“RABBI’S
MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Rosh Chodesh Nisan
1 Nissan 5775/ March 20, 2015
Federal officials say
the number of laser incidents in the US
On March 10, 2015, the
FAA said it received four reports from commercial pilots landing or taking off
at LaGuardia airport of lasers pointed in their direction. The pilots were
temporarily blinded by the light, and after they landed were treated at local
hospitals. A police helicopter was dispatched to circle the area. When a laser
was pointed at them they traced it to its source – a Bronx
apartment. They soon arrested the perpetrator, Mr. Frank Egan.
How often do we become
discouraged with ourselves and our accomplishments? How often do we wonder what
our tefillos really are worth, why it matters if we learn more Torah, and if
anyone cares about the chesed we do?
Perhaps Frank Egan
didn’t realize the true danger of what he was doing. Or perhaps he did realize
it but was so enamored with the thrill of being able to have an impact on a
plane flying thousands of feet above his bedroom that he didn’t think about the
repercussions of his actions.
It is not hyperbole to
say that each of us carries a laser with us. Every time we perform a mitzvah,
daven, or learn Torah we are creating a massive beam of light which connects
our soul with its eternal source.
Rav Tzadok Hakohain
writes “Just as a person needs to believe in Hashem, so too afterwards he needs
to believe in himself.” If we realize the power we yield we would be much more
careful about wasting opportunities that abound around us. But alas, we don’t
believe we can truly have an impact, and we don’t fully appreciate the
potential we have.
In the tefillah Elokai
Netzor prayer recited as the conclusion of Shemoneh Esrei, many add a prayer
which includes a petition that G-d help “that I not become angry today, and
that I do not anger You.”
The vernacular of the
prayer itself reveals an astounding concept: We have the ability to anger G-d,
as it were. Surely none of us wish to do so, but if we can anger G-d, then we surely
have the ability to bring Him nachas too. In fact, this idea is expressed in
the gemara (Berachos 17a) “Rabbi Yochanan… said: Praised is the man whose
growth is in Torah and his toil is in Torah, and he grants nachas ruach
(“pleasure of spirit”) to his creator.”
Apparently we are far
more influential than we give ourselves credit for.
We better be careful we point our laser.
Good Chodesh
Shabbat Shalom &
Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani and Chani
Staum