“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Bamidbar – Mevorchim
Chodesh Sivan
Avos perek 6 – 43rd day of Omer
28 Iyar 5783/May 19, 2023 – Yom Yerushalayim
PERFECTLY IMPERFECT
My esteemed colleague, Rabbi Dr. Joel Berman
related the following story from his years as a soldier in the IDF:
“One day I was part of a 9-man team lying in a
rare daytime ambush in Southern Lebanon near the Christian town of Hula.
We would lay quietly in place with our guns poised for many hours. It was
mostly boring and quiet, but we had to be ready at all times. There was a
rotation where three were able to sleep while the other 6 remained awake.
“I was lying next to Salach, a singularly
skilled and well-trained Druze soldier. He was peering
into his pair of binoculars. Suddenly, he handed me the
binoculars cupped his hands to my ear and whispered, “Berman, tistakel
v’tagid li mah atah ro’eh – look and tell me what you see.” I
looked and told him that I see a tree. He kicked me in the foot and told me to
look carefully again. I did so and replied that I still only saw a tree. This
time he smacked me and told me to look again, noticing a perfectly straight
stick going up and down. I looked again and this time I indeed saw a perfectly
straight stick moving up and down ever so slightly among the branches. Salach
then explained, “it is a fact that nothing natural is perfectly straight. If
something is perfectly straight, it is man made. If we see a straight stick in
the distance, it clearly means that the enemy is there with
a radio and the protruding antenna is what we are seeing.”
“Salach then took out a plastic-covered map,
unfurled it and figured out the exact coordinates of the antenna. He then
radioed the coordinates back to our base. Moments later a shell was shot from
Israel at that precise location utterly decimating the enemy.”
It’s an amazing concept. Hashem did not create
anything perfectly straight in nature. Rivers, sticks, flower stems, blood
flowing through our veins, our bones, etc. – nothing is perfectly linear. Yet,
we want our lives to be perfect and we want to plan our lives and that
everything should work out perfectly. But we should note that if nature itself
doesn’t follow straight lines, our lives also cannot be perfect. The circuitous
route of the trajectory of our lives is the path which Hashem leads us on. It
may often be challenging but it builds and molds us into the great people we
are meant to be.
In addition, we are not angels. Angels have
nothing to work on because their path and mission is indeed perfectly
straight and predictable. But humans have challenges that force us off our
intended paths. An angel is referred to as an omed – one who stands, in
the sense that it cannot grow, while we can use our challenges as opportunities
to grow, potentially to levels greater than angels.
With all this in mind, it is intriguing that
regarding the mitzvah of Sefiras HaOmer the Torah states, “Usafratem lachem… sheva shabasos timimos tehiyenah – And you
shall count for yourself… Seven complete weeks they shall be” (Vayikra 23:15).
Does the path to Kabbolas HaTorah require perfection and completion? There are
so many statements from Chazal lauding the value of teshuva, even saying that
“Teshuva preceded creation of the world.” (Medrash Tehillim 90) is Kabbolas
HaTorah contingent on perfect adherence?
In Major League Baseball there are certain
numbers that are hallowed and special. True fans are aware of the significance
of two of those numbers: 56 and 2,632.
56 is the number of consecutive
games in which Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio got a hit during the 1941 season. What’s
not always realized is that after the streak was snapped, DiMaggio got at least one hit in each of the
following 15 games as well. In 73 games there was only one game in which he
didn’t have a hit. The Yankees went on to win the AL pennant that year by
a 17-game margin and beat the Brooklyn Dodgers to win the World Series.
DiMaggio was voted the Most Valuable Player in the American League, beating out
Ted Williams, who had hit over .400 that season. The second longest hitting
streak is 45 games set by Willie Keeler in 1897.
2,632 is the longest streak of consecutive games played in by a player,
not only in major League Baseball, but in any professional sport. That record
is held by Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles who didn’t miss a game
between May 30, 1982, and September 19, 1998. He broke the previous record of Lou
“Iron Horse” Gehrig who had played in 2,130 consecutive games. The third
longest streak is 1,307 games held by Everett Scott.
It is believed that neither DiMaggio’s streak nor Ripken’s streak will
ever be broken.
Sometimes we think that to be worth anything we have to be at our best
and feeling spiritual and connected every day. We think we have to be like
DiMiaggio, getting at least a hit in every at bat. But the reality is that we
don’t feel spiritually charged and energized every day. Does that make us a
failure?
There is another type of streak that is different but no less
impressive. It is the streak of Cal Ripken Jr. who showed up ready to perform
every day. Such a streak requires endurance and persistence to give it your
best even on days when you don’t feel like it and may be fatigued or burned
out. The ability to do so is rooted in a feeling of responsibility, conviction,
dedication and focus on the long-term.
When the Torah states that the days of the Omer must be complete, it
doesn’t necessarily mean complete in a “DiMaggio” sense. It doesn’t demand that
we suddenly reach perfection and top-level performance. Rather it requires
“Ripken” completion – courageously showing up, stepping into the ring and
daring greatly. That is the path that must be undertaken to arrive at Sinai to
receive the Torah.
If someone missed an entire day of counting the Omer, the halachic
consensus is that he can longer count with a beracha. People in that situation
often erroneously say “I am out!” or “I can no longer count!” That is a big
mistake. Although he can no longer count with a beracha he still performs a
mitzvah when he recites the Sefirah count for that night.
Nature does not produce perfection, because Hashem does not demand
perfection of us. But we are bidden to ‘show up’ and give it our best shot,
every day of our lives. Even those days when we don’t feel like being there, we
remind ourselves of the great value of suiting up, stepping into the batter’s
box, and readying ourselves to do the best we can with whatever life hurls at
us.
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos
Chodesh Tov & Gut Chodesh,
R’
Dani and Chani Staum