“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Shemini
Mevorchim Chodesh Iyar
Avos perek 1 – 12th day of the Omer
27 Nissan 5785/ April 25, 2025
ROLLING ALONG
As I have done during the last few winters, this past January I had the great fortune to visit Eretz Yisroel for a few days. Being there is always invigorating. The fact that I was able to spend that time with our son Shalom who is learning in Yeshivas Mir and enjoy a Shabbos with my brother Yaakov and his family, made it all the more special.
After I landed at Ben Gurion airport, retrieved my valise, and began wheeling it through the airport, one of the wheels underneath kept jamming. I had to pull it with extra force.
By the end of my trip the wheel was completely broken. Thankfully, on my final evening there, my son Shalom accompanied me on the bus as I headed to the train station in Yerushalayim to catch the train back to the airport. But then suddenly, all traffic came to a halt as the road was blocked by a spontaneous hafganah (demonstration) that broke out.
After a few tense minutes of sitting on an immobile bus in completely standstill traffic, we realized that if we had any chance of catching the next train to the airport, we would have to make a run for it. It is no picnic trying to move luggage with a broken wheel, especially when rushing through crowds of people heading in all directions. Shalom realized that if he leaned the luggage forward and pulled it on its front two wheels, he could roll it. But pulling luggage in front of you is quite arduous and he kept tripping over it. Somehow we made it to the train station and caught the train.
Needless to say that broken wheel added a lot of inconvenience to my trip home. Who would have thought a small little wheel could make such a difference?
On the other hand, wheels can be dangerously effective as well. On Friday afternoon when I was in Yerushalayim, I walked through the Machaneh Yehuda shuq. As anyone who has been there knows, the shuq is incredibly crowded on Friday afternoon. You can hardly walk anywhere without encountering throngs of shoppers, vendors, collectors, people playing music, and Chabad shluchim offering to help men put on tefillin and giving women candles for Shabbos. There are times when you literally cannot move at all in the shuq because of the influx of people.
In the middle of that crowded balagan, a worker from one of the stands in the Shuq was taking a dumpster full of his garbage down to the street below. It was not easy for him to maneuver his way through the endless crowd.
At one point however, the mini dumpster began to gain momentum. Suddenly, the dumpster began rapidly moving downhill with its hapless owner in hot pursuit. The crowd quickly moved aside. It was a rather humorous sight, though I felt bad for the worker who was now at the mercy of his dumpster.
Even if something is extremely heavy, with solid wheels on the bottom it ican be moved with minimal effort. Once it gathers momentum, however, it has a force of its own, and if not contained the results can be disastrous.
Solid wheels are vital but so are strong brakes for those wheels.
A Jew needs to simultaneously have a strong sense of individuality and community. He is responsible for elevating himself and always striving for growth. But he also must bear responsibility for the Jewish people and its future.
Historically, as a people we have never allowed ourselves to become stuck. More often our mobility has not been by choice, but as a people, throughout the centuries we have resiliently migrated throughout the diaspora. The cost has been steep, and we have paid a terrible price for our wanderings, but it has never overtaken us.
The Jewish people have innate wheels that have allowed us to travel and adapt to all climates and situations.
One of the main reasons we have not disappeared from the world landscape and continue to endure as the world’s oldest people despite having suffered so much is that our wheels also have brakes. Despite our travels and wanderings, we have never forgotten where our home base is. We have never stopped yearning, praying and pining to return home. Ultimately, we always knew that we would return home.
On a personal level as well, we are expected to integrate into our communities and not separate ourselves from the public.
However, a person must also know when to not go with the flow. He needs to know when he needs to buck the trends and go against the grain.
Like so many things, the challenge is finding the correct balance. In life, one has to be able to roll with the punches but sometimes he needs to punch back and sometimes he needs to not punch at all.
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos
R’ Dani and Chani Staum
Strivinghigher.com