DIVERSIONS OF LIFE

  It is written; 

"Everyone is a bore to someone. That is unimportant. The thing to avoid is being a bore to oneself.” 

 The conscious reflection on oneself, and the conscious effort to perfect oneself, is a true component of the spirit that is inherent in man. To be spiritual requires man to reflect on himself and the more he is involved in the task of improving himself the more spiritual he becomes. 

  I remember reading an insightful remark by Dr. Abraham Twerski that gives a remarkable understanding of the role of man as he pursues the ultimate goal of spirituality; 

 "We are all adept at diversion, at amusing ourselves one way or another, but we are still unable to relax. We entertain ourselves by reading, watching television, playing golf and listening to the radio. To be entertained is to be diverted, for that is what all these activities are, they are all diversions. What happens when we divert our attention from everything? We end up diverting from ourselves.”

 Today, it seems that in life, we ultimately divertourselves from observing who we are and in doing so we ignore our need to be introspective, which results in a lack of true spirituality. 

  As we will read the Parsha of V’eschanan this Shabbat,  we will stand in awe as the Aseret Hadibrot will be read, the ultimate directive of Yahadut. 

 At this moment, as I speak of diversion, one of the Ten Commandments comes to mind. That is the directive of, לא תחמוד, you shall not covet. This commandment seems to direct our attention to our subject at hand, the problem of diverting our attention away from ourselves, and loosing the essence of the ultimate goal of achieving the highest form of spirituality, by focusing on what others possess.  To an extent we are not satisfied with our own achievements and possessions. We begin to lose sight of the dictum, 

איזהו עשיר השמח בחלקו, who is rich both physically and spiritually, is one who is satisfied with their lot, that Hashem has Blessed them with. 

 The more that one is not satisfied with himself, the more he diverts away from himself and lacks the realization of  his ultimate goal of heightened spirituality. 

  I wonder when it comes to our observance as a Jew, what part of our lives do we portray on the outside and what part do we push to the subterranean level of our personalities? 

  It seems our portrayal priorities need to be put into order in a way that we will begin to recognize that the mitzvah of לא תחמוד, will be a reward rather than a commandment. If we live right, if we really keep the first nine commandments, we will be spared from the cravings that otherwise will consume our souls, preventing our growth, spiritually. When we have a deep abiding אהבת הי, then we will have no room in our hearts to desire what others have, but rather our self satisfaction and appreciation of Hashem’s Blessings will become a reality. 

Chazal teach us “If Klal Yisrael will observe two Shabbatot, the Mashiach will come. The question is which Shabbatot are we talking about? The answer given is  Shabbat Chazon and Shabbat Nachamu. Why we may ask? My answer is; “We need both aspects in Yahdut. We need a Hashkafah that mourns the past, realizing that our past will give us the spiritual impetus for a glorified future.  We, also, need a life of Nachamu, a life that sees Yahadut in a state of consolation, in a state that sees a future where peace and serenity will prevail – where all Jewry will be united under the banner of Torah, and where all Jews will live in harmony and brotherhood.  Then and only then will our salvation take place.