Community Magazine June 2016

22 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE lose their excitement, we all tend to lose our passion with time, as familiarity takes its toll on our emotions and leads us to – though not outright “contempt” – a lack of interest and passion. There are, however, exceptions to this rule. Great tzadikim live with a keen awareness of the immense privilege we have to serve Gd. While the rest of us are led astray and attracted by the vanity of materialism and worldly pleasures, the righteous sages are able to maintain a proper perspective and are forever mindful of the inestimable value of each and every moment spent in the service of Gd. And so they truly relish every word of Torah they study and every mitzvah act they perform. No matter how many times they do it, they are still excited each and every time, keenly aware as they are of what it means to serve the Almighty. It has been suggested that this is Rashi’s intent when he praises Aharon “ shelo shina ” – for not “changing.” Although the kindling of the menorah is performed each and every day, Aharon never “changed”; he remained just as enthusiastic the 100 th time as he was the 70 th time, the 50 th time, the 10 th time and the first time. Recognizing the value of each and every mitzvah act, Aharon performed his duties each day with the same level of enthusiasm, overcome by joy at the privilege he had to serve Gd. The Message of the Six Candles One question, however, remains: what about the rest of us? What can we do to keep the flame alive, to maintain passion and enthusiasm in religious life in our age of “new and improved,” when today’s technological wonder is tomorrow’s dinosaur, and when last year’s purchases are already seen as antique relics? To find the answer, we need simply to step into a typical yeshiva or kollel. When we walk into the bet midrash (study hall), we see men who have been studying for years, excitedly wrestling with difficult texts, studying them with zeal and fervor. They go back for more day after day, year and year, with passion and enthusiasm that never wanes, and in many cases grows even stronger as time passes. How is this possible? How can these students keep the fire of passion burning for so long? Very simply, they remain excited because studying Torah always reveals something new. A scholar can review the same line of Gemara for the 200 th time and still arrive at some new insight. Volumes upon volumes of literature are written every year by scholars seeking to shed new light on our ancient texts. Torah wisdom never ends, and always offers something new. This, then, is the key to keeping up our excitement: learning. When we learn Torah, we can’t grow bored, because we will always uncover something new and come upon an idea or insight we had never heard before. This might very well be the reason why this ideal of sustained enthusiasm was embodied specifically by Aharon, and specifically in reference to the menorah . The Torah here in Parashat Time for a new lease? Don’t go around in circles. Raymond Shammah 917-924-CARS LIKE NO OTHER EXPERIENCE Dedicated in memory of the pure neshamot of the Sassoon children