By the Grace of G-d Dear Friend, Who said life wasn’t confusing. Take for example this humorous anecdote. A guy goes to a rich man that he doesn’t know and asks for a loan of ten thousand dollars. The rich man looks at him quizzically and asks ‘hello, do I know you from somewhere?’ and walked off. Then he goes to a rich man that he does know and asks him for a loan. The guy looks at him and says ‘oh boy, no way. I know you too well to loan you any money’… One couldn’t blame this poor guy for being confused. Is it better to be known or unknown? How about this seeming paradox. On the one hand we say ‘Don’t delay to tomorrow what you can do today’. Contrast that to another saying which has the exact opposite connotation. ‘Haste makes waste’. It seems confusing. Which way is better. Swiftness? Or procrastination? The answer my dear friend is; it depends what the circumstance is. Let’s take a stroll through the weekly Parsha and you will see for yourselves that it all depends on the context. The Torah relates how Moshe ‘sees’ the Shechina (presence of G-d) about to ‘pass’ before him. He hurries to bow and prostrate himself on the ground on honor of G-d’s presence. The Parsha also tells the story of the golden calf debacle. Aharon was strong armed into making a golden calf on behalf of the misguided Jews who were looking for an image to worship. The calf, fashioned out of gold, was completed. Aharon said, ‘let’s declare tomorrow a holiday’. Why tomorrow? It is quite clear that Aaron was deliberately procrastinating. He was hoping that Moshe would return by the morning and then the foolish and sinful desire to serve the golden calf would be obviated and cancelled. Aharon was sure that under the firm guidance of Moshe the people would resume their service of G-d and abandon their brief flirtation with the idolatrous calf. All he needed to do was buy time. Till Moshe came back. Aharon figured it he pushed it off till tomorrow and declared it a holiday, people would sleep in. It almost worked. But the temptation to sin was so strong (as it so often is – that’s the way G-d designed temptations…). The people got up early. They didn’t sleep in. Moshe came back after midday. By that time the damaging sin had been done. It would seem very safe to say that this is the rule of thumb. For good things, say YES right away. When it comes to negative things. Delay your reaction. Wait, snooze, delay, procrastinate. Don’t speed headlong into a negative activity. In today’s email and social media age, it pays to be prudent. Don’t spill your innermost secrets on a public social media forum. What you say now and what makes you feel cool right now, may not be what you will feel in a while from now. There is a saying I grew up with (I heard it in Yiddish originally). ‘You are not allowed to lie, but one does not have to volunteer all the truthful information that you know’. The antics and personal revelations you expose on social media, will be there for anyone to find. For as long as there is an internet. In such an instance STOP and THINK. DELAY. When it comes to helping someone and doing a good deed. DO! ACT! MOVE! IMPLEMENT! Don’t think, mediate and ruminate over something good that you need to do. Do it quickly. You never know if you will get another chance. It may well be that the help you offer is needed right now. Later may be too late. Who knows if the person seeking your help has much time left? Every moment may count. In our current information age, a new tzedaka model has emerged that brings anti-procrastination to a digitized world. Crowdfunding. The model used for these fundraising campaigns are quite effective. A limited window of time is allotted for the campaign. The potential donor is urged to give his or her contribution of any size before the stated campaign deadline. Creating a deadline is a common marketing tool. Twenty five years ago I hosted Rabbi Riskin of Efrat and showed him around Bangkok. As we exited one of the famous sights of Bangkok, we were approached by a tuk tuk driver. According to this driver we were the luckiest people in the universe. For we had just ‘happened by sheer chance’ to be in the right place at the right time. There was a jewelry factory that only he, this peppy driver, knew, that was having a sale on jewelry. Prices were reduced by 80%. The sale was taking place right now but would end in a few hours. After that, prices would be back at their normal unaffordable prices. Would you believe it? We went to see the factory. I was new to Bangkok after all. Alas, we couldn’t make any purchase. Rabbi Riskin told me that he has an agreement with his wife not to make purchases over a certain amount without her express confirmation. In 1993 one didn’t make a telephone call to Israel just like that. It was expensive. We didn’t call. Reluctantly we left the factory feeling that we had missed the amazing sale of the century. We were saved from what I later learned was a standard Thailand scam operation. The point is quite clear. Creating a deadline is a good tool for eliminating procrastination. The charitable crowdfunds do a great job at that. The Torah’s rule is crystal clear. If you can give charity and help somebody else, or do any other good act, don’t hesitate. You won’t regret it. If you are tempted to do something wrong or hurtful and can’t seem to overcome the temptation to do it, buy yourself a temporary reprieve at least. Hit the snooze button. Sleep on it overnight. Maybe by tomorrow morning your ‘internal Moshe’ will awaken and help you overcome the challenge. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Yosef Kantor
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