What Do You Do with Your Free Time?

 

We are first introduced to Noach at the end of Parshat Bereishit: “And he named him Noah, saying, "This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands from the ground, which the Lord has cursed." According to this verse, the name Noach is related to the word “Menucha” which means rest. Right before Noach’s birth there were a number of inventions and technological advancements in the field of agriculture that made farming an easier endeavor. Noach was named as a prayer that these developments would usher in a Golden Era. Rav Avraham Pam explained that this phenomenon directly impacted the moral standards during Noach’s time. The onset of technological advancement meant the sudden emergence of free time. As animals, plowshares, sickles and other agricultural tools substituted time-consuming, backbreaking labor, people came upon spare time. This spare time presented the opportunity for spiritual growth and personal development. Sadly, however, the spare time was misused. People instead used the opportunity to fight, indulge, accumulate luxuries, compete with one another, and pursue pleasure and physical gratification at the expense of others. Only Noach took proper advantage of the extra time provided by the eased working conditions. He pursued spirituality over materialism, piety over indulgence.

This may also explain why specifically Noach was chosen to bear the name alluding to the lighter workload. Many children were presumably born around the same time; why was it Noach who was named after the new conditions that developed during that period? Perhaps the Torah seeks to teach us that only Noach represented the proper outlook on free time. If we want to learn how the Torah views comfort and spare time, we should look to Noach, not his contemporaries. If technology and progress has resulted in shorter, fewer and easier workdays, granting us the great gift of free time and spare physical energy, then we must turn to Noach to learn how to use it - for spiritual growth. Otherwise, we run the risk of producing another Dor Hamabul, when extra time results in crime, excessive indulgence and sin.

We are blessed to benefit from tremendous technological advancements that have gifted us with more free time. The question is: What do we do with our free time?

Simchat Torah Stories

 

Since I don’t speak on Simchat Torah I never have the chance to share with you Simchat Torah stories that I come across. This year I’d like to share a few of my favorites. The first two have the same theme:

 

Story One: A stranger once joined the Satmar Shul on Simchat Torah for the celebration. The person danced with such devotion and fervor that the people around him were sure he was a great Tzadik. The Satmar Rebbe, zt”l, however, was unimpressed. “Did you notice that he stepped on other people’s toes while he was dancing? A truly righteous person would be careful not to hurt others with his own religious devotion!”

 

Story Two: The Chofetz Chaim was once asked, “What is the secret of the Hakafot?”

He answered, “When you are covered, with your tallis over your head, and completely one with the Torah that you are  dancing with so dearly, make sure you are extremely careful not to step on your friends foot, because if you aren’t looking then you will never know to whom you have to say sorry! And that is the secret of the Hakafot.”

 

Both the Chofetz Chaim and the Satmar Rebbe agree: Our personal spirituality can never come at the expense of disregarding our fellow Jew.

 

Story Three: The Chiddushei HaRim was watching two different students dancing on Simchat Torah and predicted one student to tire before the other, and it happened just as he predicted. When asked how he could know that, he explained that one bachur was dancing for the Torah he learned this past year and the second was dancing for the future Torah learning he would be doing after being inspired from Simchat Torah. By definition, there is a limit to the past Torah one has learnt, even if it is a large amount, but there is no limit to what one can learn in the future.

 

The best way to take the energy and inspiration of Simchat Torah in particular, and Tishrei in general, with us into the New Year is by committing to make Torah study a regular part of our lives. Along with exercise, time with family and friends and volunteering on behalf of charitable causes, Torah study nourishes our soul and helps us maintain healthy and meaningful lives. Stay tuned for new Torah study opportunities offered through the shul and with the YIH Rabbis and Educators and take advantage of those opportunities.

We Love a Happy Ending

 

The Ramban offers two explanations as to why Haazinu is called a song, “shira”.

One  reason offered is technical. Anyone who got an aliyah today, or was able to see inside the Torah scroll during hagbah can tell you that Parshat Haazinu is written differently than the rest of the Torah. As the Talmud in Megillah 16 puts it, it is written in broken lines (ie two columns) with alternating segments of text and blank spaces.  The second explanation that the Ramban offers is:

“Because Israel will recite it constantly with song and with melody.”

Historically the Ramban’s statement is accurate. Parshat Haazinu was sung in many different contexts by the Jewish people. The Talmud in Rosh hashana teaches that during the times of the Beit hamikdash, the levvim would sing the song of Parshat Haazinu during the bringing of the Mussaf sacrifice. It is interesting to note that in the context of that Gemara, it tells us how the Parsha should be divided into aliyot- it is the only Parsha that the Talmud provides us with this information. The Rambam in Hilchot Tefilah (7:13) quotes a practice to recite the Song of Parshat Haazinu every day right before Yishatabach. The Maharal goes so far as to recommend memorizing Shirat Haazinu and reciting it by heart as a segula, a good omen, for success in business.

But from these three instances, we see that the Shira encapsulated in Parshat Haazinu is something special. The Midrash Sifrei writes that Shirat Haazinu is great, for it includes the present, the past and the future; This World and The World To Come.” This morning’s parsha makes mention of the history of the world and of the Jewish people. It discusses the laws of spiritual cause and effect. That means that difficulties are the result of sin and blessing is the result of doing right in the eyes of G-d; a focus of the past forty days as we prepared for the High Holidays.

The Ramban writes elsewhere that what really makes Shirat Haazinu unique is that it has a happy ending. At the end of the mistakes and difficulties, the Jewish people are redeemed by Hashem. It is this happy ending, this message of hope that makes Shirat Haazinu something special, and something that was found on the lips of Jews more so than other portions of the Torah. Even though the Jewish People have suffered the most and the longest of any nation in existence, we still hold on to hope and optimism. No matter how difficult the Jewish story gets, we still love, and look forward to, a happy ending.