Gutten Erev Shavuos 5770

Last Shabbos I discovered an Israeli newspaper called Makor Rishon. It wasn't mentioned, I didn't see it, but I learned of it. The rabbi of my father's shul (tslabw) cited a sefer called Parashot by Chaim Navon. It's a favorite of his, intellectual in the conventional sense of the word, quoting from scholars in a wide range of academic topics. I was intrigued by this week's drasha that cited the sefer. I looked him up and found that Chaim Navon has several English pieces on line. The one that grabbed me was on the topic of dealing with a dying person.

Rabbi Kornblau opened his speech by reading from a postcard that he wrote his parents when he was a kid. The entirety of the postcard, besides the address, salutation and sign off read, "My name is still Barry." He contrasted this with the habit of a colorful uncle of his. If his uncle got your answering machine instead of you, the message you'd get was him shouting out his last name and slamming down the phone. These snippets of memory, the stress on first name or last, served as a moshal for youth's emphasis on individual identity, and the predilection of people who pass a point age and maturity wise who tend to focus more on the family name (an analogy presented and idea developed by Rabbi Navon).

The main body of the talk was a focus on the importance of family. Rabbi Kornblau read from Rav Samson Rafael Hirsch who zeroes in on the repeated use of the word family in parshat Bamidmar. Rav Hirsch explains that family is the center of Jewish life, the key of it all. Rav Navon explains that family suffered two major blows in the past two centuries. First there was nationalism, which put the broad cause of the people over immediate family. Then came individuality - the focus on self as opposed to the family unit.

Rabbi Kornblau bravely ended with his own caveat, which he seemed quite passionate about. He said that as important as family is, it is a sad mistake when people's lives are exclusively about their family. One must have causes, interests, and a healthy sense of self and self improvement. As important as family is it is not meant to be the sole total emphasis of a serious adult's life.

That was a piece of Shabbos, the drasha. At kiddush a man spoke openly to me about his struggle with Parkinson's disease and the good (sic) that has come from it. He's created his own treatments, helped many others, and is on the verge of possibly helping millions. To me a wow.

Another gentleman wanted to know if it's Yisaschar or Yisachar and what Yom HaMeYuchas means. A knowledgeable congregant - a professor at JTS for many years - said that he thinks that one family at some point changed the name's pronunciation at some point. The same man said that his understanding of Yom HaMeyuchas is that since it's a day without innate import, it was given a title of appeasement, so to speak.

Shavuot is coming, which if you think about it is a funny thing to say. Shavuot means weeks, so Shavuot has actually passed. The weeks following Pesach lead up to a holiday. Weeks is an unusual name for a holiday. According to Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl the name for this holiday that stuck is Shavuot because it reflects the idea that the meaning of this day is built on the time which precedes it. That's big.

I was about to write heavy instead of big above. Some think that I take life too heavily. At the point in my life when I decided to take religion seriously, I decided that life is a serious thing. As Tom Petty wrote, "And I won't back down."

Life is serious. There's G-d's word. We must study His Book. We must keep the details of the law. There is also G-d's world. We are to live in it and sanctify it. We are to take care of ourselves so we can fulfill our mission here. There are beautiful and holy elements of this world that we are to enjoy and experience in deep spiritual ways. I'm down with that. We can even relax and have fun as a way to rejuvenate ourselves. However, fun or relaxation as ends in and of themselves are concepts that from a serious spiritual point of view I have trouble wrapping my head around. And yet I wonder if there is an and yet,

I'm heading out to Teaneck soon. I'm not sure of the number but I'd say it's at least the tenth year I'm going out there to learn with students all night. Whenever I get there I'll be in ready to roll mode - no more computer once I leave here/home.

I like writing right before Yom Tov and Shabbos. This will have to do.

I am grateful for many things in life. A dear friend of mine and I sometimes sit and list what we're grateful for. Toward the top was always my parents being alive. Have to work on that one - praying for mom's neshamah and for dad to live and be well. I am grateful for having a sense of humor, being healthy and alive, being a teacher and friend and having students and friends and family.

I have to cut myself off here and start one specific leg of my travels, may they all be swift and smooth as possible for all of us.

May we all be blessed with at least a second of true mindfulness, commitment, and serious thought this YT.