Faith demands that we engage in a delicate dance of both relinquishing control to an authority above us and acting within our full human capacity to realize our dreams.

We are too restless to appreciate the abundance that God has given us and instead of bowing deeply for Modim (prayer of gratitude), we are stuck in one long Taḥanun (supplication of lowliness).

When Moses was called he answered, “Hineni.” I am in the moment. I am fully present. I have answered the call to holiness. Only in that state will the impossible become possible.

Happiness in Premodern Judaism, Hava Tirosh-Samuelson

The happy person keeps good company and delights in study. Excellence of character, she believes, is “a healthy departure from the relentless pursuit of material goods, wealth, power, and celebrity that characterizes much of our childish culture.”

God obligates us to be holy not because it is a stretch for us that is aspirational but unachievable. He demands it of us because God believes we can become holy.

Self-pity is an easy place to visit.

Adam sinned and disobeyed God but since he never offered up his grief, he had no idea that teshuva was possible.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks points out that teshuva means that our past does not dictate our future.