Bring On The Flow Of Blessing!

Parashat Shelach - Lecha

A King plants a tree in his garden. Rain may fall and water them; the ground may be wet and provide them with moisture. Yet still he has to water them from the well. This parable appears in "Sefer Habahir" ‑‑ a kabbalistic text attributed to Rabbi Nehunya ben Hakanah of the first century ‑ to explain the nature of divine blessing. The parable hints that blessing is the influence that encourages the trees to thrive and bear fruit; it also stresses the active role of man in bringing blessing.
This Shabbat speaks to the heart of blessing. God promises us is that if we follow the commandments and lead a good and decent life, we will be given the strength to overcome our problems. It is our attitude to our problems which makes the difference.
There are basically four ways, to my way of thinking, that a person can live life. A person can be self‑centered, an advocate of actuated, self‑improvement, self‑motivated, etc. The only problem with this way of life is that it ends up being selfish, and being selfish is not a special or unique thing. Anybody can be selfish. It does not lead to any feelings of being needed or wanted. Selfishness can deteriorate quickly into the pursuit of highs, to alcoholism and drugs.
The second way we have of looking at life is the desire to control, to master. This type of philosophy, though, leads a person to become lonely and alienated. This type of person is not trusted by others. They know that all he is interested in doing is manipulating. There is also no real personal interaction. The person ends up isolated, alone, and alienated.
The third way of looking at life is to look for security, to always lead life out of fear. This type of life leads a person to want to draw walls around himself and become an impregnable fortress, like Howard Hughes, who was so afraid of bacteria. It is a life in which a person loses all courage and hides himself.
The fourth way of looking at life is looking at life as a challenge. God has created you to do a particular task or job. Your life has meaning because only you can do that job. You are needed. You have to live in order to fulfill your task. Only you can be the best parent to your children. Only you can be the best support and help to your parents, especially in their old age. Only you can fulfill different tasks in the community, which need to be done. Many people say, "Oh, they don't need me. Other people will take care of the schools and synagogues." This is not so, my friends. There are many synagogues and Jewish schools in the United States, which have been boarded up, which have closed because not enough people felt they were needed. There are tasks in life that only we can do, and no matter what the obstacles, what thee problems, we can overcome and fulfill the tasks we know we need to do. Each one of us recognizes this. People, when they no longer feel needed or wanted, shrivel up and die. Many people, when they retire, do not last very long, and others, when their spouse dies, quickly die too. We all need to have meaning in life. We all need to know that we are needed.
Viktor E. Frankl, the psychiatrist who lived through the concentration camp experience, said, "The will to meaning is the great force in human life. "When each of us knows we are needed and wanted, then we can overcome all suffering and obstacles. We can turn them into challenges.
Our Torah portion this Shabbat lays the choices right before us ... blessing and curse ... pick your path. We can imagine two closed doors. And the answer lay right before our very eyes. No one can determine for us which path we may walk ... Even Rabbi Akiva understood that it must be an individual response.
Problems do confront us. We do suffer in life. We, though, should never give up. If we look at our problems as challenges to overcome, to perform the tasks that only we can perform, then we will be able to overcome all our suffering. Our suffering will not cause us to give up. We will never give up. We will continue in spite of everything. Not only will our attitude of never giving up help us; it will also serve as an example to others to never give up.
I am reminded of the beautiful Chasidic story they tell about a rebbe that was taken by his Chassidim to see a train. He had never seen a train before. They brought him to the station, and there, a steam engine was huffing and puffing and belching smoke and pulling 30 cars behind it. The Chassidim turned to their rebbe and said, "What do you think about it?" The rebbe answered, "It is very interesting. Here one hot car is pulling 30 cold cars. Once person with enthusiasm and courage can pull along many others who lack the strength." Our example of never giving up not only helps us: it helps others.
And so the choice is clear ... Choose Life that you may live and prosper in the land. If we walk the path of blessing ... we will bring blessing upon ourselves and others ... if we choose that other path ... life will be full of slings and arrows. Follow, as Torah says, the dreamers of dreams and the vision of the righteous and faithful. Judaism always rewards the active participant with many blessings, life, health, and happiness.