My Mesorah is a reflection of a wide range of traditional opinions and thinkers. At my core
I adhere to the rationalistic philosophy most famously presented by Maimonides
along with the more recent works of R. Joseph Soloveitchik and his discussions
of the challenges of blending a modern, liberal education with a life dedicated
to Torah and mitzvoth. I’ve also been strongly influenced by the teachings of
Hasidim, specifically R. Nachman of Breslov, and the R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi
and their teachings on the importance of simplicity, innocence and joy in the
service of God.
Words, written by others that do a good job of describing how I feel about the world
The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living. - Abraham Joshua Heschel
Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything. - Kurt Vonnegut
Faith is not certainty. It is the courage to live with uncertainty. It is not knowing all the answers. It is often the strength to live with the questions. It is not a sense of invulnerability. It is the knowledge that we are utterly vulnerable, but that it is precisely in our vulnerability that we reach out to God, and through this learn to reach out to others, able to understand their fears and doubts. We learn to share, and in sharing discover the road to freedom. It is only because we are not gods that we are able to discover God. - Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Like most of the others, I was a seeker, a mover, a malcontent and at times a stupid hell raiser. I was never idle long enough to do much thinking, but I felt somehow that my instincts were right. I shared a vagrant optimism that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top. At the same time, I shared a dark suspicion that the life we were leading was a lost cause, that we were all actors, kidding ourselves along on a senseless odyssey. It was the tension between these two poles - a restless idealism on one hand and a sense of impending doom on the other - that kept me going. - Hunter S. Thompson, “The Rum Diary”
Why shouldn’t truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to stick to the possibilities. - Mark Twain
The point of living and of being an optimist is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to come.
The only guide to man is his conscience; the only shield to his memory is the rectitude and sincerity of his actions. It is very imprudent to walk through life without this shield, because we are so often mocked by the failure of our hopes and the upsetting of our calculations; but with this shield, however the fates may play, we march always in the ranks of honor. - Winston Churchill
Our job is not to set up a battleground to eradicate evil, but to search out its spark of holiness. Our task is not to destroy but to build; not to hate but to find a place of yielding; not to polarize but to discover points of commonality so that we can work together. Learn this dear friends it will serve you well. - Reb Zalman Schachter Shalomi
Who is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing - Oscar Wilde
Be careful to act with true innocence and simplicity but not foolishly. Sophistication however, is quite unnecessary. Simplicity, innocence and faith can bring you to the highest level of joy. - Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Litukey Moharan
The most fundamental principle of all is that man must create himself. - Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, Halakhic Man
