Restorative Magic

"And the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their host. And G-d completed on the seventh day His work which He had done; and He Rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done...And G-d blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it." (Genesis 1:31-2:3)



In this week's Torah portion, 'Vayakhel', G-d Gives us the mitzvah of Shabbat, Stating: “Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day shall be holy.”

So what's the deal with this Shabbat idea really?
Work for 6 days and then revert to our inner hippie for a day?

Jews throughout time have sacrificed quite a lot for these 25 hours of "rest." Many of the new Jewish immigrants to America in the early 1900's, used to have 52 jobs a year. Why? Because every week they didn't work on Saturday, they were fired!
Why did G-d find this day of rest to be so badly needed?

Of course, on a very practical level, Shabbat is vital.
Now more than ever, we are distracted from every direction. Work, mortgage, meetings, bills, brunches.
Cell Phones, internet, home phone, TV, text, IPod... the list is endless. When is there time to just spend time with your loved ones?
To strengthen family ties, with one's spouse & children. To re-connect with G-d and our Jewish heritage. To stop & appreciate life and all that we have. To marvel at the world around us. To just relax.
As my mother once said to me: "We began keeping Shabbat before we believed in G-d. It just seemed so healthy for our family."

But on a deeper level, Shabbat is also a time spend with oneself.
How often does the noisy, raging world around us relent enough to let us think about what we're here for in the 1st place?
"Down time" during a weekday isn't enough. It hasn't been designated as a special time away, and the phone can ring at any moment.
No, I need a day to step back and re-focus. To re-energize and become inspired to re-enter the world the way I want to.

We are told to "make a dwelling place" in this world for G-d. To get involved in the world. To work in an honest manner is a mitzvah:
"Six days you shall work." We're supposed to be fully immersed in the world to uplift it. To inspire all we come in contact with for the good.
But like a painter over his canvas, a writer over his keyboard, or a sculptor over his stone, there must be a time to take a step back from one's work. To stop, analyze, reflect, and then delve back into work, with new found focus.

As the famous Jewish author Herman Wouk once described Shabbat: "A retreat into restorative magic."

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel
{To read some beautiful insights & stories about Shabbat, click: Shabbat}

Light Vision

It's so easy to see bad -
both around us in the world, and inside ourselves.
Hate, envy, greed, lust.
Antisemitism, bigotry, cruelty.


And then there is a ray of light.
Something that makes one believe that goodness truly outshines bad in the world. Like a small candle which lights up a large, dark room.

Sometimes it's something sweet you see in the world that lights up your soul. And sometimes it's your lit soul which in turn lights up the seemingly dark world around you.
But how are we to conjure up this light? To uncover the good, sweet side of ourselves & in those around us?

We have to search for it with purpose, knowing that it's there. Knowing that our souls - who we really are deep down - is true goodness. And knowing that when we reveal that good, its light overpowers darkness 1,000 fold.
True, this doesn't mean we mustn't recognize evil in the world, and ignore it. We must call a spade a spade. Cruelty & bad must be denounced, both around us and within our personalities. Suicide bombers shouldn't be painted as freedom fighters.
But too often we focus on our friend's bad, and our internal bad. That's too easy. More often what we really need to do, is focus on the good within ourselves and others, and highlight it. This encourages ourselves & others to become better & grow positively.

To end with a relevant, nice story I read this week:
A very pious man (living near the times of Rabbi Akiva), was walking with his students. They passed by a dead dog which gave forth a foul odor. The disciples said, "How dreadful does this carcass smell."
But the pious teacher replied, "How white are its teeth."
(Duties of the Heart, vol. II, P. 99)
Such is the lesson of focusing on good. If so by a dead dog, how much more so by a living, thinking, feeling person!

Let's try to see through the evil we see in the world, and take solace and inspiration by the good found therein -
within ourselves & others. And inspired by the inherent good you possess, kindle the darkness of the world with your personal candle.
"The candle of G-d, is the soul of man." (Proverbs 20:27)

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel

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