Page 3 - The Jewish Voice - August '23

The Jewish Voice, Page 3
It’s Not What You Look at That
Matters — It’s What You See
By Rabbi Dovid Vigler
The most successful
people are those who know
how to react to change.
When something bad
happens, they refuse to
use the word “problem,”
choosing “opportunity”
instead.
Crisis is defined as “a
turning point, when an
important change takes
place.” Given the new circumstances, one can choose to
focus on what’s been lost or on what can now be gained.
Hate crimes against Jews and others
are rising at alarming rates.
With your dedicated support, we advocate to legislators, educate on
how to stand up to antisemitism and strengthen security so people
can safely take part in Jewish life.
Visit jewishpb.org to join our efforts to combat hatred.
jewishpb.org
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From the rabbi
Because Blockbuster refused to acknowledge the rise boardrooms? Instead of sinking in sadness, we would soar
of streaming video services, they quickly disappeared with strength!
in 2010. A similar thing happened to Kodak when they
We can draw great inspiration from one of the
ignored the emergence of the digital photo, and they filed wisest sages of Jewish history — Rabbi Akiva (died
for bankruptcy in 2013. But when Lego was on the brink 135 CE), who lived two thousand years ago during the
of bankruptcy in 2003, when children didn’t want to play Roman conquest of Jerusalem and the destruction of our
with old-fashioned toys anymore, they adapted, creating Temple. Though he lived during the saddest period of
movie characters from Lego, catapulting the company to Jewish history, his transformational approach to viewing
a second wind of meteoric success. problems still motivates us today. A deeper understanding
Then-Chief of Staff of the White House Rahm Emanuel of his puzzling reaction to his troubles illuminates my
famously said in 2008 that “You never want a serious heart through my own darkness, and I hope that it will
crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an do the same for you.
opportunity to do things you thought you could not do It was one of the darkest periods in Jewish history.
before.” Jerusalem lay in ruins, conquered by the Romans; its
Imagine if we could apply this same wisdom to Jewish inhabitants were broken, bereft, and impoverished,
our personal lives. What would our lives look like if starving for even the basic bread and water.
we tackled every problem with the same innovation, A group of Jewish leaders, Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi
enthusiasm, and creativity seen in successful corporate Elazar ben Azaria, Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabbi Akiva,
were on their way up to Jerusalem. When they reached
Mount Scopus, they could see the ruins of Jerusalem, and
they rent their garments; when they reached the Temple
Mount, they saw a fox emerging from the ruins of the Holy
of Holies. They began to cry, but Rabbi Akiva laughed.
They asked, “Why are you laughing?” He replied, “Why
are you crying?” They said, “This is the place of which
the verse states, ‘and the non-priest who approaches shall
die,’ and now foxes are walking on it. How can we not
cry?”
He replied, “That’s why I’m laughing. Just as G-d’s
prophecy to Uriah that ‘Zion shall be plowed as a field,’
has been so meticulously fulfilled, so will His prophecy to
Zecharia — that ‘there will yet be elderly men and elderly
women sitting in the streets of Jerusalem’ — be fulfilled
to the last detail.” His companions replied, “Akiva, you
have comforted us, Akiva, you have comforted us.”
The Rebbe points out that Rabbi Akiva’s use of the
plowed field metaphor holds the secret to his worldview:
When a field is plowed, only a simple person would think
it’s being destroyed. A wise person understands that the
seeming destruction is actually a vital step in the growth
process. Planting without prior plowing is futile. The
plowing is a vital step toward fulfilling the purpose of
the field. The deeper the plow, the better the subsequent
growth. As in the construction of a new home, it’s the
destruction of the old that makes way for the construction
of the new.
When we declare our faith as we recite Shma Yisrael,
we are pledging allegiance to “one G-d — a G-d who is
one with everything in existence.” Hence, G-d is powering
every detail of our lives. Since G-d is good and “no evil
descends from Him (Shaloh 106:2),” when it seems like
something evil is happening, we have to fall back on
the plowing metaphor of Rabbi Akiva to find strength,
purpose, and vision. We cannot understand the wisdom of
our Maker, but we can hold on tight and hold on to Him
with every shred of faith we can muster.
When life feels overwhelming, close your eyes and
envision your problems — see it as your field being
plowed by G-d for the growth that follows. Adopt the
mantra of Rabbi Akiva: “All that G-d does is for the
good.” The very utterance of these words has the power
to transform the plower into the planter.
Flies find decay in every field; bees find honey in every
dump. You can choose to find the bad in your troubles or
to seek the hidden good in them. I think it’s better to be
like bees. You can’t discover new oceans unless you have
the courage to lose sight of the shore. A bend in the road
is not the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn.
Admittedly, this takes tremendous work to reach. But
G-d doesn’t ask us to do what he hasn’t empowered us
to reach. Skeptics will attack this position with heart-
rending examples of innocent children dying, or the
Holocaust. But it’s important to understand that these are
not questions, they’re protests. The concept is true even if
we don’t want it to be. Their heartfelt cry is essentially a
desire for there to be only revealed good — the hallmark
of what the era of Moshiach is all about, when G-dliness
will be revealed throughout the world for all to see. Bees
#n #StandUpToJewishHate
don’t waste their time explaining to flies that honey is
better than garbage.
Rabbi Dovid Vigler is spiritual leader at Chabad of
Palm Beach Gardens and host of the Jewish Schmooze
Radio Show. Email him at rabbi@jewishgardens.com.
| 561.478.0700 | @jewishpalmbeach
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