A Soulful Journey

Rabbah and Rav Zeira feasted together on Purim.  They drank and drank until both were saturated with alcohol when Rabbah arose and cut Rav Zeira’s throat.  The next day Rabbah prayed for him and Rav Zeira was resurrected. The next year he asked, “Will you honor me and come to the Purim feast with me?” Rav Zeira replied, “A miracle does not always happen.”  - Megilla 7b A lesson to the wise: miracles do happen but we have to live responsibly.

A rabbi and a Russian Orthodox priest had a car accident.   Fortunately, neither was hurt, and the damage was minor.   The rabbi, seeing this as a good opportunity to celebrate ecumenism, took out a bottle of brandy from the glove compartment.   He poured a drink for the priest but insisted that he himself was not thirsty. A few minutes later, the police arrived at the scene.   The rabbi politely suggested that the priest was at fault; the priest equally suggested that it was the rabbi’s fault.   The police gave each a breath-analyzer test, then promptly accused the Russian Orthodox priest of drunken driving! –David Harris

Napier, the inventor of the logarithm, had a feud with his neighbor.   Napier hated pigeons and his neighbor continually fed them. Finally, he proposed a deal.   If Napier could catch them he could kill them.   Convinced of the foolhardy nature of the bet, the neighbor consented. The next morning, the neighbor woke to find Napier killing pigeon after pigeon.   He ran out and shouted, “I didn’t expect you to kill all these!   How could you do it??” Napier replied that he merely took ordinary grain, soaked it in alcohol and fed it to the pigeons.   – Scottish folk tale As Jews we take words very seriously.  They wound they heal, they have a life of their own.  In fact we make such a big deal of words that the Sages said that our speech is what makes us closest to Divine.  Perhaps that is why we refrain from taking vows, making promises, and taking bets.