What we can Achieve

 A rich and poor child attended school together. One day the wealthy one brought in a fine leather wallet. The other students gaped and were envious of the beautiful object. The other children began to their save money so they could buy one just like it. The poor one had no chance; it was hard enough to just get fresh pencils and a backpack. That child felt miserable…

The child went to the local storekeeper, put his meager change on the counter and said, “This is all the money I have. Can I please have that wallet?”

“So you do not have another penny?” asked the owner. “Tell me, if you have no more money, what good is the wallet to you? You have nothing to put in it.”
 
The storekeeper makes sense. As adults we would say the same. And yet, there would be a small inner voice that understands the cry of the child who yearns to be like everyone else, wants to have what they
have, and does not wish to stand out as different.  The child has grown up but still struggles over the same issues. We want and cannot always have what want.

 It has been said by many pundits and economists that the economic slump that we are in is largely due to living beyond our means. We wanted the lovely wallet, could not afford it, but got it anyway.  Everybody felt the same way, including the banks. We went out and bought what we should not have purchased.

 Looking around it is easy to fall prey to desiring what others have.  Just watching television is an exercise in restraint as commercial
after commercial tells us “If we order now….” We are barraged by billboards, ads on radio and on the Internet that imply satisfaction and contentedness if we -- along with the rest of the country -- buy what they are selling.
 

 Sociologist George Ritzer has called this phenomenon the “McDonaldization of America.” In this new world everyone gets the same car, same house, same TV, and the same everything. One city  looks like another and states lose their individuality until all America looks alike.
 
On an individual level, Talmud has a distinctly different idea. “Man strikes many coins from one die and they are all alike. The Holy One, blessed be He, however, strikes each person with the same die as Adam but not one is the same as the next.”* Not only does our faith tell us about the uniqueness of our formation but it declares we each play an indispensable role in the universe. In other words, we have special gifts that only we can give to the world. In the absence of that gift the world is incomplete.

 What this all means is that we are not supposed to look for ways to be like one another. Instead, we are called by God to seek out our own destiny. Certainly, others will play a role in that process but it is our journey towards becoming whole, not theirs.
 
 “According to the effort is the reward.”** Our task is to bring about the fullest self we can achieve. There is no one who can do this but  you: you are one of a kind since the inception of Creation.

 *Sanhedrin 38a
 **Avot 5:26

Hanukkah: A Primer

 Hanukka (also spelled Chanuka and other ways) comes on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev.  While the English date varies, the Hebrew date remains the same.  Eight days long, the holiday concludes on Tevet 2.

Hanukka means “dedication.”  The holiday is a celebration of the date when the Temple in Jerusalem was recovered, cleaned, and rededicated to God.  Hanukka is also called the Festival of Lights for that is the main observance of the holiday.  

In 165 BCE a heroic group of Jewish warriors called the Maccabbes triumphed after a long war against the Syrian-Greek king, Antiochus Epiphanes.  Despite the fact that Hanukka recalls a military victory over an enemy who wanted to eradicate the Jewish faith, Hanukka celebrate the lights, not the conquest.  

As related by the Talmud, the Maccabees recovered a single jar of oil that had remained intact throughout the years of the Helenizers still retaining the seal of the Kohen Gadol, high priest, from many years before. Expecting the oil to last for a day it burned for eight nights, enough time to manufacture oil to keep the Lamp of God burning uninterrupted.

Finding Light

 "A person is obligated to say, 'The world was created for me’."  This statement from the Talmud is our instruction on how we are supposed to look at the world.  On the face of it the sages are telling us to view everything through the lens of personal needs.  Doesn’t this advice seem a bit arrogant and egotistical? 

 

Actually, the sages are trying to convey the opposite.  If we view our surroundings, taking personal responsibility for all that is, we will be more appreciative and deliberate about how we treat it.  After all, who would throw dirt or empty containers on their carpet?  Who would treat their personal possessions with derision?  And we see this kind of indiscriminate behavior around us.  The Talmud is advising a different attitude.

 

We are not supposed to see the world through the lens of selfishness but responsibility.  The world was not created to absorb our abuse but garner our appreciation. Thus, we acknowledge that “the world was created for me’” as a reminder that everything that exists is a gift.  Just as we repair our car, paint the house, mow the lawn, so too we are supposed to treat every encounter as if it belongs to us.  Nobody will come along with a lawnmower and do it for us!  We take care of our possessions because we are responsible for them.  Likewise, we have a unique responsibility to the world.  It belongs to us.

Legend:  Two Angels were dispatched by God to gather sentiments and bring them back to heaven.  Descending to earth the first angel was instructed to gather complaints and criticisms while the second collected thanks and gratitude.
When the two Angels completed their assignment and returned to their Maker the first Angel carried a basket overflowing while the other was almost empty.  

 

Hanukkah is a time of celebration, the uplifting of light and illuminating dark days with rays of hope.  Who does not feel the lightness and joy touch their soul during these days of celebration? 

