Hassagot השגות

Golden River

    A golden river flowed through the town.  The people delighted in the river's fresh water.  The water was sweet and bestowed health.  When one poured the water through a sieve, grains of precious gold gathered.  The townspeople had long been hearty and hard-working, and they labored happily to draw the water and sift it for its gold.  From this gold, they wove garments and made delightful implements.  Their town became known as a golden land.   

    As the years progressed, the people tired of drawing the water.  They hired other people to do the work for them.   They continued to wear garments of gold, but tired of their splendor.  Frequently, they yawned.

    It happened quickly.  People said, "The river has lost its gold."  In truth, the water still ran with gold, but with much less than before.  The townspeople continued to wear their golden garments and complained of their poverty.  In addition to yawning, they began to throw up their hands.

    The people worried.  They felt they must do something to address the thinning gold.  However, mostly they flailed their hands.   In this way, they sometimes hit each other unwittingly.  They pursued small savings but were afraid to consider large ones.   Their listlessness increased.

    Once, one said, "Things will go very badly."  The people nodded their heads in approval.

    One said, "Things may go well. "  The people continued to wave their hands and did not hear.

-- H. A. Massig המשיג

Timekeepers

    In those days, there were timekeepers.  They had watches, clocks, and chronometers of all kinds.  Some had hands and some displayed numbers.   At first, they were able to keep track of the day according to the sun or the moon.  Then, they learned how to keep track of the hours.  With passing generations, they devised ways to count minutes and seconds.  As their timekeeping progressed, they were no longer able to imagine years, days, hours, and minutes.  They could only grasp seconds and nanoseconds.

    There were others who could not keep time.  They were perpetually late or early.   They held on to the minutes, the hours, days, and years.

    The first group considered the second quaint.  You are not living in the present, they said.

--  H. A. Massig המשיג

Encountering speech

Many flocked to the man of many words.  He spoke with eloquence and his speech was coherent. 

Few flocked to the silent man.  He had nothing to teach.

Of these men, an ancient riddle was told:  He who speaks many words shares no wisdom and signifies only something.   The silent man conveys all wisdom.

-- H. A. Massig המשיג

The Old Man Sighed

The old man sighed.  In his generation, nothing more was said.
In the next generation, one said, "the old man sighed in pain."
In the third generation, one said, "the old man sighed in pain because of the sorrow of death."
One said, "Death comes into the world through the folly of man.  The old man thought on this and sighed."
Later, one said, "There is so much pain in the world.  The old man carved out a space in which compassion could grow.  His sigh carved out that space."
Yet another said, "In order to rid the world of pain, much work must be done.  This work entails much exertion.  Having done some of the work, one must express his exhaustion.  This is why the old man sighed, to teach that we, likewise, must sigh."
And so it was that, generation after generation, men reflected on the old man's sigh.  Their reflections grew into a many branched tree with bounteous leaves, ripe fruit, and copious shade for a weary traveler.

-- המשיג  H. Massig

Inverted Pyramids

    In the many lands, people built pyramids.  They brought immense stones on rollers.  Many slaves toiled for a single pyramid.  Leaders such as Oz and Mand looked on with satisfaction while their peoples suffered.  Noble memorials were these and, with the passing of the storms of time, last remnants of great regimes.

    Some in these lands built inverted pyramids.  They strove to build an inverted pyramid that would always stand on one point.  All the architects scoffed at their work: "An inverted pyramid can never stand."  Indeed, the builders of inverted pyramids were required to support their structures with scaffolding. 

The builders of inverted pyramids were not content with their work.  Not knowing how to build, they continued to add to their pyramids.  The pyramids might grow to unwieldy size, yet on they built.  So it goes till this very day.

    A visitor to the many lands will see ancient pyramids, but few ancient inverted pyramids.  For as soon as an inverted pyramid falls to the ground--as it is wont to do--its material turns to dust.  Yet on the builders build, knowing that, at some point, the great architect will provide them with a plan for an inverted pyramid that will stand always on one point.

