Guest Post
By Rabbi Pesach Sommer
I am, I believe, one of the world’s best jugglers. Sadly, there is little market for those of us who can only juggle one ball.
My marathon training was ideal this past summer. Not only was I logging the necessary miles, but I was hitting the gym three times a week and getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night. It was easy. Being a teacher, I have the summer off, and few things of which I must take care. In the last two weeks things have changed. Now that the school year has begun, I have less free time to train and I am sleeping many fewer hours. I do not yet know what effect this will have on my running. h
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As I sat in shul yesterday, it occurred to me that the Aseres Yemei Teshuva, the ten day period from Rosh HaShana through Yom Kippur is like my summer training; not easy, but certainly easier. During these ten days we have one job; to work on being better. I do not yet know how much I will grow, but I do know that it is easier to change when that is your only focus. It is far more difficult to bring that growth, or more correctly, that effort to grow, into the year where other demands are there demanding your attention.
It is true in other areas of life as well. It is easy to be a good husband, father or friend, when that is the only thing demanded of me. Far more telling, and more important is how I do when I am trying to deal with work, marathon training and getting more sleep.
Perhaps it is time for me to learn to juggle more balls.
posted by rabbi neil fleischmann @ 11:38 AM
1 Comments:
Pesach,
I was taken by this piece when I first read it and appreciate how you have captured the juggling act of trying to balance demands while keeping focused on what needs to be nurtured. Drawing the analogy between a teacher's summer and the Aseret Yemei Teshuva is indeed a powerful one, something I want to really think about and try to apply during the other 355 days of the year! Thank you.
Sometimes I'm better able to compartmentalize each of the balls, which helps me focus on tasks at hand with attentive presence . . . other times I drop them all and feel as though I'm a toddler treading water in one of those baby gym's oversized tubs of colorful balls . . .
Sharon
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