I am very excited for the opportunity to share words of Torah with you. Each week, in this spot, I look to share an idea I've found that speaks to me and that I think will resonate with you as well. This week, I share with you an article by Sarah Maddali entitled "Standing Still" which encourages us to sometimes slow down and listen.
This week’s Torah portion starts off telling us that the Jews were all standing before God. What is significant about the Jews standing together?
When someone is standing, they are still. Most of our life we are running from this place to that place, from here to there. We want to accomplish, conquer, acquire, achieve and all that requires running. God wants us to do all these things – it is a huge gift from God that He allows us to partake in the creation of our own lives and beings and the world. And we enjoy it as God programed us as humans with a natural desire to want succeed in various pursuits.
However, there are certain things that cannot be accomplished by running; they can only be achieved by standing still. Self-reflection, which is the premise of teshuvah, (repentance) and growth, requires us to stand still, take an assessment of where we are headed, who we are, and who we want to become. Stop. Reflect. Self-assess. And make the appropriate changes.
A farmer saved up to buy an expensive watch for himself. One day he looked at his wrist and to his dismay saw his watch was gone! He retraced his steps and could not find his watch anywhere. He realized that his watch must have fallen into the barn and got completely covered in hay. He tried overturning as much hay as he could, but with no success.
He saw some young boys and hired them to try to look through the hay in the barn to find his watch. The boys enthusiastically agreed and in no time were throwing the hay in this direction and that direction to try to find the farmer’s watch. A while later, the boys, with their heads down, told the farmer they could not find the watch. The farmer realized that it was like finding a needle in a haystack and was hoping that he would find it the following year when the barn would be cleaned out.
One boy went back to the barn and after a few minutes emerged with the watch held high, “I found it!” he exclaimed.
“That’s amazing!” said the farmer! “How did you find it?”
The boy replied, “I went back to the barn when it was quiet and just listened. I heard the ticking of the watch and was able to find it.”
Often, we hear better when we are quiet and still. We need to block out distractions, focus on hearing God’s messages and change accordingly. Change is hard but that is what we are here to do. Become better people, closer to God and those around us [...].
Hoping and praying for a Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Davies
Rabbi@SOICherryHill.org
