The "Ish" in Each of Us

What do you think of when you hear the word “wrestling?”

I must confess that I associate wrestling with the entertainment variety.  That’s the one that everyone says is “fake” or entertainment.  I grew up with the World Wrestling Federation and personalities like Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter.  I don’t follow the “sport” today, but I remember some exciting moments (like at the end of this video!). 

Parshat Vayishlach tells the story of the first wrestling match in history, the “main event” between Yaakov (Jacob) and…

With whom exactly is Yaakov wrestling?

"Va-yivateir Yaakov levado va-yei’aveik ish imo – Jacob remained alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.” (Bereishit 32:25)

Who was this ish?

Rabbi Ari Kahn, a senior lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, addresses this and a number of other issues in this story.  One answer is that Yaakov fought against the angel of Esav.  Another suggestion is that Yaakov was fighting against himself.  If Yaakov was alone, thought, with whom was he wrestling?  Why would a sane person wrestle with himself?

Rabbi Kahn explains that we find another reference to another “ish,” a man that is less enigmatic in an earlier verse:

The man (ish) prospered exceedingly and he possessed great herds and maids and servants and camels and donkeys. (Bereishit 30:43)

This “ish” is clearly Yaakov.  He is successful and prosperous.  The blessings he received, which had initially been meant for Esav, have come to fruition. Yaakov has "made it".  He has completed a metamorphosis from being a “man sitting in the tent” - a yeshiva student - to becoming a successful entrepreneur.  

Yet Yaakov struggles with his success.  As he prepares to meet his brother, he is left alone.  Yaakov looks at all the wealth which he has accumulated, and he questions his identity.  “Have I become too much like Esav?”

All night long, Yaakov’s spiritual self and his physical self wrestle with each other as he tries to determine his true identity.  In the end, Yaakov prevails, but he is injured.  He receives a new name, Yisrael, and he limps away.  From this point on, Jews do not eat the hip tendon (gid ha-nasheh) of the animal to remember this battle.

Rabbi Kahn writes: In the resolution that is finally achieved, the physical realm is forced to yield. Laws, like that of the hip tendon will create spiritual boundaries within the physical experience, making possible the elevation of the physical world to a spiritual plane.  This is Yaakov's resolution – and a resolution for us, his descendants. Yaakov may look like Esav, but he is now Yisrael, the name which speaks of his relationship with the physical and spiritual realms.

This battle continues within each of us.

Especially at this time of year, as Chanukah approaches while we are, simultaneously, bombarded with images of another holiday, I think about what it means to be a modern Jew today.  We are incredibly blessed with rich Jewish lives in the middle of an incredible modern society that, at times, challenges our Jewish identities.  There is a struggle.

Embrace the struggle. 

It is in right in the middle of this disequilibrium that our future will be won.

How will we transmit passion to our children?

What should I be studying that will fortify my Jewish commitment?

How can I respond to the turbulent times?

How can I make a difference in a world where the volume is louder and shriller and the common ground is getting smaller?

I don’t know, but let’s get ready to rumble!

Anything is Possible: The Lesson of 300 Tons of Garbage

“Hasidic volunteers search 300 tons of garbage for lost tefillin, come up empty”

That was the headline last month describing a search of immense – and stinky – proportions.

A Williamsburg man placed his fully loaded bag containing his tallit and two pairs of tefillin (some people – especially Chasidim – wear a second pair in accordance with the view of Rabbeinu Tam) into a storage cubby at his synagogue.  The bag went missing.  Then someone had the bright idea to check thesurveillance video.

