Bob Dylan

"If Not for You" (Alternate Take)

"If not for you
Babe, I couldn’t find the door
Couldn’t even see the floor
I’d be sad and blue
If not for you

If not for you
Babe, I’d lay awake all night
Wait for the mornin’ light
To shine in through
But it would not be new
If not for you

If not for you
My sky would fall
Rain would gather too
Without your love I’d be nowhere at all
I’d be lost if not for you
And you know it’s true

If not for you
My sky would fall
Rain would gather too
Without your love I’d be nowhere at all
Oh! what would I do
If not for you

If not for you
Winter would have no spring
Couldn’t hear the robin sing
I just wouldn’t have a clue
Anyway it wouldn’t ring true
If not for you"

Israel

"L'Chayim": Adi Schwartz and Einat Wilf ("The War of Return")

The greatest beauty grows at the greatest distance from the ego.

"God in Search of Man", Abraham Joshua Heschel
 

Torah

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on Torah Study

Yiddish

"Mentshn-Fresser" (1916 Yiddish Pandemic Ballad), Sveta Kundish & Daniel Kahn

Vida

Grasshoppers, Argentina

Korach

"Korach and the Pandemic- A Second Look",

Shabbat Sermon by Rabbi Wolpe (27/6/2020) 

Coronavírus

"Ethics and Coronavirus", Rabbi Shai Held & Prof. Michael Sandel 

Berlim

Berlin's Rabbinical Seminary (1898)

"The Temple Entrance", Aert de Gelder (1679)

Prayer without Kavvanah is like a body without the soul.

Old saying

Norman Lamm

Interview (2008)

Vida

 

An Eurasian grey wolf moves past a vulture-watching site in the Madzharovo valley, Bulgaria

Coronavírus

Interview with Rabbi Arthur Green

Shavuot

“A Life of Vertical & Horizontal Responsibility: Shavuot During the Coronavirus Pandemic”, 

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis & Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Sara

"Cries and Whispers: The Life of Sarah", Avivah Zornberg

'Full-page miniature of the twelve rods with the flourishing rod of Aaron in the middle'. 

from ‘The Northern French Miscellany’, France (1277-1286)

Medo

"Dybbuks, Golems, S. An-ski, and Jewish Legends in Times of Fear", Gabriella Safran

Hassidismo

"Space and Spirit, or How to Make a Historical Atlas of Hasidism", Marcin Wodziński

Vida

A mountain blue bird takes flight in the US

It is the state bird of Idaho and Nevada, and its breeding habitat is open country across western North America

Bob Dylan

"I've Made Up my Mind to give Myself to You"

"I'm sittin' on my terrace, lost in the stars
Listening to the sounds of the sad guitars
Been thinking it all over and I've thought it all through
I've made up my mind to give myself to you

I saw the first fall of snow
I saw the flowers come and go
I don't think that anyone ever else ever knew
I've made up my mind to give myself to you

I'm giving myself to you, I am
From Salt Lake City to Birmingham
From East L.A. to San Antone
I don't think I can bear to live my life alone

My eye is like a shooting star
It looks at nothin' here or there, looks at nothin' near or far
No one ever told me, it's just something I knew
I've made up my mind to give myself to you

If I had the wings of a snow white dove
I'd preach the gospel, the gospel of love
A love so real, a love so true
I've made up my mind to give myself to you

Take me out traveling, you're a traveling man
Show me something I don't understand
I'm not what I was, things aren't what they were
I'll go far away from home with her

I traveled a long road of despair
I met no other traveler there
Lot of people gone, lot of people I knew
I've made up my mind to give myself to you

Well, my heart's like a river, a river that sings
Just takes me a while to realize things
I've seen the sunrise, I've seen the dawn
I'll lay down beside you when everyone's gone

I've traveled from the mountains to the sea
I hope that the gods go easy with me
I knew you'd say yes, I'm saying it too
I've made up my mind to give myself to you"

José

"Joseph’s Dream", Illustrators of the Holman Bible (1890)

Brody

Jewish Cemetery

Yossele Rosenblatt

"Eili Eili", Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt (1917)

Espiões

"Spying out Canaan", Caspar Luyken (1708)

Israel

    "אלה לי ,"זוט עני  

Vida

 

A Darwin’s flycatcher or little vermilion flycatcher (Pyrocephalus nanus) in the Santa Cruz island of the Galápagos

Where they have burned books, they will end up burning people.

Heinrich Heine 
 

Judith Shklar

(1966)

David Hartman

 "Can Religious Passion be channeled for the sake of Peace?" (1996)

Think that the letters of prayer
      are the garments of God.
What a joy to be making a garment
      for the greatest of kings!
Enter into every letter with all your strenght.
God dwells within each letter;
       as you enter it, you become one with God.

Tsava'at ha-Rivash, 108, p.50

Jacob

"Jacob’s Dream", Aert de Gelder (1710-1715)

Êxodo

"The Israelites' Exodus", Aviva Zornberg

Vida

Green turtles nest at the world’s largest green turtle rookery on Raine Island, Australia, a remote vegetated coral cay 
 

Rabbi Louis Jacobs

Arca da Aliança

"Crossing of the Jordan River with the Ark of the Covenant", Juan Montero de Rojas (c. 1667)

Baal Shem Tov

Rabbi Arthur Green on the Ba'al Shem Tov (c. 2009)

Aleppo

 

A photograph of the interior of the Western wing of the Central Synagogue of Aleppo (early 20th century)

Moisés

 

Miniature of Moses hitting the rock in the desert to bring forth water with two Israelites behind his back

The feeling of futility that comes with the sense of being useless, of not being needed in the world, is the most common cause of psychoneurosis.
The only way to avoid despair is to be a need rather than an end. Happiness, in fact, may be defined as the certainty of being needed. 

