Category Archives: Historic Voices

Better Tomorrow Than Today

31 Sunday Jan 2016

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 “If you are not a better person tomorrow than you are today, who needs tomorrow?” – Reb Nachman of Breslov

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If the Sabbath is about rest and renewal, the rest of the week is about making things happen. “Six days shall you labor and do your work, and on the seventh day you rest.”

This mentioned at least seven times in the Torah and repeated again in the Prophets and the Gospels. We often focus on the imperative to rest one day of seven. But the flip side is that we are also told to work the rest of the week. But what kind of work?

There’s an saying that healing the world is an inside job. So whatever our work in the world may be, it starts with ourselves. With working on our own stuff, our issues, our strengths and weaknesses. That way, whatever our work in the outer world, we are better equipped to do it well.

Reb Nachman reminds us that while we don’t have to do it all at once, we should still strive to make a little progress every day. We are to make tomorrow a bit better than today was. Otherwise, what’s the point of tomorrow?

What work can I do today, to make tomorrow better?

Nachman of Breslov, also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, (April 4, 1772 – October 16, 1810), was the founder of the BreslovHasidic movement.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, artist, builder, naturalist, consultant, and EcoKosher mashgiach. He lives with his wife Sara in western Massachusetts, where he serves as head groundskeeper and resident singer songwriter. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@joelaur.com.

Kept by Shabbat

30 Saturday Jan 2016

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“More than the Jewish People have kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jews.”

– Ahad Ha’am

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A Palace in Time” is what Abraham Joshua Heschel calls the Sabbath. A day in the week, one in every seven, where we cease from toiling in the creation of the world and simply marvel at the world of creation. Far from being a day of prohibitions and “don’ts”; it is a day where we pause for a moment and see the glass neither has half empty or half full, but just as perfectly filed as it needs to be right now. We don’t work because for today, there is no need to. There is nothing to be done, just to sit back, exhale, and take it all in. A day where it’s ok to put everything off until tomorrow, except maybe love and wonder.

So stop, today, now, even for moment. Notice the vast world around you, that tree, that sky, that perfect glass of water on the table. Taste, and enjoy, permit yourself the pleasure at hand. Tomorrow you can work and worry, but today, let yourself be a kept person. Kept alive by one perfect day.

What can you look at and simply appreciate and bless without change, right now?

Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg (18 August 1856 – 2 January 1927), primarily known by his Hebrew name and pen name, Ahad Ha’am (Hebrew for one of the people), was a Hebrew essayist. He is known as the founder of cultural Zionism. With his secular vision of a Jewish “spiritual center” in Israel, Ha’am strived for “a Jewish state and not merely a state of Jews”.[1]

Joe Laur is a father, husband, artist, builder, naturalist, consultant, and EcoKosher mashgiach. He lives with his wife Sara in western Massachusetts, where he serves as head groundskeeper and resident singer songwriter. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@joelaur.com.

The Bridge Over Fear

26 Tuesday Jan 2016

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“The whole entire world is a very narrow bridge, the main thing is to be totally unafraid.”- Reb Nachman of Breslov

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Life is a balancing act. The difference between health and happiness, sorrow and death, is a knife’s edge that know it or not, we walk every day. Life hangs on our next breath, the next heartbeat, a narrow temperature range, and a small set of conditions on Planet Earth that make human existence possible.

At any moment, life can end. We can slip off the “narrow bridge” that Reb Nachman refers to and plunge into eternity in a single misstep. But we cannot afford to live our lives in fear of that fall. It is going to come, inevitably, someday for all of us; the real question is, “How will I live right NOW, in whatever time I am given?” Will I live in terror at the prospect of future pain, suffering or death? Or will I grasp my “now”, and stride over the bridge of my life, over the gulf of fear, toward my best and highest vision and purpose? It’s choice we make every minute, every day.

The purpose of fear is awareness. Fear opens our eyes, pricks up our ears, readies our muscles for movement. Awareness is our friend, unconsciousness our enemy. Let’s embrace that awareness as Awe, not Fear, and stride out on the bridge over the span of our lives. Eternity awaits us all.

What do I need to be aware of to move through my life today?

Nachman of Breslov, also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, (April 4, 1772 – October 16, 1810), was the founder of the BreslovHasidic movement.

Rebbe Nachman, a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, breathed new life into the Hasidic movement by combining the esoteric secrets of Judaism (the Kabbalah) with in-depth Torah scholarship. He attracted thousands of followers during his lifetime and his influence continues until today through many Hasidic movements such as Breslov Hasidism.[1] Rebbe Nachman’s religious philosophy revolved around closeness to God and speaking to God in normal conversation “as you would with a best friend.”

Joe Laur is a father, husband, artist, builder, naturalist, consultant, and EcoKosher mashgiach. He lives with his wife Sara in western Massachusetts, where he serves as head groundskeeper and resident singer songwriter. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@joelaur.com.

The State of Our Neighbor’s Soul

24 Sunday Jan 2016

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“We spend our time worrying about our physical well being, and the state of our neighbor’s soul. Better we should spend our time worrying about our neighbor’s physical well being, and the state of our own soul.”

-Rabbi Israel Salanter

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Soul carried to Heaven by William Bouguereau

This pithy statement from Rabbi Salanter needs little commentary. How often do we get our priorities confused, worrying about the truly unimportant things, and the things we have the least influence over?  Though closely related, in many ways  my own internal state is more important than my outer physical state, and in any case, I always have greater influence on my soul state than my physical condition. I may get sick, have a fall, go hungry, and certainly age and die. All of it is beyond my control in most cases. But my internal condition, regardless of external circumstances, is in my own hands. In any moment I can choose to be angry or  calm, agitated or at peace, even in spite of trying situations and times.

And as far as my neighbor goes, trying to “save her soul” is a fool’s errand. But I can easily make sure she has enough food to eat, clothes to wear, medicine when ill, and comfort and company in difficult straits. This is where the leverage is, my realm of influence. My internal condition, and my neighbor’s external condition, is where I can make a difference, every day, every week, every month, every year.

“Love your neighbor as yourself, I am G!D” is smack dab in the middle of the books of Moses, the Torah. I love the juxtaposition of the phrases- it’s like saying, “Take care of each other. I’m G!D. Any questions?”

How best today, can you care for your soul AND your neighbor’s well being?

-JL

 

Rabbi Yisroel ben Ze’ev Wolf Lipkin, also known as “Yisroel Salanter” or “Israel Salanter” (November 3, 1810, Zhagory – February 2, 1883, Königsberg), was the father of the Musar (ethical living) movement in  Judaism and a famed Rosh yeshiva and Talmudist.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, artist, builder, naturalist, consultant, and EcoKosher mashgiach. He lives with his wife Sara in western Massachusetts, where he serves as head groundskeeper and resident singer songwriter. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@joelaur.com.