Behind Closed Doors

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I know too many people who spend a fortune on decorating and renovating their homes. They shuttle in designers from other states, then bring in the bulldozers, build extensions, cedar closets, steam rooms, top it off with crown moldings, granite counters, imported marble from Italy and furniture from France. Perhaps there is nothing wrong with that. But the problem is that after they’ve designed their castle in the sky, they don’t let anyone into their homes. Their front doormat reads, “Not Welcome.” There is no true hospitality other than their showing-off party and the eat-your-heart-out tour. 

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We learn the proper example to follow from our forefather Abraham. His tents were open on all sides so that people coming from any direction would have an open door and be warmly greeted.  For not only is it necessary to fulfill our guests’ s physical needs, but even more so, their emotional need of feeling welcomed and wanted. Not doing so is a serious transgression. If a guest leaves your house with a generous “doggy bag” but in tears or shame, it’s better to give the treats to a dog until you learn how to be a mensch. Abraham was greatly blessed for seeing the humanity and G-dliness in each person and treating even strangers exceptionally well.   

In contrast to Abraham, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because they were averse to hospitality, so much so, that their inhabitants would kill their neighbors if they extended kindness to strangers. If an unfortunate person would find shelter in their midst, they’d be given the S&G treatment: if they were too tall to fit in a bed, their legs would be cut off, and if they were too short, they’d be cruelly stretched. No matter what their size, guests did not fit into the Sodom and Gomorrah mentality. 

I’m not trying to put any decorators out of business. For we learn in this week’s Torah reading that G-d Himself is a great designer. In fact, numerous parshiot in the Torah deal with G-d’s very specific instructions as to how to design, measure and decorate the Tabernacle, its vessels and accessories. From acacia wood to pure gold overlays, to cooper and silver and curtains, down to the detail and moldings, G-d too loves His house down here on earth. 

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But the focus of the Tabernacle was not its gilded grandeur, but rather, it was a place to inspire service of the heart, devotion and awe.  It was a place constructed on earth as a dwelling place for the Divine. 

Our own homes too, whether they be simple or sumptuous, are also meant to be a dwelling place for G-d.  But, when we ignore that truth, and evict G-d to make room for foreign imports, the walls come crashing down and if not physically then with business problems, health issues, or family discord. “And if it displeases you to serve the L-rd, choose this day whom you will serve…but as for me and my household, we shall serve the L-rd." (Joshua 24:15) 

 How are you using your home, its contents and your possessions to serve G-d? Have you prayed over the bread that’s on your table? Are your Mikasa dishes kosher? Are the walls in your home witnesses to prayers or gossip? Is your home hosting Shabbat and holiday dinners and open to those who have no place to go, people going through a hard time, who are lonely, abandoned, down-and-out or poor? Does your kitchen counter have a charity box on it, or only a repurposed can with emergency cash? Do the disenfranchised have a place at your table? Does G-d? 

The three Hebrew letters on your front door mezuzah are Shin, Dalet, Yud. They stand for Shomer Daltot Yisrael, the Guardian of the doors of Israel. But as that beautiful mezuzah is angled to point toward your home, are you really deserving of G-d’s protection? Would He want to enter? What in your home and behavior therein is sanctifying Him and His name that would give Him incentive to even want to do anything for you? Forget market value, when G-d assess your home, would it hold any true worth at all according to His criteria? Is it a Jewish home or a home filled with Jews? 

Some say home is where the heart is. But if G-d and His will do not dwell among you, what kind of heart do you really have? 

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How'd You Get Here?

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What are the odds of your being born?  Well, there are a few statistics that would shock you. Researchers have calculated the probability of your existence at about 1 in 400 trillion. Due to the enormity of that number, scientists have concluded that the probability of your birth is nearly zero. 

