I'm a stick in the mud and I'm proud of it
“Rabbi, how do you sustain such an observant Jewish lifestyle, while living in a city like Tampa?” It’s a good question I’m often asked, and people mistakenly try to answer it themselves, “Only a Rabbi can do that, I never could”.
The real answer is one available to everyone, if they so choose to accept it.
Every week this column seeks to answer life’s challenges by exploring the weekly torah portion, but this week we need only look at the names of the portion to find our answer. “Mattos-Maasei” means stick-journeys. This title answers the very question posed, how can a soul, a spiritual energy survive in a physical world? This is only possible when the soul finds the inner strength to be a stick, a piece of wood seemingly disconnected from its source, yet strong enough to withstand the elements that may challenge it’s existence. With this resilience the soul can not only survive life here on earth, but even journey forward transforming the materialistic nature of it’s host into a vessel for selflessness and G-dliness, completing the mission for which it was imparted.
My friends, this is the answer to the same question you so often ask of me, how do Dina and I survive and thrive living in Tampa? How do we maintain our Jewish observance in a city that doesn’t provide the comforts and support of larger Jewish communities? We each poses the strength to be a stick, to find the conviction in our heritage, in our beliefs, in our celebration of Jewish life.
Each of us already posses numerous convictions in what we believe and what we do, we would never change. Isn’t is it about time we applied the same passionate commitment to our celebration of Jewish life?
Only as a community of sticks, strong and proud in our traditions, in our way of life, will we journey forward into more vibrant future. Join Dina and I, and let move our Jewish community forward.
