By the Grace of G-d Dear Friend, My GPS told me make a U-turn to take the fastest route to the airport. My instinct told me that I really didn’t want to miss my flight back home from Israel. Yet, my fear of not having the seven shekel needed for the toll through the Carmel tunnels caused me to try to find an alternate route. I may have had only one shekel in my pocket, but I was in a buoyant mood after giving an hour-long class to my daughter’s high-school dorm mates, on the importance of joy and positive thinking. It is definitely one of my favorite topics. I love sharing the ‘secret to having a good life’ which is summed up in a one-liner coined by the Jewish mystics, ‘think good, it will be good’. I wasn’t about to let the absence of a couple of shekels get me down. Thank G-d I found a route that didn’t require a toll payment. We made it to the airport in time. I have been back in Bangkok since the beginning of the year. You wouldn’t believe it, but here in Bangkok I had a repeat story. I was in the taxi, going to a meeting when I realized that I wouldn’t have enough cash to pay the taxi to get me to my destination. When the meter hit fifty baht, which is the amount I had in my pocket, I got out and walked the last twenty minutes to my meeting. I wouldn’t say ‘no sweat’. I did sweat a bit. This is Bangkok after all. Even in the ‘winter’ you sweat. I am not proud to share these stories. Yet, they gave me such a clarity that I feel it may be helpful to share the lesson I learned from them, with others. Why am I not proud about these stories? Isn’t there something special about being austere? Doesn’t it sound quite holy to be so frugal that you have to walk part of the way to your destination? The answer is a resounding NO. First of all, let me hasten to clarify that I am not poor thank G-d. Last Shabbat we served two thousand and seventy-eight Shabbat meals in our Chabad Houses around Thailand. True to our core mission of enabling every Jew to have a no-strings-attached, authentic Jewish experience, we believe in hosting as many guests as possible on Shabbat. Chabad of Thailand hosts all who would like to join in the Shabbat experience. The two thousand plus attendees on Shabbat are our guests. Guests don’t pay. They say thank you meaningfully and gracefully which gives you a good feeling. More importantly though, our guests grow Jewishly from the warmth and inspiration absorbed during the Shabbat experience. For more than two decades we have been welcoming traveling Jews into our centers. The effect and impact on strengthening Jewish unity and identity, are well known. We have been a ‘gateway’ for so many Jews to discover their own bond with their true selves. Some give donations. Nowhere near enough to begin covering expenses. Yet, we manage to produce Shabbat meals week in and week out! (We are able to do this, thanks to people like you who are reading this and partner with us we are able to do this week in and week out. And we pray that you help us to be able to continue to inspire our guests, one guest at a time. One Shabbat meal at a time). You can imagine that this costs more than seven shekel or fifty baht. I also have a working credit card thank G-d. At the same time that I was cash strapped, I was driving a rented car. I was about to board a plane with a purchased ticket. My mobile phone was working. All these things cost far more than the small amount of cash that was hampering me. It was simply cash that I didn’t have. I was under the impression that I needed cash for the toll in Israel (I have since learned from the internet that I could have paid with credit card at the Carmel tunnels) and I know that I needed cash for the meter taxi in Thailand that I was sitting in. Of course I can rationalize why this had happened. My not having cash in Israel, was a result of the theft on the plane which knocked me off financial balance. My not having cash in Thailand was a result of my accounts being empty due to end of year financial crunch. Because I believe in the immeasurable value of what I do, I sometimes cut it that close, using every available dollar to pay urgent expenses leaving not enough buffer. But it is not a correct behavior. In one word, although I hate to admit it, my predicament had nothing to do with poverty G-d forbid. Rather it had everything to do with faulty planning. And here is why my predicament was so wrong and should have been avoided. I had a plane to catch. Missing the plane would cost money. Moreover, missing the plane would be a fundamental error. My life mission is in Thailand. This is where I belong every day. Unless I need to be away from Thailand for work or family reasons. What would I tell my kids who were waiting for me to come home? The people who were looking forward to the meetings set up for my return? ‘For seven shekels you risked missing your flight?’ I ask myself incredulously. I can’t believe that my mind was occupied with SEVEN SHEKELS? I need to raise more than one thousand times that amount every single day. Imagine if you were a lawyer charging two hundred dollars an hour and during your billable hour, your mind is occupied with finding some coins for the parking meter? It would be dishonest to the client. It also doesn’t make sense. Plan correctly. Put things into perspective. Make sure to have a stash of quarters in your car, or have a secretary in charge of it. Being distracted is not just bad financial behavior, it can be downright dangerous. Seven years ago on January 13th the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground resulting in thirty-two deaths. During the trial, the prosecution posited that the presence of a friend of the captain on the bridge of the ship with him, “generated confusion and distraction for the captain". The story remained in my memory because of its sheer horrendousness. I want to present this in a slightly different way which will bring this point home to most of us. You will be shocked when you realize how immune we have become to acting in this very irrational and downright dangerous way. No, I don’t want to talk about using a phone while driving. That is certainly something that must be avoided at all costs. It is against the law and against common sense. That’s a no-brainer. There is another correlation I wish to make here. Even more commonplace and even more shocking. Click on this link if you have the courage to be honest. I was thinking of using this meme in the weekly comedy corner. But I decided against it. It’s not a joke! Its gravely serious. When you choose to fiddle with your phone instead of spending quality time with your kids. Its dreadful. Preposterous. Stupid. And downright irrational. How can you choose to read an incoming post on WhatsApp or Facebook rather than engaging with the dearest and most beloved people in your life? Meshugah! No other word to use. Yet, we all fall into the trap. It’s faulty planning and loss of perspective. You gonna occupy your mind with pennies? When things of eternal value are what you should be involved with? Solve your cash flow issue. Prepare in advance. Make sure you have the petty cash you need at your disposal. It’s simply about proper planning. It’s the same with making quality time for your family. Plan properly. Clear your mind. Shut your phone for a few hours. It’s not easy. When you are in the ‘rat race’ it is easy to forget that you are not a rat. But it is critical to try and change that and escape the smallmindedness that so limits us and keeps us ‘in the box’. This week’s parsha tells us: Moshe came to redeem the Jews who were slaving away in futility in Egypt. He told them G-d is about to take them out. Redemption is at hand. The Torah relates that they could even listen or hear what Moshe had to say. They were so enslaved that they could absorb a message of liberation. Can you imagine how frustrating it must have been for Moshe. He comes to the Jews and says ‘the slavery is going to be over’. The Jews respond ‘we are too overworked to listen to what you have to say’. Imagine a lawyer who makes a call to a harried housemaid and tells her to come into his office for a meeting. She doesn’t come because she is too busy and doesn’t want to have pay deducted from her paycheck. But what happens if the lawyer is waiting for her to come to a meeting so he can tell her that her previous employer passed away and left her millions in her will? The Rebbe in our generation faced the same challenge. He told us that Mashiach is about to come and we should get ready. Many responded that they were worried about such dramatic changes such as the Mashiach coming. What would happen to the stock market gains? What about the new house they had just renovated? Would they be expected to leave it behind and go to Israel? This is the message I wish to impart. For me, I have to put a system in place that doesn’t allow me to be without petty cash, so that I can keep my mind focused on the more important stuff. For all of you (who I hope never suffered from my above situation): Don’t allow yourself to be preoccupied with pennies, when diamonds are there for your taking. Meaningful, ‘real’ (as opposed to ‘virtual’) relationships are diamonds. ‘Likes’ and ‘followers’ on Facebook are pennies or sometimes the internet is even worse. Like an addictive drug or a poisonous snake. In the broader perspective: Torah and Mitzvahs are diamonds. Materialistic possessions are pennies. Study some more Torah. Do another mitzvah. Go for the gold and the diamonds! Mashiach is the ultimate GRAND FINALE. It is the greatest, most unimaginably good thing that has ever happened in the history of the universe. Don’t get distracted by the pennies of life as we know it. Wait for coming of Mashiach. More importantly, do good deeds to hasten it. Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Yosef Kantor
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