A Soulful Journey

  "Two are better than one, for if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow."  -Ecclesiastes 49:19 Help someone today. Allow yourself to be helped.

One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah ben Yehoyada, his most   trusted minister. He said to him, "Benaiah, there is a certain ring   that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which   gives you six months to find it." "If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty," replied Benaiah, "I   will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?" "It has magic powers," answered the king. "If a happy man looks at it,   he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy."   Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to   give his minister a little taste of humility. Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he   could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a   walk in one of he poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a   merchant who had begun to set out the day's wares on...

Moshe rabbenu fixed the blessing for hazan ("sustenance" in the Blessings After a Meal) for the Jewish people when manna descended. Joshua fixed the blessing for ha-aretz ( "the Land" also in the Blessings After a Meal) when they entered the Land. David and Solomon established the blessing for Jerusalem (also in the Blessings After a Meal). -Talmud, Berachot 28b The Men of the Great Assembly (Anshay Knesset ha-Gedolah) established blessings, kiddish and Havdalah for us all.   -Talmud, Berachot 33a

Rabbi Yochanan said: This may be compared to a traveler who was walking on the road at dawn when it was still dark. Someone came and lit a candle for him, but it went out. Then another person lit a candle for him, but it too went out. The traveler said: "From now on I will wait only for the morning light." So too, Israel said to the Holy One, blessed is He: "We made for You a menorah in the days of Moshe, but it went out. We made another menorah in the days of Shlomo Hamelech, but it went out. From now on we are waiting only for Your light, as it says (Psalms 36:10), "For with You is the source of life; by Your light do we see light." - Yalkut Shimoni 

“Levi-Yitzhak admired King Solomon, the wisest of our sovereigns.   Why?   Because, according to the Midrash, he mastered all languages?   No.   Because he understood the language of madmen.”   - Elie Wiesel Truth comes from every quarter.   No one is dismissed.   No one is unnecessary.   All have their place.   This is the wisdom from the wise.

Ashmodai brought before King Solomon a man with two heads.  The father had died and left the two-headed man and his siblings a large inheritance.  King Solomon was to determine whether this man was two people and due for a larger portion or one person. Solomon said, 'Let boiling water be poured over the head.'  If the the other head did not complain it was a sign that these were two separate people.  If , however, the second head objected it would mean it was one person.  -Midrash The same is true of the Jewish nation.  We have many heads.  They are scattered throughout the world and speak in many languages.  There are times when we wonder whether all these heads belong to the same body; whether we have anything in common.  These doubts disappear when pain is inflicted on one of us.  All the others immediately feel the impact and react. We are one.

  “It is often argued that the people who will be affected by a major decision should be involved in it.   Paul Kruger, president of the Transvaal in southern Africa, once resolved a dispute between two brothers about a land inheritance they were to share.   Kruger’s decision: let one brother divide the land, and let the other brother have first choice.”   – Louis E. Boone