It ain't over 'til it's over
Zalman (Nicholas) Myersmith
When people here in America ask me if I miss Britain much and whether or not I have an easier life here, I never quite know what to answer. I do miss Marmite and HP Sauce (which my mother brought me truckloads of quite recently) and I do miss English Tea. I also greatly miss the grandeur of Shabbos at the NWES (no blessings for the Sovereign here!!).
I just spent last Motzei Shabbos with almost 20,000 screaming
Americans at an NBA Basketball game. It had the Milwaukee Bucks
(whoop whoop....my new team!!?!!) playing against the Chicago
Bulls (where Michael Jordan began his humble beginnings.....and
if you don't know who Michael Jordan is shame on you). Well, it
is very different to the Long Room at Lords and even though it
was a great basketball game, there was a Je ne sais quoi missing.
Maybe what was lacking was that there were no drunken hooligans
beating each other to pulp or that no-one in the entire stadium
except the team coaches were wearing ties. I'm not quite sure
what I do or don't miss. I can walk into a store here and
instantly know whether a product is kosher or not just by looking
at the hechsher printed on the label, and I don't need a London
Beth Din book to scour for products. From Peanuts to Tropicana
Orange Juice, it really is so easy to shop and keep kosher here.
And maybe that's just what America is meant to be.......easy.
But the lives of the Jewish people are not meant to be so easy or
comfortable. In Pirkei Avot or Ethics of the Fathers, the great
sage Rabbi Tarfon is quoted as saying "The day is short, the
work is much, the workmen are lazy, the reward is great and the
Master is pressing." From the cradle to the grave the Jew
has a clearly defined and specific purpose to serve his/her
Master, and to ensure that their efforts during their allotted
time in this physical world are aimed at improving their
spiritual selves and the world around them. And as they say in
America, "that ain't so simple."
The realisation of the physical self as being the same as the
spiritual self is a lifelong task. In Chassidut Rabbi Shneur
Zalman of Liadi commences his famed work Tanya by quoting from
the Talmud (Nida ch.3) that forty days prior to birth, HaShem
makes a Jewish soul swear that he or she will be a Tzadik
(righteous person) and not a Rasha (evil person). What
constitutes evil? One explanation is a complete disregard for the
soul's purpose on this earth. G-d has entrusted a spiritual
neshama (soul) into a physical body and you are naturally going
to have fireworks. The soul craves a connection to HaShem through
learning Torah and carrying out Mitzvot and the body craves pizza
and ice cream and all things nice. Who's going to win? That's
mostly up to you.
I remember this time last year writing for the Pesach 5760 NWES
newsletter, and time really has flown by. Baruch HaShem, so much
has happened in the last year (mostly good thank G-d) and I
really am shocked that Pesach is just weeks away. I can honestly
say that looking back, a large amount of the spiritual
resolutions that I made on Rosh HaShana haven't been lived up to,
but I am glad that, thank G-d, I am still here and able to have
more chances to correct my wrongs and move on. As Chief Rabbi
Jonathan Sacks says in his acclaimed book Torah Studies "
Teshuva is about resolving to break from the past and pave a new
future". There is a famous American baseball player called
Yogi Bera who is highly regarded as a witty commentator and
player. One of his quotes hit me hard recently......"it
ain't over 'til it's over". Applying that dictum to anything
in life has such powerful potential, how much more so in our
spiritual service and our relationship to G-d.
During Pesach also known as the Festival of Matzos or Festival of
Redemption, may we merit the ultimate Exodus with the coming of
our righteous redeemer Moshiach, and may it be a speedy arrival
and in our days.
My wife Sheina joins me in wishing you all a Chag Sameach
v'Kasher. Please feel free to contact us via email at: