Our teen-age daughters spent the
last days of the Jewish Holidays, Shemini Atseret and Simchat Torah, with their
camp friends in the New York metropolitan area. Everyone had a great time.
However the journey down towards New York almost ended in one of them missing
out on their re-union. The plan was simple enough. Last Saturday night, while
listening to the Chicago Cubs defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers on the radio, I
drove our daughters down to my parents in Rochester, NY. My parents, who were
driving to New York to spend Simchat Torah with their other granddaughter, were
to provide a ride to the New York Metropolitan area. We had arranged for the
daughter heading to Teaneck to be dropped off at a Teaneck area hotel just off
the highway. From there, my parents would drive into New York City, and drop
our other daughter off at my sister’s apartment. From there, she would take a
cab with her aunt or her grandmother to the East Side, where she would meet her
friends and get a ride to New Rochelle. The Teaneck bound daughter should
arrive by 2:30 the latest, and the New Rochelle bound daughter should arrive at
the Upper East Side by 3:30 the latest. We arrived on Saturday night, happy
that the Cubs were going to the World Series. I asked my father if he needed
directions to the Teaneck hotel. He said he didn’t as he had already downloaded
the directions and even confidently stated that he knew to get into the local
lane in order to exit off of I 80 East. I spent the night, woke up the next morning
and returned to Toronto. My parents and daughters left Rochester and began the
drive to New Jersey. By 11:30am I had arrived in Toronto. Their drive was just
fine. By noon, they were about 45 minutes from Teaneck. Then the adventure
began. They were lost in Teaneck. My father missed the exit. He tried to double
back. He became more lost. He kept stopping and asking for directions and he
proceeded to get more lost, more anxious and more upset.
This morning we begin the Torah
from the very beginning in Parsha Breishit. We are all familiar with the
narrative of this Parsha. The first chapter focuses upon the narrative of
creation from God’s perspective. The second chapter focuses upon the narrative
of creation from a humankind perspective. The third chapter focuses upon Adam
and Chava’s disobedience of God, their obedience to the serpent their partaking
of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and the resulting consequences. The
Fourth chapter focuses upon the family’s growth, sibling rivalry as well as
fratricide. The fifth chapter focuses upon ten generations of the family’s
genealogy beginning with Adam and Chava and concluding with Noach and his sons.
In the sixth chapter, God expresses disappointment with mankind’s behavior and
God expresses disappointment in his creation.
There is a moment after Adam and
Chava ate from the Tree of Knowledge, and they realized that they had failed to
follow directions. VaTipakachna Einei
Shneihem VaYeidu Ki Eirumim Heim
– then the eyes of both of them were
opened and they realized that they were naked. By eating from the Tree of
Knowledge, their eyes opened. They had
become enlightened. They had become “aware” of their existence in context. They
were not like other aspects of creation. Despite this enlightenment and this awareness
what do they do? VaYitChabei Ha’Adam V’Ishto
Mipnei Adoshem Elokim B’Toch Eitz Hagan
– and the man and his wife hid from
Hashem God among the trees of the garden. They tried to lose themselves amid the trees.
So when God asks Ayeka – Where are you? God knows where they are. The problem
is that they do not know where they are. They don’t answer the question. Et
Kolecha Shamati BaGan VaIra Ki Eirom Anochi VaEichavei – I heard the sound of You in the garden and I
was afraid because I am naked, so I hid. This answers the question of why
did you hide? But the answer to “where are you” is simple. It is an answer that
more spiritually mature and aware people will offer. The answer to the question
“where are you?” is “here”. Such an answer suggests that the person is not so
lost. Or the answer the question “where are you?” is “I don’ know”. If Adam is enlightened because he ate from
the Tree of Knowledge, Adam’s response is disturbing. He is not as enlightened
as his descendent Avraham who will respond “Hineini -Here I am”. Nor
is he enlightened to know that he is lost. To be lost suggests at least knowing
the destination but not knowing how to get there. Adam can’t answer the
question because he doesn’t know where he is going nor does he know from where
he comes. He only knows that he is naked and without purpose.
Eventually, I managed to get my
father to the highway heading towards the George Washington Bridge. They were
stuck in traffic for a while, but eventually managed to drop off our daughter
at the rendezvous point and she arrived at her final destination in time. Yes,
they had been lost, but they always had in mind the final destination. Yes they
had been lost but they always knew that the direction they needed to go,
eventually they would find the right path. Needless to say, everyone arrived
where they were supposed to be and everyone had a wonderful end to the
Chagim. I guess next time I will make
sure to buy my father a GPS so that way when I ask him
“Ayeka – where are you?”, he will know.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
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