Future Shock

Not so very long ago famed author J.K. Rowling was asked to address recent college graduates. It was a moving talk. Having eagerly devoured her many Harry Potter books, the students were anxious to hear what advice this successful writer had to offer. What Rowling chose to speak about was failure. Rowling explained that her parents urged her early on to pursue a vocational degree. In having a trade, they believed their daughter would never experience the poverty they had endured. But she had other ideas. This is what the famous author had to say:

"What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.
Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be … without being homeless. The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.
Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. 
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me…I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had and old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
You might never fail on the scale that I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default. Failure taught me things about myself I could have learned no other way."
Rowling’s advice is priceless. It cuts through humanity because the fear of not succeeding keeps the best of us stuck in our rocking chair.
During Sukkot there is a special prayer that we say during the Grace After Meals, "May the Merciful One (HaRachaman) restore the fallen Sukkah of David." Can God really repair the two-thousand-plus year old lean-to? No, say the great Sages of the Talmud. In that prayer we are asking God to restore to the people confidence. We want to be able to transform our painful past into a better future. In other words, the prayer wants us to build better "us" from the ashes of our failures. The pathway to wholeness happens when we overcome the internal hurdles that hold us back.
I am a professional bumper-sticker reader. One that struck me recently read, "What if you had no fear? What could you accomplish?" 
I mulled that question over in my mind for a very long time. What, indeed, could life offer if I was unafraid of failure? What mountains would come into reach? So many times, the fear of crashing keeps us from trying new things, having new experiences, finding our hidden strengths.
There is a novel web-site that has visitors writing letters to themselves in the future. Called FutureMe.org, people from all over the world write letters to themselves. The messages invariably contain a single element that remains a constant: the writers hope they can get over their pain. 
The creator of FutureMe.org sees this site as an attempt "at forward narrative, a poignant, maybe desperate, assertion of personal continuity over time. … More deeply, such a message implicitly accepts a duty to future generations. … Future me may reject present me’s choices, but my message … is, in its way, an attempt to acknowledge responsibility rather than evade it. Globe and Mail, April 28/07
People are deeply concerned that they will not survive the pain they are living through now. Here is one entry dated October 27, 2005, Dear FutureMe, How are you now? you happy? did you find your "next big thing"? work ok? did dad survive the transplant? 

Unlike the usual conventional wisdom, "failure is an option" is closer to the truth than it not being an option. In fact, failure is how we learn. The greatest challenge for us to be unafraid of non-success. Think of what is possible, as the bumper sticker read, if we allow ourselves to fully test the limits of our abilities. And if we fail? We have learned our limitations and will have grown in the process. And towering above us is the Lord God who urges us to test the limitations of what is possible and grow to become what He has envisioned for us.

The Synagogue

I am an optimist by nature. I would rather think the best and most situations and people. Having said that, I do not confess to believe in utopia either on the grand or micro level. The fight is part of the plan. Struggle makes living worthwhile. That is why meaningful relationships are born through tumultuous times and productive work often turns out to be disappointing.

The book of Kohelet, Ecclesiastes, is read during the Fall days of Sukkot.  It cautions, “Everything is beautiful in its time.” The Sages interpret this phrase to mean that everything happens for a purpose, which may not immediately discernible to us. We learn and grow from every experience. Even the bad. Especially the bad.

And elderly Jewish woman was convinced by her children to come join them at their modern synagogue in suburbia. She came for the holidays from her old shteibel. At the end of services they gathered around to ask their mother what she thought about their synagogue’s striking architecture or, the plush cushy seats, air conditioning and their American rabbi. She agreed it was all very nice but she had one complaint, “alles is shayn, ober men ken nisht vaynen dorten,” (Everything is beautiful but there is no room to cry).

The full range of emotions must govern our lives and be considered part of what it means to be fully human. To exclude the possibility of facing up to difficult situations is to deny ourselves growth. The shul is the paradigm exemplar of the home. We cry and bless, we soothe and challenge, fight and dance in this place.

I pray that you find in your synagogue a place to feel free to exercise the full range of your emotions. The purpose of it is not to be beautiful but a place to inspire.

An offering from the Talmud:

I am a creature of God

And my neighbor is a creature of God.

I work is in the city

And his work is in the field.

I rise in the morning to go to my work

And he rises in the morning to go to his work.

As he cannot excel in my work,

So I cannot excel in his work.

 Perhaps you will say that I do great things

And he does small things.

We have learned that it does not matter whether one does much or little

Only if he directs his heart to heaven.

-Berakhot 17

Real or Artificial?

Real or artificial?

[Warning: this article may contain harmful substances ]

The supermarket search is on.

Racing down aisles with carriages jockeying for the nectar of Eden, we level well-aimed jabs at jars and tins in blazoned with words declaring purity. Bold print screams out at the seasoned shopper: pure vegetable oil, low in saturated fat, all natural, organic! 

You ever let your eyes meander over the ingredient list for fruit juice? Of course you have. Most contain corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and artificial flavors. One famous brand proudly proclaimed that it has 10% real juice in it.  Gottenu! Others claim that they come from fruits that are naturally processed…along with the pesticides and residues from acid rain that annually falls.

Many years ago we decided to raise her children on nourishing foods, ones that were free from contaminants and unnecessary additives. So we bought apple juice with no more than two ingredients listed on the labels, water and apples.

Then came another scare something called a Alar. Remember that?  I heard that I was guilty of poisoning my child with some trisyllabic word.  Less fastidious parents than we -- filling baby bottles with root beer instead of superpure apple juice -- were the heroes, the real caring guardians of the child’s health. I remember feeling deceived and violated.

We live in an age when Cheetos are touted as health food. After all, they have real cheese in them don’t they? Nature stores sell items antithetical to sound nutrition.  Do we trust? And we are called upon to make choices every day, real or artificial?

