“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Succos
14 Tishrei 5785/ October 15, 2024
GROWTH POSITION
October means it’s Major League Baseball Postseason time. Religious Jews
who are sports fans clandestinely struggle to find ways to be informed of the scores
of their team during the many holidays of this time period.
I heard one story from a few decades ago on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
The rabbi of a shul walked out for a breather during davening on Yom Kippur. He
was dismayed to find a few of his congregants crowded around a television at a
local mechanic watching a baseball game. When the dismayed rabbi chastised
them, they replied that the New York Giants were in the World Series, and they
had to know what was happening. (Perhaps it was 1951 when the New York Yankees
were battling the New York Giants in the World Series.)
The rabbi promised them
that if they returned to shul, he would inform them of the score. Satisfied
with the proposition, they filed back into Shul.
Just before Mincha the rabbi rose to the podium and in rabbinic diction
quoted the pasuk, “Eich naflu giborim - Oh how the Giants have
fallen!” (Shmuel II 1:25)
As of this writing in 2024, both the Yankees and Mets are in the
playoffs. Hopefully that is not the reason they feel this is the z’man
simchaseinu - season of our joy.
It’s been said that aside from being a pitcher, the hardest position in
baseball is to play catcher.
Catchers need to have some familiarity with opposing batters and
understand their own pitcher's strengths and weaknesses. The catcher also needs
to be ready for action at all times. He needs to frame for the pitcher by
positioning his glove and needs to be ready to block or field wild pitches.
Squatting for an extended period of time during the game isn’t very comfortable
or good for his knees. But he needs to be ready to jump to his feet on a whim
to pursue a shallow pop up or to gun out a player attempting to steal a base.
The beautiful mitzvah of succah celebrates and commemorates the divine
protection afforded to us while we traveled through the desert. The divine
clouds of glory enveloped the Jewish camp on seven sides - the four directions,
and above and below them, and a seventh cloud that led the way. Within the
clouds the nation was protected from the harsh elements of the desert. It kept
natural predators away and warded off any danger. In addition, it leveled
mountains and valleys and provided temperature control.
But that doesn’t mean life in the desert was simple or easy. Throughout
their forty-year sojourn in the desert the nation had to be prepared
constantly. They had no idea when it would be time to travel. Without warning,
the cloud could begin to move, and trumpets would be sounded in the camp.
Everyone would have to rush to their tents to dismantle them. Children playing
with friends had to be gathered and readied for travel. How long the nation
would travel was also a mystery.
The Leviim had the added challenge of disassembling and reassembling the
Mishkan. When the time came to travel and the rest of the nation rushed to take
apart their tents and ready their families, the Levite men had to run to take
apart the Mishkan. That meant that their wives had the task of taking down
their own tents and preparing their children for travel.
So, while it was true that within the clouds of glory it was a wonderful
existence, the nation had to ensure that they remained within the cloud’s
environs. During their years in the desert the nation had to always expect the
unexpected. Only when they committed themselves to following the clouds would
the clouds protect them.
Like a baseball catcher ready for action, we too must live our lives
dedicated to following the path that has been ordained for us.
Succos reminds us that divine clouds surround us in our lives as well,
but it’s up to us to be ready to follow their path. It’s then that we rise to
become great spiritual giants.
Freilichen Yom
Tov & Chag Sameiach,
R’ Dani and
Chani Staum