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Audience Reactionsto "The Soul of Hope" by Doug Lipman
It will touch somewhere deep within you and leave you a slightly different person than you were when you went in. - Lee Sonko
And the highlight of the highlight was his two hour production on Friday night in which he shared the epic performance of all epic performances with his Soul of Hope. He deserved every second of the five minute standing ovation he received at the end. If you have never heard it, you need to. Jim Maroon
It was a wonderful evening this past Saturday, listening to you tell us the tale of the Baal Shem Tov. I found both the story and your telling very moving, as well as the sparse, gorgeous music. It is strange to me that the story seems to end in so much more despair than at its beginning, and yet there is that much more hope for just that reason. Another lesson I heard in the tale seemed more concealed and perhaps more difficult to learn (sometimes) than to hope: each inheritor of the spark lost the spark because they believed themselves to be insufficient; that is: it was their lack of faith in themselves that caused them to give up hope, to give up the sparks. And yet they--we--carry the sparks within ourselves: our faith, our lives, our telling of both. In fact, according to the tale, the sparks--the knowledge--were created in their gathering.
Your telling did give me hope and made me more aware of the importance of
telling (my) stories. Thank you and good luck! And a Chanukah and new year
filled with light and hope.
My first thought is thank you for loving that tale enough to find it, mold it, and present it so well. It seems obvious to me that you could not tell the Soul of Hope if it was not part of you: woven among the sinews of your thoughts and actions. I wonder less about how you transformed the bits and pieces of story you found into a whole as about how you have been transformed by the tale, for indeed, it owns you more than you own it. I appreciate your interpretation of the Kabbalist idea of God emptying Godself to make room for a world and the Divine Spirit shattering in its grief into sparks flung throughout the creation. As a Christian minister I fight the platonic idea of many of my colleagues that this world is to be forsaken for another realm. To search for the Divine sparks among us is a better way to live as humans. I loved your interpretation of the sa-tan. This angel given the role of the adversary or "hindrance" I think is a word you used will forever have a crooked finger aimed at God rationalizing what God should do next. You showed him much more powerfully than all the red suited devils of culture ever could. The sa-tan will forever be peering from under dark eyebrows weighing the consequences of God[base ']s actions. I loved the image of the Messiah left standing, staff in hand, cloak over his shoulder, at the gate of heaven ready to enter into our world. That he could be so close truly is what gives hope to the story and to me personally. For I, too, wait with my Jewish brothers and sisters for the Messiah to come. But until he does, searching for the sparks I pray will be enough to keep him at the gate. I will listen for the, what was it?, 'girl whisper' from God affirming that it is enough. Doug, there are many of us who interpret our lives through mythology such as the story of Israel Ben Eleizar. Thank you for allowing me the chance to explore my understanding not only of my own self, but of the world, a little bit deeper. I look forward to the next time our paths cross.
Walk in balance,
Doug Lipman This page was last updated on October 9, 2005
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