A Soulful Journey

Rabbi Hanina Ben Dosa watched all the people going up to Jerusalem, taking with them fine gifts and offerings for the Temple. How he longed to go with them and bring something wonderful for God. Alas, Rabbi Hanina was very poor. He had nothing he could offer. He wandered sadly in the desert field. Suddenly he saw an interesting stone on the ground. It was very large and beautiful. What a splendid idea, thought Rabbi Hanina. I will take this stone to the holy Temple as my gift to God. Rabbi Hanina ran home and got his tools. He cut the stone and polished it until its colors shone beautifully. At last, it was fit to create the holy Temple. But how would he ever get it there? He looked for someone to help. He would need five strong men to carry it and they would have to be paid but he knew he barely had five gold coins as his whole life’s savings. Suddenly five men appeared as if out of nowhere. “We will help you carry the stone,” they said. You can give us each one gold coin.” That was e...

Old Noah was saved from dehydration By an ark that provided flotation So the moral is plain, In this tale of rain: You be righteous in your generation.  - Cantor Harry Gelman

"The tzaddikim shall shine like the stars." -Daniel 12:3 Interpretation: " The Shechina abides with the righteous."  -Rashi

"The righteous, even in death, are called living." -Talmud "The wicked in even life are called dead." -Talmud

"The righteous are called alive in death; while the wicked are called dead even when alive." - Berachot 18 Live a life that matters.  Take action today.

“If a man does not judge himself, all things judge him, and all things become messengers of God.” – Nachman of Bratslav ”If I do not accept responsibility for the evil I do, the very earth will rise up to judge and condemn me. The stars, the trees in the wind will provide sentence…”   -Julius Lester

Any one who can stop his family from doing wrong and does not is guilty.  Anyone who can stop the world and does not is guilty. And the Lord said to him, "Go through he midst of the city and set a mark on the foreheads of men that sigh and cry because of the abominations that are done in her midst." (Ezekiel 9:2) The Talmud explains: "The Lord said to Gabriel, "Place a sign of ink on the foreheads of the righteous so that the Angel of Death will spare them.  And a sign of blood on the foreheads of the evil ones so that the Angel of Death will exact punishment." The Attribute of Justice asked the Lord: "Why are these different from the others?" The Lord replied, "One group is righteous while the other is wicked." Replied the Attribute of Justice: "But they could have spoken out and did not.  Even though You know it would have been futile, they did not speak out." Said God, "So begin the punishment of the righteous....

Rabbi Yishmael taught: What is written? "You shall not go out, every man from his abode, until morning..."  (Exodus 12) since permission had been given to the Destroyer.  And he does not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked.  More, he commences with the righteous.  - Baba Kama 60a When the world grows dark and evil is rampant all suffer.  Is it not usually the good who suffer first?  They are the warning bell that should wake the moral conscience of the world.

A Dutch missionary came back to Holland as the Second World War was beginning.  His friends said to him, "Tell us what we should do about the Jews.  Should we help and harbor them?  Should we turn them in?  Should we do nothing?" He said to them, "I cannot tell you what to do.  I can only tell you who you are.  Once you know who you are, you will know what to do." We must always know the right thing.

Rabbi Yehudah stated, “In the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring the Evil Inclination (yetser ha-ra) and slay it in the presence of the righteous and wicked.  To the righteous, the Evil Inclination will appear as a massive mountain, while to the wicked it will look like a strand of hair, easily snapped. Both groups will weep. The righteous will wonderRight, ‘How were we able to climb such a high mountain?’   The wicked will cry, 'How is it that we were not able to overcome this insignificant filament?”'   -Sukkah 52