RIDE THE WAVES

I write this blog reflecting upon a question posed to me by one of our college students in his quest for answers to his spiritual question ,"What is the essence of life in Judaism?" In all honesty this is not a question that is easily answered , but let me share with you what I shared with this very inquisitive young man.

I was sitting on the boardwalk one day watching with great enjoyment the surfers in the ocean, it was a thing of beauty.  They were flowing with the tide.  As the waves moved to and fro they were using there surfboards to guide there motions through the movements of the waves to arrive safely and still standing on the board up to the shore.

I then realized that life is like the the waves. At times very fierce and seemingly hostile and to be able to ride these life storms waves, one has to gather all his spiritual, physical and mental strength to prevent  his falling off his surfboard of life.

I realize more and more that life is not always a straight path, for there are peaks and valleys and we must attend to the agenda of the hour and work with all of our G-D given energy to achieve a homeostasis to our being.

We need to flow with life's tide always searching for ways to overcome the pain, the aggravation, the loneliness and the rejection.

Getting on with life is  what heals our anxieties, and our loneliness and in doing so to gather our strength to validate ourselves and our existence. Our  spirit calls out to us to be regal and to move forward to live life with resolve, with creative energy, with joy, a joy which will dispel all the deep shadows of loneliness and problems.

The Rav, Rabbi Soloveitchik tz'l states a fundamental Jewish truth."The very essence of our Jewish  covenantal community is  being together with each other."

This is our answer to this young mans quest.

If we ride the waves of life together, we are more assured that we will reach the shores of success .