Community Magazine May 2021

42 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Shavuot is a time of gifts.  Along with the Torah, the greatest gift Gd gave us at Mount Sinai, He also gave us many other gifts. Every year Shavuot comes and these gifts are poured into us again for twenty-four hours. These twenty-four hours are imbued with great and lofty ideas! The mighty event of receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, Megillat Rut, which ends with the lineage of King David (who was born and died on Shavuot), and our marriage contract with Gd (there are various symbolic marriage contracts with Gd in Jewish literature for the holiday of Shavuot, which are full of love and deep meaning). I would like to talk about “Stopping.” Shavuot is called “Atzeret,” which means to stop. Every holiday brings with it many things to do before and during the holiday. Passover requires massive preparations, purchasing matzot, wine, and all the holiday foods, and then there is seder night. Sukkot finds us building and decorating the sukkah and then picking out the lulav and etrog. Hanukah includes the candle lighting and the special doughnuts. Purim features the megillah and the other mitzvot of the day. Shavuot requires no special preparations (excluding the cheesecake that is really optional). You do not need any special preparation for Shavuot! You do not need to go to the synagogue to hear the Ten Commandments nor do you need to bake cheesecakes even if all your friends do. Shavuot is all about “stopping”! Imagine a young couple that runs around taking care of the house and the children, buys what they need, and then they look at each other and say: we need a time out to recharge, to give each other strength (this is a good thing to do, by the way, that really helps). The Netivot Shalom explains: In this same manner, exactly, Gd says, “Do not prepare anything special. Let us take a break and recharge. I will understand you and you will understand me. I will strengthen and heal you and will bring you gifts from heaven.” Shavuot is a time of quiet. At the giving of the Torah not one bird tweeted (nor did our cell phones or Twitter)! This stopping actually takes place twice a year. One time is on the eighth day of Atzeret, after seven days of Sukkot and all the high holidays. This eighth day is a call to stop and take stock of all the gifts of all the previous days. The other time is, as we said, Shavuot, which is meant to take stock of the gifts of Passover and the counting up to receiving the Torah. The Noam Elimelech says that a Torah scroll has holy letters written in it. But the parchment itself is considered even holier, as it encompasses the holiness of all the letters written on it. The same is the case with Shavuot. It is like the parchment that encompasses the holiness of all the other holidays preceding it. Passover preparations, checking for chametz , burning the chametz , seder night, the intermediate Passover days, counting the Omer, Lag B’Omer, the light of the counting and of Rabbi Shimon; all of this is packed into Shavuot. Since this is the case, you do not prepare anything. Just stop and take it all in! Let Gd help you absorb the treasures He is giving you. Your only preparation is to fashion yourself into a receptacle for all of Gd’s gifts. You may ask: but how do I do this? How do I fashion myself into a receptacle for blessing? How do I receive the Torah? You accept by accepting. You can become a receptacle of Gd’s blessings by accepting upon yourself even a small resolution. Before the receiving of the Torah therewas thunder and lightning. Afterwards there were voices and torches. Lightning lights up the sky for a flash, a torch lights it up for a long time, so long as there is fuel.  Before we received the Torah there were flashes of light, but after we accepted the Torah with the words, “We will do and we will listen” that light became a sustained light, like a burning torch. In this same manner, our accepting of even the smallest resolution will bring us a sustained light of blessing that will remain with us. Shavuot: Stop and Take Stock of All Your Gifts! Optimism is the belief that things will work out in the best possible manner. Optimists tend to believe that they will successfully overcome obstacles and will achieve their goals. For example: optimists under-estimate their risk of getting sick and over-estimate their chances of getting better. Optimists believe that failure is caused due to situations that are passing, specific, and external to them. The pessimist will mostly cl im what happened was his own fault. Many extensive studies show that optimists tend to deal better with pressurized situations, recover more quickly from acute medical events, and adjust better to chronic illness. After having bypass surgery or