These past few weeks have been ones of turmoil and anguish for our family. This unfortunate and unexpected experience has encouraged me, on a personal, level to think and ask “What is life?”
I know well that our Torah states U’Vacharta Bachayim, choose life. As I have said many times, if you live life according to our Torah than life will have substance and meaning. However, there are times, in our true meaning of life, man is enveloped in much anguish and feelings of depression and despondency and begins his search for some feelings of solace and comfort.
Again, I assure myself and all who read this blog, that when you live according to Torah ideals and beliefs that life has meaning and that we can achieve a modicum of joy and happiness. This I do not deny. But we need inner strength to assuage the anguish, pain and illness that life brings.
It is at this point in our game of life that I say “Stay in the game”. Play to the best of our abilities and continue to reach down in our inner selves for our personal Tafgid that Hashem has set forth for us and continue to be strong in our Belief that we will be able to see, in some way or other, the light at the end of the tunnel. We need to accept life as it is and to use all our energies to achieve the optimum of life’s expectations.
I am reminded of the great educator John Dewey who was asked on his 90th birthday, “What is the good of all your thinking, where does it get you?”
Mr. Dewey replied, “The good is that you climb mountains.”
To which the reporter asked, “What is the good of doing that?”
Dewey replied, “To see other mountains”, and then placed his hands on the reporters shoulders and said “When you are no longer interested in climbing mountains to see other mountains to climb, then life is over.”
Life, in a simplistic fashion, is the act of climbing all kinds of mountains. We climb the mountains of life and very often they are treacherous ones, involving much positive energy that permits us to see that this rough terrain of mountains can be climbed even though our energy is beginning to wane. There is this inner spiritual G-dliness implanted in all of us that produces an indomitable strength that rings in our despondent hearts and minds that says to us “Gather your inner strength and bring hope and faith into your life and persevere and continue to climb those mountains of life and as you do, so may you gain the momentum to reach the summit to see the glorious sun light of life’s sustaining forces”.
To take our minds off the difficulties that we may encounter, let us try to take on more acts of kindness, of goodness, of charity, of philanthropy and friendliness to others, and then we will have a clearer perspective of what life is all about. Understandably, our pain may still continue to linger, but doing good for others will bring us a greater sense of comfort.
As we prepare for the Yom Tov of Shavout - The Holiday of Revelation, I echo the words of our Torah in describing Moshe's action at this most auspicious hour, ומשה עלה אל אלוקים. Moshe climbed the mountain to meet with G-d to receive a great moral code.
In a like manner we must continue to climb the Mountain of Hope and Faith
reaching upwards to be in the presence of Hashem bringing Peace and Tranqulity to K'lal Yisrael.
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