The seal of the Holy one

--> God is righteous; be ye also righteous. Righteousness means love of truth, hatred of lying and backbiting. The seal of the Holy one, blessed be He, is Truth, of which actions of man should also bear the impress. Hence let thy yea be yea and thy nay, nay. He who is honest in money transactions, unto him this is reckoned  as if he had fulfilled the whole of the Torah.



from the Talmud

Beast of burden

Isachar an agile beast of burden ....saw that leisure was a good thing........so he bowed his shoulder to bear. (Genesis49:14-15)

Rabi Bunim asked , "If he saw that leisure was a good thing, why did he bow his shoulder to bear a burden?"

Rabi Bunim answers, "Leisure is enjoyable only if one can bear a burden.The person for whom the burdens of life are intolerable , cannot have any leisure either. He never knows peace."

There are some things in life which are unchangeable and they are the burdens we must bear. The reasons for these are known only to God. But if we can accept them with faith,, then we can enjoy serenity. If we defiantly refuse to accept the unchangeable, we can never know a moment's rest, because as long as we are struggling to throw off an inescapable burden , we can never be at rest.

Abraham J Twerski

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On Tolerance

THE patriarch Abraham sat at the door of his tent. It was evening, when he was wont to watch for any strangers who might pass by, for all such he bade enter his tent. He espied an old man coming toward him, leaning on his staff, weary with travel and bent with age, for he was a hundred years old. Abraham rose and asked the old man to come into the tent. He washed his feet, gave him the best seat, and set meat before him. The old man ate his supper in silence, but he offered no prayer before he ate.
"Why dost thou not first worship the God of heaven?" asked Abraham.
"I worship fire only; I know no other God," said the old man.
At that Abraham was very angry and drove his guest out into the dark night. Then God called Abraham and said to him:—
"Where is that stranger who was in thy tent?"
"I thrust him out," said the patriarch, "because he did not worship Thee."
  Then God answered Abraham out of heaven:—
"I have suffered him these hundred years, although he did not honor me, and couldst thou not endure him one night when he gave thee no trouble?"
Then was Abraham very sorry, and went and brought the old man back, and gave him rest and sent him on his way in the morning.


From the Book of Legends by Horace E Scudder