LET US GO FORWARD

   As I reflect upon our society today, I realize more and more that we are to be reminded, constantly, of the need to achieve a definitive perspective to our lives. It is, then that I begin, to realize that life is a mixture for all of us. We are reminded of life’s struggles, hardships, problems and defeats and at the same time we begin to reflect on our blessings, of our accomplishments, our beautiful moments and often our great triumphs. There are times that we move from our lows to our highs.  To maintain our equilibrium it is best that we focus more on our blessings and when doing so we will be able to better ourselves and those around us. 

   We all experienced these feelings during our Seder. When we began to tell the story by restating how our ancestors lived in squalor conditions in Egypt, living lives of subjugation, denying their human rights, and then “Wonder of Miracles” Hashem, in His infinite way, delivered us out of Egypt and we were on our way to the Promised Land.

   Who can deny the pain and anguish we felt at the news that a synagogue in San Diego was terrorized and harm befell our fellow Jews. We offered our prayers of thanksgiving that the fatalities were considerably limited. However, the terror did not stop there, as we read of a most despicable cartoon containing anti- Semitic images that reminded us, once again, of the 1930s. Worse, it took more than a day before the N.Y. Times offered a ‘Pareve Apology.’ Such Nazi like propaganda has us all frightened and one wonders, “Where are we headed in this great country of democracy.”

   Such a mixture of emotions is not strange for the Jews.  We have lived with pain and anguish BUT at the same time we have lived with joy and jubilation.  Life has always been and will continue to be one of hope and optimism for us and for all humanity. These are times when we feel the potential for holiness which results in recognizing our continuous blessings. We beseech the Almighty to eradicate the evil that exists in our world and to remove the anti - Semitic feeling that permeates our society today.

   I refuse to look upon the anguish that life deals us.  I prefer to reiterate our obligation to respond appropriately to our good fortune. The Rav reiterated, “The bestowal of good is always to be viewed as a conditional gift- a gift that must be returned , these gifts of life are temporary gifts. When G-D endows man with the blessings of life, the recipient must learn how to use these precious gifts, how to transform them into fruitful creative forces, how to share his or her joy and prominence with the people around and how to take the Chesed that flows toward them from its infinite, G-Dly source and use it to perform deeds of loving kindness for others.”

   These troubling thoughts bring to mind an interesting insight brought forth from this week’s Sedrah, Acharey, by the Sfas Emes, on the Pasuk, אני ה׳ אלוקיכם. With these words he explains, “The purpose of the Mitzvot is precisely to give us an opportunity to accept Hashem, as our Ruler. With our performance in Mitzvot, we are, in essence, placing a crown on the head of G-D.” He goes on to explain, “What did Nadav and Avihu do wrong? They went off the track, because they did something that Hashem had not commanded.” In other words, their misbehavior lay in their performing a religious act that was not an expression of their subordination to Hashem.

   The lesson to me is clear, “Life as a Jew is not an easy one vis-a-vis the worlds hatred and dislike of the Jew and more so the hatred and dislike of the State of Israel. But not only in spite, but becausethis hatred exists, we need to reinforce and become stronger in our alliance with each other and especially in our dedication and commitment to Torah and the State of Israel. The world may think that with their vindictiveness we will grow weaker, but the truth is it makes us stronger.” As the Sfas Emes explained, “Our continued performance of Mitzvot, are our means to develop and maintain our relationship with G-D.”

As our Torah states; ושמרתם את חוקתי ואת משפטי אשר יעשה אתם האדם וחי בהם,” You shall observe My decrees and My laws, which man shall carry out and by which he shall live”. The Sfas Emes, understands the phrase, וחי בהם, to mean, “He shall give life”, rather than “He shall live”. There is a phenomenal lesson in this new understanding, for now the sentence is telling us that by intensifying ourperformance of Mitzvot we give Chiyus , We Give Life. We give more meaning to Judaism and bring more Joy endowing us with a greater sense for our existence, ultimately bringing Blessing to us and to the entire world.

 

Our perspective on life at this crucial time for the Jewish people can be summed up with the following words which will bring us great hope and optimism “Let us go forward.”  As Mimi once said to me “Let us hold on to the wonderful memories and let us look forward to spring -let us look forward to the flowers in bloom – let us look forward to the trees with the beautiful leaves – let us look forward to a world of glory, blessing and let us look forward to the time when

עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו ועל כל ישראל

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