This blog was inspired by the book "Garden of Gratitude" by Rabbi Shalom Arush. This is a retooling of a blog published in the Jerusalem Post entitled "Cause and Effect is a Myth."
We think we have power in situations in which we have none. Alternative, we sometimes think we are powerless in cases in which we have almost unlimited power. Please allow me to explain.
Human cause and effect is a myth, at least in the physical world. Our physical effort doesn’t create an outcome, at least in the long run. In fact, our efforts have nothing to do with results, neither good nor bad ones. However, our spiritual efforts make a huge impact. I will get to that later.
Most of us fall into one of the following categories in terms of our physical effort:
A. People who seem to do all the right things (get an MBA, work for a successful company, floss three times a day) and end up being financially successful.
B. People who do all the right things, yet are struggling financially and make the authors of finance books wealthy while they themselves remain monetarily challenged.
C. People who on the surface do all the wrong things (drop out of school, don’t look for work, and spend too much time on You Tube) and end up being very wealthy.
D. People who do all the wrong things and are struggling with money issues.
This doesn’t seem fair nor does it make sense. It is bizarre. If you want to sound like an intellectual, you could say it’s counterintuitive. The point is, neither success nor failure is in our hands. We are only asked to do the best job possible as a condition to create an outcome, but we have no control whatsoever as to the outcome of our effort.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bother trying. I highly recommend conducting due diligence before taking on a job, project or task, being conservative with your money and actions, and getting the best advice possible. However, do not wed yourself to the results. You have absolutely nothing to do with them. You are not the cause of outcome.
Nothing is humanly possible. The good news is, everything is Divinely Possible. I believe that G-d sends us here for a mission to bring part of His Infinite Bounty and Genius to this world. We are His vehicles to find a cure for cancer, to end hunger, and maybe someday rid the world of short battery life on cell phones. We are only asked to do our part, as a condition, by working in good faith.
Every penny that you will make or lose during each year has been pre-determined. You cannot, nor can anyone else, add or subtract to that sum. While you have to make a reasonable, honest effort, trying your best not be a workaholic nor a morally challenged employee, you do not influence the results of your labor.
The only thing we do have control over in the physical domain is our outlook. In religious circles, this translates into having Fear of Heaven. In other domains, this means creating a good headspace. Although a positive attitude will not create success and is merely the style in which one applies human effort, it certainly makes the predetermined journey more pleasant.
However, our spiritual effort has a tremendous impact upon our life in this world, the next world, and in infinite physical and spiritual domains. I will divide spiritual effort into four categories: Prayer, Charity and acts of loving-kindness, Torah study, and repentance.
Prayer:
When we realize that our physical effort will only be blessed if G-d chooses to do so, then it is incumbent upon us to pray, and to pray correctly. By that I mean praying with intention, not talking during prayer, and staying until the end of the prayer service. It is interesting to watch people leave the synagogue early to rush to the office to send out emails thinking that the latter and not the former actions make a tangible difference. What does have a chance of affecting outcome in a positive way is praying properly, and that is made a low priority in many cases.
Charity and acts of loving-kindness:
The secret of getting wealthy is donating at least 10% (but not more than 20%) of our income. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but this is a spiritual blog so if you don’t think it makes sense you can either try it and examine the results, or you can stop reading. When we do kind acts for others, not just because others are looking or because it will look good on our resume, then we will see that we can and will have a positive and successful impact in the world and that our physical effort will start leading to positive results.
Learning Torah:
The world continues to exist because Torah is being learned. The reason for our existence is to study Torah. Whether it is learning five minutes a day, half a day, or all day, the main thing is to set fixed times each day to study G-d’s wisdom and to make that time sacrosanct. In that way, we justify our existence and make our lives better in that our physical efforts have a stronger chance of being blessed because we are listening to what G-d has to tell us via His Torah. When we pray, we talk to G-d. When we study His Torah, G-d talks to us.
