True Beauty

Usually, I like to write about something that inspires me that particular week. My inspiration this week though, came from
an unlikely source: Sports Illustrated.

The article that caught my attention, was an op-ed about ex-quarterback, Jake Plummer.
In 2007, at 32 years of age and healthy, the All-Pro Plummer was on track to make $5 million for the coming season.
And then he retired. Just like that. Why did he leave the average American male's dream? To spend more time with family & enjoy life.



That decision caught my attention, but what really inspired me, was what Plummer had to say at the funeral of his good friend, Pat Tillman.
Another special, interesting sports figure, Tillman also left football at the prime of his career; but for a different reason.
He left to serve his country, enlisting in the army. Soon he was sent off to Afghanistan, and was tragically killed in 2004.
At his funeral, Plummer had this to say:

"I was in the store the other day, and I saw PEOPLE magazine, and it had the cover of the 50 most beautiful people in the world,
or in America, and there was a picture of Pat. It was kind of ironic because I really looked and said, What is beauty?
Is beauty a pretty face, a nice smile, flowing hair, nice skin?
Not to me, it's not. To me beauty is living life to higher standards, stronger morals and ethics and believing in them, whether people tell you you're right or wrong.
Beauty is not wasting a day. Beauty is noticing life's little intricacies and taking time out of your busy day to really enjoy those little intricacies.
Beauty is being real, being genuine, being pure with no facade - what you see is what you get. Beauty is expanding your mind, always seeking
knowledge, not being content, always going after something and challenging yourself."

If 2 sports stars could realize what is truly valuable and beautiful, how much more so should we take to heart was is real in life.
I don't know if I could have this clarity if I was worshiped by millions of adoring fans, immersed in fame and fortune.
Let's remember what real beauty is; not a transient beauty that wrinkles & fades, but a beauty that lasts forever.
When one dies, his muscles and wealth don't accompany him, but his Torah & good deeds do.
"Beauty is living life to higher standards, not wasting a day, noticing life's intricacies, expanding your mind, not being content." Focusing on what's right.
As Hillel the Elder said over 2,000 years ago: "If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?" (Ethics of the Fathers, Ch.1, 14)

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel

What's with the Snow?

Snow. Ice. Sleet.
For those of us living east of California, and west of Florida, the weather has gone from bad to worse.
It was cute at first, but as one slips & slides down the sidewalk, the freezing air begins to wear thin.
Maybe if we take a deeper look at the meaning of snow & ice, we can find something positive to contemplate on the rest of the winter. In a Chassidic Discourse about the holiday of Yom Kippur, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi brings 2 beautiful analogies, using snow & ice to illustrate his points.

1) Snow begins as water.
2) As the water leaves the clouds as rain, the cold atmosphere can turn the water into snow.
3) As the snow falls to the ground, as time passes the snow melts, returning back into its original form of water.

So too by Torah.
1) Torah begins as G-d's Essential Divine Will & Wisdom.
2) As G-d's Wisdom "Descends" into our atmosphere, where we can understand it, it takes on a worldly form: the events of the forefathers, monetary laws, etc.
3) When one learns these seemingly mundane stories & laws,
with the intention in mind that this is really G-d's Divine Will & Wisdom, then the Torah learned is elevated and returns back to its original source.

~~~

What about ice?
Well, if one were to look into the books of the prophets, ice would be found to be mentioned in an unlikely place. In the first chapter of Ezekiel (Yechezkel), the prophet writes of a now famous vision/prophecy he experienced. He describes the various angels and levels in which he sees.
But above all of the loftiest angels, Ezekiel describes there being a "sheet of ice."
Ice!? In the spiritual realms, "physical" things that take up time & space can't exist! Rabbi Shneur Zalman explains, that the "ice" that Ezekiel sees, represents the great level of selfless nullification - ultimate commitment to the Will of G-d - of the angels on that level. Like ice, these angels are completely nullified & "still."

By looking at the world in a deeper way this winter, may we be warmed up, physically & spiritually!

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel

An Inseparable Unity

This week's Torah portion, Mishpatim, seems to be the most anti-climactic portion of the entire year. A real downer.
We began the Torah with the creation of the universe; the trials and experiences of our forefathers & mothers; the enslavement and ultimate miraculous redemption of the Jewish People from Egypt, leading to the greatest moment to date since the beginning of time: The giving of the Torah. Last week, we read about this momentous occasion. G-d Revealed His Presence on this earth, Speaking the 1st commandment: "I am the L-rd, your G-d."

The Zohar states that this sentence was uttered - not only from the sky, but actually emanated from every direction! Every flower; every blade of grass, said together: "I am the L-rd, your G-d." Since the Infinite Essence of G-d was revealed in the world; the truth of His Unity - that everything is one with Him - was revealed.
All of space & time became nullified in this unity & therefore spoke together with G-d.

But in this week's portion, the romance seems gone. The incredibly profound revelation gone. All we have is laws, laws, laws!
"What if my ox gores your cow?"
"What if I accidentally killed your cousin?"
"What if I dig a pit in the middle of the road and you fall in?"

Let's understand the meaning of this transition.

As great as the revelation of G-d was at the Giving of the Torah, at the end of the day, G-d's revealed Presence left.
How do we know if something became truly one with something else? When it doesn't leave; when it can't.

Let's take a dark room for instance. If you were to open the blinds &
the sunlight were to enter, you would now have an illuminated room.
But did the room change? Sure, there's light now.
But the room itself didn't change. An outside source is illuminating it, but the room is essentially dark. And the proof is that when the light leaves, the room returns to darkness. Take an even greater unity - like a soul with a body - ultimately we see that they are not totally unified, for at death they part.

In Chapter 5 of Tanya, when discussing the unity of G-d & a person who learns Torah, the Alter Rebbe gives the analogy of food.
"You are what you eat," is a scary, but true term. Food & drink actually become part of our flesh and blood.
So too, when learning even the most mundane monetary laws of Torah, one's soul is completely unifying with G-d's Infinite Being!
Like food to a body, G-d's Wisdom & Will, infused in the Torah, is ingested and becomes one with your soul.
The greatest unity possible - greater even than what occurred at the giving of the Torah.
Why is it like that? B/c now the unity is coming from us.
From our effort. No external light. No external revelation.

This seemingly unromantic transition is actually an elevation into a true, lasting connection.
And once we've permeated ourselves with the holiness of Torah & Mitzvot, we can move on to the laws of building G-d's Temple, His Sanctuary in this world (next week's Torah Portion), for now we are ready to permeate the world around us, in a lasting way, with G-d's Unity.

Shabbat Shalom,

Daniel