Ron Goldschlager - The Mystery of You: A Journey Through the Paradoxes of Life

Published by Hybrid Publishers

Melbourne Victoria Australia

Ron Goldschlager, Adin Steinsaltz 2010

This publication is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the publisher. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction should be addressed to the Publisher,

Hybrid Publishers,

PO Box 52, Ormond 3204.

First published 2010

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Author: Goldschlager, Ronald.

Title: The mystery of you : living life /

Ronald Goldschlager, Adin Steinsaltz.

ISBN: 9781876462987 (hbk.)

Subjects: Ethics.

Jewish philosophy.

Other Authors/Contributors: Steinsaltz, Adin.

Dewey Number: 170

Cover design: Dynamic Creations

All paintings in this book and on the cover by Victor Majzner

Photo of Rabbi Steinsaltz on back flap by Emmanuel Santos

Editing and translation of some of Rabbi Steinsaltzs articles:

Yehudit Shabta

www.mysteryofyou.com

Digital Editions Published by

Port Campbell Press

www.portcampbellpress.com.au

ISBN: 9781877006807 (Epub)

Introduction Ron Goldschlager

1: Ageing

2: Belief and Bureaucracy

3: Continuity

4: Behaviour

5: Water, Life and Numbers

6: Happiness

7: Science or Religion and Religion or Science

Afterword

The Confrontation of the Yetzer Ha-ra

Rabbi Adin Even Yisrael Steinsaltz

Preface

Starting in the Middle

The One and the Many

From Childhood to Old Age

When ...

Are You Satisfied with Where You Are Now in Your Life?

The Fear of Loneliness

Death Shall Be Defeated

The Significance of the Giving of the Torah

The Religious Question

Different Types of Human Knowledge

On the Impracticability of Returning

Homecoming

The World Should Endure Because of the Children; They Deserve It

Educating Desire

Deed and Intention

Yearly Stocktaking

Strengths in the Soul

A Torah of Life

The Inner Meaning of the Giving of the Torah

Freedom Without Content is Another Kind of Slavery

Diaspora as a Dream

Divine Providence and Faith

Succoth

Preparing for the New Year

On Science and Religion Some General Thoughts

Innocence and Modern Man

Technology Does Not Change Mans Problems

The Question of Purpose

Half-Wisdom

The Reparation of the Intelligentsia

Heroism

Notes on Paintings by Victor Majzner

Life is like a roller coaster

Pulling us along

Driving us at rapid pace

No song, no face, just race!

Perceptions do become the rule

No time to dig, just run

The superficiality routine becomes reality

Daily normality no fun.

A break, a rest, some time to jest

To sleep, to breathe at best.

To search for depth, to keep, to make

Life full of what to take?

We work and play, we move and stay

Each day another challenge

We live, we search, we hope, we find, we hold

The truth be told

We trust, we grow, we mellow.

Ron Goldschlager

How young are you? Are you satisfied with your life? Do you have fresh challenges ahead and new things to look forward to? Are you suffering from unfulfilled expectations? Have you come to terms with who you are and what life is about?

I am already closer to sixty years young rather than fifty years old. Sounds like a contradiction? I dont think so.

I have been writing these thoughts for well over ten years now; a bit here and some more there. It has been challenging as well as fun. My thoughts rush through my mind, but move from pen to paper ever so slowly. I print each word in bold characters, letter by letter. No clear plan initially, just a flow of ideas and experiences. My left hand struggles to keep up and smudges over the inked lines written on the sheets of paper as it steers my pen.

Although I have a very busy life with no spare time, I always have the impulse to write: a bit in airplanes, some more during vacations, occasionally taking an hour off on the run or late at night. Even a few minutes in the car, in between the normal rush, but always moving forward, finding just little snippets of time to write, then to write a bit more and to write in between everything else.

Thomas Nisell is more like a brother than a friend. Affectionately called Schwedi (Swede, in Hebrew), he made aliyah (immigration; literally ascent) to Israel from his native Sweden. We have much more than salmon, herrings and fine whisky in common. Thomas is blessed to be the personal assistant of Rabbi Adin Even Yisrael Steinsaltz. I am indeed fortunate to have Thomas as a brother and the Rabbi as a soul mate.

The Rabbi read these chapters in draft form. We had an amazing time together at the Vatican in Rome over six years ago at an interfaith dialogue; we stayed there for nearly a week and made time to work on this book. I will never forget one particular session one afternoon. We were sitting by an old wooden table in the old kitchen of the old gatehouse in the beautiful garden of the old Piccolomini Estate, next to St Peters. We became silent and just looked at each other. We felt exhausted.

I noticed the time. It was starting to get darker outside. We had been discussing and thinking and talking intensely for over three and a half hours in that session, yet it seemed like no time at all. We had battled about the nature of the yetzer ha-ra (evil inclination) as against the yetzer ha-tov (the good inclination). It was a formidable battle. I felt weightless. I was just floating around the room feeling totally exhausted. It was difficult to keep my eyes open. I felt like drifting off to sleep.

It was time for Mincha (the afternoon prayer). The Rabbi just looked at me with those incredible eyes of his eyes that can see what others do not see, eyes filled with caring, love and compassion, eyes which were tearing, eyes revealing a depth of human understanding beyond our normal experience.

I met Yehudit Shabta in Jerusalem only about four years ago. She was recommended to me by my friend Thomas Nisell. Yehudit had spent many years working in the Steinsaltz institutions. She is a translator and editor with much practical experience, which includes working on many of the Rabbis books. Prior to my visit, we sent her a draft copy of my writings for preliminary evaluation.

It was motzei Shabbat (Saturday night, after the Sabbath is over). We had arranged to meet in the lobby of my hotel a public place, yet somewhere where we could talk. Somehow, we seemed to recognise each other and sat down at a table. We ordered weak black teas and started talking. We seemed to feel comfortable. I showed her photos of my family. When we got to the subject of this book, Yehudit was very polite. Without wishing to cause any offence, she softly tried to explain that she didnt think she could do the job. We agreed to meet at the Rabbis office the next morning.

I arrived first and had a coffee with Schwedi.