Community Magazine June 2016

20 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE offer one sheep in the morning, and offer one sheep in the afternoon.” Why would this rank among the most important verses in the Torah? The answer lies in the central importance of routine in religious life. We need to accustom ourselves to “one sheep in the morning,” and “one sheep in the afternoon,” to daily, weekly, monthly and yearly routines of religious observance. This is how we become “addicted” to Torah and mitzvot so they become integral part of our lives and of our beings. This is one explanation that has been suggested for the praise given to Aharon. The words “ lo shina ” can be read to mean, “he did not repeat.” Aharon did not need to repeat the act of kindling the menorah for it to become second nature. For people of his stature, the divine command itself makes the act natural and instinctive. When somebody is absolutely devoted to Gd and committed to performing His will, mitzvot are habitual the moment they are given. And so already the first time Aharon kindled the menorah , it was done naturally, as if by habit. Such was the level of his commitment to serve his Creator and fulfill His commands. Familiarity Breeds Contempt There is also an additional approach that has been taken to explain Rashi’s remark. There is an old saying that “familiarity breeds contempt.” When two people meet and discover how much they have in common and how much they enjoy speaking to one another, there is a certain degree of excitement in the relationship. With time, however, boredom can set in, the friendship can become stale, and the excitement could easily dissipate and fade. This is true not just of relationships between people, but also of our relationship to anything. When a New Yorker walks on 34 th St. in Manhattan, he doesn’t even think of the fact that he is passing in front of the Empire State Building. But when a tourist, visiting the Big Apple for the first time, walks the same route, he walks with his head turned upward, marveling at the majestic sight. This is especially so in our day and age, when we get bored and tired with everything so quickly. We need to buy a new car and a new mobile device every couple of years; people get tired of their jobs; people need to regularly renovate their homes; and every year we need a new destination for our get-away. This is one of the great challenges of Torah life, which, as discussed, is built upon a foundation of habit and routine. The Torah demands consistently followed the routine of mitzvot , but in our restlessness, we get bored and need something new. The result is religious observance that is emotionless and robotic. Too often, we do mitzvot just to get them over with, to check them off the “to do” list, so we can move on to more exciting things. And it’s not entirely our fault. Actions performed repeatedly over the course of many years tend to become unexciting, and, as mentioned, we live in a time when we are accustomed to always seeking something new. Understandably, we often find it difficult to generate the excitement and fervor that should accompany Torah study and observance. Just as bar mitzvah boys put on their tefillin with great enthusiasm and passion the first several weeks or months, but gradually Dedicated in memory of the pure neshamot of the Sassoon children