Rabbi's Blog

Throughout our lifetime we witness the coming and going of people, events, and technology. Somethings are here today and gone tomorrow. Yet there are some things that were here before we were born and will still be here after we are gone. Then there are those other categories such as the birth of new venues of entertainment and sporting events, amazing inventions and time-saving contraptions which we attended or make use of, expecting them to last far beyond our life times. It is this last category, things which were created during our lives or beautiful memories, “happenings”, of childhood which we assumed would be around for generations to come that sadden or dismay us when they close or simply cease to be. We are dismayed at the closing or ending of something that predated our arrival, assuming that and just as they were here from time immemorial, they will still be here till the end of time. Not true!

I am sure there are dozens of examples that highlight this notion. I will share three of them with you. All of us alive today were around when the circus came to town. Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth ran for one hundred forty-six years, reinventing itself over time. When the show closed in January 2017, I wondered how that could be?! The circus was here and will always be here. Who could imagine that it has ceased to exist! The circus, especially Ringling Brothers’, was an American icon for decades and decades, entertaining generations and generations of children and their happy parents. Yet it closed.

Last week, the general manager of a successful national basketball team, Bob Myers of the Golden State Warriors, spoke to reporters on the eve of Game 1, said, “This is going to end soon. I definitely know this is ending.” “I don’t need any reminders. The narrative is, ‘This will go on forever.’ On the record, it can’t. Nothing does, especially in a sport where the competition is so great.” Myers was referring to the incredible and great success that his basketball team has shown over the last few years. It takes a lot of money, hard work, and Mazal to make a championship team, but it is much harder to maintain it forever. Every fan thinks, feels, and wants the success to continue, but it just doesn’t. It can’t. Every fan thinks his team will be different. It is not. The GM is realistic, honest and a person who understands the nature of the beast, but this was all to the dismay of the fans, and even individuals within the organization itself.

The third illustration is not an organization or a company but rather the human being. In every generation there are great leaders, outstanding academics, scientists, teachers, and, yes, even Rabbis! Older congregants particularly feel this (the Rabbi will be here forever) when it comes to pulpit Rabbis who have been with a congregation for decades. When a Rabbi feels the need to retire, congregants may react and say, “Who could possibly take over and be like our Rabbi?!” The Rabbi himself may have some reservations leaving the flock sheperdless or without an adequate replacement. As we look at history through our rear-view mirrors, we know Rabbis will leave and congregants will move on, just as this has happened previously and will continue to happen in the future. But in order to process the potential loss, I am reminded by the insightful words of my rebbe, Rabbi Wein YB”L, who once told me, “No matter how good and dear a Rabbi is to his congregation, no matter how essential a leader may be for any organization, it is not and cannot be forever. Even things which are wonderful and positive have limitations. The notion that all good things must come to an end is seen clearly in the Torah.

In this week’s Parshas B’Shalach the Torah states in Bamidbar 14:20-22: “Vayomer Hashem Salchti idvarecha. V’Ulam Chai Ani V’Yimalei K’Vod Hashem Es Kal HaAretz. Ki Kal Ha’Anashim HaRoeem Es mKvodi V’Es Ososai Asher Asisi B’Mitzrayim UVaMidbar, Vay’nasu osi zeh Eser P’Amim, V’Lo Shamu B’Koli”. “God said, ‘I will grant forgiveness as you have requested. But as I am Life, and as God’s glory fills all the world, I will punish all the people who saw my glory and the miracles that I did in Egypt and the desert, but still tried to test Me ten times by not obeying Me”. What are these ten tests with which the Jews tested God in the desert? Rashi explains and lists a few of the tests: two by crossing the Sea of Reeds, two by the manna, and two by the quail. Rashi does not finish the list but informs us the source to be the Gemara Erchin 15a. It is interesting to consider the open question why Rashi either didn’t complete the list or just use the reference and not list any of the ten tests, but that discussion is outside the milieu of this writing. Nevertheless, the remaining tests listed in the Gemara are two tests with water, one with the golden calf and the tenth in the Paran Desert, referring to the spies. We see in general the incredible miracles Hashem performed, sustaining the Jewish people for forty years in the desert, particularly the manna that nourished us throughout the entire time.

Traditionally, Am Yisrael was punished and wandered in the desert for forty years due to the sin of the spies. It was decreed that this generation would not enter the Land of Israel. This generation, according to some, was the greatest generation of Jews. They lived on an extremely high spiritual level, living an almost complete spiritual life in a physical world. Of course it was the miracles which continuously sustained them, allowing them spiritual pursuits. True, Hashem created the scenario, but was this the life the Jews were intended to have forever? From Am Yisroel’s perspective, this incredible life should go on forever. Manna came down every day (double portion on Friday for Shabbos) for a lifetime. Who would have thought that it couldn’t, shouldn’t, wouldn’t continue forever? Life in the desert was unbelievably difficult, lacking all the modern conveniences. It was inconceivable that it should end. With all the miracles of protection, water, and daily food raining down from Shamayim, the Jews would be able to dwell and bask in Hashem’s Shechina forever! Despite this amazing life, that was not the world Hashem had in mind for His people. Rather we were destined to settle and build Eretz Yisrael, with the help of many miracles as well.

13031. only permanent entity in this world - which existed before the world was created and continues to lead us through thick and thin - is the Torah itself. True, ‘all good things must come to an end’, as the cliché goes, but it is the Torah that guides us through all the new creations, technologies, inventions, businesses, and, most precious of all, life. source never ends, because the Torah is the light through which God’s presence guides us, showing us how to live in this world. Hashem was, is and will be, so too His Torah was, is, and will always be. We should use the Torah, which is our endless, timeless roadmap, and apply it well to every area of life. Ki Heim Chayeinu, V’Orech Yameinu: the Torah is our life and the length of our days, not only the days of our personal lifetime but the lifetime of mankind. Torah is truly eternal; it will exist forever as the essence of life and wisdom to the world.