The video shows the man stuffing his bag into an already crowded portion of the storage unit.  Protruding the way it was from the cubby, it was only a matter of time before the laws of gravity took over, and the bag fell out of the cubby, landing directly in an adjacent trash can, without anyone noticing.  Now, the challenge is: how to get the tefillin back…

The New York City Department of Sanitation and Councilman Stephen Levin both got involved.  It was determined that the bag was in one of 32 containers that were shipped to Waste Management’s Fairport landfill, located southeast of Rochester.  By Monday morning a group of 30 volunteers from Brooklyn had traveled more than 300 miles to Rochester and were ready to start searching through an ocean of garbage, aided by 40 temporary workers.  Officials at Waste Management pulled all 32 container loads that had arrived from the area and gave the group a location where they could search through the trash, one container load at a time.  By Tuesday night the group had searched through 16 containers of refuse without finding the missing tallit bag.  The search continued through Thursday, but, alas, the tefillin were not found.

The search generated a lot of teamwork, determination, and positive feelings and attracted national attention.  One official noted: “We’ve had folks from the local community reaching out and offering their help.  We have also had people from other religious communities offering to do whatever they can, people offering hospitality and hotels offering accommodations.  We have even had people walking in and asking if they can help search.  There have been a lot of people who are willing to chip in.  We are all very inspired by the dedication and to see how many people are coming through for them.”

We can use more collaboration and common purpose these days.

What is your reaction to this story?

My wife Naama’s reaction was: That's a really silly place to put a garbage can...Someone should just buy the guy a new set of tefilin.  Both very true observations.

I found myself thinking:  How could they think there was even the slightest chance they would find the tefillin?  It is impossible!

Well, maybe we can achieve the impossible when we tell ourselves it is possible.

Like our patriarch, Jacob.

When Jacob arrived at Charan, he encountered some shepherds and their flocks of sheep near the well.  The opening of the well was sealed with a giant boulder.  Jacob asked why the shepherds were just sitting around and waiting.  Why not remove the boulder and give water to the flocks?  The shepherds responded that they needed to wait for everyone to assemble.  Just then, Rachel showed up.  Upon seeing her, Jacob rolled the boulder off the well himself and gave water to her sheep.  (Bereishit 29:7-10)

The obvious question is how was Jacob able to roll off the rock that was too heavy to be moved without all the shepherds present and helping?

One answer is that Jacob was much stronger than the other shepherds.  Another answer is that Jacob was seized with passion, and the adrenaline rush gave him the additional strength to do what could normally not be done.

Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (the Sefat Emet) asks a very fundamental question.  Didn’t Jacob realize that the boulder was too heavy to be moved by one man or even by several?  If it could be done, wouldn’t the other shepherds roll the boulder off the well?  Jacob was successful because he tried.  He tried, and he did.

Believing something is possible is the first step in accomplishing the impossible.  Fundamental to success is the belief that success is possible.  Psychologists call this the “self-efficacy theory.”

I am not sure those Jews searching through the trash knew this theory, but they were strongly committed to finding that tefillin bag. 

There are plenty of things which seem way beyond our grasp: peace in the Middle East, compromise between the Right and the Left, or a compromise regarding the Western Wall.  If we wait until everyone is ready to solve a problem, we’ll be waiting forever.  We need to begin by telling ourselves that the impossible is truly possible.  Even if we don’t succeed – or find the tefillin, the quest to move forward will leave us better than before.

How is this Thanksgiving different from all the rest?

 

I say it every year: I love Thanksgiving!

This year, we should ask: How is this Thanksgiving different from all other Thanksgivings?

The answer:  We desperately need it.

As we enter the holiday season and leave behind what seemed at times to be an endless election cycle full of negativity, taking a moment to reflect about all that we have to be thankful for is exactly what we all need.  These are not easy times.  There is a palpable sense of heightened unease.  In the weeks since the election, the volume of the discussion has grown shriller and louder.  We have seen protests; hatred; blatant displays of anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim and bigoted behavior; movement for the mass deportation of illegal immigrants and an energized white supremacist movement.   The frenzied media coverage along with the increasing frequency of volatile statements and actions make my head spin.  So many people in American society - and in the Jewish community - have serious needs, while the country and our neighbors and friends seem so divided about how to best address them.

What can we do in response to the very real challenges we face today?

