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"