-- H. A. Massig המשיג

Once very just people reigned

Once very just people reigned. They were people of great sensitivity and ethical perfection. These people wielded sharp pens and wore glasses that allowed them to see the failings in others. Whenever they saw a failing, they had their pens sharpened and wrote a missive. Those who sharpened their pens and read their missives made up their army. So long as the people in the realm of the just wrote and read missives, justice was the rule of the land.

In the reign of the just lived people who were not-just. Some of the not-just wielded spades, hoes, and hammers. These people tilled the earth and built houses and other buildings. They worked long hours but were not just. Others among the not-just were wealthy and used their wealth to purchase or build. These latter often made compromises that invited long missives from the just.

The not-just had dirty hands. Sometimes their hands were caked with dirt. Sometimes they were calloused. Sometimes they were streaked with the fat of chickens or blotched with traces of compromise and power.

-- H. A. Massig המשיג

What became of the house

For a long time, they lived without a house.  Sometimes, they lived in tents.  On other occasions, the tents were knocked down and they traveled from place to place looking for a spot to pitch their tent in peace.

They experienced a peaceful time when their tent was secure.  Their tent grew and they rejoiced.  It was at this moment that a great storm came and destroyed much of their tent.

Soon after that, they merited to build a house.  Happy they in their new house!  Many celebrated its dedication and found shelter in its chambers.

Some bored of the house.   They could not recall the tents, the winds that blew them, the destructive storms that buffeted them.

Some mistook the house for a great mansion.  However, since it was not a mansion, they blamed its imperfections on those who directed the house.   With one hand they supported the house and its directors; with the other they sought to undermine it.

Many came to resent the house.   Happier would we be to have no house at all. 

There were some there who thanked G-d for making the house, with all of its drawbacks, possible.

-- H. A. Massig

They said, "The main thing is..."

The people gathered and asked, "What is the main thing?"

The people split into factions.

Some said, the main thing is to deny that there is a main thing.  They wandered off and ceased to be a faction, though some wandered back and others could be heard seeking a path through the mist.

Some said, the main thing is to forgive our elders their error and to eat our juniors' sour grapes.  They could explain the elders's errors but were blind to any error in the juniors.  They began to be overwhelmed by mist.

Some said, we must learn.  That is the main thing.  They were very learned, but their prayers were made of lead and fell to the floor of their prayer rooms, which became filled with heavy prayers.

Some said, we must do, but we must not know.  They built cities and roads, an entire country.  Their hands were strong, but their hearts atrophied.

Some said, we must be.  And since we are, we are good.  And we must continue to be who we are.  These people felt very good about themselves and applauded themselves for being so good.

Some said, we must worship an image.  They loved the image and waved flags.  Their world filled with flags and icons. 

Some said, the main thing is G-d.    And they said, we must love and fear G-d, we must worship; we must know, we must be, we must do, we must learn

-- H. A. Massig

Some Searched for G-d

Some searched for G-d. 

They looked in the books and read and read.

There they learned that there is a certain way.  Some say it goes up, some down.  Some insist that it is strewn with rocks, some that it is smooth.  So they built a road.  They made it go up and down at one.  They made it strewn with rocks and smooth at once.

They worked hard at this road, building it with wood and stones and earth and water.  In the end, the road they built was very small.  In fact, it did not exist at all.

Upon the ground grew sweet greens.  They sought refreshment and wished to eat the greens.  They cleaned the greens of bugs.  As they cleaned, the bugs multiplied until they filled the space between heaven and earth.  All the people could see were bugs.

This is how they searched for G-d but found bugs.

-- H. A. Massig

Giants of the Western World

Seven giants of the western world,
each one greater than the rest,
each one better than the best.

One giant a he who sees himself a she,
or a she "a he."

One who yearns to love himself
and seeks his mirror image in another's flesh.

One who loathes himself and his humanity.
If self-love is vain, what of self-hatred?

One who pays his parent for years of patient care
by condemning him in print for all to see.

One who saves himself the pain of caring
for his helpless child by removing her womanhood.

One who pays lip-service to the good
but worships at the shrine of the beautiful.

One who will not forgive the creator
for having created him.

-- H. A. Massig