Will

“Rav Yehuda did not like to pray He preferred to learn Torah and say: “You may call my soul dirty But one day in thirty Is better than three times a day.”
― Ilana Kurshan, If All the Seas Were Ink: A Memoir

“When I was single I learned over dinner, careful not to drip tomato sauce upon discussions about the sprinkling of blood on the Temple altar.”
― Ilana Kurshan, If All the Seas Were Ink: A Memoir

“In the worship discussions it will therefore be important for us to convince the leadership that they are seeking unity when they are really seeking uniformity. Some of our most significant victories in the last few centuries have been when churches abandon the search for unity (a difficult and elusive search) in favor of a policy of uniformity. Unity can only emerge from the Enemy working in the hearts of individuals. A leadership can impose uniformity. Unity has, at its core, a common conviction and celebrates differences in expression. Uniformity emphasizes appearance—as long as we all meet together and sing the same songs, we must be unified. Uniformity says that our various beliefs about the Enemy can differ or even be nonexistent as long as we do not question the decisions”
― T.G. Brown, The Wormwood Archive

“We have convinced church leaders and music ministers that classical choral styles are unattractive to the younger crowd, that so-called ‘seekers’ will be—what’s the American term?—turned off by a Mendelssohn psalm or a hymn arranged for choral singing. At the same time we have allowed such music to flourish in secular environments and liberal churches where its spiritual effect is negligible. Many evangelical music ministers now consider it a fact beyond question that radio styles, driven to popularity by clever marketing schemes, are the way to penetrate the hearts of those attending church. Repetitive phrases and a beat that encourages clapping are taken as sure signs of our Enemy working in the hearts of the congregation.”
― T.G. Brown, The Wormwood Archive