BLESSINGS OF LIFE

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

  What a simple, but, truly, profound idea that clarifies the essence of how we are to approach all the motivational aspects of life. 

  After listening to my talk, a young man approached me, somewhat confused, asking if I could summarize what life is all about in a very brief manner.  My reply to him was the following;

“Remember these three bones and you will succeed in life and begin to realize it’s essence. 

   The three bones are; the wishbone, the jawboneand the backbone. 

The wishbone keeps you going after things, the jawbone helps you find out how to go after them, and it's the backbone that keeps you at it - till you get there.” 

  How true this is. In life, we need the means to obtain these three bones and as we acquire them, we, then, begin to realize the beauty of life's horizon shining down upon us. 

  Too often life is knocking on our door and we seem to be so busy that we do not hear it and, consequently, we do not answer the door of opportunity. 

   Jewish life in the Diaspora is flourishing, religiously and educationally, in ways that would have been unimaginable a century ago. Who can deny that the very existence of our State of Israel is our greatest miracle and one that is always to be cherished.  

   At the same time, I recognize that these are not the worst of times, nor are they the best of times, but they are the most challenging of times, as we continuously face the world, in Israel and in the Diaspora, proudly, raising our banner for all to see and respect. As we march forward, we must do so with purpose and vigor. 

   Until we know where we want to be in this glorious world of ours, we will not know where to go. Most important, we must recognize that our movement forward must be motivated not out of fear, but with a positive stand on the values set forth in our Torah, and on the values by which our ancestors lived. 

   With these thoughts in mind, I begin to reflect upon this week's Sedrah Balak. 

Balak, the king of Moav, is in desperate fear of the Jewish People.  He knows well he cannot defeat them militarily and summons the renowned sorcerer Bilam to curse them.  Through this means, he believes, he will be able to defeat the Jews. 

We are all familiar with the story and what  the outcome was. Instead of cursing the Jews, G-Dintervened and the curses were turned into beautiful Blessings. 

For me, the most important and the most meaningful statement in this entire episode is when Hashemtells Bilam not to go on his mission, because כי ברוך הוא, the Jewish People are a Blessed people, and they will always be protected by G-D. 

   An amazing feeling of security overwhelms me when I read these words of assurance and know that whatever may come our way, "No One", can bring their curses to fulfillment upon us. 

   It is sad that our world has not learned this lesson in dealing with the Jewish People and especially with The State of Israel. There are sociopaths like Bilam in our world who are motivated by their greed and hatred and will continue to ignore the word of G-D, כי ברוך הוא

 Though it is true that we are blessed, our participation is still required, which is the fulfillment of Bilam's Bracha, מה טובו אוהליך יעקב משכנותיך ישראל, which demands a strong and viable unity, that sees us dwelling in brotherhood and fellowship, under the tree of life, our Holy and Sacred Torah. 

   This idea becomes even more meaningful as we begin the three week mourning period, bewailing the destruction of our Holy Temple.  Our Chazal says, this was all due to the Sinas Chinam of the Jews and our Holy Temple will only be rebuilt when we reverse this hatred into true אהבת ישראל. 

   This is the most opportune moment to rally our emotional forces, using our wishbone , and our jawbone, and our backbone, in the service of achieving our Achdut, with the Blessing of Hashem,who will turn all the curses against us as He did with Bilam into Brachot, leading us to our גאולה שלמה במהרה בימנו. 

OUR FUTURE

  As we read in our Torah of the many experiences of the Jewish People and their trek to the Promised Land, after their exodus from Egyptian bondage, we find one truism that stands out and the oft repeated statement, "We had it better in the olden days".   Though it was said in a different context, I have found that, lately, in our own generational experiences, as many face different crises in their lives, a similar statement is shared, "It was better in the good old days".

  In all honesty, I am not so sure that this is true. It may have been a simpler life. Simpler does not mean it was better. 

   I had the pleasure to join with our children as three of our grandsons graduated from DRS High School and will be learning in Eretz Yisroel for a year. Sitting in the audience and observing so many of our youth, who live by the motto of Torah and Madah, truly gladdened my heart. At that moment I realized  that our Torah oriented way of life has, indeed, a glorious future. Many have said to me "Times are not what they used to be." My retort is, "Maybe in fact, they are better, for there are more young men and women who are dedicating their time and effort in learning Torah and spreading this knowledge and enthusiasm to others."

