First Word (first posted Aug 2009)

As I was walking to PKD today, I was in deep and profound deliberation on the topsy-turvy nature of our world. I know the walking distance is not really long enough to have deep and profound deliberation. Nevertheless, I have decided not to put too much pressure on my brain, so I can retain some of my limited thinking capacity for my old age. Also, while the left side of my brain was busy deliberating, the right side of my brain was already fantasizing about the juicy corned beef on rye I was going to order at PKD. (I ended up ordering the “Renee’s hot roast beef special”: hot roast beef, topped with grilled onions, sautéed mushrooms, mayo and tomatoes with A1 sauce. MMMMMM….Shlomo Walt, wish you could have joined me! But, I digress.)

I am generally in a good mood, but even for an amazingly cheerful guy like me, sometimes it takes a lot of effort to avoid being influenced adversely by what goes on in the world. Sometimes people really behave in exactly the opposite manner than what, in our inherently idealistic minds, we expect them to behave. I know I know, none of us, thank G-d, are perfect. Nevertheless, it is more disillusioning and hurtful when we see this topsy-turvy behavior in high-profile individuals.

Far be it from me to narrate any specific examples; we all end up hearing about them eventually. I cannot remember when was the last time when we were spared such news by our media, who excel in their effectiveness and enthusiasm when such stories come up; the trusted financial advisor squandering the fortune entrusted to him, equal to the GDP of some countries; the cleric, generally assumed to be a moral and upright person, at the end proving him or herself to be as fallible as the most morally weak mere mortal; or the leader, with influence over millions of people’s lives, using the presidential desk or the bathroom stall in the airport for activities other than one normally associates with those objects!

I am not naïve; the facts are not lost on me. I know there are thieves and murderers the world over, from the ghettos to the presidential palaces. People die out of hunger and destitution in Africa every day, while their leaders end up getting fat and rich, or that despots and oligarchs hold on to power tooth and nail, while ordinary people despair and waste away under their oppression. Who cares, the fact that there are bad people all over the world is not news. However, when these betrayers of our trust happen to live in my neighborhood, and choose to carry out their nasty evil deeds in my backyard (figuratively!), I cannot help but find myself struggling and mentally paddling, lest I drown in a frustrated angry depressed funk!!

We, each and every one of us, as we go about our day to day business, commit our well-being and those of our loved ones to someone with in a position of public trust; the Rabbi in our community, the teacher in our children’s school, or the president of the neighborhood synagogue. How much more painful, disillusioning, and frustrating it is, when its “one of our own” that betrays our trust. As observant Jews we pride ourselves in having been entrusted with the responsibility of “being the light unto the nations,” and to be a “kingdom or priest;” ever striving to be holier, saintlier, always endeavoring to emulate the perfection of our creator. How much more sad, how much more disheartening when one of the “chosen people” chooses to disgrace and degrade this honor and responsibility, and allow himself to fall victim to temptations over money or desires of the flesh.

Far be it from me to point fingers and name names; we know who they are. We have the misfortune to hear the lashon hara, and witness them shame themselves, and in the process, shame us all!

And yet I am encouraged. For I know for every shameful and public example of betrayal of trust, there are hundreds among us who do what’s right, and with passion and with compassion, place the good of their neighbor above their temptations.

And I am also encouraged by what we learn in the Gemarah. As the son of Rav Yehoshua, Rav Yosef, “dies” for a short period of time and then is resuscitated. To his father’s inquiry as to what did he see, he responded: “Olam hafuch raiti! (I saw an inverted – topsy-turvy – world). The elyonim (‘high’ people) were low, and the tachtonim (‘low’ people) were high.” “You saw an olam barur (a clear world)!”, was his father’s response.

"Man was not created for his status in This World, only for his status in the Next World. The status in This World is the means ( or determining factor) for the status in the Next World – the real world, which is the ultimate goal." As it says in Pirkei Avoth, "Prepare yourself in the hallway in order to enter into the palace."

But, what do I know… I am going to go back to my sandwich. It’s getting cold.