A Soulful Journey

When the curators of London’s National Gallery suggested that the paintings of the Old Masters be cleaned there was an outcry.  The accumulated grime was essential to the pictures, they reasoned.   Any art historian will tell you that accumulated grime does not enhance the artist’s creation, it diminishes it.  Yet there are some who claim that nothing should touch what has become old.      Every thing, every moment, and event should be looked at as novel.  Innovation, while not abandoning the past, should not be seen as dangerous.   We grow from each new experience under heaven.  Look with fresh eyes at God’s world.  Peel away the layers of dust and detritus and you will be richly rewarded for seeing the universe as was intended, not though smudged glasses.

HaYashan Yithadesh V’hadesh titkadesh- Rabbi A. Kook   “The old shall become new and the new shall become holy.” Powerful words spoken by the first chief rabbi of Israel.  As we read and learn about our ancient traditions we can resolve to renew them and let them infuse our lives with light.  We also have the ability to renew ourselves and our lives every day.

" If you say something that has not been said before, you are likely to say something which will not be said again."  - Thomas Hobbes Most experiences are universal  They happen to many, if not all.  Most historical events have precedents and will likely recur in the future.  Yet, if you have a truly novel idea it belongs only to you. Question: Does anyone have a novel thought or word the has never been considered?

“There is nothing new under the sun.”    -Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) .  That which has been, will be again.  Here is the real task of a meaningful life: Can we learn from our mistakes and become a finer, greater and more responsible person than we were yesterday?

The Kelmer Maggid came to a city where a modern Talmud Torah had been erected.  The leaders wanted the new school to receive a certain amount of the charity money that belonged to the old school.  A heated argument arose and the Kelmer Maggid was asked to give his opinion.  So he rose and addressed the people in his own inimitable way: “My good friends, I want to tell you a story.  A man arrived at the gates of paradise dressed in modern clothes, with a trimmed beard in the fashion of a Frenchman.  He wanted to enter.  Father Abraham, who stands near the entrance, approached him and asked, ‘Who are you? ‘I am the Vilner Maggid,’ the man explained. Abraham stared the newcomer’s attire and repeated, ‘You are the Vilner Maggid?’  Tell me, in which synagogue did you preach?’ After a few similar questions that man broke down and confessed.  ‘The truth is that I am a former actor of a Vilna theatre....

A Jewish family living on the outskirts of a small village in Russia believed that their grandfather had secretly buried a treasure under a tree along the road for Bialystok to Slonim, when he was fleeing from the Cossacks.  One member of the family earnestly determined to find the treasure.  He dug under every tree along the road, but in vain.  Though exhausted, he continued his search. An old man, passing, noticed the young fellow with a spade in his hand, perspiration trickling down his forehead. "What are you looking for?" he asked. "I am searching for a treasure my grandfather buried along this road," he replied. "You'll never find it, son," the aged passerby smiled.  "In your grandfather's days people went along the old path, and you are looking along the new path of which your grandfather knew nothing." Moral: We seek spiritual riches along new roads, unaware that the real treasure lies on the old ones.

A colleague told of a British visitor who saw a sign on a college campus that read, “It is a tradition at this college not to walk on the grass.   This tradition begins at noon, today.” -Rabbi Mordecai Waxman You can always begin a new path.  It is never too late.

"If it's French, it's culture.  If it's American, it's imperialism." - American Film Director, Newsweek

The story is told of Rabbi Leo Baeck on a early visit to America after the war.   Baeck was approached by the editor of a leading Jewish literary journal with an idea.   The editor wanted to gather together all the greatest contemporary Jewish poets and creative writers with the intention of composing a new prayer book designed to meet the needs of the time. Baeck replied with enthusiasm thinking it would be a worthwhile project.   He felt there arose now and again a generation in which a new contribution to the standard prayers was necessary and – if they were very fortunate – such a gathering might manage to produce one new prayer! "The old shall be made new..."  Perhaps there is more there than we have seen or felt.....

Reb Nosson wrote: "Every day and every moment, there are wonders upon wonders… Since God renews [the world] continually, there is a phenomenon by which everything changes into good. If you cannot see and understand this, at least believe in it. Again and again, strengthen yourself with this." - Healing Leaves

“This is the beginning of a new day God has given me.   This day to use as I will.   I can waste it or use it for good.   What I do today is important because I’m exchanging a day of my life for it.   When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something I have traded for it.   I want it to be gain, not loss; good not evil; success not failure; in order that I shall not regret the price I paid for it.”   -Anonymous

"Le roi est most, vive le roi !" The King is dead, long live the king!" At times, it may look like the end of the world. We become deeply sad, depressed, disillusioned with life and yet. When one sun sets another is about to rise. Never abandon hope.

"The future ain't what it used to be." ~ Yogi Berra In fact, the future is never what we thought it would be. Nothing is as it was. Everything in life is new. Every moment, in effect, is a new creation. This moment has never existed before and will not come again. That is why we must strive to be open and aware of each meeting. If we can rid ourselves of past ways of thinking (read: prejudices) we will be ready to greet each new moment as new .