It is Here

“Are you saying that Judaism is devoid of spirituality?! You must be another one of those mayvins who graduated cum laude out of Hebrew school and since then have not gone beyond a pre-pubescent's level of understanding of our heritage. Sit. Sit down next to me. Come here, I will not bite your head off. But listen. Really listen.

”Some of the world’s religions pride themselves on deep spirituality. They teach their followers to reach down into the depths of their psyche and draw out the best. Usually they follow the form that the deeper you go into yourself, the greater power you will discover. So they impart mantras and train acolytes in paths of super-consciousness. Wonderful.

"Everyone could benefit from using those normally dorm right brain cells and discovering the powers that we all possess but seldom utilize.

“Other religions emphasize sharing and comradeship. They draw people into the fraternal like structures remember support one another. In times of grief they visit the bereft. In moments of joy they celebrate with one another. I see you nodding your head. Yes, this too is wonderful.

"Some preeminent religions are attractive precisely because they seem to be universally observed. When the whole culture appears to be wrapped up in a single holiday and we remain of the few that light sickly looking candles on Hanukkah, we begin to ask ‘who is right?’

“There are many, many more. Each religion, culture and organization has its own merits based upon where the individual is coming from. Just as there is no shortage of different kinds of people, there is no dearth of possibilities for the religious explorer.

"Listen, my friend. You know about this; that is why I am talking to now. But did you realize that there is a Jewish mediation?  That we have been practicing this art for centuries? Perhaps you were also not aware that God still speaks?

”If you learn some of this that perhaps I can introduce you to the secret society of Jewish mystics. They too, have been around for a very long time. Perhaps, my friend, you were also unaware of the reams upon reams of ancient texts that that detail Jewish law, lore and practice.  And maybe, if the interest since you, we can get together and share some of the most magnificent tails in storage the world has ever known. Judaism is soon as the world’s best kept secret. And that is a shame. Because it also is the secret to you.

”Is that all?” you ask. “Of course not. I was just giving a moment to digest enormity of the situation.

“The zodiac. Did you know that the zodiac is based on the Jewish calendar? What about healing? What do you looking for the kind dispatch my doctors of the flash four of the show, it can be found here. Thousands of years of accumulated knowledge herbs and curious, amulets and miraculous recovery’s. Philosophy? Do you prefer Aristotelian (Rambam adored his approach to logic) or Helelian (take a look at Solomon Maimon)?  Critical scholarship?  Mathematics?  Aphorisms?  Parables?  Natural sciences?  Physical sciences?

“Look at this rich tradition hidden from view in bulging basements full of memories and attics overflowing with old world knowledge and scholarly pursuits. There it has laid away fast, awaiting the moment of discovery, waiting for you.  The possibilities of new worlds unfolding before your eyes; the wisdom of martyrs and saints yearning to have their stories told are ready. Spanning the epochs are magnificent tales from countless generations. There were travellers throughout the primitive world hundreds of years before Columbus was even conceived. Hoary prayers and lofty incantations wait your discovery.

“Somewhere in the loft of an uncaring relative lay books, holy books. In some dusty alcove, showcase or a moldy attic chest sits a Menorah aching for life it once new reuniting it with God. It waits for the sacred moment when it shall once more touch the portals of the Holy One’s chamber.

“When you are ready to come home all this will be waiting.  And much, much more.”

The Lab Where Creation Takes Place

     A little boy was watching his father, a Rabbi, prepare a sermon. “How do you know what to write?” he asked. The Rabbi said, “Well, after I think for a while, God tells me what to write.”

         The boy was quiet for a moment before saying, “Then why do you keep crossing out so much?”

     Privately, it is easy to make corrections: nobody has to see the original text.  We can write and rewrite the wording.  Which is fine. Being creative requires imagination with lots of room for experimentation and errors.  While I am sure that God helps, we have a definite proclivity  for making errors. Thus, the scratch-outs.

     Now, the Talmud used to be a simple, terse text of Jewish Law and Lore. With so much of it needing clarification, great Sages would scribble notes, questions, answers and diagrams in the margins (used to be that paper was scarce). That’s how the marginal commentaries on each folio of the Talmud was born.  Some printer saw the scribbling and had them inserted as permanent marginal notes. That is how Rashi’s commentary (among others) has come to be found in the Talmud.

     Mistakes are an inevitable and part of process. Mistakes means that you are trying. They are living proof of personal growth. A colleague, Harold Kushner, said “people do  not learn  from their successes. They grow from their failures.”  The scratches in the margins.

If it were not for the marginal notes of Rashi and others the Talmud would not be the Talmud.  So too, it is with all scientific studies.  They take place in labs where failures always exceed successes.

      

Where Growth Begins

 Two Chelmite scholars were debating how people grow: Do they grow from the feet up of from the head down? 

The first said, “From the feet up, of course.  Last year, I bought my son a suit for his Bar Mitzvah, and at that time the pants were just the right length.  Now the pants only reach his ankles.   That proves that people grow from the feet down!”

“Fool,” snapped the second scholar.  “It’s obvious that people grow from the head down.  If you see a group of soldiers marching their feet are all at the same level.  But, if you look at their heads you will see that they are at different heights. That proves that people grow from their heads down.”

Both Chelmites were wrong.  We neither grow from the bottom up or the top down.  We grow from the inside out.

      In these waning moments of summer, I wish you growth.  Read Jewish books.  Come study with me.  Challenge yourself to climb new heights of spirituality.   Light your Shabbes candles.  Enjoy yourself, your loved ones and God.