And You Know I'm Only In It For The Gold (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Loser")

           During the past week, there has been an incredible amount of excitement in our home. The excitement began late last week and thought that have been several down moments, the excitement has once again peaked early this week. Just how much excited is our home? Well excited enough that even our two teenage daughters are now emotionally involved. At first I thought it was the Canadian election which occurred earlier in the week. Nope, it wasn’t the election. I thought maybe it was the recent Democratic debates knowing that our eldest daughters’ boss, Mrs. Clinton had done so well. I was wrong. The excitement has been a result of the Toronto Blue Jays.  Every day I hear from my kids, who is going to the games. Every day at least one child provides an injury report or some statistic. While Toronto is not our family’s favorite team, we have all been caught up in the excitement. If there is such a thing as Blue Jays fever; we have a mild case of it.  It’s not just the kids who are excited, all of our friends only talk about “last night’s game”, tickets for an upcoming game, “did you see that inning” or “did you see that home run”. However amid all the excitement and hoopla, I was speaking to one friend of mine who watches each pitch and each at bad with such concern and anxiety. Interestingly enough it is the exact same way I watch the Yankees when they are in the playoffs. Admittedly there is something to be said about watching a fun team and not have the anxiety since I don’t live and die with each pitch or at bat. So my friend and I were talking about the Blue Jays. In order to take his mind of off the current pitching match-up, he wanted to discuss the future. He was concerned about those players that are “Free Agents” and might decide to leave for greener pastures, more money, or bigger TV market with more commercial possibilities. I validated his concern and told him, there will be those who leave because they want more money, or longer contracts, and there will be those who decide to stay because the situation in Toronto is a good fit for them.

           This week's Parsha is Lech Lecha. In it, God commands Abram to leave his father, his homeland and everything he has ever known and go to a place where God will show him later. Abram does. He heads down towards Egypt because of a famine. Eventually, Abram leaves Egypt with money, flocks, servants, and wealth. Lot, Abram's nephew, and Abram decide to part ways since each their respective flocks not only become intermingled but their hired hands fight among each other. Abram then fights against several kings in an attempt to protect Lot. Then his wife Sarai, who is barren, tells Abram to make Hagar (the maidservant) the surrogate mother. Abram listens and Hagar has a son named Ishmael. She runs away and then returns. God tells Abram a prophecy. Abram will become the father of a great nation, and that nation will become enslaved for several centuries and then will return to the land that God promised Abram. Then God instructs Abram to circumcise himself, his son Ishmael and all the males of his household.

                The process by which Abram and Lot separate, provides a rather fascinating example of leaving a good situation in pursuit of a better deal. After Abram and Lot’s men quarrel Abram desperately wants to keep the peace. Abram also understands that Lot needs to separate himself from Abram. So he gives Lot a choice: Al Nah T’Hi Mriva Beini UVeinecha U’Ven Ro-ai U’Ven Roecha Ki Anashim Achim Anachnu – Please let there be no strive between me and you, and between my shepherds and your shepherds for we are kinsmen. For Abram, he views Lot as part of the family, part of the team but also understand that Lot must decide if he wants to remain. Abram gives Lot a choice of land. VaYisa Lot et Einav VaYar et Kol Kikar HaYarden Ki Chula Mashkeh- So Lot raised his eyes and saw the entire plain of the Jordan that it was well watered; VaYivchar Lo Lot Eit kol Kikar HaYarden VaYisa Lot MiKedem. -So lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and Lot journeyed from the east; VLot Yashav B’Arei HaKikar BaYe’Ehal Ad S’dom – and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent as far as S’dom. Why did Lot choose the plain of Jordan and the cities in that area including S’dom and Amora? Obviously Lot did not know that these place were going to be destroyed in the future. Rashi, commenting on the word MiKedem, quotes the Midrash Tanchuma and understand the word as Kodem, not east but rather “Earliest One” or “Primordial One” (meaning God). Lot left the morality of Abram and the holiness of God and settled near S’Dom. R’Shimshon Rafael Hirsch comments on Lot’s lifting his eyes  and explains that he was led by his sense of sight rather than his sense of spirituality and God’s presence. As a result, Lot chose a fertile, rich land that had great commercial potential and would yield Lot great wealth.

