I went to my brother’s temple for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. My brother lives outside of Nashville and I live in Indian Trail, NC. I didn’t have to shave or put on a suit. I didn’t have to drive 8 hours. Instead, I turned on the TV and tuned to You Tube. Services were being broadcast across the country on ZOOM or You Tube, making it easy for anyone who wanted to join in to do so.
While I was on You Tube, I looked up the synagogue of my youth and was delighted to find that Rabbi Panitz, a brilliant theologian who communicates better than most clergy I have listened to, has multiple of his sermons posted for interested people to enjoy and appreciate. I also found a treasure trove of theologians discussing various religious topics. Rabbi Friedman’s podcast entitled, “The Soul and the Afterlife. Where do we go from here?” was of particular interest.
As Renee and I age, my belief system continues to change and evolve. I continue to have lots of questions and no answers. I’ve been complaining for months that there was nothing to do and nothing that held my interest or was intellectually stimulating. I think I’ve found the answer to my boredom. You Tube has come to the rescue with many hours of stimulating beliefs to devour and process.
Rabbi Friedman’s podcast was a good start and a believable explanation. My current belief is that there is a hell and we are in it. I figure heaven must exist and must be really well run. Over the years, I’ve had a host of patients who complained about everything. Some of them bitched about everything to the extent that I fully expected that once they died, they would come back. I would not have been surprised had their ghost awakened me with complaints: “The food is terrible, the beds are too hard, my roommate is too loud, you have to wait for everything!”
Oh well, I’ll listen, learn and one day discover. Unfortunately, by the time I’ve discovered the truth, I’ll be dead. I wonder if I’ll publish a blog in heaven or wherever I end up.
Here’s your music and a joke.
A cab driver reaches the pearly gates. St. Peter looks him up in his Big Book and tells him to pick up a gold staff and a silk robe and proceed into Heaven. Next in line is a preacher. St. Peter looks him up in his Big Book, furrows his brow and says, “OK, we’ll let you in, but take that cloth robe and wooden staff.” The preacher is shocked and replies, “But I am a man of the cloth. You gave that cab driver a gold staff and a silk robe. Surely I rate higher than a cabbie!” St. Peter responds matter-of-factly, “This is Heaven and up here, we are interested in results. When you preached, people slept. When the cabbie drove his taxi, people prayed.”
