A Soulful Journey

"Never measure the height of of a mountain until you have reached the top.  Then you will see how low it was."  - Dag Hammarskjold Do not be intimidated by what you have not tried.  You have more in you than you know.

“You can be an artist and starve in a garret but you cannot be a lawyer and to live in those conditions.” –Rabbi  Louis Jacobs It pays to be realistic.

The teakettle puffed its chest and boasted, “All pots have such pungent odors!  They reek of that which they cook.  Only we teakettles have the good fortune to be odorless.” An old pot standing nearby spurt a sizzling drop on the kettle’s head and scornfully retorted, “See how he tilts his crooked nose.  What else can you do, my great hero, but spout with steam? That is indeed funny!  What do you amount to?  Yes, you have no door because your contents are tasteless and odorless; you boil nothing but plain water.” Moral: To be faultless signifies nothing.  Life is about what you accomplish.

“An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

  “The more a man tries to demonstrate his sexual potency or a woman to experience orgasm, the less they are able to succeed.  Pleasure is, and must remain, a side effect or by-product, and is destroyed and spoiled to the degree to which it is made a goal in itself.” –Viktor Frankl Perhaps this is the way of love?   Love given for love’s sake is great while love given for a purpose will ultimately unravel and become unholy.

“Perfection of means and confusion of ends seem to characterize our age.” –Albert Einstein Perhaps real wisdom lies in the ability to find the means to the ends rather than the other way around.

A young rabbi, envious of his colleagues who had become authors decided to write a book.  When he completed the work he went to see his rabbi, the Brisker Rav, and ask for his commendation. The Brisker Rav looked over his work and said, “I am sorry young man but I cannot endorse your work.” “Why not?” “It seems your ideas are contrary to the rest of the world.” The idea which motivates can often make all the difference between success and failure, good and bad.

Paul Gaugin painted a masterpiece in which he inscribed the eternal questions of truth:  “Where do we come from?  What are we?  Where are we going?” We do much the same on Rosh Hashanna in the opening prayer, “Where are we?  What is our attainment?  Our power?  What can we say before the God of our ancestors?” Perhaps life would have more meaning if we treated each day as a Rosh Hashanna.

We seek many things in our lifetime.  At different stages it is love, money, God, meaning, health, cars, physical beauty, intellectual prowess, and a host of other alternating hopes.  There are certain constants -- not many -- amid the many changes we undergo.  Here is what the Talmud advises: The Holy Spirit rests on one who has a joyous heart. 
 – Jerusalem Talmud, Sukkah Joy is a great goal.