Newsletter August 1, 2013 - 25 Menachem Av 5773
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The Playground Before The Sanctuary
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The portion opens by challenging us to see. What do I see? I see all sorts of wonderful things each day. I see courage, generosity, heroism, hard work, love, sensitivity, minds expanding, growth, and many acts of goodness. I see the people with whom I meet, those with whom I live, and those I teach; all day I am blessed with seeing beautiful things. I understand King David's words in Psalm 27 - the Psalm we will soon being to recite twice each day until Simchat Torah - "One thing I request of God, for that it was I seek; that I may dwell in the House of God all the days of my life, to see with the beauty of God (Psalms 27:4)." I am fortunate to sit in my version of God's House all day, studying, writing, teaching and guiding. I am privileged to live in God Consciousness. When I step out of, what some relatives call my "Rabbi Cave," I strive to see the world with, "the beauty of God."
What do I see each day? I see weakness, selfishness, victimhood, laziness, anger, resentment, closed minds, and misery. I try to look with "the Beauty of God," that I take with me from my Rabbi Cave," but I still see far too much unhappiness. I wonder what King David would suggest.
He concludes the verse above by adding, "u'livaker b'Heichalo," translated as, "To meditate in His Sanctuary." "U'livaker,' is the same as Bikur, as in, "Bikur Cholim," visiting the ill. David wants to pay a Bikur Cholim call on God's Sanctuary! The Sages explain that Bikur demands that we carefully examine the person who is ill (See Leviticus 19:20), and determine what he needs - it cannot be a simple friendly visit.
How can we make such a Bikur Cholim call on God's Sanctuary? Playgrounds.
Before I moved to Los Angeles in 1989, I called my father zt"l to discuss which school would be best for each child. He told me that before entering the "Sanctuary," the actual school, meeting with the principal and teachers, and observing classes, to be Mevaker, to visit and observe, the school playground: Are the teachers paying close attention to the students? Do they yell? Most of all, he added, observe the way the children interact with each other and strangers. If the playground reflects goodness, it will be worthwhile to visit the inside of the school. If the playground behavior is ugly, there's no need to enter the school; the inside, the Sanctuary, is rotten!
When King David, inspired by his time in God's House, went outside his holy confines, prepared to look at everything with, "the beauty of God," and he saw unhappy, resentful, angry, and displaced people, he ran back to the Sanctuary for a Bikur Cholim call, He understood that others were not deriving the same inspiration, love, empowerment, and clarity, as was he, and wanted to repair the way God's service was being taught. How were the Kohanim welcoming people coming to bring sin-offerings? How was the bureaucracy treating the people who came to "see and be seen," on the Three Pilgrimage Festivals? Were they leaving inspired? Were they able, as was David, to leave God's House ready to look at the world with the Beauty of God?
If I leave my Rabbi Cave and see people in the "playground," in their day to day living, who are miserable, who have no connection to their prayers, who resent observance, I know the time has come, livaker b'Heichalo, to visit the synagogues, schools, and study halls, and determine what needs to be repaired even in the holiest Sanctuary.
One of the best rabbis in the US, Rabbi Efrem Goldberg wrote a powerful essay, "Wrong Enemy, Wrong War." Rabbi Goldberg paid a true Bikur Cholim visit of the Sanctuary, and calls on us to change. Let's join him, and with all the wonderful things we see, rather than focus on our personal limitations as we enter Elul, let's focus on issues in the playground that call attention to the Sanctuaries of our synagogues, schools, yeshivot, and homes, and reconnect them with the wonderful things we see.
Such visits will conclude as did David's, "Had I not believed that I would see God's goodness in the land of the living," - life's playgrounds - I would not be able, to, "Reach in hope to God, be strong and He will give you courage; pull on that line that connects you to God (Verse 13)."
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Simcha L. Weinberg President If you are interested in sponsoring our  winning Newsletter, please email info@thefoundationstone.org Go to our Blog  Follow us on Twitter   Become a Fan  |
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