A Soulful Journey

The story is told that one day General Eisenhower’s chauffeur could stand the suspense no longer. And so he turned around and he said to the General who was sitting in the back seat of his car: “Would you please tell me when and where the allies are going to invade?” Eisenhower leaned forward and said to his chauffeur: “Can you keep a secret?” The driver said eagerly: “Yes I can. Trust me, I can! I can!” To which General Eisenhower replied as he sat back: “So can I.”  -Rabbi Jack Reimer There is no pride in saying whatever comes to mind.  Being able to hold your tongue, on the other hand,  is a great attribute.

I remember an experience for my student days. I went to a wedding, and when I came back I met him in the Seminary courtyard. He asked me where he had been and I told him. “What kind of wedding was it?” he asked. I began by saying that it was a sad wedding because the groom had no relatives in the bride had no relatives, and the groom had a physical handicap and the bride was up in years. I got less than halfway through what I was going to say when he interrupted me with an exclamation: “How wonderful!” And then I realized that he was right. To me the wedding had seemed sad, but when I saw it through his eyes, from his perspective, I realized he was right. When two lonely people find each other, when two people, each of whom has little beauty, are able to discover the beauty in each other, how wonderful that is! I hadn’t realized it until he showed it to me.  – Rabbi Jack Reimer

Jack Reimer told of being in Abraham Joshua Heschel’s class.   Heschel would walk into the room, look out the  window  at the sky and say, “Gentlemen, something wondrous happened last night.   Did you see it?   Did you notice?   The sun set.” “And we would look at each other with embarrassment, for we had seen it but not really, until he called it to our attention.   We had seen it, but not noticed.”

  Rabbi Jack Reimer  the story of a child looking up to her father, pointing to the heavens and asking, “Daddy what is up? Beyond the sky?” “Ether, my child.” At this the little one crinkled her nose and turned her attention to other things .  The task of an educator (and who is not an educator to a child?) is to enlarge her horizons, not to limit inquisitiveness or crush curiosity. And perhaps the greatest challenge of all is not to forget that we are still children, deep down.

Maurice Samuel was at a banquet and it came time to bentch , say Grace after Meals.  No rabbi was present to lead it so he was asked to lead.  Samuel responded, "There being no rabbi here, let us all thank God."  - Jack Reimer

Rabbi Jack Reimer once wrote that at the end of the Amida (and Kaddish) you take three steps back when saying Oseh Shalom (the One who makes peace) because peace is only realized when we back up, leaving room for other ideas, other truths.  

What's the difference between Pesah, Sukkot and Shavuot? On Pesah you can eat as much as you want and wherever you want but not WHATEVER you want…  On Sukkot you can eat whatever you want and as much as you want but not WHEREVER you want… But on Shavuot you can eat whatever you want and wherever you want but can't eat AS MUCH as you want…   Why, you ask? How much can you eat in just two days?   -Rabbi Jack Reimer