What to do?
DO.
When we face a situation which we know requires attention often we are gridlocked into inactivity.
Not because we want to ignore the issue. On the contrary we want to thoroughly research the options and make the best move possible.
When we seek advice from friends, we may find some naysayers, some yea-sayers and some who just have a confusing effect.
In today’s ‘over-information’ age, we can educate ourselves about a topic to the point of being totally muddled.
If you ask AI for advice, you must realize that this only exacerbates your decision-making abilities, as you will get different answers from AI based on how you ask.
Here is some sound advice from the Torah.
When you know the general direction that you ought to be headed in, don’t stop and spend time listening to the inner and outside voices that start offering advice.
All those things will delay you.
Jump in and start.
And then get advice on how to continue moving forward and finetune and recalibrate as much as needed.
A classic example in traditional Jewish life.
During ‘chol hamoed’ the intermediate days of the Pesach holiday, it’s a great time to take the kids on a trip. There is no school, many parents are totally off from work, and one is permitted to drive a car on the intermediate days.
Where should we go?
And then the action starts. The voices get more heated and debate rages.
Many families get stuck in this cycle of debating where they should go for the highly anticipated ‘chol hamoed’ trip. Sometimes the debate is so engaging that by the time a winner emerges the day is almost over and there is no time to go anywhere significant.
Here is a possible solution.
Don’t get stuck at home arguing about where to take the kids for the outing. One thing is certain. Your overall intention is that you want to take the kids out and not stay at home. So just do it. Jump into the car and set out. Then, once you have the picnic lunch packed and the kids buckled up safely in the car, and you have pulled out of your parking lot, figure out where exactly you want to go.
This week’s Parsha Beshalach speaks about the Jews running away from the Egyptian warriors who were pursuing them. On day seven of their departure from Egypt, they were positioned between ‘a rock and a hard place’ as the saying goes. They saw the sea in front of them and the Egyptian troops behind them, they had to decide what to do.
This is when the first political debate in Jewish history began. As recorded in the Midrash, there were four ‘political parties’. Each one had a different view about what should be done.
One group said let us all jump into the sea as its better to drown than to be taking to Egyptian captivity. One group advocated for surrender to the Egyptians and a return to slavery. Another group said let’s fight to the end. While yet another opinion said lets pray and surrender to G-d.
For a Chassidic interpretation of the above click here.
Hashem said to Moshe, “Why are you crying out to me”.
The way forward is obvious.
“Speak to the Jewish people that they should travel forward”.
Into the sea.
Nachshon from the tribe of Yehuda walked into the courageously with total faith. He nearly drowned. At the last split-second Hashem made an incredible miracle.
The sea split.
A conversation I will never forget is one I had more than twenty years ago with Y. It was just before we purchased our first Chabad House property in Phuket. I wasn’t sure about the viability of making the purchase. We only had a small portion of the money lined up. I was seriously concerned with the questions of where we would possibly get the rest of the finances. That and several other doubts loomed in my mind. I knew that Y. had experience in the real estate market in Thailand and I met with him to get his advice about the property we were considering buying.
Y. told me every single reason why it didn’t make sense to buy the property. He was convincing in his arguments. In my mind I had almost decided not to go forward.
Then he added.’ I also voiced this kind of reasoning and naysaying to my partner in our real estate company. If it was only up to me, we wouldn’t have made a single deal. My blessing is that my partner didn’t listen to me. He went ahead and put down a deposit on the property and then we were forced to buy. The deals we were involved in turned out to be very profitable’.
Y continued: So before you listen to my advice take into account that our company’s success, my success, is because we didn’t listen to my advice. Y concluded ‘we jumped in to the deals and thank G-d they were successful’.
We indeed made that Phuket purchase for the Chabad House.
And the ‘sea split’ for us. Somehow the donors stepped forward and the funds became available. And it had a domino effect thank G-d.
That first purchase resulted in beautiful Chabad Houses in Phuket, Ko Samui, Pai, Ko Pangan and Bangkok as well as several more under construction.