a biopsy, optimists heal faster and have a lower risk of being re-hospitalized. Optimists generally have less psychological stress when undergoing fertility treatment. One study that measured heart and vascular functioning of optimists found that optimists did better than pessimists for both heart and vascular functioning. This study, which measured 5,100 people’s blood pressure, weight, height, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels, revealed that the optimists were 76% more likely to have good measurements. Another study shows that people with a positive life outlook had a healthier heart and immune system, a higher tolerance for pain, and recovered more quickly from cancer. Researchers in Ben-Gurion University found that optimistic women had a lower risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer and women that went through trauma (which can lead to a loss of optimism) had a risk factor for breast cancer tens of percentage points higher. More than that, a long-term study that included 900 seniors found that the higher their optimism was the lower the chance was that they would die within the next ten years. The impact optimism has on physical health is especially strong and the benefits of having an optimistic outlook are considered equal to quitting smoking! Okay, I’m convinced. Now how can I adopt an optimistic approach to life? Recognizing the Good – Are you aware of the good things in your life? Write up a list and identify all the positive things in all you vari s c rcles f lif . Give th nks and share your xperience with your friends. Make Lemons into Lemonade – Negative experiences are an unavoidable part of our lives. Reframe them in a positive light by asking these questions. Can this be interpreted in a more positive way? Could any good come out of this? Is there an opportunity hidden here? What can I learn from this that I can use later? Sort out your Thoughts – Focus your thoughts on things that are difficult for you. What houghts crop up in your mind? Ar there many thoughts run ing around up there or is it one constan naggi g thought? Try to think about these problems in a r tional ma ner instead of responding emotio ally. Worries and Fears Are the Enemies of Optimism - Treat debilitating thoughts like background noise, like voices coming from a radio in your vicinity. You can hear them but do not focus on them. Show yourself that you are not listening. Got a Pessimism Atta k? – Do not fight it. Do not judge your thoughts. If you relate to them with curiosity and forgiveness you will cope with them better. Even so, try to steer your mind back on track, focusing on the good. Every time your thoughts go to negative places recognize it and refocus your attention with mindful contemplation. You Can Take Charge of Your Thoughts - It’s Worth It! What are the health advantages of optimism and how does one adopt an optimistic approach to life? 32 Community magazine 1. It hints to us that there’s nothing that happens in this world without it being decreed on hi h. Just as a person spinning the dreidel can’t know on what side it will land, so too he can’t know w ere his fforts will lead him. Spinning the d eidel harder doesn’t get you any closer to r solving this. Likewise, in life, the extr effort ft n just means a few more turn than necessary before getting to the result decreed on high. Gd uns our lif in a s milar way. A ma can’t change what was decreed on him from on high and all the extra efforts are just meandering off the path Gd plotted for you. 2. Just as t e dreidel spins only when you spin it from above, so too our world spins around by Gd spinning it fr m ove. 3. A person who s ins and orients himself inward toward Gd will merit that he will spin out of and will escape e troubles that envelop him. 4. The Bnei Issachar explains: “…people spin the dreidel with th letters gimmel, shin, nun , nd heh – and each f ces a different direction with the dreidel spinning around a central point. These letters hint to the kingdoms of Rome, Babylon, Greece, and Madai, whic oppose the four pow rs of man. Gimmel for “ guf ,” the body, shin for “sechel,” human intelligence, nun for “nef sh,” he soul, and heh for “ akol,” all of them. They all spin on a central axis, which is Israel, that unites all the far away xtremes. All the outside extremes are subservient to the middle they all spin around, and all the nations will nullify th mselves to the nation of Israel a d acquire a clear langua e (with which to come to Gd).” Dreidels are beloved par of Hanukah celebrations the world over. And they’re far from being simple playthings; dreidels symbolize de p spiritual concepts. Below are fo r enlightening messages that can be learned from the dreidel. The Dreidel ’ s Message Rabbi ElimElEch bidERman 1 2 3 4 5 6 28 COM UNITY MAGAZINE