In the Jewish community – as with the general population, there are so many voices.  People legitimately have different views, but it feels like we are coming apart at the seams.

What do we do to make things better?

 Send in the nuns! 

Do you remember the line in the Mel Brooks’ movie, History of the World, Part One?  In our case, the nuns we need were part of the famous “Nun Study,” a continuing longitudinal study to examine the onset of Alzheimer’s disease which began in 1986.

678 American nuns between the ages of 75 and 102, all members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in the United States, agreed to allow their records to be accessed by a research team investigating the process of ageing and Alzheimer’s disease.

What gave this study its unusual longitudinal scope is that in 1930 the nuns, then in their twenties, had been asked by the Mother Superior to write a brief autobiographical account of their life and their reasons for entering the convent.  These documents were now analyzed by the researchers using a specially devised coding system to register positive and negative emotions.  By annually assessing the nuns’ health, the researchers were able to test whether their emotional state in 1930 had an effect on their health some sixty years later.

The results, published in 2001, found that the more positive emotions – contentment, gratitude, happiness, love and hope – the nuns expressed in their autobiographical notes, the more likely they were to be alive and well sixty years later.  The difference was as much as seven years in life expectancy.  This finding has led to a new field of gratitude research, as well as a deepening understanding of the impact of emotions on physical health.  (Rabbi Jonathan Sacks references this study in a Thanksgiving Message.)

The bottom line?  Gratitude is the key to happiness, a positive outlook, and a more fulfilling life.  This year, we need Thanksgiving more than ever.

Think about it.  Thank God, we have so much!  Take a moment to compile a list of the things we each have.  I would hope things like food, shelter, health, and family are on many of lists.  Even if we face challenges to some of life’s essentials, we are the beneficiaries of living in an incredible time in an amazing country.  There are so many opportunities.

What about the negatives?  I do not deny that there are many items we can put on our list.  At the same time, let’s try to be honest.  The pros crush the cons!

What can we do?  Be thankful. This will help us stay positive and remain hopeful about our country and our future. 

We should consider concrete steps to counter all the negativity out there. 

One person started a campaign to provide each of the 535 members of Congress with a pin that had George Washington’s famous words (written to the Jewish community in Newport): "To bigotry, no sanction; to persecution, no assistance."  He felt now is the right time to reinforce these sacred sentiments.

We can start our days with a daily affirmation of tolerance and respect for all.  Of course we believe it, but we also should say it so our ears – and those of our children, friends, and community – hear it so that our hearts and minds feel it.  There is a reason we say the Shema prayer out loud.  It is not enough to think about our commitment to God.  We must articulate it loudly enough to hear it.

We need to call out and condemn bigotry and intolerance.  We have seen and heard numerous disturbing examples of hatred in recent weeks.  I think they were always present and may just be getting a little more attention now.  It doesn’t matter.  It is important to strongly condemn and express outrage at displays of hate against any individual or group. 

We need to call on all of our country’s leadership - from our elected officials on the city state level, to members of the House and the Senate, to President-elect Trump, to vigorously condemn all hateful remarks – including those of those who claim to be admirers and supporters.  Abe Foxman, former National Director of the ADL, and Alan Dershowitz both recently made this point.  This week, President-elect Trump expressed his “disavowing” the alt-right and called on the country to come together.  These are encouraging sentiments.  Hopefully, we will hear more rejection of all forms of hatred and more calls for unity from all those in positions of responsibility and power.  We know evil when we see it, and we need to remain vigilant so that our leaders do the same.

Each of us should find ways to help move our country forward.  We can each have different ways to respond to the election and the state of our community and our country.  The most important thing is to stay positive. 

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Chief Rabbi in Israel, famously taught: “If we were destroyed, and the world with us, due to baseless hatred, then we shall rebuild ourselves, and the world with us, with baseless love — ahavat chinam. (Orot HaKodesh vol. III, p. 324)

Let’s religiously and vigorously celebrate this Thanksgiving.  Let’s be supremely grateful and, in turn, become more optimistic about the world around us.  Let us transform hatred into love; darkness into light.

