Sometimes it seems impossible to forgive, for the act committed was too offensive. Here, Elisabeth Mann could us teach many lessons about tolerance, love, anger, and forgiveness. Elisabeth has much to be angry about. When she was a teenager, she and her family were rounded up...
During the late 1940s, India was engulfed in religious wars as the nation prepared for independence from Great Britain. A Hindu whose son was murdered by Muslims during the internal strife went to see Mahatma Gandhi and asked, “How can I possibly forgive the Muslims?...
Elisabeth Mann must still forgive herself daily for one of those tragic “what if” situations she was thrust into when she was so young. When her family arrived in Auschwitz, they stood before armed guards who asked her how old her brother was. She told them...
Despite all these jokes, kisses and embraces, there was still a silence within me that left me suffering and isolated in the heart of the crowd. - Orhan Pamuk ‘The pre-eminence of man over beast is "Ayin," non-existent.’ (From the Yom Kippur Vidui) The Ba'al HaTanya read...
Any road followed precisely to its end leads precisely nowhere. - Frank Herbert He does everything he is supposed to do. He follows the letter of the law. He prays every word when it is the proper time. He measures the water he uses to wash his...
Teshuva Brings Forgiveness to the Entire World The most important of the ten confessions of Yom Kippur is the one before Yom Kippur begins. We must confess before the holiday. We are concerned that someone may choke and die before having a chance to confess, therefore,...
We have provoked and angered God. (Artscroll Vidui) “Woe to a sinful nation, a people heavy with iniquity, evil doing seed, corrupt children. They forsook God, they provoked – Niatzu – the Holy One