A group of people are walking in the desert when they run out of water. Left with no choice, with the desert sun brutally beating down upon them, they keep walking, hoping for a reprieve. After a day, they barely reach an inn. Almost crawling into the inn, the inn keeper sees them and says, “I have some water here, however, it may or may not be laced with poison. Either you take the chance and drink this potentially poisonous water available to you now, or I can direct you to a place another 10 hour walk away with plenty of fresh flowing water. I can tell by your condition that you will make the 10 hour walk albeit you will have to suffer longer, but I can guarantee that you will find there a wellspring of fresh water that will refresh and revive you.” What would you chose? This story is analogous to life. We have a promise conveyed by our very own grandparents and great-grandparents who all passed down our history, the story of a people and their G-d, generation after generation. We have the promise of King David and King Solomon, the wisest of all men, who in their works beseech us to keep the commandments for they are our lives. We have the promise of Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Yehudah HaNassi, Hillel and Shamai, Rashi, the Rambam and the Ramban. All brilliant and extremely learned individuals who promised that our holy Torah is Truth and keeping it means eternal reward. It means having the ultimate pleasure both in this world and the next world. It means a closeness to the Almighty, a pleasure that cannot be compared to any pleasure in the entire physical world. We have the promise of the Vilna Gaon who was a giant among giants, who knew the entire Torah inside out, who knew the deep secrets of the world. We have the promise of the Ari z”l and Rabbi Yosef Karo holy individuals who were privy to Heavenly secrets. We have the promise of the Ba’al Shem Tov, Rabbi Akiva Eiger, the Chafetz Chaim, and the Ben Ish Chai (Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad) along with an endless list of names of great individuals who passed down our tradition in an unbroken chain from generation to generation. People who were brilliant beyond compare, who were learned and versed in the entire Torah, Tanach and Talmud. Yet we refuse to do the little work it takes to open our hearts to the Torah or to utilize but a little bit of our time tapping into all the amazing Torah available in the palm of our hands. We stubbornly insist on drinking poisonous waters with no forethought of what will be. We have not been raised in our tradition but have been sent to public school and taught foreign ideas and philosophies. Let us not remain ignorant of our own cherished history. Let us increase our knowledge of our very own long and beautiful tradition. Let us learn what it means to be a Jew and let us not miss the train, but continue in the unbroken chain until the coming of Moshiach quickly in our day. Amen.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 19:19:26 +0000
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