We need Thanksgiving now more than ever.

Avraham Avinu was a veteran

Today is Veterans Day.  We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to all of America’s veterans. 

Veterans Day on Friday allowed the Ramaz Lower School to honor and thank our veterans while celebrating their pre-Shabbat Oneg.  Veterans were invited to attend and participate.  It was a rocking, moving, and meaningful experience.

I was tasked with connecting Avraham Avinu (our patriarch Abraham) with Veterans Day.  Here is the message I shared.

Avraham was the first veteran.  He joined the battle of the five kings versus the four kings to rescue his nephew, Lot.  Avraham did not want to fight, but he felt the need to stand up and do battle for what was just and to protect his family.

The Torah says (Bereishit 14:14) that Avraham armed his “disciples,” and they went off to battle.  What is the significance of the Torah describing these soldiers as disciples? 

Avraham did not merely impart information to his students.  He did not just teach them information.  Avraham taught them to act.  His students didn’t just absorb lessons and values.  Avraham impressed upon them the need to fight for those values.

Students and young children are not the ones who go off to battle.  Most of us do not fight with weapons.  Each and every one of us, though, has a mission.  We have orders to follow and battles to win.  Our mission is to follow Avraham’s example and stand up for what is right.  Our battle is to fight for goodness and respect and kindness.  It is a battle to be a mensch, a good person and a good Jew.

We don’t have weapons with which to fight.  We have our smiles, our acts of kindness, and our commitment to do what is right.

On Veterans Day, we say thank you to those who served our country.  This Veterans Day, being so close to Parshat Lech Lecha, we also remember the Torah’s first veteran, Avraham.  We remember that he led his students to battle.  Each and every one of us is a student of Avraham.  Let’s do our best to win the battle for what is right.

The best part of the Oneg came a little while later.  Mr. Manny Gross, a Ramaz grandparent and one of the veterans in attendance, asked to say a few words.  He message was absolutely incredible and so powerful.  I strongly suggest you watch it!

Mr. Gross described his army experience.  He focused on how he maintained his Judaism throughout his time in the military.  He put on tefillin EVERY SINGLE DAY.  He described keeping kosher and how he would trade his rations with other soldiers for food that he could eat like crackers, jam, and tuna fish.  Mr. Gross is a military veteran as well as a veteran – and a victor – in the battle for Jewish identity and values.

We can learn a lot from our veterans.  We learn a lot from Avraham about what it means to stand up for our values.  We can all learn a lot from Mr. Gross about what it means to be dedicated and committed to maintaining our Judaism.

We pray to God that we are successful in all of our battles.

Election 2016 Edition

Election Day is next Tuesday.  Don’t forget to vote!  It’s a mitzvah!

Anyone out there suffering from election overload?

According to a New York Times/CBS News Poll, an overwhelming majority of voters are disgusted by the state of American politics, and many harbor doubts that either major-party nominee can unite the country after a historically ugly presidential campaign.  82% of respondents said the 2016 campaign has made them feel disgusted.

That’s not a vote of confidence in our political system.

I understand the disgust and disappointment. People are tired of all the negativity and anger.

Think of the memorable sound bites of this campaign.  Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” remark or Donald Trumps, “such a nasty woman.” 

Is this really what we want to hear?  It is no surprise the enthusiasm and expectations are low.  Leon Wieseltier, the Isaiah Berlin Senior Fellow in Culture and Policy at the Brookings Institution and a contributing editor at The Atlantic, noted, “The country needs healing, but nobody seems much in the mood for healing.”

Maybe, there’s a solution.

The other night, during a family discussion about who will win the election, I noted that some people write in a candidate who is not on the ballot.  I then thought to myself, “How exactly does writing in a candidate work?”

I googled it.

