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Jewish World Review August 9, 1999 / 28 Elul, 5759
Jonathan Rosenblum
Many Ways to be a Jew
There is no Jew without his or her own individual task. That task can be
performed by no one else, for no one else was born with precisely the same
configuration of strengths and weaknesses, no one else is born into the
same family at precisely the same moment or into the same historical
situation, and no one else confronts the same challenges and tests in life.
"Just as no two faces are alike, so too no two people share the same way
of thinking,'' our Sages tell us. And the Imrei Emes of Ger explained,
"Just as we cannot blame someone else for the fact that he does not look
like us, so too we cannot blame him if he thinks differently from us.''
Both a person's face and his manner of thought are aspects of his
individuality. Each person is unique because G-d created him that way, and
to complain of that uniqueness is to complain of the Creator Himself.
Because each Jew is a world unto himself and absolutely singular so is his
task in life unique. That task is the "mission'' referred to in the
Zichronos section of Musaf.
Our preparation for Rosh Hashana requires reflecting deeply on what makes
us unique -- identifying what strengths we possess and what weaknesses are
still to be overcome. We examine our lives with the goal of discovering our
assigned role in the Divine plan. Our question is: How can I reveal the
potential for holiness inherent in every aspect of the Creation through my
life?
We might think that so long as we have kept our sins to a minimum that we
are destined for a favorable judgment on Rosh Hashanah. But the Midrash
makes clear that our fulfillment of our appointed task is no less
determinative. The Midrash recounts the story of Navat the Carmelite, who
was put to death by Queen Jezebel. Navat was a completely righteous man,
who refused to sell his vineyard to Jezebel. How can I sell that which G-d
gave to my forefathers? he told her. As a consequence, Jezebel hired false
witnesses to testify against Navat, and he was put to death.
The Midrash asks: How could such a righteous man have come to such a
terrible end? And the Midrash answers that Navat had a uniquely beautiful
voice. Each festival those going up to Jerusalem looked forward to hearing
his beautiful prayers. One year, however, Navat did not come thereby
disappointing all those who eagerly anticipated listening to his prayers.
That year he was put to death by Jezebel. When a person does not use the
gifts that G-d has given him in the manner intended, the Midrash teaches
us, he or she has no further reason to live.
The Jewish people together constitute a potential symphony orchestra of
praise to G-d. No Jew is born without an instrument or the ability to play
it.
Recently a 21-year-old yeshiva student passed away in Jerusalem. As a
young boy he contracted a virus that left his heart permanently weakened.
In his late teens, his doctors told him that any moment his heart could
give out. He entreated them not to share this information with his parents
to avoid worrying them.
Yet despite the sword hanging over his head, he was considered the most
cheerful student in his yeshiva -- the one to whom other boys turned when
they needed encouragement or advice. On the first day of Elul, he arrived
in the yeshiva an hour earlier than anyone else in order to be there to
greet the new students. The whole day was spent arranging study partners
for the new students, helping them find their rooms, introducing them to
older students. Finally, in the late afternoon, he went up to his room to
rest from his exertions. He never awakened.
Now the role assigned that young man is not one any of us would choose for
himself. But who can deny that he was a first violinist? How many of us,
even if we live long lives, will ever do so much to reveal the potential
for holiness with which each of us was created.
Last year a young mother died after a long, painful battle with cancer,
leaving behind a large family. Until she was in her early twenties, she did
not even know she was Jewish. Yet she reached such a level of closeness
with G-d that she could tell a neighbor a few days before her passing that
she was struggling with Fear of G-d. G-d's love for her was so palpable,
she said, that she could not maintain the requisite distance and awe.
She was given a solo, and she played it to the hilt.
But if every Jew is born with his or her own instrument and the potential
to play exquisite music, there are still two conditions for being part of
the philharmonic. The first is recognizing the Conductor. That does not
mean an occasional, darting glance in His direction, but rather an
unceasing effort to link one's playing with the Conductor's intentions.
Rabbi Levi of Berdichev was the great interceder on behalf of the Jewish
people. One year when Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbat, as this year, he stood
before G-d and said: "Master of the Universe, the books of life and the
books of death are opened before You. To write on Shabbos is forbidden. Yet
to save a life writing is permitted, and so You can write in the Book of
Life. But to write in the Book of Death is forbidden.''
May we all be inscribed this New Year for lives filled with soul
music.
IN MUSAF OF ROSH HASHANAH, we find a description of G-d's "remembrance'':
"When the remembrance of every created being comes before you -- every person's deeds and mission...''
The term "deeds'' refers to a person's
observance of the commandments. But what is meant by a person's "mission?''
Secondly, one must have a score. Our thoughts are of necessity not the
thoughts of the infinite Conductor/Composer. Therefore we cannot fully
discover the purpose of our lives or the means of attaining that purpose.
Recognizing that, the Conductor provided us with a score and called it the
Torah. Without that score there is no music, only cacophony.
JWR contributor Jonathan Rosenblum is a columnist for the Jerusalem Post.
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