Ron
September, 2016
Dear
Friends and Family:
This
morning I sat with the Indiana University Hillel staff, as I do every Thursday
morning, and discussed upcoming projects, programs, and various issues. I love these sessions. They remind me of Leadership Staff meetings
at camp. In addition to the above
mentioned topics we usually compose a blessing to be used at Shabbat dinner the
next night. This week we talked about
the Torah portion of the week, “Re'eh.”
The scene is Moses speaking to the Israelites beside the Jordan River. This is the beginning of Moses’s farewell
address. It's his last chance to impress
upon his People the challenges that lie ahead and their responsibilities to
follow the commandments. Moses begins by
saying something to the effect of; 'See (pay attention). I place before you blessings and
curses….” It goes on to encourage the
Jewish People to follow God's commandments and in doing so, “Choose life.”
Our
Shabbat prayer for this week focused on this notion of blessings and
curses. We called the curses,
“Challenges.” We wrote, “Each week
during our time here at Indiana University, we benefit from blessing and face
challenges. We pray that in the weeks to
come we have the insight to appreciate the blessings in our lives, and the
courage to face our challenges.”
Sometimes, for me, it is easier to identify the curses, the challenges,
than the blessings. It is easy to let
the troubles of the world weigh you (me) down.
Look,
I never comment on politics but suffice it to say that this is a depressing
presidential election year. Our
Democrat/Republican crippled government is cause for despair. Our conservative - to the point of nearly
erasing the separation of church and state -State government is mind boggling. Brazil just threw out her President and over
fifty percent of Brazilians surveyed expressed no faith in the former
president’s replacement. The Olympics
ended in a quagmire of US athletes lying to police after they drunkenly
vandalized a gas station in Rio. I could
go on and on.
So
that's what I see each morning in the paper and each evening on the news. But this morning's brain storming session
with the staff reminded me that I have to open my eyes (Re'eh means see!) to the blessings all around me. Off the top of my head...Juca and my family
and friends, health, Bloomington, working with Jewish kids on campus, music,
humor, jazz and an occasional sail on Lake Monroe. I could go on and on. I guess it's just that the blessings are not
advertised as well as the curses. Good
news doesn't sell newspapers, someone once said.
As
a Jew, I can't simply not care about the world around me. As a person trying to remain sane, I have to
keep some distance. So here's my
revenge. I am going to keep on trying to
do good deeds, be a good person, and help others whenever I can. I'll also continue to follow the events of
the world even if I can't affect their outcome (except with my vote and an
occasional march down Kirkwood Ave. in protest of something or other). But I'll appreciate that I can sit on my
porch on my quiet street in this small city, play my banjo, watch the seasons
change, and plan my next class. There
are a lot of blessings in my life. I
could go on and on.
Ron
PS. The High Holidays are coming up. Time to regroup, refocus, and renew. Also not a bad time to tally up those
blessings and accentuate the positive… (eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, don't mess with Mister In-Between. Thank you Johnny Mercer)
I love these truths of Judaism. My blessing is having you to remind me of them. Thank you, Rabbi Ron.
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