GUARDIANS

" Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life"

   A metaphor comes to mind as we assess our state of today's society;

   Man is like a bird. A bird can fly higher and higher, but only if it keeps it's wings in motion constantly. If it stops flying for a moment, it will fall and crash to the earth. The same is true of man, he must continue to move forward and grow spiritually, or else he may fall to the ground.

   Our Parsha this Shabbat is Yisro,  when we read the most dramatic and inspirational document ofthe entire Torah , the Aseres Hadibros, the Ten Commandments, given to the Jewish People amidst divine revelation. At this great historic event בני ישראל  responded, even before the actual commandments were given, נעשה ונשמע "We will do and we will listen."

    Then our Torah relates how the Jewish  People gathered around Mt. Sinai to hear the words of G-D as He gave them the Ten Commandments. The Torah describes this great moment in Jewish History, ויהי קולות וברקים, they heard "thundering and lightening"

and ויחרד כל העם אשר במחנה, "they became frightened by the experience" and ויעמד העם מרחוק "they stood at a distance from the mountain." Our Sages teach us that the Jewish People backed away from Mt. Sinai. They were frightened of the responsibility of being the bearers of the Ten Commandments. They stepped back, not wanting to accept the commandments as they felt it was too burdensome

   Moshe seeing their reaction, as they stepped back and away from the mountain, felt he needed to inspire them and to remove their fears.     The Torah states ומשה נגש אל הערפל

"And Moshe rushed toward the flames that engulfed the mountain and caught a glimpse of G-D."

  Moshe was teaching the people an important lesson in Yahadut; 

If one wants to achieve the optimum bonum of Judaism then one must penetrate into the essence of Judaism and not move away from accepting responsibility for a Judaic way of life. 

  This is why we are the ממלכת וגוי קדוש , for we are ready נעשה ונשמה, to accept the Mitzvot of the Torah unequivocally.  We do so with great confidence that what ever Hashem gives us, is for our benefit, and for our betterment.

  Judaism requires that we constantly flap our wings of Yiddishkeit and to have the courage to step into the ערפל of Jewish Life by accepting our responsibility as Jews and to pass on this strong commitment to Torah and Mitzvot to the next generation, with the same התלהבות. 

    I am writing this blog on טו בשבט , on the day we celebrate Jewish Arbor  Day, the time we commemorate The New Year for Trees. I would like to share the following Talmudic story;

    A Rabbi passed a man planting a carob tree."How long, he asked, will it take for the tree to bear fruit?"

  "Seventy years," the man replied.

   "Are you sure, asked the Rabbi , that you will be here in seventy years?"

    "No, replied the man, but just as I found carob trees in the world, planted by my grandparents, so I am planting this for my grandchildren."

   We are the guardians of the past for the sake of our future.

  This lesson of dedication to all that is Jewish is crucial to our existence and at all times we must remember  כי הם חיינו וארך ימינו, 

"For they are our life, and the length of our days"