 

And yet. How do we merge with the joy of the season when there is so much evil in the world?  When we are overwhelmed with evil carried out by the nefarious enemies of Israel?  Does this sound like we are speaking of the Maccabean revolt against the virulent hatred of the Syrian--Greeks?  Or the wicked Hamas bent on abuse and murder?   

 

History does have its way of repeating itself because people give vent to their worst impulses.   What Hamas did to us has happened before.  That is why the brilliant minds of centuries ago taught that from life’s inception we are to cultivate gratitude for everything.  With an attitude of appreciation, we develop different insight: we see life as full of opportunity and meaning even when it is dark….or especially when darkness descends over the world.

 

Our task is to never release our grip on hope.  That is why we light candles on Hanukkah. That is why we refuse to canonize the wars of the Maccabees.  War is not glorious.  Instead, we tell tales of light; we speak of defeating evil even when the odds are against us; and we bless God even as we mourn.

 
A prayer: Let me be in Your eyes and in mine, Lord, a vehicle of goodness and generosity and not of despair.

Taking Responsibility

 Blame is easy.  All we have to do is shirk responsibility.  

The Torah speaks of the victim of a murder being found near a city.  In that instance where the killer cannot be found the Torah demands that the elders of the closets city gather at the place where the crime was committed and say, "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done.”   ~ Deuteronomy 21:7.  In other words, even though they did not know the perpetrator or perhaps even the victim they are called to take responsibility for a crime that occurred in their vicinity.

While the natural human reaction to being blamed is to pass it on or make excuses for what happened, the Torah tells us to take responsibility.

A story is told of the famous Rabbi Hayim Brisker who had a Hasid as a teacher.  The Hasid trained Brisker from a young child in the ways of Torah.  One day the Hasid took the young lad to see his rabbi.  At that time, the young man took a fruit from his bag and began to nibble on it.  The elderly rebbe was surprised that the young man did not say a blessing first.  “You should have taught him how to say the proper blessing before he eats!” he scolded the Hasid.

The boy looked up and retorted, “You should have taught him to teach me!”  ~ told by Rabbi Louis Jacobs

 

Perhaps if we take greater responsibility for the  things that happen in our family and community we wil become more responsible.

Joy and More Joy

 There are always many ways to view our life, our present and past.  We can look at it from the angle that we are rich and amply blessed.  More than any time in history we have more than enough food, we are protected by police and armed forces, we have devices that save time, and so much more.  The same person can look at their life and complain that they do not have more of what other people have.  Another person in the same position, may walk about in a depression because their children have not done well or that people are cruel.

While our faith offers many great gifts, one of them is getting used to making daily statements of appreciation for things we may otherwise take for granted.  Take for example, the early morning blessings which express gratitude for eyesight, legs, working arms and a body that can rid itself of toxins.  We are told to begin each day by reciting a series of berachot which acknowledge what is not wrong along with what is right.

A while back reporters asked Jerry Lewis why he was perpetually clowning around whether he was on or off the stage.  He was asked, “You are always ‘on.’  Why?  Don’t you ever get tried of being comical?  Why are you never just a person off stage?”

He replied, “Because my parents were show people and they wanted me to be a star.  I tried, how I tried, but they were never satisfied.  They always expected more and more.  They were never satisfied.  So to this day I must keep trying.”

There are two ways of viewing Lewis’ statement.  One is that he lives forever in the shadow of his oppressive parents who made him so relentless.  How sad!  He can never be free from their oppressive expectations.  The other way to look at it is Lewis’ parents made him into the star that outshone their lights and made him one of the most famous comedians of all time.

The Baal Shem Tov once said, “There is no accident in the world.”  What the Baal Shem did not mean was that only good things happen to us.   He was no Pollyanna!  What the Baal Shem did mean is that we always have a choice about how we interpret life’s stumbling blocks as well as blessings.  We choose whether we will be a victim or learn from every experience.

Life is not easy but it need not be a misery either.  Our Sages, of blessed memory, teach that one of the purposes of life is to grow, to learn.  Every day we are to told to exact lessons from life and add them to our storehouse of knowledge that makes us better people.  That takes effort.  

Learning from life’s events does not always come naturally, without intention.  Yet with a mindful set to begin the day with words of appreciation and a desire to grow, perhaps we can achieve what we deserve: joy.

Decisions, decisions!

That which is difficult is easy, the easy is difficult. Why is this so?

 

We get through most of life's challenges by making snap decisions, knee-jerk reactions or having honed responses so finely that we do not linger over them.  

But present most people with an easy question like what is life for? What is your purpose in living? And they begin to stutter and mumble.

 

"Oh," you say, "those are not simple questions!"  I counter, "If every day we make decisions that are hinged upon our response to those questions we should know the answer.  Well, we go to work, open savings accounts, put money away for vacations, tell her kids they need more education, do all these things and so many more and you would never think to ask what is our purpose? The answer to that question should inform the rest of our lives.  The reason why we do everything in life should be our response to the question, "What is our life's purpose?"

 

Nu?

 

The first man and woman in the garden had a single task: to maintain what had been created in Eden.  As we know that simple charge ended in failure.  

