“The difference between a politician
and a statesman is that a politician looks to the next election while the
statesman looks to the next generation.” - Rabbi Sidney Greenberg
We are in the midst of a countdown.
It is called the Omer. Each day, starting with the second night of Pesach
(Passover) we count the Omer, one day at a time. We count for forty-nine
days for on the fiftieth day after the Exodus we arrived at Sinai and God
granted Torah to the Jewish nation. Maybe we should call it a countup not
a countdown. Unlike the traditional countdown we do at New Years Eve or
spaceship launch where we count backward, we count forward for the Omer.
You will recall that we do the same
thing at Hanukka with the lighting of the candles. We light them
progressively, upward, not downward. This way of counting represents a
shift of attitude. We do not live in the past or bite our nails waiting
for something better to come along. Each
day is holy and will be even holier tomorrow.
This is how we choose to view the world, and our faith in particular.
When we count downward it indicates
that we cannot wait for time to pass. It is like watching television commercial,
anxious for the program to resume. In the meanwhile, the commercials feel
like nothing but a waste of time. Life can be the same: we can simply
wait, wringing our hands, for time to pass.
This is not the way our faith encourages to view the passage of
time.
I remember a joke circulating some
years ago: A man received a telegram. He opened it and read, “Start
worrying. Details to follow.”
Living life in fear of what will
happen is not the Jewish way either. We
are supposed to revel in this moment knowing that good things are coming.
Psalm 30 says it well: “Tears may linger for the night but joy comes with the
dawn.” That is the Jewish attitude.
This moment is Divine and the next one will bring untold pleasure.
How do we actualize this way of
thinking? How is it possible to escape the societal rhythm of living in
the shadows and instead live forward looking?
How do we live a life that feels positive and joyful and not the
opposite?
One anonymous writer scribed, “I
believe that only one person in a thousand knows the trick of really living in
the present. Most of us spend fifty-nine minutes an hour living in the
past, with regret for lost joys or shame for things badly done, or in a future
which we either long for or dread. There is only one minute during which
you are alive – this minute, here and now. The only way to live is by
accepting each minute as an unrepeatable miracle, which is exactly what it is –
a miracle and unrepeatable.”
The Jewish answer
to how to find a meaningful life is to make it holy. That is why we count
upwards. That is why we bless our foods before we eat them.
That is why we bless our loved ones on the holy Shabbat and make a special meal
beforehand. That is why we count upwards until we arrive at the foot of Mount
Sinai. In these ways we anticipate the
best of what is about to unfold, and make it reality by our actions.