We live in the healing universe.

Huge machine spew six smokers they grind intrude into the earth displacing massive boulders, uprooting trees. Gaping wounds spill over onto untouched ground like flesh peeled back from the skin, exposing the bowels of the earth. I’m ready soil is ripped up as the life force of the earth bleeds.

Truly amazing is that these terrible dismemberments gradually heal. By themselves. Moss slowly grows over the shattered and twisted lambs cast about. Grasses return to unfold the stark landscape. Flowers bring back bees and with them, arrive insects and turtles.  Left alone, all the radiation, smog, pollution, non-biodegradable shmutz is absorbed and healed by the universe.

We are just too small to see the magnificence of life; we are like fleas on a dog.

The holy days recognize the supremacy of nature as the hand of God behind the falling leaves, the darkening skies, the rain, the snow, the wind and sun. It is no wonder that we grow quiet and introspective when we open our eyes and hearts.  Kohelet, Ecclesiastes, offers this advice:

Remember your Creator and appreciate life

In the days of your youth, before the days of sorrow,

And years draw near when you will say,

I have no pleasure in them.

To sum up the matter,

Revere God and for fulfill His mitzvot.

Eden in the Sukkah

The story goes that a Hasidic Jew had saved 50 rubles so that he could buy the best citron possible for the holiday. With joy in his heart, he went to buy the citron; however, on his way he met a friend who looked miserable. It became clear that his friend’s horse had died and now the poor man could not make a living. “How much would a new horse cost?” the man asked his friend. “45 rubles,” he replied. The Hasid gave the man 45 rubles, and with the five remaining rubles, he bought himself a cheap, shriveled-up citron.

That night in the synagogue the rabbi announced, “I smell the scent of the Garden of Eden. Everyone take out your citrons!” The rabbi inspected every citron until he came to the Hasid who was too embarrassed to even take his citron out. “Let’s see it,” demanded the rabbi. The Hasid sheepishly revealed his citron. “That’s it!” declared the rabbi. “The scent of Eden!” The rabbi asked what led the man to buy such a citron, and the Hasid told the rabbi all about the money he had saved and then given away.  Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins

Earnest Questions, Honest Answers

A student contacted me about gaining information about Judaism from a local rabbi for a college course she was taking.  She interviewed me and asked some well-thought questions.  She came equipped with many queries about the practices of Judaism.  I share the first few below:

1.  How has religion shaped your life?

 Judaism has influenced my life in more ways than I can enumerate.  It is the filter through which I see and hear all things.  I continually ask myself in every situation, ‘Is this what Judaism demands?’  ‘Is this what God wants?’   When I see a young man playing a guitar on the sidewalk with his guitar case open, I ask myself, what does my tradition demand of me?  Or, when I am insulted by unkind words or am the object of slander, what does the Torah tell me to do?  How do I react?  As the Jewish faith has an opinion and instruction about every facet of life it always be asked, 'what is the Jewish approach to this issue?' 

As both Judaism and God care intimately about how we interact with one another and the world there is nothing that is removed from the gaze of Tradition.  We matter.  Other people matter.  The welfare of the world matters.  For all these reasons we must act in accord with Torah.

2.  What are the challenges, if any, to practicing this particular religion?

Judaism is a demanding religion.  It is not simply for the synagogue or religious events.  It is breathing, eating, talking, walking, business....all.   If there is an Omniscient, caring God He does not only pay attention to us when we pray.  The eye of the Holy One is always peering at us and wants us to make the correct choices.  Ever since the exile from the Garden of Eden we have been burdened with the responsibility of making choices.

It is not always comfortable to be doing the right thing....especially when society is going in the opposite direction.   Yet, Judaism teaches through the many examples of the prophets that we are often called upon to make a moral stand.  We are supposed to speak for those who have no voice or for those who have lost the power of their voice.  We are charged to speak, sometimes yell, on their behalf. 

And then there is bias, hatred, antisemitism....  That is an ever-present challenge.  Still, hatred must never stand in the way of doing the right thing.

3.What are the important holidays and traditions of this religion?

 This is a very long answer.  There are many holy days that dot the year.  Look at a Hebrew calendar and there are major holy days, minor remembrances and small festivals that have through time blossomed into large, meaningful events.

Perhaps the most important of all the holy days is the most frequent one: the Sabbath.  It is God's day when He stopped the Creation process.  It is our day when we reconnect with the Maker and the universe.  Of course, Tabernacles (Sukkot), Pentacost (Shavuot) and Passover (Pesah) are also highly important.   Each of them contain elements of historical events (the passage through the Sinai wilderness, the anniversary of the Receiving of the Torah and Liberation from slavery) as well a natural events (fall harvest, spring harvest and planting season) in addition to holy time of connection between the Jewish people and God.  Then, in a separate category, comes the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur.  Each one is unique with its many symbols of foods, shofar, study, and prayer and vital to the lifeblood of Judaism.

4. What Bible do the Jews use? Does it go by another name?

Our Bible is the same as your Old Testament.  While the order may vary slightly it is the same text.  We have other names for it in Hebrew but we call it Bible in English.

In our understanding we divide the Bible up into three sections.  They are the Torah, the Prophets (Neviim in Hebrew) and the Writings (Ketuvim).  If you take the first consonant from each of the three Hebrew words you have the Hebrew word for the Bible, Tanakh.

5. What is the Torah? How many books does it have?

Torah is the Hebrew word for Pentateuch (penta as in pentagram, pentagon, five).  Torah is the 5 books of Moses, or the first five books of the Bible.  The word Torah means Law or Instruction.

Often times, the word Torah is used to convey the idea of a God-given message.  For this reason Jewish people might say “This is Torah” when they are referring a Law.