Be Wholesome

My husband recently went to a Melava Malka hosted by Oorah for their TorahMates program. An organization which partners observant Jews to learn Torah with other Jews who are non-observant but on their way, Oorah has a catchphrase saying “HaShem needs every Yid!”

I’m not a huge fan of the slogan because catchphrases are usually easy to absorb, and this one takes me longer to wrap my mind around it, in what it means exactly. Either way, Chaim brought home the bumper stickers with this slogan and slapped one sticker onto the back of our car and the other one onto our gas tank (as if it were supposed to inspire guys at the gas station about this idea called “HaShem”).

Nonetheless, it’s a cute-looking sticker and I see more and more cars with it in Lakewood. One clever car—behind every clever car there is a clever man—had the opposite, “Every Yid needs HaShem!,” which to me instantly made a lot more sense and was probably worth all that cutting and pasting.

I like this reconstructed phrase because it points to involving HaShem in our lives in a substantial way. Men go to shul to daven and learn. They wear tzitzis and tefillin and become Talmidei Chochomim. And women, in the same vein (to the liberalism of America, we are equal but different) light Shabbos candles, go to the Mikvah every month and prepare the home while raising families.

But in all these observances and technical fulfillments of Judaism, we can behaviorally continue our lives without “HaShem,” while amassing Torah knowledge, spiritual accomplishments, and community accolades. In Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh, a modern commentary on Mesilas Yeshorim, Rabbi Itamar Schwartz discusses the value of good middos in a life of Torah learning versus learning without middos.

In this analogy, the author compares Torah to wine and our middos to a vessel. If we have a meaningful relationship with HaShem and are holy in how we treat others, we have good middos or a golden vessel to hold our wine or knowledge. If unfortunately we have bad middos, and do not value HaShem’s presence in our lives, we have a כלי מכוער, an ugly, corrupt vessel to hold our wine—which in turn corrupts and soils it.

When we act with dignity, we not only make people feel good and are holy people, we create a way to preserve and elevate our own Torah and ways of living and learning through beautiful means. Sometimes, you come across a person who’s a total baki and Gaon in the breadth of knowledge he’s amassed over the years, but the depth of his respect for others is as shallow as a dirty pit. So how does his learning really help him? This person is just an impressive, walking concordatzia, really!

“Every Yid needs HaShem” means we must incorporate godly behavior in our lives and feel the importance of His presence. In fact, we leined a double parsha this past week, the last of which commanded us קדושים תהיו, Be holy people! Act with dignity and love your fellow Jew! The timing of this mitzvah is purposeful with our upcoming celebration of Lag Ba’Omer this Thursday night, a day in Jewish history when the epidemic leading to the deaths of Rabbi Akiva’s students ended, because his remaining talmidim began to treat each other with decency and respect.

On this coming Thursday, we will dance around the fire and see the light in each other’s eyes, and all the positivity and value each person has inside himself. Surrounding the fire mimics how back in ancient times we stood as a nation around Har Sinai to accept the Torah: ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר. On this verse Rashi comments on the singular language in that it reflects Klal Yisroel’s unity at the time, as one person with one heart—without divisiveness and conflicting intentions.

When we see brightness and good things in the eyes of our surrounding family, we merit great things. We merit the light of Torah, the blessed presence of HaShem’s Shechinah in our lives and a truly wholesome way of existing. We then become holy vessels for Gd’s greatest blessings.