A Soulful Journey

  There once was a king who had an exquisite collection of jewels.  Of all his treasures, the King’s most prized gem was a large perfect diamond.  After a long day of seeing to the affairs of state, the king would retreat to his private chambers to meditate on the beauty and perfection of this diamond.  Gazing upon the diamond’s perfectly smooth surface, down its precise facets, to a sharp cut where all the angles and lines converge in a singular point at the bottom, the king concluded that this diamond is proof that something perfect could exist in this world.  Everything else in the world was compromised, flawed. One night a tragic thing happened.  The king was holding his perfect diamond up to the light, admiring its faultless radiance, when the gem slipped from his hands and dropped to the hard stone floor.  With trepidation, the king scooped up the diamond and peered into its interior.  To his horror, the king perceived a long spindly crack r...

A rabbi needed a new suit and went to a tailor in the village to have one made.  The tailor promised it would be ready within one week but when the learned man returned to pick it up, it was not finished.  "Three more days," he was promised. Somewhat perturbed, but with no other choice, the rabbi left the shop and came back again at the newly arranged time.  Now the suit was indeed ready and it fit perfectly- with not so much as a single stitch out of place.  Impressed by the work but still annoyed about the delays, the rabbi scolded, "It should have been done within the week." "But rabbi," the tailor pleaded, "the suit that I created was flawless. Indeed God may have finished the world within in a week, but just look at the state it's in." It is interesting that we say " Ha-motise lechem mi ha-aretz " over bread when God did not make the bread; He made the wheat but humans made the bread.  This teaches that we are in a partnersh...

In a perfect world… Your raise would always be more than you expected; Neither chocolate nor booze would contain calories; Procrastination would be viewed as a virtue; Teenagers would much rather work on the lawn than talk on the telephone; What the cat dragged in would be $100 bills; Children on trips would say, “Isn’t riding in car fun!” and then they’d fall asleep. -“Folio Weekly,” John Gration, Jacksonville, FL

On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga, 28 pitched what seemed to be a perfect game, a feat only achieved twenty times in Major League Baseball's 130 year history. However, on the very last play of the game, umpire Jim Joyce, 65, mistakenly called the runner safe at first base, ruining the perfect game. After the game, understanding the mistake he had made and the implications to Galarraga, with tears in his eyes, Joyce went over to Galarraga and apologized, admitting his mistake. Galarraga graciously accepted his apology saying "Nobody's perfect. Everybody's human. " They are currently writing a book together titled "Nobody's Perfect."

A shadchan was discussing a certain young woman with a young man “But she is lame,” the fellow complained. “That is an asset,” the shadchan smiled, “for she won’t be able to run after you.” “She is blind,” the chap protested. “That is just fine.   She won’t see when you go out with other women.” “But she is mute!” “So what? I wish my husband would lose his tongue!” “People whisper that her mother is a wicked women.” “So? Do you intend on marrying her mother?” “But she is very ugly.” “That is good,” the shadchan replied. “You’ll have no fear that another will snatch her.” “But she is a hunchback,” the chap groaned. “You amaze me, young man,” the shadchan ejaculated jumping from the chair.   “Did you want her you be altogether perfect?” -The Friday Night Book