A Soulful Journey

A student of Theodor Mommsen, the well-known German history and classical scholar, described the first lecture which he heard given by Mommsen at the University of Berlin.  At that lecture, the professor portray ancient then as it was in the time of Socrates in the fifth century BCE. Mommsen was already old, but still blessed with a phenomenal memory.  He walked to the blackboard and, without reference to a single note, he traced the location of the temples of ancient Athens, its public buildings and even its groves and wells. He also marked out the probable location of the houses of famous citizens, the place where Socrates lodged, and the paths walked by the philosopher in his dialogues with eminent disciples. With total conviction, Mommsen sketched in streets and paths of the old greek city. The writer goes on to tell that after the lecture, as he sat completely awe-inspired at the teacher's display of erudition and memory, he saw an elderly valet enter the lecture hall....

“A Jew was paying a visit to the metropolis for the first time and every time he saw a fine house he exclaimed, “That’s a house I should like.”  At last he came to Buckingham Palace and was silent.  “Wouldn’t you like to live there?” “No, I should ruin myself with mezzuzahs.”  - Friday Nite Book This is what we do.   As Jews we have continual reminders of God’s Presence entering and exiting our homes.   Acknowledge Him every day.

A fox was once walking alongside a river and observed fishes swarming. He said to them, “From what are you fleeing?” They answered, “From the nets cast for us by men.” The fox said to them, “Come up on dry land so that you and I can live together in the way that our ancestors lived with each other.” They replied, “And you are called the most clever of all animals??  You are foolish. If we are afraid in the element in which we live, how much more so in a foreign place. This was Rabbi Akiva’s response to a colleague when he placed himself in danger for teaching Torah.   -berachot 61b Torah is our "water," our element, our home.

A Russian Jew applied for a visa to emigrate to Israel. He mailed in the forms and later was interviewed by the KGB. The official drew his attention to the reply had given to the question, “Do you have any relatives abroad?” The Russian Jew had answered, “No.” However, it was well known that he had a brother in Israel. “Ah,” he replied, “My brother is at home. It is I who am abroad.”

A Russian Jew applied for a visa to emigrate to Israel.  He mailed the forms and was later interviewed by the KGB.  The official drew his attention to the reply he had given to the question, “Do you have any relatives abroad?” The Russian Jew answered “No.” However it was well known that he had a brother in Israel.   “Ah,” he replied.  “My brother is at home.  It is I who am abroad.”

A man lives in Bangor Maine. He speaks like everyone else. He acts like his neighbors. He even looks like them. But he is never fully accepted as one of them. He asks: "What about my children?  Are they accepted?  After all, they were born here.  They were all educated here." They answered, "If a cat has a litter in an oven, we don't call the kittens biscuits."  - Rabbi Joseph Schonberger Most areas of the country are like this.  Being exclusive means excluding.  How does that feel?

A certain Rabbi Isaac, legend tells us, living in a remote village, dreamt that he was to look for a great treasure beneath a bridge in the capital city.  He immediately went to he bridge but its base was guarded by soldiers day and night.  Rabbi Isaac visited the site day after day looking and wondering.  Finally the Captain of the Guard asked him why he was spending so much time in the vicinity,.  Rabbi Isaac described the dream that had led him to the bridge.  The Captain of the Guard laughed and said, “I too had a dream.  My dream was of a treasure hidden beneath the oven of the house of a particular Jew named Rabbi Isaac in such and such a village.”  Isaac immediately returned home and dug up the treasure, beneath his oven.  – Rabbi Joseph Heckelman It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who will go up to heaven for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?" N or is it b...

" You can't go home again."   -T homas Wolfe in "Look Homeward, Angel" We grow up and we grow out just as countless generations have before us.  We may not like it but we must keep moving forward.

Rabbi Shalom B. Kowalski tells the story of a real estate agent in a wealthy neighborhood who saw a nicely dressed woman staring at the advertisements in his display windows. “Why don’t you come in?” he asked. “We have a much wider selection inside.” “We don’t need a house,” the woman smiled sadly.   “What we need is a garage to park the car.”   And she continued, “As children, we were sent off to private school.   Summers were spent in camp.   We grew up, off we went to college dormitories. Now we eat out in the finest restaurants. Weekends we visit. We really don’t need a home. We need a garage!”

"What I have noticed as the years accumulate is that inevitably we return to our early impulses and investigate them again in our maturity.  And we see why it was that we had such a powerful reaction to...certain sounds and why it is that I associate powerful emotions with certain sounds."  -Singer, song-writer, Paul Simon 9/12/93 New York Times Our tradition reminds us that the path always leads home, the place where we originated.  No matter how far we travel, home beckons.

A woman once came to a real estate agent with the intention of buying a house.   The salesman showed her a variety of dwellings but she was not satisfied.   One was too large, another too small; one had the wrong design and another was in the wrong neighborhood.   Finally, in complete exasperation, the agent said, “Madam, why do you need a home?   You were born in a hospital, educated in a school building, courted in an automobile and married in a House of God.   You live at hamburger stands and eat out of freezers and cans.   You spend your mornings at the golf course, your afternoons at the bridge table and your evenings at the movies.   All you really need is a garage.” Ask yourself:  How much do I really need?

An artist who wanted to paint the most beautiful picture in the world asked a pastor, "What is the most beautiful thing in the world?" "Faith," answered the pastor.  "You can feel it in every house of worship, find it at every altar." The artist asked a young bride the same question. "Love," she replied.  "Love builds poverty into riches, sweetness tears, makes much of little. Without it there is no beauty." A weary soldier said, "Peace is the most beautiful thing in the world. War is ugly. Wherever you find peace you find beauty." "Faith, love and peace! How can I paint them?" thought the artist. Entering his door he saw faith in the eyes of his children and love in the eyes of his wife. And there in his home was the peace that love and faith had built. So he painted the picture of the most beautiful thing in the home. And when when he finished, he called it "HOME."

"I've learned that most problems aren't rocket science, but when they are rocket science, you should ask a rocket scientist. In other words, I don't know everything, so I've learned to seek advice and counsel and listen to experts. I have learned that an achievement that seems to belong to one person probably has hundreds, if not thousands, of people’s work behind it, and it’s been a privilege to be the embodiment of that work. I’ve learned that Russian has a more complex vocabulary for cursing in English, and that it also has a more complex vocabulary for friendship. If you learned that a year in space contains a lot of contradictions. A year away from someone you love both strains the relationship and strengths it in new ways. …. I’ve learned the grass smells great and wind feels amazing and rain is a miracle. I will try to remember how magical these things are for the rest of my life." Scott Kelly, after a 3...