Appreciating What We Have As Motivation for Our Future

 When Adam “meets” his mate for the first time, he names her “isha” because she was taken from Ish. However in the next chapter Adam names the woman again – only this time he calls her something else: Chava because she is the mother of all living beings. It must have been clear to Adam from the beginning that Chava was going to be the matriarch of all of humanity as she was the only female, and Hashem had already commanded them to be fruitful and multiply. Why does Adam first call her Isha and only after their sin does he name her Chava? Rabbi Baruch Braun explains that due to her sin Hashem informed Chava of her punishment: giving birth was no longer going to be painless and harmless. It would be difficult, painful and dangerous. At this point it was no longer certain that she would willingly participate in childbearing and tolerate the burdens of pregnancy and labor. Before the sin Chava’s role as mother could be taken for granted. Her name didn’t need to reflect this role because it could be taken for granted. But now Adam was afraid that his wife would opt out of motherhood. To acknowledge and appreciate her role, Adam created a new name, Chava, which means “mother of all life”, to defend the majesty of motherhood and recognize her sacrifice and her ordeal. The lesson is that a person can only truly recognize the value of something when he lost it for a time or is in danger of losing it. Many of us have been watching as many of the heartwarming videos of the living hostages’ return to their families, something that we had been praying for daily for 2 long years. Many of these videos show these men appreciating the simple pleasures of life that most of us take for granted. While it shouldn’t be this way, human nature is to take what we have for granted and only fully appreciate it again if it were withheld from us. We say the blessing over fire during Havdalah on Motzei Shabbat based on a Midrash in this week’s Parsha which says that Adam saw the world turn dark for the first time on Saturday night, and he was inspired to rub two stones together thereby discovering fire. What is the link between the creation of fire and Saturday night? It seems that it was just a coincidence of timing that Adam happened to discover fire after Shabbat. The answer is that we don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone. Adam didn’t say a bracha on the light that he experienced for the first 36 hours of creation, even though it was a much greater light than that which he was able to generate for himself on Motzei Shabbat, because until he saw darkness, and was worried that he would never have light again, he couldn’t appreciate the value of that little spark of light. Only as Shabbat ends do we begin to realize how much we will miss Shabbat when it is over, and how much we want to keep the inspiration of Shabbat with us into the new week. It is not surprising that we read Bereishit on the Shabbat after Simchat Torah. As we conclude the Tishrei holiday season we look to the lesson that emerges from both Adam’s naming of Eve and the fire blessing at Havdalah: to appreciate the spiritual gifts in our lives and utilize them to stay inspired- not just during Tishrei but throughout the year ahead. One way to ensure that the inspiration of Tishrei stays with us well beyond Shabbat Bereishit is by finding concrete ways to bring the inspiration with us. Attend one of the many shiurim that are available over the week. Get involved in one of the many shul committees. Attend more events, programs, or minyanim at shul. Let’s utilize the energy of Simchat Torah to illuminate and motivate us in the year ahead

Dvar Torah

In Chapter 2 of Kohelet King Solomon describes his wealth. After going into detail, he says (2:11), “Then I turned [to look] at all my deeds that my hands had wrought and upon the toil that I had toiled to do, and behold everything is vanity and frustration, and there is no profit under the sun.”Shlomo Hamelech had it all, and yet he still felt lacking. What he realizes is that the only things that can make him feel whole are the intangibles, the spiritual: 3:12 “I knew that there is nothing better for them but to rejoice and to do good during his lifetime And Kohelet’s concluding sentiment: “The end of the matter, everything having been heard, fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the entire man. ”On Sukkot, the farmer celebrated his net worth: ie, all of the produce that he harvested. This brings him security and a sense of joy. As we work to build our careers and our financial security, let us never lose sight of Kohelet’s realization: What we have is not who we are. Let us spend more effort and energy on building our character - something that can never be taken away. 

Dream Big – And Appreciate Their Fulfillment

 The halacha is that just as the schach can’t be too thin (it must block a majority of the sun), it also shouldn’t be too thick. The Halacha states that one should be able to see the stars from inside the sukkah. Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto writes that stars serve as the pipeline through which heavenly influences are brought into the physical world. According to Rav Soloveitchik we must be able to see the stars from our sukkah in order to keep our horizons broad. The Rav explained that man's problem is that his personal schach obscures his vision. When seeing the stars, we remind ourselves that there is a whole universe out there full of possibilities and promise. Perhaps it is because stars represent aspirations that they also figure prominently in dreams. The most famous dream that entailed stars was Yosef’s dream. Even as we build a sukkah for ourselves and provide for current, pressing needs we must continue to look to the stars and dream. One dream on many of our minds is the promise of a day when Hashem will spread His Sukkah of Peace upon all of Israel and the Jewish People. As we dream and work towards yet unfulfilled dreams, should remember that sometimes we can be living a dream and we don’t appreciate it

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.  Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna.  The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, "Only a little while." The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish. The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos.  I have a full and busy life."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you.  You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat.  With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.  Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery.  You would control the product, processing, and distribution.  You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?" To which the American replied, "15 - 20 years." "But what then?" Asked the Mexican. The American laughed and said, "That's the best part.  When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!" "Millions - then what?" The American said, "Then you would retire.  Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

