Just Passing Through

The Holy men and women of the Far East have always made wisdom the supreme human virtue. The custom of disciplined solitude in the pursuit of wisdom profoundly affected Oriental religious thinking. For most of us in today’s Western Society, there is little or no time in our busy schedules for practicing the pursuit of wisdom through serious, uninterrupted, quiet reflection about who we are and what we ought to do with our lives.

An anonymous writer has given us this story of an American tourist’s visit to the 19th century Polish Rabbi, Hofetz Chaim, who was looked upon by the people of his time as an extremely wise and saintly person. On his arrival at the rabbi’s residence, the tourist was astonished to discover that it consisted only of one simple room. The walls were lined with books; a table and a chair were the only furnishings. “But rabbi,” the tourist asked, “Where is your furniture?” to which the rabbi replied, “where is…