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Rabbi Mendy Herson's Blog

Thoughts from, and conversations with, Rabbi Herson

Gaining Through Giving

Higher and lower.

More knowledgeable and less knowledgeable.

Richer and poorer.

There seems to be a vertical scale in so much of life. In most cases, those at the lower end of the scale would like to reach the higher pole, while those ‘on top’ seem fine right where they are.

But life isn’t actually so linear.

‘Higher’ isn’t absolute. Even when you’re ‘on top’ in an area of life, if you want your strengths and advantages to truly ‘shine’, you need to share them with those ‘lower’ on the scale. Perhaps counter-intuitively, those ‘higher’ on society’s imaginary totem pole can do themselves lots of good by constructively interfacing with those ‘lower’ on the scale.

The Talmud quotes Rabbi Chanina, one of our Talmudic greats, as saying, “I have learned much from my teachers, more from my peers and from my students most of all.” He wasn’t spouting poetic flattery of some youngsters. He meant it.

How can Rabbi Chanina, lucky enough to have studied with some of history’s greatest minds, say that he has learned more from his students who are [presumably] significantly ‘lower’ on the knowledge continuum? One answer is that Rabbi Chanina’s knowledge – his facts and data - became more lucid to him through his teaching. He learned a lot from his teachers, and UNDERSTOOD them more through his students.

This aligns with another Talmudic quote: “When a student approaches a teacher and says ‘teach me Torah’, and the teacher accedes, ‘G-d illuminates the eyes of both.’”

When a teacher conveys knowledge, he/she receives added insight into the subject.

How?

When we want to share knowledge with someone who has less of it, we need to first crystallize our own understanding. I can be convinced that I understand something, but I may get a reality wake-up call when I need to teach it. You can’t properly teach what you don’t really understand. The teaching process, from the preparation to the delivery, brings insight – illumination – to the teacher’s own intellectual grasp. Nothing brings more insight to an idea than successfully teaching it.

And, it’s not only about refining our knowledge. The Talmud tells us that “the pauper bestows upon the benefactor more than the benefactor bestows upon the pauper.” The wealthy person needs something beyond money: meaning and inner satisfaction. And they aren’t available for easy purchase.   

Happiness comes with the meaningful SHARING of wealth. When we use wealth – or any other of our gifts – to actually improve others’ lives, our individual worlds can literally light up.

Appreciate your gifts. Share them.

And feel the glow.

The Next Level

It’s a common scenario:
Somebody's walking life’s path, oblivious to their own benign neglect, when suddenly...boom! They hit the proverbial 'brick wall'.
Maybe it’s a family member or an accountant, perhaps a client or an employer; somebody perceives the truth and yells “Stop! This can't continue; something needs to change.” An unpleasant, jarring disruption to life's rhythm. And an important wake-up call.
Even though it’s painful, the stress from a shocking paradigm shift can serve as productive energy, propelling us out of our rhythm’s gravitational pull.
In a way, that’s the Passover story. Simply put: The Jews were slaves in Egypt, Moses dislodged them from their captivity and our ancestors escaped “in haste”.
It’s also a personal story: We each have our own ‘Egypt’ - our own counter-productive cycles.
When we’re fortunate, our ‘Moses’ – our soul-conscience, or perhaps a spouse or business associate – chases after us and points out our negative patterns. The recognition hurts, but we can channel the pain so that it catapults us to a better place.
In Passover language: We are impelled to urgently act, ‘leaving Egypt in haste,” In that sense, the word ‘Pass-Over’ [also] refers to the liberating leap from a spiritually constricted life to a visionary, conscious one.
But what about the times when we’re not escaping an Egypt? When things are just ‘normal’? When we feel no friction and face no brick walls?
Then, we face a different danger: Complacency.
When we feel that we’re on a good path, we’re more likely to live our lives on auto-pilot. We can relax.  After all, if we’re not being chased, why run?
Because.
Because when we’re on ‘auto-pilot’, we float along with life’s current, without the initiative to go faster than the stream. Because when we’re on ‘auto-pilot’, we’re without the quickened pulse, without the butterflies in our stomachs, that accompany a quantum leap forward.
G-d expects more, and we deserve more. We shouldn’t only grow to escape pain. We should grow because we have great potential and a beautiful destiny.
So the Torah gives us an exercise: It’s called ‘The Second Passover’ (‘Pesach Sheini’ in Hebrew) and it’s about finding the strength to ‘Pass-Over’, to leap forward in life, even when we’re comfortable where we are.
It’s about taking the opportunity to consider where life is going RIGHT, and finding the strength, vision and humility to make life go even MORE RIGHT.
This Sunday, Iyar 14/May 15, is Pesach Sheini.
Have a piece of Matzah (matzah is a primary Liberation tool, in that it embodies the humility that we need for authentic growth). Then focus on a growth-objective. Pass-Over your own inertia, and meet your potential.
Because finding Freedom isn’t only about leaving captivity; it’s about taking a leap forward.

Keep On Dreaming

Do you dream? About a loving relationship? About your family’s future? About financial success?
If you’ve entered adult life, pounded the pavement and inevitably encountered your share of disappointments, please ask yourself: Do you still dream? 
Yes, we need to embrace life’s [sometimes] hard and cold reality. At the same time, we can never stop dreaming. 
The Torah recognizes a world fraught with difficulties and pain. The Torah also depicts an eventual perfected existence, the world of Moshiach (the Messiah); a world of peace, harmony and goodness is our vision, our goal, our dream. And – through the millennia - it hasn’t been easy to maintain this dream. 
Here’s a story I heard as a child: 
Poor Yankel was the village failure. He couldn’t earn a living and his family suffered terribly. Finally, some friends chipped in to create a job for him: He would be paid two rubles a week to sit in a hut at the edge of town and await the Moshiach
Offered the job, Yankel was grateful, but he knew that two rubles a week was barely minimum wage. 
"The pay is lousy," he said. 
"Yes", was the reply, "but the job security is excellent." 
That little story reflects two realities in much of the Jewish world:

A. Judaism maintains a belief in the advent of Moshiach. We’ll even pay someone to do be his greeter!

B. Our long and painful road has sometimes sucked that dream of its substance and vitality. Deep inside, we suspect that Yankel will keep waiting and waiting…. 

Belief in Moshiach’s coming is one of Judaism’s Thirteen Principles of Faith. Our anticipation is built into the prayers, thrice daily. But is the dream really alive? 
The Rebbe taught us that we need to keep dreaming. 
Yes, the Rebbe challenged our painful existence, and cried with humanity’s suffering. But the Rebbe so obviously believed in the dream of Moshiach
To the Rebbe, the faith and trust in a perfected world, a Moshiach existence, was more than a dream; it was a vision that animated his life, guided his plans and served as his ‘North Star’. 
Because the Rebbe knew that G-d can deliver. The world will change for [the] good. And if it takes a while, we need to keep dreaming, because the dream breathes soul into our lives, keeping it fresh, hopeful and cynicism-free. 
We live in a world fraught with difficulties and fracture. Look around and there’s a lot that can disappoint you.

Face it, because it’s reality.
But never stop dreaming.

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