I have never actually seen the whole book.
I tried buying a copy on eBay once but ended up with a cover and a snide apology. Figures.
Yet random pages keep cropping up among the photos in the album. Someone must have torn out the ones that they liked and saved them. No idea who did that, but from these samples, I am guessing that the JewTao is really just a book of to-do lists. Not things you have to do, but things to make a big to-do about. Things my Uncle Mel – the kind of man who wore a straw hat just to goose things up – thought were worth noting, duly noted by his son Bruce years later when he published the book.
Don’t ask me what it all meant; Mel was a familiar figure in both Jewish and Zennish circles…the jester as guru. The wise prankster. As in this entry in the book, where he listed some key aphorisms or wisdoms that span both philosophies.
The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth…the coffin was on sale.
Let go and let God…pick on some other schmuck for a change.
Even when you lose, don’t lose the lesson…which is almost always about aggravation.
Breathe in, breathe out…but don’t strain yourself, you could get a hernia.
Life is uncertain...so eat dessert first.
Invent yourself a little…it couldn’t hurt.
Don’t dwell on it…unless you’ve got nothing better to worry about.
There are no stupid questions…just the stupid idiots who ask them.
If you notice that everything is coming your way…get back in the right lane.
Sit straight…you’ll never achieve enlightenment with such round shoulders.
Be aware of your body…but not every sensation is a terminal illness.
If there is no self…then whose arthritis is this?
The Tao does not blame…the Tao is not Jewish.
It takes training to attain nothingness…and then what do you have? Bupkes!
The journey of a thousand miles…begins with a single Oy
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