Alleyways To Torah

Things to remember:

That each situation in which we find ourselves did not happen by accident: we are here, now, in this place, among these people, in these circumstances, so that we can do the act or say the word that will heal one of the fractures of the world;

that it is not the most wealthy or powerful or successful or self important who make the greatest difference or engender the greatest love;

that pain and loneliness are forms of energy that can be transformed if we turn them outward, using them to recognize and redeem someone else's pain or loneliness;

that those who spend at least part of their lives in service of others are the most fulfilled and happiest people I know;

that what counts is not how much wealth we make but how much of what we have, we share;

There is a Hebrew word, a key term of the Bible, for which there is no precise English translation: simchah, usually translated as 'joy'. What it really means is the happiness we share, or better still, the happiness we make by sharing.

That where what we want to do meets what needs to be done, that is where G-d wants us to be.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

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