By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend,
When I was a kid and someone was trying to make a point that was totally irrelevant, there was a popular idiom that was used.
‘What does that have to do with the price of fish in China?’
It’s a rhetorical question. It means, ‘what does your comment have to do with the matter we are discussing’.
Our son Mendel just moved to Vegas with his family (his father-in-law Rabbi Harlig is the head of Chabad of Southern Nevada) and was looking around for a car. Mendel told me that there is a shortage of cars for sale in the USA because of Covid.
That saying came to my mind. ‘What does Covid have to do with the price of fish in China’.
Well, turns out that maybe the price of fish in China is not the culprit, but ‘chips’ coming out of China are to blame. Obviously I don’t mean potato chips. I haven’t heard of any shortage of those. (If there were less potato chips it may be good for our heath…). Rather ‘semiconductor chips’ that are used in modern cars. Little ‘wafers’ that have intricate components of electrical circuits and wiring. They are made in factories in China. There is a shortage of those very advanced chips.
The internet is full of theories about why there is a shortage.
For my purposes in this article, it makes no difference as to what the cause is. The point I wish to bring to your attention is the fact that when a little ‘wafer-chip’ is not as readily available as it was, the big hunks of tin known as cars, are less available.
This can be summed up by one concept that is very much heard about these days.
SUPPLY CHAIN.
When it comes to procuring all the ingredients required by factories to produce an object, we are all dependent on the supply chain.
We are also dependent on the availability of shipping those ingredients from their origin to the producing factory.
I have heard from my friends who are importers and exporters that the price of shipping containers is through the roof.
Turns out that we are indeed a global village. When a semiconductor factory in China’s output gets reduced, or when shipping is backed up, people in far off Vegas get hit with ‘price adjustments’ in the car market that push up prices to unreasonable amounts.
So yes, what is going on in China has everything to do with car sales in the USA.
Why am I sharing this?
Because now I better understand another story that I heard as a child.
A rabbi once chided his devout disciple about becoming a bit lax in one of his intense Torah study commitments. The student didn’t seem to think it that his very minor slacking off was something to criticize him about. After all, it was a very small infraction, and he was still doing way more than most others. The rabbi told him that his performance or lack thereof was very impactful:
‘The Jewish People is like one living organism. If you reduce your intense study commitment, the ‘barely hanging on Jew’ at the ‘edge of the village’ may neglect his observance of Judaism entirely’.
It dawned on me that through my newfound appreciation for the importance of the ‘supply chain’, I can now relate to this ‘community chain’ much more vividly.
Yes, the semiconductor chip may be very small and for someone unaware, very insignificant. But if there is a hiccup in that small chip, vehicles cannot roll off the production line to consumers in an uninterrupted way.
You may think that avoiding putting forth that extra effort won’t make a big difference to anyone but you. That is not the truth. For it may be that your exertions are exactly what the Jewish collective needs right now to keep things humming and balanced.
What part of the supply chain are you?
Are you the computer? The brake pads? The shipping company? The finance company?
That is a question that only you (perhaps in consultation with your spiritual coach) can truly answer.
But whatever your role in the Jewish People is, be mindful that it is not just you who is affected by it. It is critical to all of us.
Let me start off with what you definitely should not do.
You should not dismiss yourself as being inconsequential to Am Yisrael.
Even if your role in the supply chain doesn’t seem particularly significant, without you playing your role, the chain will be defunct.
This week’s Parsha tells us that Avraham was offered gifts by the king of Sodom whom he had saved by going to war with the opposition kings who had conquered Sodom. Avraham personally refused to take anything for himself, but he agreed for his servants to be rewarded.
Avraham divided the gifts offered to him by the Sodomite king between his two groups of faithful servants. Half went to the servants that had gone to battle at his side. The other half went to the servants who had remained behind to guard the vessels. Why the soldiers get a reward is obvious. They worked hard and fought valiantly. But Avraham did what is not so obvious and also gave half the of the gift to those who had stayed behind to guard the home front. For they too had played a vital role in the successful outcome of the battle. Without knowing that the families back home were safe, the warriors couldn’t effectively fight.
The reward was divided equally, creating a precedent for the future in terms of equitable distribution of war spoils.
The lesson therein is critical to understanding collaborative undertakings.
The positions may be quite different and diverse from each other. The front lines of the army is a different scenario than the civilian duties on the home front. But they are both critical and indispensable.
In life we all have different roles and duties. Maybe your G-d given mission is to be a mover and shaker. On the other hand, you may be assigned by G-d the role to be a behind the scenes facilitator.
One thing is for certain.
YOU have a role to play in the world.
And YOUR role is critical.
Maybe more significant than you can imagine.
(This week on the 7th of Marcheshvan the Jews in Israel began to pray for rain, (outside Israel we wait till the eve of December 5th). The collective request for rain was delayed for two weeks after the Sukkot holiday so that the ‘last Jew’ who lived near the Euphrates river could arrive home from the pilgrimage to Jerusalem before the community asked for rain. Rainy conditions are not conducive for travel. We are instructed to wait for the ‘last Jew’ who lives on the periphery of Israel, to arrive home first.
That is an amazing application of the concept of Ahavat Yisrael – love of fellow Jew. Even if 99% of the community needs rain, we feel for our friends who are still traveling and hold back our prayers for rain till they get home.
There is an allegoric meaning to this as well:
the “last Jew” is the most distant Jew in the spiritual sense—the one whose occupation is the most material of all. Yet all Jews, including those whose missions in life have placed them but a stone’s throw from Jerusalem, cannot pray for rain until the lowliest of pilgrims has reached home. For without this last Jew, their work is incomplete; it is he, more than any other, who represents what life is all about. (click here for full article).)
So what should you do?
First of all, DO.
Do what your Jewish soul pulls you to do.
Do what your study of Jewish History and the burning desire that Judaism continue to exist, motivates you to do.
Jewish continuity is hinged on YOU stepping up to the plate.
Learn more Torah.
Perform more Mitzvahs.
The ritual mitzvahs between you and the Almighty alongside the social mitzvahs between you and your fellow.
Support more Jewish institutions and leave a legacy gift to Jewish continuity in your will alongside your request for a Jewish burial. (See below, we have thank G-d completed the transfer of land for a new Jewish cemetery in Chachoengsao)
When you feel lethargic and your mind starts creating excuses for why you can’t or don’t want or need to do your bit, remind yourself of the supply chain.
I am sure you wouldn’t want others to suffer or be deprived because of your short-lived self-gratifying indulgence.
Do the right thing!
Not just for yourself.
For ALL OF US.
When you do the right thing, and I do the right thing, we get a healthy supply chain and the G-dly blessings flow uninterrupted and in a great abundance!!!!
Hastening the arrival of Mashiach. AMEN
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yosef Kantor
PS We are about to announce details regarding our new Sefer Torah campaign. Every Jew in Thailand will be invited to ‘purchase’ their own letter in the Torah. Any amount will be accepted as payment for that letter. This campaign is about recognizing that every Jew is deeply rooted and connected in the Torah. Stay tuned….