THE OBSERVANT JEW

Haste Makes Waste

OK, so here I am again, writing my article at the last minute, hoping to meet my deadline, lest rioting begin in the Tri-State area because one of my publications came out without The Observant Jew in it.  I don’t have time to do the extensive, exhaustive research I normally do for my articles, which usually consists of examining my footprints in the snow and giggling when I can read “Florsheim” backwards.  Instead, I have to quickly come up with something to write and send in to the editors.

Quick being the operative word, I begin to reflect on how much hurrying we do every day and what it means.  An image comes to mind. I am at shul, davening Minchah on Shabbos, when a boy of eight or nine comes zipping into the shul, lollipop in hand, and scoots up next to his father.  Within two seconds, he has stopped, reversed his steps, then moved forward again, and bowed, (lollipop still in hand) for the beginning of Shemona Esrei.  A few Mach-2.5 shuckels, and he backs up his three steps, blips left and right, then runs out to play with his friends.  

I had gotten maybe two lines further in Shemona Esrei and he was done.  True, I slowed down because I was stunned by the speedy performance of the boy, but it made me think.

We’re supposed to prepare ourselves before davening Shemona Esrei; this boy ran into it with no intentions other than going through the motions so he could say he “davened.”  It made me realize how many times we do the same thing.

We go to shul, daven, give tzedakah, keep Shabbos, whatever – going through the motions without thinking.  We forget that the point of mitzvos is to come closer to Hashem, not to do the physical manifestations of them.

That’s why one is supposed to compose himself before davening; pause a moment and accept Ol Malchus Shomayim before saying Shema.  We rush too much and don’t think about where we’re headed.

Pesach is upon us, and though we clean the house and buy tons of potato-laden products, do we reflect on what it means to be “free?”  Do we contemplate what we owe the Ribbono Shel Olam for taking us out of Mitzrayim?  Hopefully, we will take the time to think about these things at the Seder and over the course of Yom Tov.  But if not, we’ve got another chance.

The next holiday is Shavuos.  It would be awful if, just as many of us ran into Pesach headlong, we did the same at the culmination of Yetzias Mitzrayim, Shavuos, when we celebrate receiving the Torah.  Therefore, Hashem built in a preparation process. He knew we might not be prepared for Pesach.  He knew how we would rush. Therefore, he gave us forty-nine chances to wake up and smell the cheesecake, so we don’t do the same thing to Shavuos.  That’s why Shavuos doesn’t have a set day on the calendar; rather, it is seven weeks after Pesach. It’s to ensure that the Yom Tov doesn’t happen because “it’s there,” but because we prepared ourselves to make it happen.

If you’re reading this article on Pesach, or just before, at least take the last few hours before the Yom Tov or before the Yom Tov leaves, to reflect on how fortunate we are to have been chosen by Hashem.  We ran out of Mitzrayim in great haste, and it seems many of us never slowed down. So take the time to stop, clean out the cupboards in your mind and heart, and feel humbled like the matzah. Thank Hashem for saving us, and make sure to think about what it means.  You can run out of slavery fast, but you must slow down to secure your freedom or you just might miss i