It seems like a hot topic.  In yesterday’s Washington Post, there was an article entitled “Who are you writing in? The overwhelming allure of voting for someone who won’t win.”  A number of prominent politicians have publicly stated they’ll be writing in candidates.  Ohio Gov. John Kasich said he wrote in John McCain for president.  Sen. John McCain has said he might write in his longtime friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham.  Some supporters of Bernie Sanders plan to write his name on their presidential ballot.

It’s an interesting option…

As Election Day is here, I have one final thought about what I am looking for in anyone running for office – and it comes from the weekly Parsha.

וַיָּחֶל נֹחַ אִישׁ הָאֲדָמָה וַיִּטַּע כָּרֶם:

Noah, the man of the earth, debased himself and planted a vineyard. (Bereishit/Genesis 9:20)

Following the flood, as the rhythm of life returns to normal, Noah gets busy working the land.  He plants a vineyard.  He drinks wine.  He gets drunk.  The story continues with how his sons reacted, but I want to focus on Noah.  There is a noticeable shift in how the Torah describes Noah before the flood compared to how Noah is referred now.

At first, Noah is an ish tzaddik, a righteous person.  Now, even before he gets drunk, Noah is an ish ha-adamah, a man of the earth.  Noah went from a man of vision to a man with far more modest goals. 

Life can do that sometimes.  There may be many obstacles that can get in the way of our big dreams for the future, but we should never give up on our vision and ideals and trying to make them a reality.

Noah was a victim of his experience in the flood.  I don’t know the cause for today’s tone in politics, but we should all be demanding the aspirational tone of the tzaddik and not settle for the mediocrity of the adamah.

I want aspirational candidates.  I want some positive ads.  I want a civil conversation about issues and not the top stories to be physical results or tax returns.

I want candidates who talk about how to create stronger communities, how to provide better healthcare for Americans, how to bring more people out of poverty, how to lower gun violence, how to provide better education for all of our children, and how to make the future better.

Am I asking for too much?  It is difficult to stay positive, but let’s get back to the business of dreaming big and aspiring to a bright future.

One who speaks with the voice of the tzaddik.  That’s who gets my vote.

Holiday overload? Happy they're over?

Shanah tovah to one and all!  I’m back!

I realize it’s been a while since I last ruminated.  There were these holidays and, thank God, Yona’s Bar Mitzvah among other things keeping me busy.  (See here for my sermon given at the Bar Mitzvah entitled “Ha’azinu, Bob Dylan, and a Bar Mitzvah.”)

If you’re interested in some of my holiday messages, please let me know, and I’ll be happy to share them with you.

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 Anyone out there feeling a little bit of holiday overload?

It is natural to feel a sense of relief now that the holiday season has concluded.  It has been almost a month of intense eating, disjointed schedules, family visits, travel, and missed work (unless you’re a rabbi).

Since the holidays ended, everyone I meet has been asking me, “Are you glad the holidays are over?” or “Aren’t you relieved that the holidays are over?”

I understand their thinking.  The holidays are the busiest time for a rabbi and other synagogue officials.  There are sermons to prepare, arrangements to make, congregants to seat, and thousands of Sukkah meals.  It is, indeed, exhausting.

I answer, however, that, despite all the work, I am sorry to see the holidays end.  This is the time of year when people are coming to shul and paying attention to what I think are important messages and concepts.  I view the holidays as being like the World Series, and I am winning!

Simchat Torah, the last day of the holiday season holds the key to understanding how we should be feeling right now.

Simchat Torah is a holiday that did not exist.  The Torah commands us to observe a holiday after seven days of Sukkot.  We call that holiday “Shemini Atzeret.”  Outside of Israel, this holiday lasts for two days.  The whole idea of celebrating the cycle of reading the Torah only became widespread around 1,000 years ago. 

Since this holiday after Sukkot now has a theme, joyous celebration of the Torah, the name Simchat Torah was born.  In Israel, they celebrate a one-day holiday that combines Shemini Atzeret with Simchat Torah.  In the Diaspora, since there are two days of the holiday, we call the first day Shemini Atzeret and the second day Simchat Torah.

