“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Shoftim
13 Elul 5781/August 12, 2021
Avos perek 6
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לרפואה שלימה נטע יצחק בן רחל
THE HOLY ARC
We
reached a new milestone in parenting this week when our oldest child, Shalom,
departed for Eretz Yisroel for the year to learn in yeshiva. On Sunday, the day
of his flight, we came in from camp to Monsey to take care of all the last
minute things.
On
Sunday night, Shalom and I headed out for JFK airport with plenty of time to
spare. According to Waze, the trip would take us under an hour and a half. We
were cruising along until we reached the George Washington Bridge and
encountered heavy traffic. At that point Waze suggested that instead of
proceeding into the traffic going directly onto the bridge, we go through the
nearby streets of Fort Lee, NJ, for an alternative entrance onto the bride. Big
mistake! After crawling along at a snail’s pace on the streets of Fort Lee, the
police blocked entry to the bridge, and we had to go all the way around. And
then traffic stopped moving altogether. I watched in a panic as the destination
time on Waze kept getting later and later. I had images in my head of returning
to camp with Shalom, having missed his flight. Shalom and I said some tehillim
together and tried to keep each other calm. After a grueling while, we finally
made it onto the bridge and across. Thankfully (and somewhat miraculously),
from there the trip was relatively smooth and Shalom was able to make his
flight.
A friend
informed me about an app called Flightradar24, which allows you to track every
flight in the world. I entered the number to Shalom’s flight and was able to
follow the exact location, speed, and altitude of his plane. In addition, it
showed the plane’s route until that point, as well as the plane’s projected
trajectory.
I was
aware that planes do not fly in a straight line across the globe, but rather
fly in an arc shape. But I had never seen it so acutely. Before I went to sleep
on Sunday evening, I saw that Shalom’s plane had traveled very far north,
adjacent to the to the northern edge of Canada. Then, when I awoke the next
morning, I saw that the plane was heading south past the tip of Great Britain,
before continuing over Switzerland, Italy, and over the Mediterranean, until it
finally landed in Tel Aviv.
Planes
travel in an arc because that is really the shortest route. The earth has a spherical
shape and, therefore, the circumference of the Earth is far longer around the
equator than it is as one moves closer to the north and south poles.
Another
important reason why planes fly in what appears to be a more indirect route has
to do with jetstreams. Jetstreams can sometimes have tailwinds above 200 miles
per hour. If a plane flies along a jetstream it will be able to burn far less
fuel and arrive at its destination quicker.
Flight
paths are mapped out before aircraft take off, to calculate the shortest and
most efficient route. At times, flight paths can change during the flight
depending on weather, wind, jetstreams, and other factors.
This all
got me thinking about the other more important component of Shalom’s trip. The
reason he went to learn in Yerushalayim was for his growth in his spiritual
journey, which is fueled by his physical journey to the Holy City. He set out
on that journey on Rosh Chodesh Elul, the same day that every Jew commences
that annual journey.
We spend
most of our lives gazing and trying to move outwards, trying to expand our
assets, garnering more accomplishments and prestige, and achieving financial
success. But during the month of Elul, we try to look and direct ourselves
inward, taking spiritual stock of ourselves and ascertaining if we are being
true to our own aspirations and potential.
Although the teshuva process is not limited to this time
of year, during Elul there is a jetstream that fuels our efforts and helps us
move in that direction. If we are willing to invest the effort to take off and
fly towards the jetstream, it will help propel us forward to reach our personal
destinations, burning less fuel and in less time.
The
other equally important idea to remember is that the path towards growth and
accomplishment doesn’t follow a straight line. In fact, there isn’t one uniform
path to follow. Each of us have our own arc, our own journey and our own
process to arrive at our charted and coveted destination. It doesn’t follow a
neat and even straight line. There are inevitable curves and turns and we must
have patience for them.
Throughout
the year we try to drive forward. We encounter much traffic – internal as well
as external impediments that impede our growth. But during the great days of
Elul and Tishrei we seek to achieve liftoff. From that spiritual altitude we
soar above the mundane traffic below, in order to achieve greater heights than
we can when we are crawling ahead on the ground.
Have a
safe and beautiful journey.
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani and Chani Staum