A Soulful Journey

  “Dreams and deed are not as different as many think.     All the deeds of men are dreams at first, and become dreams in the end.”     -Theodore Herzl   “In order to be realist you must first believe in miracles.”  - David Ben-Gurion   “Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.”   -Golda Meir

Talmud: "We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are." - Elizabeth Lesser   Talmud:— ein marin lo l’adam ela m’harhurei libo —“A man is shown only what is suggested by his own thoughts.”- Berakhot 55b. What if we saw life as it really is, rather than as we are predisposed to see it?  We might witness true majesty and joy unparalleled.

People need big dreams, expansive horizons, large challenges, stretching ambitions.  Faith gives birth to these "from-a-distance thoughts".  -unknown Dream away.  Dream large.

"I as a Jew do not know what despair is.  Despair means utter futility, being utterly lost.  I will never be lost.  I know where I came from.  I know where I am going.  I am the son of Abraham.  Despite my imperfections, deficiencies, faults and sins, I remain a part of that Covenant that God made with Abraham: we are going toward the Kingship of God and the Messianic era.  This is the preciousness of being a Jew.”  - Abraham Joshua Heschel

 A man goes to a doctor terribly worried. "I looked in the mirror this morning and saw terrible wrinkles.  My eyes have bags under them.  My hair is falling out.  I look a wreck.  What am I going to do?    Every time I look in a mirror, I see someone falling apart!" "Well, at least your eyes are alright." We all have days like that.  It is vital to remember all things that work, all that is right in our lives and not to focus on what is wrong.

And as we stumbled on for miles, slipping on icy spots, supporting each other time and again, dragging one another up and onward, nothing was said, but we both knew: each of us was thinking of his wife. Occasionally I looked at the sky, where the stars were fading and the pink light of the morning was beginning to spread behind a dark bank of clouds.  But my mind clung to my wife’s image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her look was then more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise. I thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth-that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which men can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: the salvation of man is through love ...

“At that moment a light went on in the distant farmhouse, which stood on the horizon as if painted there, in the midst of the miserable gray dawning morning in Bavaria.    “Et lux tenebris lucet” – and the light shineth in the darkness.   Four hours I stood hacking at the icy ground. The guard passed by, insulting me, and once again I communed with my beloved. More and more I felt that she was present, that she was with me; I had the feeling that I was able to touch her, able to stretch out my hand and grasp hers. The feeling was very strong: she was there.  Then, at that very moment, a bird flew down silently and perched in front of me, on the heap of soil which I had dug up from the ditch and looking steadily at me.”   - Viktor Frankl Find your light.

Once an eminent Rabbi went from the diaspora to Israel. With great effort she traveled in the most primitive conditions in his old age just pray at the western wall. After his first visit, though, all the days in Jerusalem he never returned to the Kotel. "Why did you go to so much trouble to come to Jerusalem to pray at the Kotel and not go to it every day?” he was asked. “I will tell you,” answered the rabbi. “When I went to the Kotel I saw a woman on the wall. It was the Shechinah .  When I heard her cry I knew that if I would hear such a lament and anguish once again my soul with the part. So I never returned.” May our ears be so attuned to the cries and joys of the Supernal One.

"That this new world, colonized by Puritans, listened to this little immigrant Jewish orphan in her 50s on matters they wouldn’t even discuss among themselves proves that any dreams can come true.”  - Dr. Ruth Westheimer Proof from Dr. Ruth, that with a "will" we can accomplish anything.

"Some things have to be believed to be seen."  -Ralph Hodgson Trust what you believe.

There once lived a man near Jericho. He was terribly nearsighted. Every day he worked his garden, played with his children and above all adored his wife. The man said his daily prayers with the whole part. Unfortunately, he had to bow close to his prayer book, the siddur, and squint to see flowers. Every day he told his wife so beautiful she was. She had most must lustrous skin, milk white teeth outshining even the flowers in his garden. When someone, a neighbor, pointed out their beautiful orchard he would respond, “What magnificent fruits!” Or if they showed him their livestock, he would say, “What a beautiful animal.” He was called Gullible David. The townsfolk would poke fun of him and sometimes David would hurt deep inside. One day, when David was praying, he put down his siddur and spoke earnestly to God from his heart as tears flowed down his cheeks: “God, give me eyesight so I can discern things far away.   It is all that I desire.” Gullible David then put away h...

The very first book of the Talmud is called Berahot. "Blessings," and in one of its opening passages, a rabbi asks his students how they can tell when the night has ended and the day has begun (in which case it is time to recite the Shema). "Could it be," asked one of the students, "when you see an animal in the distance and can tell whether it's a sheep or a dog?' "No." answered the rabbi. Another asked, "Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance and tell whether it is a fig tree or a peach tree?" "No again." replied the rabbi. "Then when is it?" the pupils demanded. And the sage answered, "It is when you can look at the face of any man or woman or child and see that it is your sister or brother. Because, if you cannot see this, it is still night." Rabbi Jack Reimer

Eight hundred years ago, a Persian poet and theologian dreamt of a place:  Out beyond ideas of wrong and right,  there is a field. I’ll meet you there.  When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.

“Throughout the centuries, there were men who took first steps down new roads – armed with nothing but their vision."    - Ayn Rand Trust your vision.   Trust in yourself.

A head of a tribe has realized that the end of his reign is approaching.   In need of a successor he summoned his three sons.   “Each of you,” he began, “Bring me an object of great value.   The one who returns with the best gift will get my blessing and the mantle of leadership.” The first son returned with a beautiful flower radiating vibrant color. The second son came back with gleaming stones. The third returned empty-handed.   He said, “I come back with a vision of a place.   It is near a river with many fish.   The land is green and fertile.   It is ripe for living,” The father gave him title to the last son because he had the vision to lead his people. This what our world needs more; people who can see what others cannot.   Everyone has this potential.   Everyone.