The whole purpose of the holiday is, as its name implies, to instill joy in being Jewish. 

We start the year with a wake-up call of the shofar to strive for a sweet year.  Next, we have Yom Kippur, which allows us to confront our past and try to make it right.  Then, we get a chance to celebrate the New Year surrounded by reminders of God’s protection (the Sukkah) and encountering various themes and symbols of Jewish community and joy (like the four species, Hallel).

Finally, it’s time for the grand finale!  How do we top three weeks of holidays?  Our wise ancestors knew that the key to a great year filled with connection to Judaism is with simcha, with joy.

Simchat Torah is all about trying to get everyone to be happy with Judaism.  We sing and dance.  We encourage everyone to come close to the Torah.  We bring our children and show them a good time.  Judaism can be fun.  We honor the conclusion of the study of the Torah, and we celebrate starting it again.

It’s all about the simcha!

Rambam (Maimonides) teaches (Laws of Shofar, Lulav, and Sukkah 8:15):

The happiness with which a person should rejoice in the fulfillment of the mitzvot and the love of God who commanded them is a great service …there is no greatness or honor other than celebrating before God…

Simchat Torah concludes the holiday season so that the last thing we encounter is joy. 

Simchat Torah may conclude the holiday season, but it also marks the beginning of a new year.  We are now free of holidays, but we have the joy of Simchat Torah echoing in our ears as a reminder to always be joyous in our Judaism.

Simchat Torah is not the end.  It builds the momentum for how we should approach our lives, our families, and our Judaism throughout the year.

Too much of the holidays?  I don’t think so.

Serenity now!

Does anything come to mind when you hear that expression? Maybe a specific cultural reference?

It’s from Seinfeld, Episode 159. That is the one with a Bar Mitzvah boy disappointed at receiving Boggle as a present and the expression “shiksa-appeal.” It also featured the phrase “Serenity now!” as a way to calm down in stressful situations. The plot was inspired by the real-life events of one of the writers, whose father was advised by his doctor to shout “Serenity now!” at the top of his lungs as part of a rage controlling exercise.

We live in a world that can use a little more “serenity now.”

Here in the US, there is an incredible amount of tension and noise in the Presidential campaign. Recent weeks have seen an increase in racial tension, specifically with regard to the relationship with law enforcement.

In Israel, there are strained connections between different segments of society over various social and economic issues. There is the continued political divide between right and left. There are voices from the religious community that are creating wedges between religious and secular as well as divisions within the religious community itself. There is also a small matter of diaspora conversions not being recognized by Israeli rabbis. Maybe you heard about that one?

With so much noise and so many distractions, we can all use a little serenity now.

So did Pinchas.

Pinchas zealously defended tradition by killing Kozbi, the prince of Shimon, who was engaged in a forbidden relationship with a Midianite woman. God rewards him.

 הִנְנִי נֹתֵן לוֹ אֶת בְּרִיתִי שָׁלוֹם: - I will give him a covenant of peace.

What exactly is this covenant of peace, the brit shalom?

Ibn Ezra explains the brit shalom as a necessary consequence of Pinchas’ actions. Since Pinchas had assassinated an important personage, there was reason to expect that the latter's blood would be avenged, and therefore God promised him His covenant of peace in order to protect him.

Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin of Volozhin, the Netziv, understands the brit shalom as a calming influence.

שלא יקפיד ולא ירגיז.

ובשביל כי טבע המעשה שעשה פינחס להרוג נפש בידו

היה נותן להשאיר בלב הרגש עז גם אחר כך

אבל באשר היה לשם שמים משום הכי

באה הברכה שיהא תמיד בנחת ובמדת השלום.

