What’s on your bucket list? Rabbi Moshe Bryski
The story of 1,090 people who ignored the famous violinist. Where were they going? Why were they rushing? Why do they need to do those things?
Is everything we do preparation for something else?
Sam Walton built Walmart, the greatest company in the world but didn’t have time for his family. On his deathbed, he said, “I blew it. Looking back, I blew it. I blew life.”
“I intend to live forever, and so far, so good.” — Steven Wright
“My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying.” — Rodney Dangerfield
If all we do is rush from one thing to another, it becomes very difficult to imagine any existence beyond the physical.
How do you know you have a soul? “I don’t have a soul. I am a soul. I have a body. My soul is who I am. My body is housing the soul in this iteration of existence.” — Rabbi Avrohom Twersky
Souls don’t die. We will know more about this when we get there. For now, make every day count.
Death closes the curtain on our free will and ability to do good deeds.
Compile our own bucket list, but change the term. Call it a life list, things we want to accomplish in life. Put the exotic stuff aside, unless it is truly a part of you.
Establish a weekly ritual to call your parents once a week. Read the 5 books of Moses, then the Prophets. Go to shul at least once per month, or more. Pick one year to experience every Jewish holiday. Put on Tefillin more often. Mentor someone. Make a difference in another human being’s life. Make a Jewish shidduch. Visit lonely seniors.
Make your goals have lasting and enduring value. Acts of goodness and kindness. Answer the questions to the “why” of life.
Never miss an opportunity to attend a family simcha. As long as we pass on traditions to our children, Judaism will continue to thrive. That should be our legacy. Judaism is not just a religion. Judaism is the hope, guarantee and promise for the Jewish people and all of humanity.