"This life is not a dress rehearsal." Charlie Truitt
Tanach ends with Divrei Hayamim, the Book of Chronicles, and Chronicles is a strange book. I am no Biblical expert (and that's quite an understatement), but I'll tell you what strikes me:
1) "Been there, done that."
One's first thought when glancing through it, and from having seen it cited in other places, is that it is the book of Melachim, Kings, redux. Again we meet King David, Shlomo Hamelech, and the line of the Kings of Judah. It all seems eerily familiar.
2) "Begats"
Okay, I don't have the King James version, but English speaking people, both Jewish and non-Jewish, have a passing familiarity with geneaologies in the Bible. "So and so begat so and so". In fact, the first 9 chapters of Divrei Hayamim 1 are just lists of people.
So, in a nutshell, what is going on here? Divrei Hayamim does indeed cover a lot of the same stories as the book of Kings, and for good reason-- it is during this period of time that the first Beit HaMikdash was planned, built and ultimately destroyed. And indeed, the Beit Hamikdash looms large in Divrei Hayamim.
And all those mind-numbing lists of people--- where else do we see them? Well, if you're a good genealogy skipper, you skip over a whole bunch of them in shul this time of year, because Sefer Bereishit is chock full of genealogies. (We won't touch on their importance and purpose, just on the parallel).
So let's add these together. A book about the Beit Hamikdash, drawing on the style of the book about God's creation and choice of the descendants of Avraham.
What's the connection Divrei Hayamim is trying to make? The story didn't just end with Bereishit.: God didn't just create the world, and He didn't just create Avraham. He created us, and we can create a spiritual place in the world, in the form of the Beit HaMikdash.
Today we have no Beit HaMikdash, but the truth of the matter still stands: We can still make a spiritual place in this world, in our homes, in our friendships, in our businesses, in our shuls.
A friend of mine, Matt Eisenfeld, z"l, once told me upon returning from a trip from Israel: "You know, we might not be able to be in Yerushalayim now, but we have an obligation to make this place, right here and now, into Yerushalyim."
His words echoed for me the other day in the words of Rabbi Bentzion Friedman, talking about this new month of Cheshvan: "It's called 'MarCheshvan', 'bitter Cheshvan,' because there are no holy days. But that just means we have to inject the holiness into it ourselves."
And the stakes are high. Now is the time to build Yerushalayim, now is the time to add the holy days to Cheshvan. Because, to quote again the (discomfiting) words of my friend Charlie Truitt, "This life is not a dress rehearsal." It's the real thing.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Mah Nishtana this past Yom Kippur from all other days of Yom Kippur?
"I love it when a plan comes together." Col. Hannibal Smith, the A-Team
Mah nishtana this past Yom Kippur from all other (past) days of Yom Kippur?
1) For on all other days of Yom Kippur, though I regretted my sins and flaws, I went back to them afterwards, but on this past Yom Kippur, I do not go back.
2) For on all other days of Yom Kippur, though I committed to improving in the future, I failed to do so, but on this past Yom Kippur, my commitment is lasting.
3) For on all other days of Yom Kippur, though I confessed my sins on Yom Kippur, I went back to them afterwards, but on this past Yom Kippur, I do not go back.
4) For on all other days of Yom Kippur, the Knower of the hidden could not testify that I would not return to my old ways, on this past Yom Kippur, I feel more certain that He can so testify.
ANSWER:
I was a slave to the narrow confines (מיצרים) of the bad habits and outlooks that have slowly overtaken my soul. But the Lord my God has brought me out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.
A strong hand, as it says "your hand is open to accept penitents".
An outstretched arm. To what is this likened? To a man who falls into a pit and cannot escape. His friend comes to save him, lies on the ground above, and reaches his hand out to pull him up. If the man in the pit reaches out and grabs his friend's hand, he is saved. If he does not, then he will remain trapped in the pit forever.
On all other days of Yom Kippur, your hand was strong to accept me and it was outstretched, but I did not grab it. I regretted, I committed, I confessed. But I did not grab Your hand because I had no plan to implement my commitments. This year, I have a plan. A simple plan, a basic plan.
Anger? My plan involves reading 2 minutes of Mussar a day. My wife is learning "Lights Along the Way", Rabbi Twersky's commentary on Mesillat Yesharim (a recommendation from Rabbi Elchanan Schulgasser), so I started using it, and I highly recommend it.
Lashon Hara? My plan involves learning the laws of Lashon Hara 2-5 minutes a day. I am using Ikkarei dinim, but there are a million things, including daily emails, etc., out there.
Increase chesed? My plan involves putting in my formal schedule when I will next give blood, when I will next write checks to tzedakah.
I hope I was sincere in my regret, my commitment, my confession of Yom Kippur. But it is the plan--made after the fact, implemented only now that the holidays are behind me--- that will determine my spiritual success. And I expect success, with God's help. (I will try for but do not expect 100% success--such an expectation is a recipe for failure).
May God give me the strength to implement and expand these and other good plans. And may He say about me and about all my brothers and sisters of the House of Israel, "I love it when a plan comes together."
Mah nishtana this past Yom Kippur from all other (past) days of Yom Kippur?
1) For on all other days of Yom Kippur, though I regretted my sins and flaws, I went back to them afterwards, but on this past Yom Kippur, I do not go back.
2) For on all other days of Yom Kippur, though I committed to improving in the future, I failed to do so, but on this past Yom Kippur, my commitment is lasting.
3) For on all other days of Yom Kippur, though I confessed my sins on Yom Kippur, I went back to them afterwards, but on this past Yom Kippur, I do not go back.
4) For on all other days of Yom Kippur, the Knower of the hidden could not testify that I would not return to my old ways, on this past Yom Kippur, I feel more certain that He can so testify.
ANSWER:
I was a slave to the narrow confines (מיצרים) of the bad habits and outlooks that have slowly overtaken my soul. But the Lord my God has brought me out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.
A strong hand, as it says "your hand is open to accept penitents".
An outstretched arm. To what is this likened? To a man who falls into a pit and cannot escape. His friend comes to save him, lies on the ground above, and reaches his hand out to pull him up. If the man in the pit reaches out and grabs his friend's hand, he is saved. If he does not, then he will remain trapped in the pit forever.
On all other days of Yom Kippur, your hand was strong to accept me and it was outstretched, but I did not grab it. I regretted, I committed, I confessed. But I did not grab Your hand because I had no plan to implement my commitments. This year, I have a plan. A simple plan, a basic plan.
Anger? My plan involves reading 2 minutes of Mussar a day. My wife is learning "Lights Along the Way", Rabbi Twersky's commentary on Mesillat Yesharim (a recommendation from Rabbi Elchanan Schulgasser), so I started using it, and I highly recommend it.
Lashon Hara? My plan involves learning the laws of Lashon Hara 2-5 minutes a day. I am using Ikkarei dinim, but there are a million things, including daily emails, etc., out there.
Increase chesed? My plan involves putting in my formal schedule when I will next give blood, when I will next write checks to tzedakah.
I hope I was sincere in my regret, my commitment, my confession of Yom Kippur. But it is the plan--made after the fact, implemented only now that the holidays are behind me--- that will determine my spiritual success. And I expect success, with God's help. (I will try for but do not expect 100% success--such an expectation is a recipe for failure).
May God give me the strength to implement and expand these and other good plans. And may He say about me and about all my brothers and sisters of the House of Israel, "I love it when a plan comes together."
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