The famous saying is that all truth is God’s truth. But not all that passes as  “my truth” or “your truth” is not truth, but rather opinions. The Bible is the surest source of truth and drips with wisdom (which can be defined as truth applied to life)—particularly the wisdom books of Scripture like Job, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon.

The book of Ecclesiastes gives us a wisdom that we might call “inspired street-smarts,” that is, wisdom useful for life “under the sun,” which gives way to trust in the Lord (who is above the sun and things of this world).

There is another kind of truth expressed in Jewish wisdom. By this, I mean witty statements characteristic of a Jewish framework for life (with which we Christians can resonate because of our common foundation in the Old Testament scripture, morality, and world-view—and the embrace of wisdom.

Popular Jewish folk wisdom is often couched in wry humor and contains morsels of truth – of course, these are not inspired, but they are of the sort that bring a knowing chuckle because of their relatability. The following are gleaned from YouTube on the Internet. Read and enjoy – may you benefit from Jewish wisdom! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSQpVZ0fyO0

• The liar’s punishment is that even when he speaks the truth, no one believes him.
• If a problem can be solved with money, then it’s not a problem but a cost.
• Be not sweet, or else you’ll be eaten. Be not bitter, or else you’ll be spat out.
• Fear a goat in front of you, a horse behind you, and a fool all around you.
• A guest and a fish start reeking on the third day.
• A man should live for curiosity.
• A deaf man heard a dumb man recount that the blind man saw a lame man run very fast.
• God protects the poor—at least from expensive sins.
• Parents teach their children to talk; children teach their parents silence.
• Keeping good silence is harder than talking good.
• A bad partner is worse than the rain – the latter makes you go home, whereas the former makes you go outside.
• Choosing between two evils, a person picks both.
• Who doesn’t have children, brings them up best.
• Experience is the word people use to call their mistakes.
• Growing old, man’s sight worsens, but this allows him to see more.
• Act the way you would like to be, and soon you’ll be the way you act.
• Our heads are round so that our thoughts can change direction.
• We can endure much more than we think we can; all human experience testifies to that.
• Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all those who need us desperately.
• But do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect.
• Do not say something that should never be heard, because ultimately it will be heard.
• We cannot solve our problems with the thinking we used when we created them.
• A fool is his own informer.
• If you are not a better person tomorrow than you are today, what need have you for a tomorrow?
• When a fool is sent to market, all the merchants are happy.
• He that knows nothing, doubts nothing.
• A mother understands what a child does not say.
• Sometimes, even a liar will speak the truth.
• Experience is the mother of wisdom.
• It is not every question that deserves an answer.
• Jealousy has teeth made of iron.
• Lend your money and lose your friend.
• He who puts up with insult invites injury.
• Money will buy everything but good sense.
• Sympathy doesn’t buy food, but it makes hunger more endurable
• Pride that dined was vanity, supped with poverty.
• When you have no choice, mobilize the spirit of courage.
• Lose with truth and right, rather than gain with falsehood and wrong.
• Prepare your proof before you argue.
• Do not be wise in words – be wise in deeds.
• God is closest to those with broken hearts.
• The truth comes out like oil and water.
• Let your ears hear what your mouth says.
• What the daughter does the mother did.
• Don’t live in a town where there are no doctors.
• Poverty is no shame, but it is no great honor either.
• What you don’t see with your eyes, don’t witness with your mouth.
• The only truly dead are those who have been forgotten.
• People make plans and God laughs.
• Worries go down better with soup than without.
• Not to have felt pain is not to have been human.
• Sympathy is a little medicine to soothe the ache in another’s heart.
• Only love gives us the taste of eternity.
• Against stupidity, God himself is helpless.
• In a restaurant, choose a table near a waiter.
• If there’s bitterness in the heart, sugar in the mouth won’t make life sweeter.
• A good fellow to everyone is a good friend to no one.
• Do not ask questions of fairytales.
• Ideas are something that usually come like firemen: too late.
• Don’t sell the sun to buy a candle.
• Commit a sin twice, and it will not seem a crime.
• In choosing a friend go up a step.