                So Lot, the free agent, left Abram, left a great situation, and settled for greener pastures, more money and a much worse situation. I reminded my friend that unfortunately, most players are much more like Lot and will take the more money and be put in a worse situation or a losing situation rather than less money to be on in a great situation or a winning team.  Cynically, I think it is human nature to “follow the money”. However this attitude is not only limited to Lot, or free agents in professional sports. This sort of thing happens in business all the time and quite frequently it serves as the deciding factor for many of our own career decisions. However, we should always be reminded that sometimes it is better to be in the right situation, playing for a winning team and earning less, as opposed to trying to reap financial satisfaction in an unhealthy or negative environment.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Don't Waste Your Breath To Save Your Face When You Have Done Your Best (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Built to Last")

As the Jewish Holidays drew on Tuesday night, my son and I settled in to watch our beloved Yankees play the Houston Astros in a one game playoff.  Not that I held out much hope as I knew that my team was deeply flawed. Certainly I hoped that they would win, but I knew that their flaws were going to be too much to overcome a pitcher whom they faced twice during the regular season and had not scored a run. I hoped the Yankee pitcher would be terrific and that they would breakthrough for one run.  As my son and I watched, we collectively exhaled in relief as the Yankee pitcher got through the first inning without allowing a run. But in the second inning the Houston player hit a towering home run.  A couple of innings later another Houston player hit a home run. We knew that the season was over, there was no way our team could overcome a two run deficit against the Houston pitcher. As we watched the replay of each home run, I was intrigued by the location of the pitch. Home plate is 17 inches across. When the Yankee pitcher gave up the two home runs; he missed his target by an inch or two  so that a pitch that was supposed to be in on the outside part of the plate didn’t quite break enough and arrived at a point about 15 1/5 inches across the plate instead of the desired 17 inches. Then the bat made contact with the ball right on the “sweet spot” of the bat. If the hitter struck the ball a ¼ inch on top of the ball, then it is just a ground ball. If the bat made contact ¼ inch under the ball then it is a fly ball, but not a home run.  The difference between a well located pitch and poorly located pitch is less than 2 inches.  The difference between contact points of the bat to the ball is perhaps a half an inch. The old sports adage is true, “it is a game of inches”. 

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. Emcha Et Ha’Adam Asher Barati  Mei’al Pnai Ha’Adamah – I will blot out mankind whom I have created from the face of the ground (Gen. 6:7).

As we read through Breishit, we learn that names are important and they have meaning. Adam, the first man, is given that name because he comes from Adama – the ground – a reference to the 2^nd chapter of the Creation story. Chava (Eve in English) is given her name because after she is a source of life Chaya. Cain receives his name because Kaniti Ish et Adoshem- I have acquired a man with Hashem. Cain suggest the idea of acquisition.  However there is no reason offered for Adam and Chava’s second son Abel (Haval).  In Hebrew the literal meaning of Haval is “breath” or “vapor”.  So when you blow onto your glasses immediately before wiping them clean, that breath is Haval. If you didn’t wipe it away, it would just disappear into thin air. Indeed, Haval is a very fragile, temporary wisp of thing. Yet Haval is evidence of life, and the fact that God breathe life into Adam, suggests that the distance between life and death, the fragility of life is truly Haval- a thin breath. Sadly, we know what happens to Abel; his brother Cain (the acquirer) will murder Abel as he wants to acquire God’s blessing.  The distinction between Abel and Cain between the the Yetzer Hatov (the Good Inclination) and the Yetzer HaRah (the Evil Inclination)  is literally like the vapor from ones’ breath; yet within that breath we have the ability to see that very subtle demarcation between both inclination.  

