Please, choose life
"… I set before you life and death, blessing and curse. And you should choose life …"
These are the words that Moses, our beloved sheppard and leader, uttered on his very last day on earth. On his death bed, as he said good bye to the Jewish People, he pleaded with them: "choose life"
Now I ask you, do we really need a man like Moses to tell us to choose life? Which person of sound mind would choose death?
Perhaps a redefinition of 'life' is in order:
The Talmud, the great compendium and composite of Jewish wisdom, relates the following story:
Rabbi Nachman and Rabbi Yitzchak were dining together. During the meal Rabbi Nachman asked Rabbi Yitzchak to share a thought of Torah at the table. Rabbi Yizchak acquiesced and relayed the following: "I have looked through the entire Torah and nowhere have I found the Torah explicitly state that our patriarch Jacob died." "Therefore", said Rabbi Yizchak, "I maintain that Jacob never died." Hearing this rather strange thought, Rabbi Nachman responded to his colleague, "Jacob lived thousands of years ago and his burial site is in Hebron. What you mean 'Jacob never died'"?!
To this Rabbi Yitzchak responded with these eternal words: "If Jacob's children – the People of Israel - continue to live and follow in his footsteps, then Jacob is still alive.”
This Talmudic anecdote gives us insight into the Jewish perspective and definition of 'life'. In the Jewish imagination life is not defined by the steps we take, by the food we digest, or by the wealth we amass. It is defined by the impact we make on the world around us; by the influence we have; by the positive difference we make in the world. And the very fact that you – a descendant of Jacob – have just opened this email and are reading words of Torah is a living proof that Jacob continues to live; he continues to effect change; he continues to influence this world.
In a moment of cynicism, a colleague once told me that he sometimes meets people that are alive only by virtue of the fact that a bus hasn’t run them over yet. They exits and take up space in this universe, but they are not alive.
Perhaps this is what Moses implored us to consider on the very last day on earth: "Choose life!" Please – he begged us - commit yourselves to not merely existing, but to living. Please, infuse your days with meaning, with holiness, and with a higher purpose than the here and now.
Dear friends, it is no coincidence that we read these words of Moses on the Shabbat preceding Rosh Hashanah, the last Shabbat of the year. As we approach the new year – our collective birthday – we ought to take a few moments on this Shabbat and take a look into the mirror: "I've inhabited this planet for x number of years. What true difference am I making? To what extent are my days been filled with the pursuit of something of eternal value?"
These are not easy questions to answer but if any day is the time to answer them, then it is this last Shabbat of the year.
And when we do answer these questions with a resounding resolve to recommit ourselves to the Torah & its mitzvahs and to goodness & kindness, then G‑d, in turn, responds with a shower of blessing.
It is our fervent hope and prayer that this coming year be one of only joy and happiness, peace and tranquility, good health and success, and love and harmony – for us, for our families, for our community, for our brethren in the Land of Israel, for the Jewish People, and for all of humanity.
May you and all your loved ones be inscribed and sealed in the book of life.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Raleigh Resnick