  These are times when we begin to realize, more and more, that the entire thrust of Judaism is to look forward and to build more secured spiritual structures that were entrusted to us by our past. 

   This week's Sedrah, Chukat, speaks of the death of Miriam, the true savior of Moshe and on whose merit the Jewish People had water throughout their tortuous journey through the dessert.  With her death, the well of water dried up. The people complained.  They realized that the symbol of water is the spiritual and physical  life sustaining force and were, now, bemoaning the dire consequences affecting them by the death of Miriam.

   However, I am sure that as many mourned her death and bewailed the loss of water, they were encouraged to look to the future and beseech Hashem to sustain them. 

  We can feel the influence of Miriam on the people's fate - but we can, equally, appreciate a dynamic G-Dly influence that took hold of them at that moment as they  knew that only Hashem could help them.  It was for that reason they cried out to Moshe and to Hashem. Thus, indirectly, the life and death of Miriam, a recognized prophetess, continued to have a great influence on the spiritual outlook of the Jewish People. 

  Let us remember that Moshe directed the Jews at Sinai to "Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow." After all, the true journey in life is to look towards the tomorrow. With our children and grandchildren acting in consonance with Torah and Halacha, we will build a future that will be,"לשם ולתפארת בישראל, To the Glory of G-D and to the glory of the Jewish People."

   We must begin to realize that all our efforts in life are to use our past in a way that will enrich our present and insure our future.

  Life is a braided cord of humanity stretching way back into the past and strengthening itself as it moves forth into the present and gains greater momentum by all our efforts into a sustaining future. 

  A generation without Jewish memories is a generation without hope. Our success encourages us to permit the past to live in us as we march on with pride and dignity. 

 

     

ARE WE LISTENING?

While perusing my e-mails the other day I was very disturbed to read that the University of Tel Aviv decided not to sing the Hatikvah at their graduation, in deference to the Arab students attending the University. They chose, instead, to sing “You and I will change the world” by Erik Einstein.

  This is so disturbing to me.  In our wildest dreams would we ever, think to replace these magnificent words; “As long as the heart within a Jewish soul yearns, our hope is not yet lost to be a free nation in the land of Zion.” 

  How can such meaningful words of inspiration and hope, for our glorious country, be replaced to pacify a segment of the population that wishes to destroy the Jewish people?

  How pathetic that academia bends, in submission, to such absurd and embarrassing requests. Let us see any Arab university forego their national anthem for some Jew in their university. 

  The questions I pose are “Who are our modern day Korachs?” and in life experiences, "When, if ever, is controversy allowed?

   In this week’s Parsha, Korach, we are introduced to a Machloket, between Korach and Moshe. It is true that Chazal describes Korach as a פקח, a very intelligent and scholarly man and, yet to our dismay, his way of life is sinful and, more so, his actions of controversy are both unrealistic and destructive. 

  One can say that not all controversy is bad and Chazal may agree with this but insist that controversy is acceptable when done לשם שמים  for Heavens’ sake and done with mutual respect. 

  My direction is not to admonish Korach, though, I agree, he acted in an egregious fashion and should be admonished for his actions. My aim, through this blog, is to search for an understanding of when and how disagreement can be acceptable. 

  This reminds me of a couple that came to the Rabbi with a marital situation, and were told to go home and argue.  They said, “That is what we have been doing ever since we married, arguing.” To which the wise Rabbi replied, “You have not been arguing, you have been quarreling. You have been talking monologue, without either one listening to the other, just a running monologue. Now, I want you to dialogue with each other. I would like you to have an argument in which you not only express your opinion, but also listen to the view of your partner. Maybe you will learn from each other something important to maintain a true שלום בית.” 

  If this be true in our domestic lives, how more so is this attitude necessary in our Judaic way of life and especially in our relationship with each other. 

   Our Torah relates that after Korach leads the revolt against Moshe and Aaharon, Moshe sends a message to Korach. 

  וישלח משה לקרא לדתן ולאבירם, inviting them to meet and discuss the situation and to see if they can negotiate a solution to the problem. And Korach and his hordes reply,” לא נעלה, We will not meet, we do not want to talk, because we simply have nothing to say to each other.” 