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Ah, but what if you were born a Jew? Math is not my strongest subject, so I’ll make the calculation simple. Seeing that the Jewish population comprises only point 19 percent (.19%) of the world population (not even one full percent), every Jewish person is a miracle, including you, a near mathematical impossibility. This is an even greater marvel in light of the unrelenting efforts of our enemies to wipe us off the face of the earth, from the times of Pharaoh to Hitler to Hamas and their cohorts. And yet, still, you were born because Jewish survival is miraculous. We are not bound by the laws of nature or probability.  

Why? Because we have a mission to accomplish, a job to do. Nature has no hold on us. 

As we read last week in Parashat Beshalach, the Jewish nation was trapped between the Egyptian army and the sea, which miraculously parted before them. The Rabbis teach that during Creation, G-d imposed a pre-condition on the sea; that when the time would come to liberate His people, the waters would defy nature and split. All of nature is equally beholden to accommodate G-d’s people if need be. However, when the time came to split, the Sea of Reeds resisted parting, arguing that the Israelites had sinned just as the Egyptians did, and were not worthy of being saved. 

The sea parted only when it saw the coffin containing Joseph’s bones. Joseph went against his natural desires and resisted the advances of the most beautiful woman in the world. Just as Joseph transcended his nature, the sea was compelled to transcend its nature too. 

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This is a strong example of how the behavior of one Jew affects the fate of the entire Jewish people. All Israel is responsible for one another. Nature has no hold when the Jewish people do their job. As Mark Twain wrote: "All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains."  Perhaps Twain did not know that this is because we were tasked with a Divine assignment. 

 In this week’s Torah reading of Yitro, we learn the nature of that mission, one that makes the miracle of our unlikely birth make sense. 

For 116 years, the Jews were shackled slaves to Pharaoh, but upon liberation they would come to serve G-d as a free nation. Their mission: Keep the Torah and be a light to all mankind. 

“And now, if you hearken to Me and keep My covenant, you shall be to Me a treasure out of all peoples….” (Shemot 19:5-6) 

Well, we certainly know one thing about treasures, the rarer they are, the more they are worth. The Jewish people are G-d’s precious few.  He selected us to bring the teachings of the Torah to all corners of the earth to which we are scattered. 

In this parshah, we read about the giving of the Ten Commandments. From that point forward, mankind, human rights, morality and values were changed forevermore. Ethics were no longer relative, carved by man’s whims and wants. 

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G-d gave mankind the Torah, an absolute law. G-d Himself commanded us what is right or wrong, holy or impure, sacred or profane.  Every Jew and convert, born and yet unborn, stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and entered into a covenant for all time. 

Though many try to muffle it, the word of G-d lives in His treasured people. Hence the joke about Jewish atheists. They may deny G-d, but they do it religiously. 

Every treasure however needs to be protected and buffed. And so, G-d took His people from the brick kilns of Egypt to heavenly heights by giving them the Torah in order to “polish” their souls so that they could shine as role models in every aspect of life for the entire world. 

Unfortunately, too many Jews forget our calling and hang up the phone when duty calls -- the duty of behaving like a Jew. They dismiss the Torah and its teaching as obsolete. They choose to ignore the Torah’s message:  "And I perform lovingkindness to thousands [of generations], to those who love Me and to those who keep My commandments (Shemot 20:6) 

The Torah tells us that the Jewish nation entered the desert of Sinai on “this day” as opposed to on “that day” when it actually happened. This teaches us that on “this day” meaning today and every day we have to receive and spread anew the teachings of the Torah.  Without the Torah, which is compared to water, we will find ourselves parched in the “wilderness” of Sinai, New York, Miami or whatever spiritual desert we reside in. 

Statistically speaking, you should not have been born, and certainly more so, not reading my article! But if you are, then G-d has come looking for you to remind you of the promise you made at Sinai: "Everything that Hashem has spoken we shall do!"      Shabbat Shalom

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What's Stopping You?