"Man is not Alone, Abraham J. Heschel, pp. 194-195
 

Vida

 

Nachum

Tomb of the Jewish Prophet Nahum in Al-qosh, Iraq

Bob Dylan

"Masters of War"

"Come you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion'
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand over your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead"

Moisés

"Moses", Vasilij Ivanovič Denisov (1912)

Criação

"The Triumph of Creation", Shai Held 

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה רְאֵ֛ה נְתַתִּ֥יךָ אֱלֹהִ֖ים לְפַרְעֹ֑ה וְאַהֲרֹ֥ן אָחִ֖יךָ יִהְיֶ֥ה נְבִיאֶֽךָ

The LORD replied to Moses, “See, I place you in the role of God to Pharaoh, with your brother Aaron as your prophet.

Exodus 7:1

Aleppo

The Central Synagogue of Aleppo (before 1940)

Avivah Zornberg

"The Pit and the Rope: Joseph and Judah"

Vida

Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo

Tel Aviv

Video Walk in the City Center (2020)

Bob Dylan

"False Prophet"

Another day that don't end
Another ship goin' out
Another day of anger, bitterness, and doubt
I know how it happened
I saw it begin
I opened my heart to the world and the world came in

Hello Mary Lou
Hello Miss Pearl
My fleet-footed guides from the underworld
No stars in the sky shine brighter than you
You girls mean business and I do too

Well I'm the enemy of treason
Enemy of strife
Enemy of the unlived meaningless life
I ain't no false prophet
I just know what I know
I go where only the lonely can go

I'm first among equals
Second to none
Last of the best
You can bury the rest
Bury 'em naked with their silver and gold
Put them six feet under and pray for their souls

What are you lookin' at
There's nothing to see
Just a cool breeze that's encircling me
Let's go for a walk in the garden
So far and so wide
We can sit in the shade by the fountain-side

I search the world over
For the Holy Grail
I sing songs of love
I sing songs of betrayal
Don't care what I drink
Don't care what I eat
I climbed the mountains of swords on my bare feet

You don't know me darlin'
You never would guess
I'm nothing like my ghostly appearance would suggest
I ain't no false prophet
I just said what I said
I'm just here to bring vengeance on somebody's head

Put out your hand
There's nothing to hold
Open your mouth
I'll stuff it with gold
Oh you poor devil look up if you will
The city of God is there on the hill

Hello stranger
A long goodbye
You ruled the land
But so do I
You lost your mule
You got a poison brain
I'll marry you to a ball and chain

You know darlin'
The kind of life that I live
When your smile meets my smile something's got to give
I ain't no false prophet
No I'm nobody's bride
Can't remember when I was born
And I forgot when I died 

Czernowitz

Paul Celan

"Écrire pour rester humain" (2015)

Farhud

Baghdad, Iraq, (June 1–2, 1941)

Hassidismo

"Historical Atlas of Hasidism", Marcin Wodzinski (2019)

Vida

 

A pelagia noctiluca ( Medusa luminosa) - or mauve stinger - jellyfish drifts off the coast of north Lebanon

Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites.
Say to them:  
   “May the Lord bless you and protect you.   
     May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.
     May the Lord turn His face toward you and grant you peace.”’  
Let them put My name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

Numbers 6:23-27
 

Leonard Cohen

"I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen" (2013)

Brody

The Great Synagogue in Brody (construction began in 1742)

Jerusalém

Walking in Jerusalem, Israel

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י בֶּן־אָדָ֕ם אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־תִּמְצָ֖א אֱכ֑וֹל אֱכוֹל֙ אֶת־הַמְּגִלָּ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את וְלֵ֥ךְ דַּבֵּ֖ר אֶל־בֵּ֥ית יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

He said to me, “Mortal, eat what is offered you; eat this scroll, and go speak to the House of Israel.” 

וָאֶפְתַּ֖ח אֶת־פִּ֑י וַיַּ֣אֲכִלֵ֔נִי אֵ֖ת הַמְּגִלָּ֥ה הַזֹּֽאת

So I opened my mouth, and He gave me this scroll to eat, 

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֗י בֶּן־אָדָם֙ בִּטְנְךָ֤ תַֽאֲכֵל֙ וּמֵעֶ֣יךָ תְמַלֵּ֔א אֵ֚ת הַמְּגִלָּ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנִ֖י נֹתֵ֣ן אֵלֶ֑יךָ וָאֹ֣כְלָ֔ה וַתְּהִ֥י בְּפִ֖י כִּדְבַ֥שׁ לְמָתֽוֹק)

as He said to me, “Mortal, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I give you.” I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey to me. 

Ezekiel 3:1-3

Israel

(around 830 BCE)

Vida

Long-finned pilot whales ( Globicephala melas) are seen on a sunny day off the coast off Catalonia, Spain