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Jewish World Review May 26, 2000/21 Iyar 5760
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
DO YOU KNOW what the Hebrew word for cancer is?
Torah.
Each has the same affect on you.
That was made abundantly clear in the words of and the action of New York's Mayor
Rudolph Guiliani.
Watching him at the extraordinary press conference at which he announced that he was
not going to run for the Senate was to see nothing less than a Chasidic master in full
spiritual mode.
It took cancer to get Rudy to be that way.
All it should take is Torah.
That's right, Torah. For all Rudy is now saying, all Rudy is now seeing, all Rudy is now
feeling, is what Torah teaches us, shows us. If we would only listen, only act, instead of
reacting only when some tragedy, something like cancer, gets us to see what we should
have seen all along, gets us to do what we should have done from the beginning, on our
own.
Torah lays out for us what's important, tells us how to live, shows us what values matter,
guides us to use our time the right way, to cherish every moment we have and to make
the best possible use of every second of life.
But for too many of us, like for Rudy, it takes something like cancer to bring the message
home.
He used to care only about politics. Ask his wife, who he forgot to telephone to let her
know he was about to announce at a press conference that he was divorcing her.
He used to care only about power, about winning, about himself.
No more. Now he cares about what the Torah tells us a person should care about. Being
a better person, your family, G-d, those you love, improving the world.
Now Rudy cares about the right things, the important things. Because he has cancer.
Now Rudy understands how the world works, what life is all about. Because he has
cancer.
Now Rudy understands that he is not in charge, that G-d is. Now he understands that
everything that happens to us is for the good and that it is our job to see it like that and do
what we can to make it like that.
It took cancer for Rudy to know all that. Sad thing is he, and we, could find all that out by
learning Torah.
A new book, "Healing Leaves," shares the thoughts of Reb Nachman of Breslov, the great
Chasidic rebbe, and provides "prescriptions for inner strength, meaning and hope."
In it, the rebbe reminds us that what is important in life is not the power or wealth we
accumulate, for those do not go with us when we leave this world, but the good deeds we
do, for those do accompany us, are what people remember about us.
Reb Nachman reminds us that G-d is active in our lives, brings us things to guide us to do
the right thing and to fulfill the unique mission each of us has. He reminds us that while
things may not happen the way we like them to, that while we may suffer, that, too, is for
the good, that, too is intended to help us.
He reminds us that G-d knows exactly what it takes to get through to each of us, what we
each uniquely need to be "beaten into reasonableness," to come to the realization that no
matter how much money we have or what talents we have, what connections or clout or
job we have, that we are not the ones in charge, we can't control the future, can't fix
everything, can't go it alone, that G-d is the only true security.
He reminds us that love of family, of our fellow Jews, of G-d is what is most important. He
reminds us to look inside ourselves, to see if we are acting as we should be. He reminds
us to appreciate G-d's gifts to us, each day, everyday, especially health. He reminds us
to be our true selves and to be true to ourselves.
That is the essence of living a Jewish life.
You can come to understand that by studying this book and other Chasidic books and
other works laying out the Torah view of life. Or you can get cancer.
Listen to Rudy's words.
"G-d has given me a lot and whatever obstacles are placed in your way, I think the way to
deal with it is to try to figure out how to make you a better person."
In talking about how he has not yet been able to make a decision about treatment and
how difficult it was to make a decision about running, Rudy said, "this has never really
happened to me. I've always been able to make decisions." But he said he's found in that
"thinking about it, in suffering over it, that something - it's very painful and very difficult but
something very beautiful happens. It makes you figure out what you're really all about and
what's really important to you and what should be important to you."
He said he is going to be "somebody who grows from the fact that you confront your
limits, you confront your mortality. You realize you're not a superman and you're just a
human being."
"I'm a very fortunate man. The reason I'm such a fortunate man is that I have people that
love me and I love them."
"I believe that things happen in life for reasons that sometimes you only figure out
afterwards. And there is something good that comes out of this. A lot of good things come
out of it. I think I understand myself better, I think I understand what's important to me
better."
He said he hopes to work to help others who are ill by improving health insurance
coverage, among other things. "There are a lot of things that I think I can accomplish that I
haven't accomplished before."
When asked if he felt closer to G-d, Rudy said, "I hope He's closer to me."
No, actually Rudy, he's not. He's always been there, always been close to you. It just
never mattered before. You just never looked before, felt it before, cared before.
Cancer got you to. The Torah tells us to.
If only we would listen and learn and see and feel and do and care and act. If only.
We can. We don't have to wait for tragedy, a death in the family or a financial reversal or
job loss or a serious illness.
We need to listen to Rudy, learn from Rudy, for what he has done is reflect the source,
point us to the source, remind us of what we already know but for some reason don't take
seriously until backed against the wall.
Perhaps that is one of the good things we can get from the age of celebrity and media in
which we live. A reminder.
TV star Michael J. Fox, who is battling Parkinson's disease and who said good bye in his
show, "Spin City" this week, reminds us of what's important. He is putting aside show biz
and career and fame and money to be with his wife and his kids and to work for a cure, for
himself and for others.
That's the Torah way.
Former Carter administration chief of staff Hamilton Jordan, who twice was stricken with
cancer, is just out with a new book, "There is No Such Thing as a Bad Day," whose title
is exactly what Judaism believes. That all is for the good, that each day is precious, that
we are to be positive and grateful and happy and make the most of what we have. His
book is an inspiring account of how he came to see that and how he lives that.
That's the Torah way.
For each of these three men, as with Rudy, it took a horrific disease to learn the most
simple yet most profound lessons about life.
It shouldn't have. It doesn't have to.
Next week, we celebrate Shavuot and the giving of the Torah. That Torah and all the
Jewish teachings and traditions and thoughts and messages and lessons and wisdoms
and guides that flow from it, tell us what Rudy and Michael and John and Hamilton are
telling us.
There is nothing complex here, nothing obscure or mysterious or magical here. There are
certain truths about life and about how to live it and they are there for us in the Torah.
We need to but see them and apply them.
Either that or wait for something bad to happen.
It's your choice.
It's your
09/29/99: A Jewish life
Rudy and the Torah way
By Joseph Aaron
Indeed, it was as if Rudy was giving a Torah lecture when he explained what he was
feeling, how he now saw himself and life, what he intended to now do and what he now
cared about most.
"Somehow, somewhere some way this is all for the best."
JWR contributor Joseph Aaron is Editor of
The Chicago Jewish News. Send your comments to him by clicking here.
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