commentary in the zOhn

When I was young, I admired clever people.  Now that I am old, I admire kind people.  Abraham Joshua Heschel

When the community is in trouble, a person should not say, “I will go to my house and I will eat and drink and be at peace with myself.  Babylonian Talmud, Ta’anit 11a

Demons bother only those who bother them.  Sefer Hasidim

Anger deprives a sage of his wisdom, a prophet of his vision.  Simeon b. Lakish, Talmud: Pesahim 66b

Concentrate on three things and you will not fall into the grip of sin.  Know from where you came, where you are going, and before Whom you will have to give account and reckoning.  Pirkei Avot 3:1

Contemplate the wonders of creation, the Divine dimension of their being, not as a dim configuraion that is presented to you from a distance, but as the reality in which you live.  Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook

Get into the habit of dancing.  It will displace depression and dispel hardship.  Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

Human fallibility being what it is, victory and truth do not always go together.  Therefore, if you have to always win, you can’t always be true.  Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

If you must hate, if hatred is the leaven of your life, which alone can give flavor, then hate what should be hated: falsehood, violence, selfishness.  Boerne, “Der ewige Jude”

The world is new to us every morning–this is the Holy One’s gift and every person should believe he is reborn each day.  Baal Shem Tov

Through faith, man experiences the meaning of the world; through action, he is to give to it a meaning.  Leo Baeck, “Essence of Judaism”

To pull a friend from the mud, don’t hesitate to get dirty.  Baal Shem Tov

When a thief has nothing to steal, he regards his virtue as real.  Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 22a

Wonder, rather than doubt, is the root of knowledge.  Abraham Joshua Heschel