A Soulful Journey

  “Public fasts should never be declared on Thursdays in order in not cause a sudden rise in market prices.”     ~ Taanit 10a   We are attentive to our life’s movements. This means that when nature seems to declare war on humanity or when a spate of bad things happen to us we can become superstitious.  Even if we disparage such thoughts at other times in our life it is hard to avoid wondering if something we did is bringing all this ill will upon us.   Remember the lucky rabbit’s foot?   Throwing salt over the shoulder?  Saying  kana hara  to ward off the “evil eye”?  There must be hundreds of thousands of other superstitious action people take to keep them from powers of destruction. The Rabbis of old recognized this human propensity.  So they enacted laws to assist people with their impulse to “keep the demons at bay.”  One of the ideas they brought out was that if a person feels a...

When man was created God took one of man's sides, not one of his ribs. Therefore man has both male and female characteristics and female has also combination of both. -hakdama sefer kabbalah

Reb Menachem Mendl said, "Man is the language of God."

Once Rabbi Akiva was sent to Rome with a delegation of five rabbis.   At the high of its power Rome was impressive.   They saw baths, artwork, circuses, museums, statues, palaces and military outposts.   The Roman hosts asked, “Akiva are you impressed?” “No.” They were shocked. Akiva then explained: “When we were walking in the square there was a statue of the emperor.   Then it began to rain.   The slaves on duty guarding the statue took velvet robes and covered the statue so that it would not get wet.   I am not impressed with a city where statues wear robes and human beings wear rags." Such is our mandate, to "Feed the poor and clothe the naked." - Micah

The folklorist literature of the Midrash tells the thought-provoking story that when God was about to create man, the angels came to him with different views. Some of them supported the divine plan for man's creation, while others supposed it.

 Among the strongest opponents with the Angels of truth and peace. "He will be full of lies," said Truth. "He will be terribly quarrelsome," said Peace.  What did God do? He took truth and cast it on to the ground, where it shattered into many pieces. Then He created Adam. 

Now we come to the obvious question: why did God shatter Truth rather than Peace? Or, why did he not break both offending angels?

Like every piece of rabbinic folklore, the story is told not only because it is a good story; it is usually that, of course, but it is told because they wish to submit a lesson and, like all oriental teachers, they also found that the best way to teach a lesson is through the parable.

 What, the...

A woman was greatly moved by the brilliance of a lecturing professor and rushed up the all-wise man and asked enthusiastically: “Professor, what do you think of God?” The learned gentleman quietly replied, ”It’s not important what I think of God.   What is important is what God thinks of me.”

A troubled woman came to see the Indian sage, Ramakrishna.  She said, "O master.  I do not find that I love God." And he asked her, "Is there nothing then that you love?" To this she replied, "My little nephew." And he said to her, "There is your love and service to God in your love and service to that child." - Bill Moyers Take heart, in your love there is God.

"Mankind is on too low a spiritual level to understand or be concerned with animal rights." - -Avraham Isaac Kook

"I call heaven and earth as witnesses: The Holy Spirit rests upon each person according to the deeds of each individual, whether that person be non-Jew or Jew, man or woman, manservant or maidservant.   -Seder Eliyahu Rabbah 9