Pinchas was engaged in hot-headed behavior. He, quite literally, “stuck it to” the sinners. Once the heat of the moment subsided, Pinchas might still feel anger and righteous indignation without a positive strategy going forward. As a reward for his actions for the sake of heaven, God blesses Pinchas with a brit shalom, the blessing of being able to move beyond the act of passion and always be able to find peace of mind.

The brit shalom is the blessing of serenity now.

Pinchas acted in a very bold, aggressive way. Sometimes that kind of action is needed. At the same time, God’s postscript is the blessing of a quiet, focused, calm mindset.

This mindset is something Jewish law values.

One of my Shalom Hartman Institute colleagues, Rabbi Eliana Yolkut of Washington, D.C., discussed how the Netziv’s understanding of brit shalom connects with a religious requirement of peace of mind found in Orach Chaim 96. The Shulchan Aruch is discussing proper etiquette during prayer. A person should not hold to anything while praying – not even a pair of tefillin or a holy book. One should certainly not hold on to a plate of food or cutlery or money. Holding any of these items may cause a distraction from the task at hand. During prayer, the focus must be on prayer.

Jewish law recognizes how easily distracted we may become and sets guidelines regarding what we can and cannot hold so that we don’t divert our attention from the tefilla. Judaism values a focused mindset and calm, quiet focus.

I know I am sometimes guilty of violating these rules. In an effort to avoid distractions, I am, personally, uncomfortable davening from my iPhone.

We live in a blessed age when the phones have a full Siddur application. Some are even synchronized with the Jewish calendar, so that, on Monday or Rosh Chodesh, the right prayers for the day as well as the Torah reading appear. (I wonder what happens if the app is used on Shabbat!) 

At the same time, praying this way also makes it tempting to just swipe and access email or the internet.

Pinchas received the brit shalom to help him find quiet and focus in the aftermath of his bold yet violent action. Judaism values such a mindset as is evident from the laws of prayer. Each of us needs to find the peace, calm, and serenity of the brit shalom within our busy lives and in an overly zealous world.

One way to do this is to put down and free ourselves from those devices that connect us to the fast-paced frenzy of the outside world. Can we spend less time looking at our phones?

There are some places, where you have no choice.

Green Bank, West Virginia is located a few hours south of Pittsburgh and has a population of 143. The town has no cell phone service or wifi, and car radios don’t receive any stations. Residents and anyone passing through still use land lines and payphones, and internet must be land-line based. Even microwave ovens nearby must be kept in special boxes.

Why? It is not a community of Amish people or some cult. The town is part of the National Radio Quiet Zone, an area in the vicinity of a government radio telescope trying to pick up faint signals from outer space. The mechanism is very sensitive, and no devices may be used that will interfere with its activities.

Some of you may be thinking, “These people are nuts!” How can anyone live today without a cell phone?

Most of the time, I would tend to agree.

Upon further reflection, it would be nice to have a little more peace of mind without as many distractions. I could just put away my phone, but it would be much easier for me if it simply didn’t work.

I suggest we work on trying to access the brit shalom by creating “Green Bank, West Virginia spaces.” Thank God, we have Shabbat and holidays which create such moments of peace and quiet. We should introduce other such times – like mealtime or Sundays. We should consider leaving the phone home now and then. We used to get along just fine without them at all. We should be able to put them down sometimes.

The serenity of the brit shalom doesn’t have to come by putting down the phone. That would be nice, but I recognize how hard it can be.

Pinchas engaged in bold, zealous action and received the blessing of being able to move forward b’nachat – with tranquility.

The world around us is often loud, brash and full of discord.

Our response should be the brit shalom. Rather than rushing to judge and condemn others or trying to shout louder than those with whom we disagree, we should stop and analyze the situation. Maybe we can find another side of the story. Maybe we can disagree without delegitimizing. Maybe we can even come to realize that we agree more than we disagree. Maybe we don’t have to say anything.

Based on the tone of the arguments today and the polarization that is out there, this seems like a very tall order.

That is why the brit shalom is such a blessing.

Serenity now!