In thinking back to when Nechama and I were discussing coming to Thailand in 1993., something very similar happened. There were several well-meaning friends who gave us multiple reasons why not to go to Thailand. They had some valid points.
When we asked the Rebbe, and the Rebbe nodded his approval to our moving to Thailand as his Shluchim emissaries to be the spiritual leaders of the community, the path forward was very clear and all the considerations and worries were dwarfed by the clarity and knowledge that our ‘promised land’ was clearly mandated to us by the Rebbe.
We just had to jump in and move to Thailand.
Everything else constituted a distraction.
And indeed, while it was not all smooth sailing, the issues that were raised as being problematic worked themselves out for the good, in an unanticipated Divinely guided way.
Try and adopt this behavior when it comes to moving forward in your spiritual path of getting closer to G-d by getting GOOD things done in your own life.
Think about the things in your life that you know are leading you to your ‘Promised Land’.
Identify the path that you sense will lead you to a closer relationship with G-d.
Recognize the acts of kindness that G-d is urging you to do.
And then…
Just do it.
Get it done.
Even if you don’t know how to achieve the result you are looking for, identify one thing that you can do.
Do one action.
And watch the sea split for you.
Our Sages summed it up. ‘Better one action than a thousand sighs’.
In a similar vein there is a note that was penned by the Rebbe to an activist that felt stymied and overwhelmed by obstacles reads as follows:
‘One action, as small as it may be, is better than sleeping, and certainly better than falling into a deep slumber’.
As a rabbi, who teaches faith and trust in G-d I must raise the following question.
Of all the four above opinions, I would think that the fourth option which is to pray to G-d that He find a solution would be the most devout path to take.
Why did G-d reject that path as well?
Because He wants our actions. G-d cherishes and desires our human efforts. As paltry and inadequate as they may seem, they represent our taking ownership and partnering with our Creator in perfecting His creation.
This is a very important premise that G-d teaches us which is readily observable in the outdoor gardens and fields.
What causes plants to grow in gardens and crops to grow in the fields?
The incredible G-dly ‘growing power’ that is to be found in the nutrients contained in the earth.
Now let me ask you. If it is G-d’s implanted power of nature (anything miraculous that is repetitive with predictability is called natural) that causes crops to grow, would it not be more pious and religiously appropriate to just stand near our fields and pray to G-d for a good yield without the distraction of ploughing and planting?
And we know that if you leave a field unplanted, things will grow.
Yet we see very clearly that while some things do grow without human input, they are generally sparse and of much inferior value.
If one wants to have a blessed abundant health yield, one needs to invest in responsibly farming.
This is the way Hashem creates His world. He invites us to take a partnership role with Him.
Our human acts are the catalysts for Hashem's miraculous input and flow.
If Hashem's ‘light’ is to flow into our world, it is by making ‘vessels’ to channel and hold that light.
Hashem can split your sea without your input.
Hashem desires your input.
He wants you to be the instigator.
How much effort?
It depends.
Sometimes He wants you to get your feet wet and then He splits the sea. Other times you have to wade in till your knees, sometimes till your stomach and sometimes only when you are almost totally overwhelmed will the G-dly intervention come brilliantly through.
If you want to give your efforts the greatest chance for success, make sure you carry them out with enthusiasm and joy. Simcha, is the greatest ingredient for injecting the Divine spirit and blessing in whatever you do.
This Shabbat is called the Shabbat of SONG (see the Jewish Spark video) as we read the in the Parsha about the song recited at the splitting of the sea.
May you see your impassable ‘seas’ split and allow you to proceed further to the ‘promised land’ personally and we as the nation of Am Yisrael should be blessed to all return to the holy land of Israel with the coming of Mashiach, AMEN!!!!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yosef Kantor
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61 days away - Pesach Preparations! |
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The Jewish Community of Thailand and Chabad of Thailand have started getting ready to host thousands of people for Pesach Seders across the region.
'Kosher-for-Passover' Coca Cola getting loaded to shipping containers this week — just four hours after production. They are on the way to Thailand!
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