A Soulful Journey

 These are the true righteous- even in their death they are thought of as living.  -Berachot 18a Our good deeds outlive us.

When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov Saw misfortune threatening the Jews It was his custom To go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, Say a special prayer, And the miracle would be accomplished And the misfortune averted. Later when his disciple, The celebrated Magid of Mezritch, Has occasion, for the same reason, To intercede with heaven, He would go to the same place in the forest And say: “Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, But I am still able to say the prayer.” And again the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sasov, In order to save his people once more, Would go into the forest and say: “I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, But I know the place And this must be sufficient.” It was sufficient and the miracle was accomplished. Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn To overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, He spoke to God...

One Tisha B’Av Napoleon rode by a synagogue in small town and noticed Jews sitting on the ground and wailing bitterly. “Why are the Jews crying?” he asked a bystander. “They are mourning their land which was destroyed about two thousand years ago,” he was informed. These words deeply impressed Napoleon.  “A nation that can mourn over the destruction and loss of their land which occurred two thousand years ago,” he exclaimed, “such a people will never perish.    They may be certain they will survive and hat their land will eventually be restored to them.” Remember.  Never give hope.  Never jettison your faith.  Remain true.

According to Greek a legend a woman came to the River Styx to be ferried across to the Region of the Departed. Charon, the kindly ferryman, reminded her that it was her privilege to drink the water of Lethe, and thus forget the life she was leaving. Eagerly, she said, "I will forget how I suffered! And, he added, "Remember too that you will forget how you rejoiced." The woman said, "I will forget my failures." Charon chimed, "And your victories." She continued, "I will forget how I have been hated." "And also how you have been loved," added the ferryman. She paused and then left the waters of Lethe untasted rather than give up on life's memories. Remember this story when darkness descends.  Once there was light.  And there will come a time when light returns.

A rabbi saw a member of his congregation walking his dog.  "What a nice dog you have," the rabbi said. "This is my Kaddish," answered the man sarcastically. The Rabbi responded, "I am delighted that you have a better Kaddish than your father had."  - Rabbi Hillel Silverman. Never forget where you came from.  Know where you are going.  Do the right thing.  Remember.

"Happiness is good health and a bad memory." - Ingrid Bergman It is vital to remember who we are, where we come from, but learn to forget the bad.

A King once passed through a large dense forest on a hunting trip. In the thick depths he became lost and could not find the way home. The monarch saw several villagers and peasants in the forest but when he asked them to guide him they did not know how for they had never traveled the Kings highway and we’re not familiar with it. Then the king met a wise and understanding man and as soon as the monarch asked about the highway the man instantly recognized that this was the king himself. With great honor and respect the man obeyed his king immediately. Being very wise he knew every turn of the main road. He led the king back to his palace and saw to it that the king should take his rightful place on the throne. The King was vey pleased with this wise man, he appointed him to most exalted position, higher than all the other princes and nobles. He had him dressed in the finest robes and commanded that his old clothes be preserved as a memento amongst the royal treasures. Many year...

Visiting a cemetery,  a pastor noticed a pile of urns stacked one upon another.  He asked the attendant if they were his stock of empties.  The attendant replied reluctantly, "They contain the ashes of bodies that have been cremated, but the relatives never thought enough to return and claim them." -James Frasier When a yahrzeit comes we remember.  When certain actions remind us of things they said or did the dead come alive.  Nobody wants to be forgotten and it is up to us to not forget their teachings and passing on the lesson of memory.

"Great tzaddikim become even greater in the aftermath of their lives."  - Talmud, Hullin 7b It is good to have a selective memory.  Imagine how much greater if we could make this a reality during life.......

Menashe Klein was a survivor of Buchwald with Elie Wiesel.  Klein became a rabbi and he and Wiesel spoke often. “He was a very important rabbinic authority, and he became a very pious rabbi,” said Wiesel.  “And I told him my problems.  And surely you cannot say I am a religiously pious person.  But nevertheless our relationship never suffered.  And one day, eve of Rosh Hashanah, I get up unusually very early in the morning, say my prayers, and in my prayer there are a few names- the prayer for the sick, for the ill.  And he was one of them.  And I forgot him – the prayer for his recovery. “And then, eleven o’clock: ‘Oh, God! I forgot his name in my prayer.’  I ran to the telephone, called.  Answering machine: ‘The funeral left’.”  - from  The   Inventing the Art of Hope Pray for those who are in need.  Do not forget them.

In the Talmud we find the statement,   Zekhirah meviah l'yedei asiyah , which means "remembering leads to deeds" (R. H. 27a, Shevuot 20b, Men. 43b) . We take time to revisit the past, recall what came before us in an effort to become wiser, learn from previous generations so that we do not make the same mistakes and recall the actions of our forebears who conceived us and worked hard to make our lives better.

“Days are scrolls; write on them what you want to be remembered.” Bahya Ibn Pakuda

Joseph ate little during the years of famine. He was always hungry.  People were perplexed. “You are hungry while our store houses bulge with grain,” they remarked. He answered them, “If I am satisfied I might forget the hungry.”  - Eruvin It is vital that we always remember the poor, especially when we are blessed.

"Tell a funny story on every possible occasion, and tell it as well as you know how, too.  People will remember your jokes and forget your speeches.  Monuments are built over solemn asses - but people remember in their hearts the men who made them laugh."  - Oliver Gogary (Irish wit)

The Nobel Prize was established by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, engineer and philanthropist who died in 1896.  But it was erroneously reported that he had died earlier, and when he read his obituary, this man who held 355 different patents, saw that the one most written about and which he would be most remembered by, and which would always identify him, was that he was the inventor of gunpowder.  He didn’t want to be remembered as a man who caused destruction, so he established the Nobel Prizes for creativity. How will I be remembered?  For creating or destroying?

Years back the United States heard about John Tower.   “He was accused of many terrible things and yet one voice was heard demanding fairness on his behalf; Senator Dodd of Connecticut. Senator Dodd demanded that the hearing be conducted fairly, without demagoguery of unfair allegations.   This from the member of the Democratic Party who had everything to gain by gain by seeing Tower vilified. And yet twenty-two years ago, Senator Dodd’s father was on trial and John Tower then stood up to defend his right to a fair hearing.   Tower once came to the aid of Dodd’s father and the son had not forgotten." "To be great means to be grateful.”   - Rabbi Jack Reimer

Years ago I recall reading from the pulpit at a Friday night service the names of beloved departed from the Yahrzeit list of that week prepared by our office. Inadvertently, the secretary had listed the name of a living son instead of the departed father. The member who was present at services with his two children heard his own name read before the Kaddish.  You can imagine how embarrassing the mistake might have been. He wrote me a letter and I quote a portion of it: “My boys and I were shocked; I almost missed saying Kaddish.   As you can imagine, all kinds of thoughts ran through my mind.   Standing with my children and hearing my own name to be mourned at our Temple made me suddenly think of the future.   I thought to myself: Will my boys actually respect the traditions of our religion and observe Kaddish for me?   I wondered if I shall have deserved the same love and respect that my father and I shared.   Finally, I recalled that the Kaddish was or...

There are three deaths: the first is when the body ceases to function.  The second is when the body is consigned to the grave.  The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.  - Tales of the Afterlife , David Eagleman, 

Rabbi Aharon Kotler once said: “Do we cry on Tisha B’Av?   How can we when we don’t know what we are missing?”