NEVE YERUSHLAYIM - The Jewish Educational Network

Dear Friends,

I don't know how the weather is where you are, but here where I am, a quick glance out the living room window at the gray overcast sky, makes me enormously grateful for my warm home (possibly too warm due to minor disputes between me and the rest of the world about how warm you need to be in the winter). As I sit beside the computer, with a hot glass of tea at my side, inside my warm home, I would like to retain this grateful feeling forever. It's so easy to forget the simple goodness of living, and to focus instead on the continuum of "Things To Do."

How do you remain mindful for more than a couple of minutes at a time? There are all sorts of answers to this question, ranging from the optimistic directive "Just be there," that characterizes a lot of what we hear from the voices of the New Age thinkers who some of you are familiar with. A far more usual answer is, "That's life. Just get on with it. Be practical and do what you have to do." This way of thinking can be seen reflected in the joyous faces of people you see downtown shopping, on the train, and on the freeway.

At the end of last week's parshah Bo, Ramban asks about the role of the mitzvos that some of us relegate to being "just" rituals. He presents us with a perspective that offers a way of living with awareness of the bigger picture, one in which we are continually in the presence of Hashem. We can live with the constant consciousness of He Who created the entire cosmos for the sake of giving human beings the possibility of experiencing true joy. In order to appreciate what the Ramban says, let me interject an introduction: we have to realize that certain ways of thinking that are considered "modern, advanced, and (sometimes) even scientific," are not all that new.

There are three ways of thinking, the Ramban tells us, which are guaranteed to blind us to the bigger picture. The first one is denying G-d's existence. The ancient Greeks (and some of the more modern versions ....) presented the possibility of a world that had no defined beginning or cause, no destiny or real purpose. You are here because you're here because you're here. That means that nothing is a gift, nothing shows love or caring, and no deed that you will ever do has any real meaning. This is not a recipe for either joy or fulfillment.

The second way admits that there must be a Prime Source, but "it" (yes , that is how they would have put it) is far beyond knowing or caring what happens to us down here. We are like fish swimming in an endless ocean of events, none of which count. There is no difference between saving the life of a child in the holocaust or killing him. Morality (from this perspective) is a senseless human construct.

The third way is recognizing G-d's existence (by looking at the intricacy of nature, for instance), but not realizing that He not only knows, but also cares, and can and will intervene in your life. I recently asked students to think about their lives and ask themselves if they ever experienced a miracle (which I defined as an intervention by Hashem, not necessarily involving anything supernatural). I expected a few responses, but the fact was that virtually every girl in the class had her own story.

We were all educated to see these three ways of reducing reality to dust as being the only way a modern person can look at the world with intellectual integrity. Yet, there is nothing modern about any of these doctrines. The ancient Egyptians created an entire society around this way of thinking: a society of denial--not only of G-d, but of the inherent value of humans (which is, of course an inevitable outcome of thinking along these lines).

The Jewish way, though, is the opposite. The mitzvos that recall the way we left Egypt and everything it stood for, not only open your mind, but also your heart. Mitzvos like mezuzah, reading the Shema, or going to synagogue where you hear the unity of Hashem declared out loud, all help us to recall what we experienced as a people. We saw how Hashem is one with His world. He is involved. The exodus actually happened. The way Hashem brought it all about was through Moshe, which teaches us that He communicates His will to humans, is involved in your life, and cares about your fate.

We may not have the sort of five star miracles that our ancestors experienced, but we will all have those lovely moments--those special gifts that show us Hashem is truly with us.

Knowing this, you can open your heart to the One who gave you everything you have.

Love always,
Tziporah