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Humans tend to have the bad habit of romanticizing the past and looking at it through rose colored lenses. Relationships and circumstances which are toxic become glamorized because we fear the unknown and our imagination fails to produce positive outcomes.

In last week’s Torah portion (Bo), the Israelites were freed from slavery. Yet, it did not take long before memories of their bitter slavery became blurred.  Despite all the great wonders and miracles they experienced via G-d’s Mighty Hand, they were extremely distressed by every challenge they faced, so much so, that they lamented ever leaving Egypt.

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They cried to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the desert? What is this that you have done to us - to take us out of Egypt?" (Shemot 14:11)

 

In contrast to the famous words, “Give me liberty or give me death,” the Israelites, once having obtained liberty, cried, “Give me slavery!”

 

Servitude, after all, offers a sense of comfort. Indeed, our own habits and routines are a form of slavery. We feel safe because we know what tomorrow will look like: We went to sleep a slave; we will wake up a slave. The burden of having to challenge ourselves is muted.

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Even after G-d split the Red Sea for the Israelites and smote the Egyptians, they were overwhelmed by the challenges of freedom.  They recalled Egypt with nostalgia putting a new spin on their former embittered lives: “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat, when we ate bread to our fill!” (Shemot 16:3).

 

Pharaoh and his servants too, had short term memories. They seemed to forget the ten plagues which devasted their land, their animals and their people. Soon they too had regrets, they regretted letting the Israelites leave Egypt. Who would serve them and further enrich them?

 

My friends, we too like the Israelites and the Egyptians, have to recognize when something is over, when it’s no longer good for us. Not doing so is suicide on many levels, i.e., psychologically, emotionally, spiritually, etc. Fear of change is nothing less than opportunity’s assassin.

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If we don’t fight the fear of change in our lives and abandon the comfort zone, we will always be crying to return to Egypt. We will resort to choosing evil because we are more afraid to live than to die. Most of the Israelites preferred to worship Egypt’s useless gods of stone and to be slaves to certainty rather than to serve the Almighty in freedom and uncertainty wherein each day demanded renewed faith.

 

Fear or faith? It’s time to choose. And even though there are no guarantees that life will play out as we planned, a person of faith will always be walking with a “flashlight” to illuminate life’s dark moments for himself and all whom he encounters.

 

G-d did not give the Israelites enough manna from heaven to stock up their freezers for six months. They had to collect it each day anew (except Shabbat). If they saved it for the next day, it rotted, produced worms and stank. It was an exercise in faith. Would the Israelites fear tomorrow every night? Or would they sleep soundly and have faith that G-d would provide for them again the next day? Faith is like a muscle. Use it or lose it. Try and grapple the complexities of life on your own. See what kind of person that will makes you. You will rot like the manna when trying to overstock certainty.

 

The fate of a Jew IS uncertainty except for the certainty that G-d is always with us. Unlike the Nile which irrigated all of Egypt for millennia, its little neighbor Israel still must pray daily to Hashem for rain.

 

Some Jews refused to leave Egypt due to their lack of faith and fear of the unknown. They died in the plague of darkness. Apropos, because their lack of faith robbed them of light.

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The Midrash relates that the Red Sea did not automatically part when the Israelites reached the Red Sea. The Israelites stood at the banks of the sea and wailed in despair. Then, Nachshon ben Aminadav courageously entered the waters in faith and only when the waters reached his neck did the sea part.

 

We have to stop sugar coating the bitter past. We have to see it for what it is and move on. As Winston Churchill said, “If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.

 

We are commanded not to return to Egypt. So why are you looking backward? Lot’s wife turned to stone because she looked back. Friends, there is nothing left for you there! “…For the Lord said to you, ‘You shall not return that way anymore.’” 

 

 "Don't be afraid! Stand firm and see the salvation of Hashem that He will perform for you today; for as you have seen Egypt today, you shall not see them ever again.”  (Shemot 14:13).

Shabbat Shalom!