[Translation is mostly Soncino, but some of its mine.]
It was said of R. Eleazar b. Dordia that he liked the ladies. Once, after hearing about the unsurpassed excellence of a certain harlot in one of the towns by the sea he took a purse of money and crossed seven rivers to reac her.
As he came unto her, she expelled a gasp of air [yes, this means what you think it means] and said: "As this blown air will not return to its place, so will Eleazar b. Dordia never be received in repentance."
He thereupon went, sat between two hills and mountains and exclaimed: "O, ye hills and mountains, plead for mercy for me!"
They replied: "How shall we pray for thee? We stand in need of it ourselves, for it is said, For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed!" [Note: In this homily "hills and mountains" represent those external forces we can't control.]
He then exclaimed: "Sun and moon, plead ye for mercy for me!"
But they also replied: "How shall we pray for thee? We stand in need of it ourselves, for it is said, Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed." [Here, the "sun and moon represent" the natural cycles or intenral forces we can't control.]
He exclaimed: "Ye stars and galaxies plead ye for mercy for me! Said they: How shall we pray for thee? We stand in need of it ourselves, for it is said, And all the hosts of heaven shall moulder away. " [Stars and galaxies represent the luck and the accidents and the coincidences that are beyond our control.]
Said he: "The matter then depends upon me alone!"
--
Everyone get that last bit? ON YOU ALONE.
You. Not your Rabbi. You. Not your wife. You. Not you upbringing, your background, your training. Not your moods, your maladies, your shortcomings. Not your genes, not the dice, not the luck of the draw.
You. You. You.
So, just do your very best. Just buckle down, and use the the brain God gave you, and you'll be fine. Follow this prescription and God can have no complaint against you. I mean, what else could He want? What else could He expect? The world is built on truth, and truth is discovered only through argument and observation.
(Incidently: In this way, Ed and XGH are identical. Both are doing their best, and pursuing the truth with all the honesty they posses. Therefore, about them I say: eilu v'eilu.)
It was said of R. Eleazar b. Dordia that he liked the ladies. Once, after hearing about the unsurpassed excellence of a certain harlot in one of the towns by the sea he took a purse of money and crossed seven rivers to reac her.
As he came unto her, she expelled a gasp of air [yes, this means what you think it means] and said: "As this blown air will not return to its place, so will Eleazar b. Dordia never be received in repentance."
He thereupon went, sat between two hills and mountains and exclaimed: "O, ye hills and mountains, plead for mercy for me!"
They replied: "How shall we pray for thee? We stand in need of it ourselves, for it is said, For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed!" [Note: In this homily "hills and mountains" represent those external forces we can't control.]
He then exclaimed: "Sun and moon, plead ye for mercy for me!"
But they also replied: "How shall we pray for thee? We stand in need of it ourselves, for it is said, Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed." [Here, the "sun and moon represent" the natural cycles or intenral forces we can't control.]
He exclaimed: "Ye stars and galaxies plead ye for mercy for me! Said they: How shall we pray for thee? We stand in need of it ourselves, for it is said, And all the hosts of heaven shall moulder away. " [Stars and galaxies represent the luck and the accidents and the coincidences that are beyond our control.]
Said he: "The matter then depends upon me alone!"
--
Everyone get that last bit? ON YOU ALONE.
You. Not your Rabbi. You. Not your wife. You. Not you upbringing, your background, your training. Not your moods, your maladies, your shortcomings. Not your genes, not the dice, not the luck of the draw.
You. You. You.
So, just do your very best. Just buckle down, and use the the brain God gave you, and you'll be fine. Follow this prescription and God can have no complaint against you. I mean, what else could He want? What else could He expect? The world is built on truth, and truth is discovered only through argument and observation.
(Incidently: In this way, Ed and XGH are identical. Both are doing their best, and pursuing the truth with all the honesty they posses. Therefore, about them I say: eilu v'eilu.)
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