   I must suggest that these two words are the most devastating words in our lexicon,” לא נעלה,  It is our way or no way.” This to me is blasphemous. 

   What I sense in Yahadut, today, is the lack of communication.  This, to me, is most destructive.  This lack of communication is causing a schism in our Jewish Society.

  It is true we may not agree with each other in many areas of Judaism.  That is evident. But we must still, continue to dialogue with each other and to maintain an אחדות, in Judaism, and the expression of  לא נעלה needs to be removed from our lexicon. 

    There is too much polarization going on in Jewish Life, and disagreement may be acceptable when done לשם שמים and סוף להתקים, for the betterment and the continued future of עם ישראל. 

   These are times that we must learn from the incident of Korach, “We need to live together in peace and with mutual respect.” It is time we learn to agree on how to disagree as befits the followers of Moshe and not of Korach. 

    On a tangential level, we may not always agree with President Trump, but let us agree that he took the initiative to sit down with a despot like Kim Jong Un of North  Korea, and decided  that they needed to  listen to one another rather than just saying, לא נעלה, and, hopefully, some type of peace can ensue to avoid a military devastating battle.

   Life on all levels needs open minds, listening ears, and receptive hearts to assure a world of peace and tranquility that is so needed in our tumultuous society. 

    With such a positive and open way of life and with our great dependence on the fulfillment of the will ofHashem, our lives will be לחיים ולברכה. 

   

WORDS THAT INSPIRE

The words and expressions we use are determinant factors in how we respond to our experiences. As we go through life we are, often, careful in the words we use. We are challenged to recognize the value of words and how they affect others with whom we are dialoguing with.

  Many are blessed with the gift of gab to use wordsto transmit pictures, frames of mind, information and, especially, emotions, in a very positive way. 

  As I speak of words, this week's Parsha Shlachcomes to mind.  I am referring to the incident with the Meraglim, the Spies, who were sent out to assess the Promised Land to see if the Jewish People were capable of defeating the present occupiers.

  Twelve representative leaders were sent to spy. Ten returned with a negative report, while two, Yehoshua and Calev, returned with a very optimistic report. 

   To truly understand the outlook of the Spies we must hear their words as they gave their respective reports and assessments of the situation. 

  Ten said, unequivocally, לא נוכל, "We cannot go forward."  While Calev said, כי יכול נוכל לה, "Let us go ahead and we shall be victorious."

 One report utters words of defeat of devastation, לא נוכל, “We can't do it. Give up the idea.”  Whereas. Calev, in his optimistic outlook and his strong faith in G-D, states words of encouragement and words of faith, כי יכול נוכל, "We can do it. We can and must go forward to bring about our salvation.” 

   Simple words, expressing hope and confidence, can change the history of mankind and, surely, the history of the Jewish People. The choice is ours, יוכלor לא נוכל. This will determine our destiny and our future.  

  This past week I had the pleasure of speaking at a Bris.  I mentioned in my remarks how special it was that the new baby and his older brother were, both, named after survivors of the Holocaust. Their namesakes were men who, even in the midst of purgatory used words of hope and faith, "We will and must survive."  They said יוכל, "We can and must do it for the future of our family and for the future of עם ישראל."

    We can take pride in our courageous martyrs of the past, for they were never were defeated.  They always felt נוכל. Their words were positive. They are our emulating examples.  

   While standing and observing the procedure of the Brit Milah the baby began to cry.  At that moment I recalled what I had read in Gemorah Nedah. 

  The Talmud teaches us that while we are still in our mother’s womb, a lamp, held by an angel shines over our head and in whose light we learn the entire teachings and words of the Torah and we can see from one end of the universe to the other. Before we are born and sent into the world, the angel taps us on our mouth, creating the Philtrum, the indentation on our upper lip causing us to forget all the teachings and words we had learned. 

     Having this in mind I could understand why the baby was crying, for he had forgotten the words of the Torah.  I, then, in a very ‘mysterious’ way, whispered to him, “Life is not a process of learning something new but rather of remembering what one already knows.” 

   What a tremendous lesson for life. We must continue to learn and to explore, and to listen, attentively, to our inner soul, and to remember what we already know. 

   Life is a world of נוכל, and all we need to do is retrieve that דרך האמת  שהוא דרך הי, for then the words of Torah will have a life of its own. 

   

              "We are not just users of words, we are their creators"