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Into the Void By Rabbi Yonason Goldson
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
You can't be too careful these days. Or so it would seem, based upon the warning labels that are turning up more and more frequently on common, household products. A few examples: For external use only — On a curling iron.
Do not use in shower — On a hair dryer.
Do not drive with sunshield in place — On a cardboard screen that keeps sunlight off the dashboard.
May irritate eyes — On a can of self-defense pepper spray.
Remember, objects in the mirror are actually behind you — On a rear-view mirror.
Caution: Remove infant before folding for storage — On a baby stroller.
Warning: May cause drowsiness — On a bottle of sleeping pills.
Caution: Do not use near power lines — On a toilet plunger.
Do not use as an ice cream topping — On a tube of hair coloring.
Warning: do not attempt to swallow — On a mattress.
On the other hand, the obvious sometimes does surprise us by proving less than obvious. So I learned a number of years ago when visiting a new children's park with my oldest child.
My eighteen-month-old daughter showed no fear as she ascended the six-foot high ladder to the top of the slide. Never an especially nervous father, I stood calmly beside her, a model of parental responsibility although little concerned for her safety. After all, what could happen?
What could happen, indeed?
FOR BEST RESULTS, MISUSE AS DIRECTED
Possessing reasonably good reflexes, I reacted instinctively and caught her in mid air. Barely had I set her feet back on the earth when, with a mischievous laugh, she raced up the ladder again. This time, however, I was ready. I stopped her as she reached the top, explained the proper method of descent, instructed her to slide down properly, then let her go.
And she went… once again leaping over the hand rail and into my arms.
I don't remember whether I ever did convince my daughter to use the slide correctly that day. But I do remember the absolute and unadulterated trust with which she threw herself into space knowing that I would catch her.
If only they could stay toddlers forever.
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In contrast, little children have no illusions of their own self-sufficiency. They know they need their parents, and their confidence in us is pristine. Only with time and experience do they acquire doubt and skepticism.
That's when parenting becomes a real challenge. Just as most parents calmly and lovingly instruct children who are too young to think for themselves, similarly does the wise parent grit his teeth and — with a smile whenever possible — state the obvious to older children who have become too impulsive or stubborn to think at all:
Swallow before you talk.
Do your laundry before you run out of clothes.
Don't jump off the roof.
Don't text while driving… or in class… or at the dinner table… or when I'm talking to you.
Not surprisingly, our Father in Heaven does exactly the same thing.
STATING THE OBVIOUS
Don't steal.
Don't commit adultery.
Don't bear false witness.
Do not mistreat the widow or the orphan.
Which brings us back to our original question about the obvious: if these mishpatim are laws we would have thought of and instituted on our own, why did the Almighty have to command us to do them? And why do we have to review them in the weekly Torah portions we read year after year?
Ultimately, it all comes down to trust.
Why do our children trust us implicitly when they are young? Simply because they have never found any reason not to. We feed them, clean them, protect them, and entertain them, thereby providing them with a sense of love and safety. Because they suffer from no illusions that they are able to look after themselves, they contentedly accept us in our role as guardians of their welfare.
As they begin to mature, however, their world takes on a different complexion, becoming a place of not only exploration but of self-assertion. The more children experience their own sense of individual identity, the more they seek to establish their own independence. They want to establish themselves as autonomous and self-reliant by drawing their own boundaries and making their own rules. At the same time, they are terrified of the responsibilities of independence. Predictably, they blame us for the tension that seems to be pulling them apart.
When that happens, we, their parents, change from protectors to jailors, from guardians to tyrants. And they, our children, want nothing more than to break free. It is the end of trust, the end of innocence.
WE ARE CHILDREN FOREVER
But alongside our irrepressible egos there remains within us some remnant of the child we once were, the child who laughed and played and found joy in every moment of existence because the world was a place of unquestionable security. And just as our children gradually recover from the insanity of adolescence and begin to recapture respect for their parents' wisdom and devotion, so too can we approach the ancient traditions of our people with new appreciation once we are willing to surrender the illusion that we are masters of our fate and concede that all we truly control is the inclination of our hearts.
It is not a leap of faith. It's a leap of trust.
It's a leap of trust into the arms of the Creator of All, the One who brought the universe into being, the One who renews continuously His promise to our ancestors that He would never forsake their children, the One who has kept the Jewish people alive and vibrant throughout the rise and fall of countless empires and oppressors. It is a leap of trust into the hands of the Master of All, the One who revealed His will to our forebears at Sinai and brought us into our land, the One who loves us enough to chastise us when we become intoxicated with the freedom to disregard Him, the One who gives all His children everything they need, withholding from us that which we only think we need.
Finally, it is a leap of logic. Indeed, it makes perfect sense to acknowledge that the wisdom we recognize in the statutes that govern civil society testifies to the wisdom that sometimes eludes us in the laws of religious ritual and spiritual self-perfection, and that both were designed to serve our own ultimate best interest. And it makes perfect sense to study and review the laws again and again, perpetually gaining greater appreciation of their wisdom by fulfilling the command to toil in them by day and by night.
Just as it makes perfect sense to place our security in the hands of the One we know will never let us fall.
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Comment by clicking here. JWR contributor Rabbi Yonason Goldson teaches at Block Yeshiva High School in St. Louis, MO, where he also writes and lectures. He is author of Dawn to Destiny: Exploring Jewish History and its Hidden Wisdom, an overview of Jewish philosophy and history from Creation through the compilation of the Talmud, now available from Judaica Press. Visit him at http://torahideals.com .
© 2011, Rabbi Yonason Goldson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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