A Soulful Journey

Once upon a time Joseph ben Joshua became very ill. He had a burning fever. He thrashed about in his bed, his head was sweating, and finally fell into a coma. His mother wrapped him in sheets, the sick room became damp and hot, and everyone spoken whispers. Joseph’s sister was sitting along with him, when suddenly Joseph ben Joshua, set up stiff in his bed. Joseph opened his eyes, but he did not seem to be able to see. His sister was frightened, and she brought her father, Reb Joshua into the room.  “Joseph?” Asked his father, “Are you all right?”  At first, Joseph did not answer. ”Joseph?” ”Yes, father?” ”Are you all right?” "I think so.” ”Can you see me?    “No, I’m afraid that I cannot see.” ”Then what is it that you see?” asked Reb Joshua.   “The world is upside down, Father.” ”Upside down?” ”Yes,” said Joseph, “the furniture is on the ceiling, and in fact everything is the opposite of our normal life. Trees grow with the roots in the sky; cattle l...

Decimate: "...from the Latin, decimate, "to take one in ten."  In Roman times,  standard punishment meted out to groups of soldiers guilty of cowardice or mutiny one out of every ten was selected by lots and put to death."  - Stephen J. Gould Imagine what the world would look like if we took one out of every ten people when someone did a mitzvah or act or righteousness....people would practically stampede to be recognized for goodness. Just imagine.

“Take it from me, Kaiser.   There’s no one out there.   It’s a void.   I couldn’t pass all those bad checks or screw society that way I do if for one second I was able to recognize any authentic sense of Being.” –Woody Allen It is humorous but it is also emblematic of the way most people think.   If God does not catch us in a bad act or reward us for being righteous we dismiss Him.   Is this really a mature view of the Divine?

An eight-year-old boy found an envelope with $600.00 in it.   He returned it to the bank who found owner.   The man gave $3.00 reward.   Outraged, the boy’s teacher took up a collection for him to give $150.00 savings bond.   – Mary Arguelles in Newsweek Teaching one another to be honest takes effort and thought.