Noah was assigned seven commandments for his heirs.  As the Torah and history reveals, this experiment also failed.  

So what is the ultimate lesson that curtails humanity's appetite for wrongdoing?  How does Torah configure the destiny of humanity?  It answers, make him responsible for more than himself.  While this may seem counterintuitive, read on.

In the Talmud, we learn of one of the students a rabbi who became ill.  As the student was new to the Academy and not very well learned or known no one went to visit him.  When the master, Rabbi Akiva, heard that his student was sick he ran to his home to pay him a visit.  The brief tale ends with the student rising out of his sickbed and thanking his teacher profusely for restoring him back to life. The lesson? Everyone is obligated to visit the sick.  This is not a good deed. It is a mitzvah, a commandment.

"Those who do not visit the sick are guilty of spilling blood," declares our sages.

There is another story of a ship floundering in a fierce storm. One companion said to another, "This is the worst thing to ever happen!"  His companion replied, "No. Something far worse would be when someone asks you for bread and you have none to give."  

In these instances and one thousand more examples just like them, our responsibility in life, to God and to the world is not to hoard but a gift. Giving gives life meaning.

Returning to the initial question posed at the beginning of this message, "that which is difficult is easy, the easy is difficult" is simple to understand. We fight against doing what we feel is imposed upon us (mitzvah).  That makes it difficult. But once we self obligate to do God's will we find it is very easy and our actions breathe meaning into life.  And on the other side of the equation, when we do that which is most expedient it provides no sense of real achievement.  In the final analysis it leaves us empty.

So, what is the meaning of life? What is your answer?

Do Not Die

 "I have no intention of dying so long as I do things.  And if I do things, there is no need to die.  So I will live a long, long time," said Albert Schweitzer.

In the book of Proverbs we read, “tzedakah saves from death.”  The same caption is emblazoned on the tzedakah box in our library.  What do the words, “tzedakah saves from death,” mean?

A story is related in the Talmud about the daughter of Rabbi Akiva.  It was prophesied that she would die on her wedding day from the bite of a poisonous snake. The day of her wedding came and passed uninterrupted.  “What did you do to avert the prediction?” she was asked.  “I do not know, but on the day of the nuptials a stranger came to the door needing food and money.  I fed him and gave him what he needed,” she explained.

Akiva understood that the actions of his daughter prevented the Angel of Death from taking his daughter.

Question: Is this true?  Can we stave off the arms of death by being benevolent?  By doing acts of tzedakah?

Each of us has experienced great pain these past weeks.  The invasion of Israel by the Hamas terrorists left us dazed, angry and deeply concerned.  The right would tell us to check our mezzuzas.  That prophylactic would prevent evil from touching us.  The left declares that the victims are to blame for the terrorist’s despicable violations.  We know the truth: we do not hold the reigns of death and cannot stay its hand and we cannot control human behavior.  

Life can be lived or endured.  We can choose to live a life that matters or grit our teeth and get by making as little disturbance as possible, hoping to pass unnoticed.  Judaism’s response is unequivocal.  What we do matters.  How we behave creates not only our character but the way we view and interact with our world.  It urges us to be invested in our world and work to change it for the better.

We were not granted life to simply live but provide balance and order in a world that is often chaotic. “Tzedakah saves from death” is the hallmark of the Jew because it keeps us fully engaged and alive.

The Talmud tells us to say one hundred blessings each day.  Why?  We say blessings for good things we experience and perform. So, the only way a person is enabled to recite one hundred brachot is to be active in seeking out ongoing opportunities to be “just” (that is the real meaning of tzedakah…i.e. it is not just giving money).  Every meeting, each encounter and event is another chance to not die but live fully.  When we take time to act righteously the life force in us becomes an indomitable spirit infusing us with a vitality that validates the gift of life we have been granted.

So, what do we do with the vile actions of those who breathe violence and hate?  How do we move ourselves out of a sense of helplessness and become a force of being fully alive?  Not a helpless victim but a person who rises to grasp life.

Ø Give to causes that directly support those most affected by the terrorism.  The easiest path is to give to the Federation and earmark the funds for Israel.

Ø Adopt a family or person that has been murdered or abducted.  Support the survivors and let them know they are not alone and will not be forgotten.  You can find the names of the kidnapped here: #KidnappedFromIsrael

As you know from know from your own wounded experience when people reach out to you the loneliness, isolation and pain are assuaged.  When no one calls, writes, or connects the pain is exponential.

Ø You often hear, “I will pray for you.”  Make it real.  Pray for the victims and let your children and grandchildren hear the prayers that you utter.  Pray with them.  Besides sending strong missives to heaven you are teaching a profound and lasting lesson to the next generation; one they will never forget.

 

Ø When people and the press seem to have a lapse of memory on what precipitated these horrific events, remind them and yourself of the mass murders, the executions, violation of women and torture of innocent civilians, guilty of only being Israeli. 

"I have no intention of dying so long as I do things.”  Embrace life. It is your life’s meaning, destiny and call.