The Bear Went Over The Mountain

There’s a childhood song that people sing when they go hiking on a picnic or taking a long drive with the kids. The longer version goes something like this:

“The bear went over the mountain (3x)
To see what he could see
The bear went over the mountain (3x)
And what do you think he saw?
He saw another mountain (3X)
So what do you think he did?”
REPEAT UNTIL HOARSE

Now, I never actually met that particular bear personally, but I can only imagine his disappointment. Here we was looking for something greater than life and all he got was more of the same.

Rabbi Avigdor Miller (of blessed memory), one of the giants of the modern-day American sages, used to compare us to that poor bear. So many people get bored with the big city life and are longing for adventure. They can’t wait to get to the isle of Tahiti. They picture the clean white beaches, the cool, refreshing blue ocean and the exotic food and villages of that tiny island.

And what does he get when he gets there? He finds that the people of Tahiti can’t wait to come to New York to see the tall buildings and to marvel at the hustle and bustle of millions of people.
And somehow, for each group, they’re never satisfied. It’s just not IT!

Whether climbing the Himalayas, diving into the depths of the ocean, exploring Eastern religions or trying to build a better mousetrap, we are all longing for something.

Our sages tell us that that is the yearning of the soul to reunite with its Source. Our bodies are tied to the physical world but our souls are looking for something beyond.

It took a Dorothy from Kansas to teach us that the greatest happiness can be found in your own backyard.

There’s a reason that Judaism has given religion to three-quarters of the globe. It is the formula for happiness and contentment.
And you don’t have to live on a mountain, or cross over one, to find it.

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