But that's life! I suppose, you... you go along with and suddenly... «poof». «Poof». «Poof».
We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life.
Because you make so little impression, you see. You get born and you try this and you don't know why only you keep on trying it and you are born at the same time with a lot of other people, all mixed up with them, like trying to, having to, move your arms and legs with strings only the same strings are hitched to all the other arms and legs and the others all trying and they don't know why either except that the strings are all in one another’s way like five or six people all trying to make a rug on the same loom only each one wants to weave his own pattern into the rug; and it can't matter, you know that, or the Ones that set up the loom would have arranged things a little better, and yet it must matter because you keep on trying or having to keep on trying and then all of a sudden it’s all over and all you have left is a block of stone with scratches on it provided there was someone to remember to have the marble scratched and set up or had time to, and it rains on it and the sun shines on it and after a while they don't even remember the name and what the scratches were trying to tell, and it doesn’t matter.
Numbers and figures
Take up all my time...
How did this much of my life
Pass me by?
I miss the wonders of the younger
Yes, they’re responsible, and those who helped America, for destroying our life, destroying our country. They should rebuild our country if they believe in human rights. I don’t believe in these two words, there are no human rights. But in Western countries, there are animal rights. In Australia they take care of frogs. One of our Syriac citizens, who’s a builder, bought land, took money from a bank and wanted to build houses and sell them. Then when he wanted to get a certificate to build, in the middle of the land, he came across a hole with eight frogs in it. The government of Sydney told him: «You can’t build on this land.» He said: «But I’ve taken money from the bank and I must get to work» and they pushed him to build in another place, making him pay $1.4 million to build a different place for these eight frogs. And yet we are the last people who speak Jesus’ language. We are Aramaic people and we don’t have this right to have anyone protect us? Look upon us as frogs, we’ll accept that — just protect us so we can stay in our land.
– May I tell you a story?
– Please…
– For generations, the men of my family have been rabbis in Israel before that in Europe, it was to be my calling. I was quite a prodigy. I was the "pride" of my Yeshiva. The elders said I had a forty year old understanding of the Midrash. By the time I was twelve by the time I was thirteen I knew I could never be a rabbi.
– Why not?
– Because for all I understood of the "Talmud", I never saw God there...
– You couldn't lie to yourself.
– I tried. Tried like crazy. I mean, people were counting on me.
– You have a respectable profession.
– Not to my family my parents were devastated, destroyed by my decision my father sent me away to New York to live with distant cousins I eventually found my place, my life's work…
– What then?
– I amerced myself fully, I studied everything I could about the law I felt deeply inside that it was what I was born to do.
– Did your parents get over it?
– No, I always hoped that I would find some way to change their mind, but they were inconsolable, my father never spoke to me again.
– If you had it to do all over again, knowing what would happen, would you make the same choice?..
– What choice?... The last thing I took away from the yeshiva is this... We can't run from who we are. Our destiny chooses us.