Truman Capote on hovering b/t the vertical & horizontal - a great lesson for any art

Defying Space & Time

The Ark’s “physics” teach us that the two goals are not mutually exclusive. The Ark transcended the spatial, yet retained all of its qualities. In the same way, no matter how high a person reaches, his attainments always can, and must, be made part of his pedestrian, human self.

A life lived according to Torah (which the Ark, container of the Ten Commandments, represents) enables man to reach beyond the confines and dictates of his physical environment and society. At the same time, it insists that he make this greater reality his reality — that it become an integral part of his own nature, character and everyday behavior.

Bereishit: Turning Inspiration into Action

A story that aptly illustrates this point is told about two Chassidim: a father and son who were absorbed in studying Torah. Suddenly, a baby (the son’s child who was sleeping in the next room) fell out of its crib and started crying. The son was concentrating so hard, he didn’t hear it. The father heard and went to tend to the baby. When he returned, he said, “If you don’t hear the desperate crying of a child, what value is there to your Torah study? Torah study is meant to refine you, to teach you how to help another person, to hear the cry of one in need!” Ask yourself: What kind of life are you leading: a materialistic life, a spiritual life, or a G-dly life?

What's Wrong with our Educational System?

Jacobson: At the outset I should say that whenever you deal with any type of tragedy of this nature, it’s very difficult to talk about it in a logical and organized way, but when you put yourself, G-d forbid, in the shoes of the parents and family that have been broken and will be broken forever because of this unfortunate incident, then you know that after all the hype in the newspapers and all the radio talkshows and everyone finishes and exhausts their thoughts about it, and the psychiatrists and the psychologists and the educators and the President, etc., these people will live with this for the rest of their lives.

How to Find Joy in Your Life

So the topic that I’d like to discuss is “Joy.” And the reason for it is that we are now in the Hebrew month of Adar on the Jewish calendar. The month of Adar is considered to be the happiest month in the Jewish calendar as it contains Purim, the happiest day of the year. Purim is essentially a day of joy, which in Hebrew the word is “simcha.” I was looking around for different words with which to translate the word “simcha”—exuberance, happiness, gladness—but I think joy is the right word.

Two Secrets to a Balanced Life

Yet, try as we might, tranquility defies us. Who does not struggle, for instance, from the conflict between home life and career? Between your personal standards and the demands of the marketplace? Between the need to survive and the yearning for transcendence? Who has not in some ways compromised their idealism due to the peer and social pressure? In one way or another, we all suffer from various conflicts in our lives. Often these struggles lead to anxiety and other forms of emotional debilitation.