The Bible - The Number One Best Seller

I had a mentor who taught me the following. "How do we find out what Americans are thinking? It can be done by reviewing the best sellers."

When you find a book listed as one of the 10 best sellers for 67 weeks you take notice. The book, Embraced By The Light is a compilation of near death and life out of the body experience.

A second book, Men Are From Mars And Women Are From Venus  has been on the best seller list for the past 36 weeks. The book claims to help men and woman better their relationships.

As a rabbi I wonder what possesses the minds of my fellow Americans  to read such books.

A common denominator of both books can be mans search for a better life. Whether alive or dead, things have to get better. So the search is on.

There is a famous story of a poor man, Zalman. He lived in a poor town. His home consisted of one large room. There he would fix shoes, eat and sleep. During the winter the frail home would offer a bit of shelter, and most of the time his family would go hungry.

One night Zalman had a dream. His luck was going to change. There was a treasure hidden on the north side of the cities bridge foundation.

The very next morning Zalman left town on his adventure. After traveling many weeks he came to the main city where the bridge was. As he got closer and closer to the bridge he became very excited. Soon he would be a rich man. However, to his great disappointment, there was a major obstacle.

The bridge connected two sides of the city. In order to use the bridge one would have to show his passport. Therefore, there was a guard standing at the bridge. The guard would walk to and fro on the bridge from one end to the other. How in the world was Zalman going to dig at the foundation of the bridge if the guard was there? Poor Zalman! He did not know what to do, that is, until he hit on the following plan. Every time the guard would walk away from the end of the bridge, he would run and dig a few inches.

After a few attempts the guard caught him and demanded an explanation for the digging. Zalman had no choice but to tell him of his dream.

  The guard laughed and said, "if you follow dreams you never get anywhere. Just last night I dreamt that a poor man named Zalman has a treasure under his fireplace. Do you think I am looking for Zalman? Of course not!"

Zalman quickly agreed and ran most of the way home. When he arrived at his home he quickly dug under the fireplace and found the treasure.

So it is with us. We search all over the world for a way to cope with our lives. After in the end, the answer was within ourselves. We have had it all along. The message of both books is, if we want, we can do better anything, especially if G‑d gives us a second chance.

I believe we may have forgotten that we already have the very best seller, The Bible, and it's been produced and printed in all 70 languages.

Have you ever looked all over your house for your car keys and at the last moment of panic you find the keys in your pocket. I believe something like that happens when we look for guidance and instruction. First, we go to the book store and buy a handful of books from the best seller list and some self-help books.

We think that we will find the quick answer. After all, living in a world where we can get everything instantly, why not expect the same from reading a book. We have instant dinners, instant coffee, instant replay, instant money machines. Now we have instant aggravation so why not instant answers.

Sad to note, with all that technology, we still are searching for happiness. It seems that we just can't get it.

Sometimes I wonder what our founding fathers meant when they declared that Americans are guaranteed the pursuit of happiness. May I emphasize that they stated the pursuit and not happiness itself.

One of the ways we can achieve happiness is with observing a religion. The Judeo-Christian religion speaks of Abraham and Sarah. The Bible records their dealing with one another. To me, they are the classic model of married life.

In the Bible we are told the following incident. G‑d tells Abraham and Sarah that they will have a child and Sarah laughs. When Abraham asked his wife Sarah why she laughed Sarah answered, "I did not." Her husband knew differently but he held his peace and corrected her, saying, "Yes, you did" and stopped there. There were no more discussions or arguments. Abraham rationalizes Sarah's feelings as understandable. He is 100 years old when his wife was 90 years old.        

He did not seek out a marriage counselor nor did he walk out of the marriage. It didnt matter to him if she would think of him as a "man from Mars" or if she was a "woman from Venus." Sarah spoke her mind and subsequently G‑d rewarded them with a son, Isaac. There we have examples of spousal communicating.

The Jewish philosophers and teachers tell of Isaac on the alter, his being offered by his father and having an out-of-body near death experience. Isaac was frightened to death. He saw his father raise the knife. His pure soul left his body and experienced a spiritual level of sacrifice and then was told to return to his body and marry. Go and create the Hebrew nation.

This story teaches us that Isaac really respected his father.  Isaac knew that he had a father and a mother who loved him.

There is no discussion of child abuse or inner child syndrome, or repressed memories. Certain things will happen in life whether we like it or not. The main lesson is to move forward and not look for excuses for failure.

The Bible tells it all: the story of a favorite son, Joseph, the jealousy of his brothers, the misery of enslavement, the laws of matrimony and finally the ten commandments including guidelines for clean living.

There is no censorship in the Bible. All stories are told in complete, humanistic terms with true lessons and  help for "keeping it together."

So, my fellow searching friends, those tormented with their search, don't look for the answers in the new best sellers. Look into yourself and remember you can do it all. Just read the original best seller, The Bible!.