A Soulful Journey

The Talmud records that Rabbi Yehudah the Prince grew old, was afflicted with a long and painful illness. The Rabbis sent their colleague, Bar Kapparah, to see how Rabbi Yehudah was doing. Bar Kapparah returned, and reported that, “Angels and humans were struggling to possess the Ark. The angels have triumphed, and the Ark has been captured. The body that lives in the coffin before us was a Holy Ark, which house the spirit, soul, that was the very embodiment of Torah.”   Talmud records that when Bar Kapparah had reported that the angels had triumphed and the Holy Ark had been captured by them, the rabbis responded, “Do you mean to say that Rabbi Yehudah had died?  He responded, “You said it, not I.”  For Bar Kapparah, Rabbi Yehudah did not die. He remained alive.   Today, through the Mishna of that he edited, it remains even as the day when he wrote it. -Rabbi Simon Greenberg  

"He used to say, at 5 years the age is reached for the study of the Scripture; at 10 for the study of Mishna; at 13 for the fulfillment of the commandments; at 15 for the study of Talmud; at 18 for marriage; at 20 for seeking a livelihood; at 30 for entering into one’s full strength; at 40 for understanding; at 50 for counsel; at 60 a man attains old age; at 70 the hoary head; at 80 the gift of special strength; at 90 he bends beneath the weight of years; at 100 he is as if he were already dead and had passed away from the world. " - Pirkey Avot 5:20

“The inspiration of the Bible depends upon the ignorance of the gentleman who reads it.”   -Robert G. Ingersoll “I have read it [the Bible] carefully.   And if Bob Ingersoll isn’t in hell, God is a liar and the Bible isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.”   -Billy Sunday Perhaps the best advice comes from the Mishna which states, “Turn it over and over for everything is found in it.”   You see what you are willing to see.   No more.   No less.

“…in which the peasants seized power by force and quickly changed all the locks on the palace doors so the nobles could not get back in.   Then they had a large party and gorged themselves.   When the nobles finally recaptured the palace they were forced to clean up and found many stains and cigarette burns.”   - Woody Allen , Without Feathers What makes Woody Allen so funny is that there is truth in even the most ridiculous of statements.   Sometimes the funnier it is the more it rings true. Here, he retells of the French Revolution where the workers who overthrew the rich were every bit as nasty and self-centered.   It worked the same way with the Russian Revolution. There are many stories of those who prayed to win the lottery only to have their loves ruined by winning. The moral?   As the Mishna states, Who is rich?   One who is content.”