Repentance:
Sincere repentance is the closest we can get to time travel. When we repent sincerely, and repent out of love, then our willful sins are transformed into merits. It is as if we have been able to go back into the past and change what we have done with a firm commitment never to make these same mistakes in the future. When we repent sincerely, it is as if we are new people and new people’s physical efforts are often blessed by G-d to produce fruit.
Our physical effort, although mandatory as a condition, is like spouting forth thousands of zeros into the air. They are nothing. But when we make the proper spiritual effort of praying, giving charity and doing acts of loving-kindness, learning Torah, and repenting sincerely, then G-d places the digit one (1) in front of these zeros transforming all of our effort into positive. Tangle outcome. When we put THE ONE in front of our zeros, then we will see the results, G-d willing.
May we all learn to put for the best possible physical and spiritual effort and partner with G-d to make a difference and a real change in this world that we are desperately trying to improve. And go ahead and floss if you want to. It couldn’t hurt, unless you do it wrong.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Sunday, February 05, 2012
One-Armed Drumming and True Love
This blog is based on a true story that never happened. This blog was inspired by the book Garden of Gratitude by Rabbi Shalom Arush.
To say Jason was bitter was an understatement. Just when his band was about to sign their first contract, his right arm became paralyzed. As a drummer, his career was over. He went through a series of operations but nothing could get his limp appendage to function again.
He taught himself how to get by with one arm, but he was allowing himself to sink into a deep depression. His former sense of humor was gone. He was a despondent soul and his marriage to Claudia was deteriorating.
One morning, exactly one year after the paralysis, Jason ran down the stairs like a crazy man, screaming at the top of his lungs. Claudia thought that he had gone insane and was ready to call an ambulance.
Claudia saw him smile for the first time in a year. Jason gave her a one-armed hug and asked her to sit down with him on the couch.
“I had the most amazing dream last night,” Jason said.
“Tell me about it,” Claudia said. Claudia was thrilled that her husband finally had some enthusiasm about something besides his stories about being on the road with his ex-band.
“I had a dream that I had an appointment with the Heavenly Court. I was suing them because my music career ended suddenly for no good reason. I demanded some kind of compensation for this miscarriage of justice,” Jason said. “They claimed that there was no mistake made by the court.”
“I disagree,” Claudia said. “You are one of the nicest and most talented guys in rock. You received a totally cruel punishment and you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“They told me that I asked for the paralysis,” Jason said.
“What are you talking about?” Claudia asked.
“I was told they are above time in Heaven. All of human history has already happened from their perspective. And in an alternative future, you were in a fatal car accident. After the doctor broke the news to me,” Jason said, “I immediately began praying to G-d to take me instead and bring you back to life.”
Claudia was silent and turning pale.
“G-d would not agree to take my life, but He asked if I would be willing to give up my career in order to reverse time and circumvent the accident. Without any hesitation, I said yes,” Jason said.
“I know this whole mess is hard for you, Jason. It’s hard for me too. But we can’t resort to fantasies to escape reality,” Claudia said.
“This is the reality. When I agreed to the deal, we were both sent back in time. You were spared the car accident and my arm became paralyzed,” Jason said.
Claudia closed her eyes and was lost in thought.
“Maybe there is something to this. The night that your arm became paralyzed, I somehow got myself locked in my sister’s bathroom. After 30 minutes, the door just opened as if it was never locked. I was supposed drive uptown for an appointment that night, but I cancelled due to the late hour and the heavy rain,” Claudia said.
“I woke up this morning as a new person, Claudia. My new attitude is that I don’t just accept my paralysis now, I now thank G-d for answering my prayer. How could I be mad at G-d, or have the audacity to sue the Heavenly Court, when in fact G-d was so kind as to answer my very own prayer?
“You are alive Claudia. I was willing to give my life for you, and G-d took away the use of my right arm. I got off easy. If I were to be reincarnated a thousand times, I would gladly spend each one of them without the use of my arm so we can be together during this lifetime,” Jason said.
