A few weeks ago, Rabbi Jonathan Spira-Savett from New Hampshire
stole my Temple Topics article in a question to presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton
(http://forward.com/news/332949/meet-the-rabbi-who-asked-hillary-clinton-a-question-and-got-whole-nation-th/). Over this year, my plan has been to feature
certain non-Biblical stories that should be a part of every Jew’s
knowledge. I guess, since this rabbi
chose the same story, and that the Secretary was so moved, shows that this
story, short though it is, definitely should be on this list.
The story itself is not so long. It’s not even really a story. It is told that Rabbi Simcha Bunim said that
everyone should keep two pieces of paper - one in each pocket. The first should feature the quote - “I am but
dust and ashes.” The second should read,
“The world was created for my sake.” The
trick of the two slips of paper is in the timing. When one is feeling full of one’s self, and
somewhat self-impressed, that is the time to read the first piece of paper. The one that says, no matter how important we
think we are at the moment, we are made of the same stuff as everything else on
the earth. We are not immortal and even
we will die. On the other hand - or in
the other pocket - is the saying to be read when we feel all too keenly the
impossibilities of life, and the fleeting of time. Then, we are at our lowest, we should
remember that we are the result of a long series of creations; that no one else
just like us has or will ever exist again.
The moral, of course, is that we should seek to find balance in
life. Without humility, we run roughshod
over others. We forget that we are not
the only people who have feelings.
Without ego and ambition, we lack the spark to create and innovate - to
move forward. The idea is not unique to
Judaism. History tells us that when a
Roman emperor would proceed in triumph - with all of the civilized world
praising him, a slave was assigned to whisper in Caesar’s ear that he too was mortal.
Mortality, of course, is both a curse and a goad. Each of us may remember the time when we
realized that we could not do everything that we wanted in our lifetime - read
every book, travel to every place, meet everyone, accomplish everything. Perhaps that caused a moment of depression. However, the realization that our time is
limited is also an inspiration to act now, and do what we can, while we
can. The Talmud, too, says to live every
day as if it were your last - because we fear regret so much, that we want to
make sure we get things done.
“You are but dust and ashes.”
In all our strivings, we are still limited in what we can achieve. Yet, the strength is that we know that so are
all those around us. What we can achieve
can also be appreciated by others, who are also limited. Just as those who came before did not despair,
and built the world we live in - “The world was created for your sake.” We can rejoice in the world that we live in,
as long as we remember our job is to continue that creation for those who come
next. The world was also created for
their sake. Our job is to remember that
- and get about creating it.
