my Mystical powers have been taken from me.” "Then, please say a prayer, recite a litany, work a miracle.” “Impossible,” the master replied.   “I have forgotten everything.” And so they fell to weeping. Suddenly the Master turned to his Servant and asked, “My friend, remind me of a prayer, any prayer.” ”If only I could said the Servant. “I have forgotten everything.” ”Everything, absolutely everything?” ”Everything,” sa...

When inspiration strikes you must rush to capture it or else it will flee.  Thomas once remarked that the writing of  “the ‘Ballad of the Long Legged Bait’ had been carrying a huge armful of words to a table he thought was upstairs and wondering if he could reach it in time or if it would still be there.”   Sutherland, Oxford Book of Literary Anecdotes

There is a story of a woman with fourteen children, whose ages were one through fourteen. She decided to sue her husband for divorce on grounds of desertion.         “When did he desert you?” the judge asked.         “Thirteen years ago,” she replied.         “He left 13 years ago? Where did all the children come from?”         The woman looked sheepish.         “He kept coming back to say he was sorry.” -Rabbi Toba August

In his novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude , Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells of a village where people are stricken with a plague of forgetfulness, a kind of contagious amnesia.   The plague makes its way from the oldest to the youngest first by forgetting the names of common objects.   One young man prepared by labeling everything.   He wrote, “This is a table. This is a window.   This is a cow; it has to be milked every morning.” On the entrance to the town the villagers posted two large signs. 1.      “The name of our village is Macondo.” 2.      The larger one read, “God exists.” What is needful?   Most needful?   Not what society tells you, you must have but when everything else is stripped away, what do you really need?