By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend, Thanks for all the wonderful, varied and colorful responses that I received to my email of last week. This story happened way back, some twenty six years ago. We had gone to Singapore for a few days to apply at the Royal Thai embassy for a visa. We had tried flagging down a taxi in middle of the street, not at a designated taxi stand. A uniformed policeman appeared and told us it was against the law to stop a taxi without going to the designated stand. We already knew that Singapore was a strictly organized country because of the well known chewing-gum ban. Now we became trepidation filled not knowing what other laws we may be inadvertently breaching. It was then that my wife told me ‘I think I like Thailand better’. It was a pivotal moment. Until then we had thought that the clutter, chaos, smells and ‘balagan’ endemic to the streets of Bangkok were distasteful to us. Singapore had appeared to us from the distance as being the ‘greener grass’. We had now come to the realization that we had gotten quite used to Thailand and were even fond of its uniqueness. It goes without saying that our work and mission in Thailand was very dear to us. We loved, love and hopefully will always love being emissaries of the Rebbe to reach out to every Jew in Thailand with love and care. But during that Singapore visit we realized that there was something about life in Thailand that we had become attracted to. Not just the spiritual work, but the actual ‘atmosphere’ if you wish. No, it wasn’t the smells we had gotten attached to. Nor was it the uneven sidewalks. The cacophony of noises, smells and sights that comprise life in the teeming city of Bangkok was surely not what we found attractive. (I grew up in Melbourne, Australia before my family moved to New York and my wife was raised in Los Angeles. Both of those locales are suburban, green lawns, backyards, orderly, sanitary and just generally very livable). The morally repugnant things that Thailand is famous for, are still and hopefully will always be, abominable to us. What then was unique about life in Thailand that we had become attracted to? I think that what we find special about life in Thailand is the SPONTENAIETY. Doing things at the spur of the moment, with a touch of impulsivity. This characteristic seems to be part and parcel of the ‘This is Thailand’ experience. Singapore is the polar opposite. Everything is organized. Melbourne and Los Angeles are likewise well-planned cities. The gutters drain excess rainwater without having constant flooding. The traffic lights are predictable and almost never overridden by police officers. The sidewalks are walkable, street vendors are licensed and five people on a motorbike is unthinkable. Being reliably predictable is great. There is much goodness to organization. The Torah considers being orderly a virtue. The dinner of Pesach is called a ‘Seder’ which means ‘order’ as it is an orderly set of rituals that constitutes the order of events for the Seder. But that is not to say that impulsivity and spontaneity don’t have their contribution to make to our lives in a positive way. Thailand is a place where people do things spontaneously. There is something in the air that almost elicits spontaneous impulsivity. This unfettered energetic trait is what I would like to suggest we can adopt in our service of G-d. Let’s say for example when it comes to giving tzedakah. There is the orderly, responsible and structured Torah obligation. The mitzvah of giving ten percent of one’s earnings to tzedakah. Then there is the spontaneous additional tzedakah that one is motivated to give because they saw someone in real need, or because they are so thankful to G-d for giving them so much. Yesterday someone called me to ask where my home is. I had just arrived home from a trip and was a bit surprised that someone who was not even Jewish was coming to see me without coordinating in advance. The person said that it involved possibly saving a life. Immediately I agreed to meet. A few minutes later that person showed up at my home. He explained that his friend needs an urgent surgery, but they can’t operate without having blood ready to transfuse. The blood type (0 negative) is not prevalent in Thailand. The man sitting with me told me that he has Jewish friends in the States and knows the Jewish people to be kind and resourceful. He came to me for help. I told him that I will spread the word and see if I can find any blood donors. (Please urgently let me know if you have the blood type O negative, are in Thailand and able to give blood. I will then put you in touch with the relevant people). I thought to myself, here is a good example where being organized and formal may have been a handicap. Calling to make a meeting and setting a time may have delayed this matter further. Moreover, the urgency of this matter was much more adequately conveyed by the fact that the friend simply showed up at my doorstep to plead for help. My colleagues around the world have their Passover guests ‘glued in’ to their guest list way in advance of Pesach. But not here in Thailand. Last minute seems to be quite popular in Thailand. The day before Pesach, my email inbox always floods with people asking if they can still join the Pesach Seder. The dates of Passover are known hundreds of years in advance. We open up to take reservations at least a month in advance. Yet, on the day before Pesach, people who had not made firm plans to attend the Seder sent urgent emails asking if there is still room. Here in Thailand we are prepared for them. We anticipate that as the day comes closer the Jewish soul will awaken and not let the Jew rest till he finds a Seder dinner to attend. For after all, TIT = This is Thailand. Unpredictable. Spontaneous. Unfettered. It is this unrestrained energy and joy that I would like to inject into the performance of G-d’s Torah & mitzvahs. Thailand is famous for hosting the largest Pesach seders and Rosh Hashana dinners. People who wouldn’t necessarily be open to performing a mitzvah back at home, somehow become inspired to draw closer to G-d in Thailand. Spontaneously. Impulsively. I would like to leave you with this practical tip. Do you sometimes feel an impulse to do a mitzvah you don’t usually do? Perhaps you saw a person in need and though impulsively to give them a gift that is more than you would usually allow yourself to give. Go ahead and give it. Be spontaneous and consider joining Torah class that you usually wouldn’t consider attending. (If you wake up on Sunday morning and spontaneously decide to join the first lesson of ‘From Worrier to Warrior’, come on over and join…we will push in an extra seat for you). And may Almighty G-d bless all of us with greater than expected blessings in every way possible, especially with the coming of Mashiach spontaneously.. NOW!!! Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Yosef Kantor
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