Rabbi Kedar's blog

Playing with Three Strings 

Yitzhak Perlman  

                Walks the stage with braces on both legs.

                On two crutches.

 Takes his seat, unhinges the clasps on his legs,

               Tucking on leg back, extending the other,

A major difference between achievers and leaders is the way they see resources. Successful individuals think in terms of what they can do. Successful leaders, on the other hand, see every situation in terms of available resources: money, raw materials, technology and, most important, people. They never forget that people are their greatest asset.

John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Thirst

Another morning and I wake with thirst

for the goodness I do not have. I walk

out to the pond and all the way God has

given us such beautiful lessons. Oh Lord,

I was never a quick scholar but sulked

and hunched over my books past the

hour and the bell; grant me, in your

mercy, a little more time. Love for the

earth and love for you are having such a

long conversation in my heart. Who

knows what will finally happen or

where I will be sent, yet already I have

Avoiding the Mud

Reb Meir of Premishlan and Reb Yisrael of Ruzhin were the best of friends, yet no two people could be more different. Reb Meir lived in great poverty. He never allowed even a penny to spend the night in his house but would rush outside to give it to the poor. Reb Yisrael, on the other hand, lived like a king.

These two friends once met as each was preparing to take a journey. Reb Meir was sitting on a simple cart drawn by one scrawny horse. Reb Yisrael was housed in a rich lacquered coach pulled by four powerful stallions.

Discovery

No one ever told me the coming of the Messiah

Could be an inward thing;

No one ever told me a change of heart

Might be as quiet as new-fallen snow.

No one ever told me that redemption

Was as simple as springtime and as wonderful

As birds returning after a long winter,

Rose-breasted grosbeaks singing in the swaying branches

Of a newly budded tree.

No one ever told me that salvation

Might be like a fresh spring wind