    Peace,
                    Rav Yitz

There Were Days, And There Were Days And There Were Days Between (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Days Between")

            For those of us living in Toronto, New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago and St. Louis; this is a great time of year. With eighteen baseball games left in the regular season, each of these cities is focused upon their respective baseball teams and their push toward the playoffs and division titles.  With three games separating Blue Jays fans and Yankees fans; three games separating Pirates fans from Cardinal fans, and four games separating Pirates fans from Cubs fans; it seems every game every inning and nearly every pitch is fill with anxiety for us fans. Not only are we worried about our team, but we are now focused on the other teams as well. With all that concern for the plight of the other team, all the anxiety is now doubled. My son and I find ourselves cheering for our team to win and the other team to lose. It makes for tense evenings but incredibly exciting as well. There really is nothing like the excitement in a city when it is in a pennant race. Part of the excitement is a result of the fact that there are still question regarding these respective divisions. No single team has clinchedcitement is a result of the fact that there are still question regarding these respective divisions. No single te, the final answer is unknown. One thing is for sure, over the course of these final eighteen games, there will be one game, one moment when the questions will be answered, the winner will be evident, and there will be clarity regarding playoff match-ups.

            For the Jewish People, we are keenly aware that it is also a very special time of year, albeit not due to baseball. We are in the midst of a very spiritual time of year. We are in the midst of a ten day period from Rosh HaShanah until Yom Kippur knows as the Aseret Yamei T’shuvah – the Ten Days of Repentance. As the name suggests, this is the time of year in which we seek M’chila or forgiveness for any transgression we have committed. We seek forgiveness from God, and we seek forgiveness from family and friends. Mostly, it seems to me, that during these ten days we honestly look at ourselves and assume that we have hurt others instead of being shocked when we find out that we are capable of hurting another. The ability to engage in this process known as Tshuvah, the process of returning to holiest aspect of our being, requires great clarity. Sometimes clarity occurs during on a beautiful autumn day. Sometimes clarity comes on a starry night. Sometimes clarity comes while sipping coffee at sunrise. Sometimes clarity comes at childbirth. Sometimes clarity comes when you tuck your children into bed and wish them sweet dreams. Sometimes clarity comes at the death of a loved one. Sometimes, clarity comes at one's impending death.

            In this week’s Parsha, Va’Yeileich, Moshe is now experiences for the last time a tremendous moment of clarity. However of all the moments of clarity including: the Burning Bush, the Revelation at Sinai, the Personal Revelation when he saw the back of God while defending B’nai Yisroel following the episode of the Golden Calf; it is the moment of death to which we can all relate. It is at the moment of impending death that Moshe has perfect clarity. He sees and understands the anguish that his children will experience as they drift towards and away from their Covenant with God. He sees all that his life has been and he recognizes that while his life will be no more, there will be closure. Ki Yadati Acharei Motie Ki Hashcheit Tashchitun v’Sartem Min HaDerech Asher Tziviti Etchem V’Karat Etchem Ha’Ra’Ah B’Acharit Hayamim Ki Ta’Asu et Ha’Rah B’Einei Adoshem L’Hachiso B’Ma’Asei Y’deichem – For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly, and you will surely act corruptly, and you will stray from the path that I have commanded you, and evil will befall you at the end of days, if you do what is evil in the eyes of HaShem, to anger Him through your handiwork (Deut.31:29). We should note that closure does not necessarily mean that the content of the closure will be positive, however the process of closure is always positive. Our sages are adamant about the vital importance of closure. If a person engages in Tshuvah, a repentant return to God, and Vidui, confession even if the moment before death it is tantamount to a person who has returned to living a life of Mitzvot. In a moment of clarity, certainly such a moment exists at death, Moshe has the opportunity to make that moment holy, sanctified, an un-wasted moment.

            On this Shabbat Shuvah, this Shabbat of Return, let us be reminded and strengthened to accept moments of clarity. Let us be wise enough to deal with such moments of clarity in the most holy of endeavors. Let us be pro-active enough to take advantage of moments of clarity by moving towards our loved ones. Let us be spiritually aware enough and realize the absolute importance of moving towards God. Let us not wait until we become aware of an impending loss. Instead, during the Aseret Yamei T’shuva, we should be spiritually clear enough to see every moment as an opportunity to return to that which is holy.

Peace,

Rav Yitz