The
Formula to Achieve Contentment
This Shabat is Shabat Nachamu, the Shabat that
begins for us a cycle of comfort and consolation after the weeks of sadness and
mourning over the past tragedies of the Jewish people. These next seven weeks
of healing comfort will lead us into the bright, new year that awaits us. In
this week’s parsha there is to be found, so to speak, the short course and
synopsis of all of Judaism – the Ten Commandments, the Shema and the
explanation of the Exodus from Egypt to be given to the wise son.
In a general sense, the entire structure of
Torah and Jewish life is encapsulated for us in the parsha of the week. Since
this Shabat is invariably also Shabat Nachamu, it is not difficult to see that
the Torah is teaching us that comfort and consolation are spiritual values and
attainments and not necessarily dependent upon material wealth or worldly
success.
Our society, so rich in material goods and
advanced technology, suffers greatly from all sorts of mental and social
dysfunction. Depression is the “black dog” (Churchill’s words for his recurring
bouts of depression) that affects over a third of the citizens of the Western
world! True comfort and serenity within human beings are difficult to achieve
and most precarious to maintain.
The Torah in this week’s parsha, in order to help
and guide us, gives us a formula to achieve this elusive goal of contentment.
And, it lies within the parameters of those three principles of Jewish faith
outlined in the parsha of the week.
The Ten Commandments create for us a structure of
belief and morality that every individual can aspire and ascribe to, no matter
how decadent the society in which one finds oneself enmeshed in. The moral
strictures that protect life, property and person are the basic rules of Jewish
faith and life. The dysfunction between parents and children, a 24/7 commercial
world, accepted robbery and corruption as a social norm, daily murders and a
completely sexually dissolute society – how can one avoid being depressed in
such a milieu?
All of civilization teeters on the fulcrum of
those Ten Commandments. They point the way out of the social morass that sucks
us down to destruction. The Shema is the vehicle of connection of our soul with
the Creator Who fashioned us and gave us life. The belief in the one and
universal G-d Who rules and is omniscient and omnipotent is the greatest gift
of the Jews to the human race. It gives us discipline and security, purity and
nobility, the whiff of immortality and the security in knowing that life is
never in vain.
And finally, the understanding of the uniqueness
of Israel in G-d’s scheme of things, as represented in the story of the Exodus
from Egypt, gives structure and perspective to our national and personal lives.
But it takes wisdom and knowledge – a wise son – to appreciate and treasure
this memory of the distant past. Memory alone can also give us a sense of comfort
and well-being and contribute towards the consolation and contentment we so
ardently seek.
Shabat shalom Rabbi Berel Wein
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