“So instead of being despondent about my fate, I am thankful. My new mantra is ‘thank you’. I am so filled with gratitude for the use of just one arm. I’m thrilled with it. I love it, because you, Claudia are with me. Thank you, G-d. Thank You for answering my prayer! I will say it hundreds of times each day. I will never be able to say it enough, but I will do my best to do so until I draw my very last breath and my last words will be ‘thank you’.
The two hugged and then Jason started crying.
“Why are you crying,” Claudia asked. “I thought your new attitude was gratitude.”
“It is. I just discovered yet another reason to be thankful,” Jason said, as he hugged his wife with his right arm.
Ben Goldfarb can be reached at bzahavi7@gmail.com
To say Jason was bitter was an understatement. Just when his band was about to sign their first contract, his right arm became paralyzed. As a drummer, his career was over. He went through a series of operations but nothing could get his limp appendage to function again.
He taught himself how to get by with one arm, but he was allowing himself to sink into a deep depression. His former sense of humor was gone. He was a despondent soul and his marriage to Claudia was deteriorating.
One morning, exactly one year after the paralysis, Jason ran down the stairs like a crazy man, screaming at the top of his lungs. Claudia thought that he had gone insane and was ready to call an ambulance.
Claudia saw him smile for the first time in a year. Jason gave her a one-armed hug and asked her to sit down with him on the couch.
“I had the most amazing dream last night,” Jason said.
“Tell me about it,” Claudia said. Claudia was thrilled that her husband finally had some enthusiasm about something besides his stories about being on the road with his ex-band.
“I had a dream that I had an appointment with the Heavenly Court. I was suing them because my music career ended suddenly for no good reason. I demanded some kind of compensation for this miscarriage of justice,” Jason said. “They claimed that there was no mistake made by the court.”
“I disagree,” Claudia said. “You are one of the nicest and most talented guys in rock. You received a totally cruel punishment and you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“They told me that I asked for the paralysis,” Jason said.
“What are you talking about?” Claudia asked.
“I was told they are above time in Heaven. All of human history has already happened from their perspective. And in an alternative future, you were in a fatal car accident. After the doctor broke the news to me,” Jason said, “I immediately began praying to G-d to take me instead and bring you back to life.”
Claudia was silent and turning pale.
“G-d would not agree to take my life, but He asked if I would be willing to give up my career in order to reverse time and circumvent the accident. Without any hesitation, I said yes,” Jason said.
“I know this whole mess is hard for you, Jason. It’s hard for me too. But we can’t resort to fantasies to escape reality,” Claudia said.
“This is the reality. When I agreed to the deal, we were both sent back in time. You were spared the car accident and my arm became paralyzed,” Jason said.
Claudia closed her eyes and was lost in thought.
“Maybe there is something to this. The night that your arm became paralyzed, I somehow got myself locked in my sister’s bathroom. After 30 minutes, the door just opened as if it was never locked. I was supposed drive uptown for an appointment that night, but I cancelled due to the late hour and the heavy rain,” Claudia said.
“I woke up this morning as a new person, Claudia. My new attitude is that I don’t just accept my paralysis now, I now thank G-d for answering my prayer. How could I be mad at G-d, or have the audacity to sue the Heavenly Court, when in fact G-d was so kind as to answer my very own prayer?
“You are alive Claudia. I was willing to give my life for you, and G-d took away the use of my right arm. I got off easy. If I were to be reincarnated a thousand times, I would gladly spend each one of them without the use of my arm so we can be together during this lifetime,” Jason said.
“So instead of being despondent about my fate, I am thankful. My new mantra is ‘thank you’. I am so filled with gratitude for the use of just one arm. I’m thrilled with it. I love it, because you, Claudia are with me. Thank you, G-d. Thank You for answering my prayer! I will say it hundreds of times each day. I will never be able to say it enough, but I will do my best to do so until I draw my very last breath and my last words will be ‘thank you’.
The two hugged and then Jason started crying.
“Why are you crying,” Claudia asked. “I thought your new attitude was gratitude.”
“It is. I just discovered yet another reason to be thankful,” Jason said, as he hugged his wife with his right arm.
Ben Goldfarb can be reached at bzahavi7@gmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
