Malcolm Forbes, past editor of Forbes magazine, said that, “anybody who thinks money is everything has never been sick, or is.” We understand the relative importance of all things when we are frightened, in danger of losing our life. All extraneous things like prestige, money, upgrading the system diminish in importance compared to what is happening now.
A wise man once commented, “The two most important days of our lives of the day we were born and the day we discover why we were born.” We spend most of our time conjugating three verbs: to want, to have and to do. They have no real significance for us, except as they are transcended from the verb to be. The essence of life is tied up in being, not wanting having or doing.
The holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur attempt to bring us back to the original challenge of life, being. Most times we are so occupied with making up for the pain of our past or eking out a vision of the perfect future that we forget to live in the moment.
On these days in the month of Ellul the mind invariably gravitates toward self-doubt (as it should). Am I who I should be? Are the things that I value real values? Or did they come a close second after “things”?(The Talmud, by the way, says that one of the questions we shall have to answer in the Next World is, were you honest in all your business dealings?) Have I treated others with kindness and consideration?The answers to these questions inform us about the distance yet to be traveled to become whole.
Living in the moment means, by definition, saying a beracha,a prayer before we eat and taste the food; it means understanding how “they” feel; it means relishing our child’s moral and spiritually religious progress and giving meaning to that learning; it means feeling the full raw power of the shofar and allowing the ancient words to resonate in our bodies and souls; it means filling the hunger with the relational and sacred which have meaning and that are significantly larger than ourselves.
Our wise and ancient tradition holds some remarkable truths for living. And after all these thousands of years they still say it best. The rabbis once asked the question, “Who is wealthy?” They answered, “The one who is satisfied with what he has.”
A story. Three people were brought to Olam Haba, the Next Universe. Greeting at the door was the Malakhay HaSharayt, the Angelic Guardian, who said, “Before you enter I must ask each of you a question.”
He turned to the first and asked, “Can you please wait?”
”Sure,” came the reply. “I have lots of time.”
”Well then,” said the angel. “How do you spell “God”?
“G-O-D,” he replied.
“Very well, you may enter.”
The holy messenger then turned to the second one and asked, “Can you please wait?”
”No problem,” said the second. As the Talmud says, “All this world is but a corridor to the reality that awaits us on the other side. I can certainly wait.”
”Very well. Can you spell “God”?”
G-O-D,” he replied.
“Very well, you may enter.”
The Malakhay HaSharaytto the final one and asked, “Can you please wait?”
”Wait? Do you want me to wait? I’ve been waiting my whole life. Waiting at the market, waiting at the school, waiting in line at the movies…. When in heaven I need to wait too??? Yes, as a matter fact I do mind waiting!”
”OK. Can you spell Czechoslovakia?”
The essence of life is in being. You had to be there. You have to be here. Be here. Bring your whole self to the table of life. God will be waiting. Three days each year we are summoned by the King to stand with our past actions and ourselves. It is a time for judgment and real reflection. He sees and knows our light and shadow. Question: If you were God judging you, would you like what you see?
He has patiently waited for you to come home these long years.