On Sukkot as we look at the stars, let us not forget where we are sitting. From a historical perspective the fact that we have a State of Israel is the fulfillment of the dreams of so many previous generations. Furthermore, Vilna Gaon points out that dwelling in the sukkah is an incredible mitzvah that can be performed with our entire bodies- even with the dirt on our shoes. We need to see the stars from our sukkah. It reminds us to broaden our perspective and to reach for the stars. But before we get carried away by the stars and all of those endless possibilities we should ask ourselves: is there any greater ambition than to be surrounded by family and friends fulfilling a mitzvah with every fiber of one’s being, especially today in 5786 when the Jewish People have a Jewish State?

Confessing and Forgiving: The Dual Duties of Yom Kippur

 Confessing: The Rambam writes that the essence of Viduy can be summarized in three short words: Aval Anachnu Chatanu. ‘But We sinned.” There seems to be an extra word: Aval. Shouldn’t Anachnu Chatanu suffice to convey the essence of confession? “We sinned”- what more needs to be said? Rabbi Norman Lamm suggested that Aval is necessary because Aval itself is a sin: the sin of justifying, rationalizing and excusing ourselves and our mistakes. The first step towards achieving a level of honesty that we need in our lives, and especially on Yom Kippur, is to appreciate and be wary of the sin of Aval. Our formulation of Viduy with the word Aval may be based on a similar expression said by the brothers of Yosef, recorded in Parshat Miketz. When the viceroy demands that Binyamin be brought down to Egypt, the brothers realize that they are being punished for their earlier actions towards Yosef and proclaim, “Aval Asheimim Anachnu- indeed we are guilty!” No more excuses or justifications. In many editions of the Viduy we find an additional word in the preface: Aval Anachnu VaAVOTEINU Chatanu. We and our ancestors have sinned. Why do we mention our ancestors in our confession? Rabbi Chaim Friedlander explained that on Yom Kippur we must evaluate ourselves on two different planes and admit to failings in both: Anachnu Chatanu: each of us has been endowed with unique strengths and talents. There are things that we can do and accomplish that no one else can or will. On Yom Kippur we confront the ways in which we squandered those talents and did not live up to our potential. But the picture is incomplete without a mention of Avoteinu. Each of us have parents, grandparents from whom we should have learned. We learn from their accomplishments. And we may be able to learn from their shortcomings too. We are called upon to apply the values and lessons from our past in order to pave the way to a brighter future.

Forgiving: Once on the evening before Yom Kippur, Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk was asked the proper way to observe the custom of kaparot. "You want to see an extraordinary kaparot?" replied Reb Elimelech. "Go observe how Moshe the tavern-keeper does kaparot.” The chassid located Moshe's tavern at a crossroads several miles outside of Lizhensk and asked to stay the night. "O.K.," said Moshe. "We'll be closing up shortly, and then you can get some sleep." Later that night Moshe herded his clientele of drunken peasants out the door. The chairs and tables were stacked in a corner, and the room, which also served as the tavern-keeper's living quarters, was readied for night. Before dawn, Moshe rose from his bed, washed his hands and recited the morning blessings. "Time for kaparot!" he called quietly to his wife, taking care not to wake his guest. "Yentel, please bring me the notebook -- it's on the shelf above the cupboard."Moshe sat himself on a small stool, lit a candle, and began reading from the notebook, unaware that his guest was wide awake and straining to hear every word. The notebook was a diary of all the misdeeds and transgressions the tavern-keeper had committed in the course of the year, along with the date, time and circumstance of each. His sins were quite ordinary: a word of gossip one day, oversleeping on another, neglecting to give his daily coin to charity on a third. But by the time Moshe had read through the first few pages, his face was bathed in tears. For more than an hour Moshe read and wept, until the last page had been turned."Yentel," he called to his wife, "Now bring me the other notebook." This, too, was a diary: of all the troubles and misfortunes that had befallen Moshe in the course of the past year. On this day Moshe was beaten by a gang of peasants, on that day his child fell ill. In the dead of winter the family had frozen for several nights for lack of firewood. Another time their cow had died, and there was no milk until enough rubles had been saved to buy another.When he had finished reading the second notebook, the tavern-keeper lifted his eyes heavenward and said: "So you see, dear Father in Heaven, I have sinned against You. Last year I repented and promised to fulfill Your commandments, but I repeatedly succumbed to my evil inclination. But last year I also prayed and begged You for a year of health and prosperity, and I trusted in You that it would indeed be this way.

"Dear Father, today is the eve of Yom Kippur, when everyone forgives and is forgiven. Let us put the past behind us. I'll accept my troubles as atonement for my sins, and You, in Your great mercy, shall do the same." Moshe took the two notebooks in his hands, raised them aloft, circled them three times above his head, and said: "This is my exchange, this is in my stead, this is my atonement." He then threw the notebooks into the fireplace, where the smoldering coals soon turned the tear-stained pages into ashes.