Monthly quotes

Nisan 5785

It is dangerous to take human freedom for granted, to regard it as a prerogative rather than as an obligation, as an ultimate fact rather than as an ultimate goal. It is the beginning of wisdom to be amazed at the fact of our being free.
Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom

Adar 5785

Every day I’m still looking for God
and I’m still finding him everywhere,
in the dust, in the flowerbeds.
Certainly in the oceans,
in the islands that lay in the distance
continents of ice, countries of sand
each with its own set of creatures
and God, by whatever name.
How perfect to be aboard a ship with
maybe a hundred years still in my pocket.
But it’s late, for all of us,
and in truth the only ship there is
is the ship we are all on
burning the world as we go.
Mary Oliver, “On Traveling to Beautiful Places”

Shevat 5785

There is an old legend that tells us that God originally created each tree so that it could each yield many different kinds of fruit. In that way they produced hundreds more different kinds of fruit than we now have. Then a terrible thing happened. Cain killed his brother Abel and the trees went into mourning. They refused to yield their fruit on account of the grief over Abel. Did not God say that the voice of Abel’s blood cries out from the ground and that the earth will no longer yield its full strength? From then on each tree would yield just one kind of fruit. Only in the in the world to come will the trees return to their full fruitfulness.
Midrash Tanchuma Buber

Tevet 5785

I would never want to worship a God whose ways are comprehensible to every simple mortal.
Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

Kislev 5785

Even something as small as an apple
It's simple and somehow complex
Sweet and divine, the perfect design
Can I speak to the architect?

And there's a canyon that cuts through the desert
Did it get there because of a flood?
Was it devised, or were you surprised
When you saw how grand it was?

Was it thought out at all, or just paint on a wall?
Is there anything that you regret?
I don't understand, are there blueprints or plans?
Can I speak to the architect?

Sometimes I look in the mirror
And wish I could make a request
Could I pray it away? Am I shapeable clay
Or is this as good as it gets?
Kacey Musgraves

Heshvan 5785

It is true that a Jew never worships as an isolated individual but as a part of the Community of Israel. Yet it is within the heart of every individual that prayer takes place. It is a personal duty, and an intimate act which cannot be delegated to either the cantor or to the whole community. We pray with all of Israel, and every one of us by ourselves.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

Tishrei 5785

Never despair! Never! It is forbidden to give up hope.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

Elul 5784

On 27 January 1995, at the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, I stood by the ruins of the gas chambers with my children and with Dr Munch and his children and grandchild. Dr Munch signed his document about the operation of the gas chambers while I read my document of forgiveness and signed it. As I did that, I felt a burden of pain was lifted from me. I was no longer in the grip of hate; I was finally free. The day I forgave the Nazis, privately I forgave my parents whom I hated all my life for not having saved me from Auschwitz. Children expect their parents to protect them; mine couldn’t. And then I forgave myself for hating my parents. Forgiveness is really nothing more than an act of self-healing and self-empowerment. I call it a miracle medicine. It is free, it works and has no side effects.
Eva Kor