You may or may not be surprised that the regular contributors to our Shabbat Shalom messages occasionally forget who is sharing during a given week. It becomes especially tricky when someone is away for a period of time, like me this past week, and has to come back to the work that we missed while looking ahead at what is sitting on our to-do lists. This week is no exception. I am returning from a multiple-day NATA board retreat where we learned from a wonderful facilitator and discussed the direction of our organization. Like the other 25 people in the room, I was torn between the in-person experience and what was happening back in the office. The concept of disconnecting is challenging in a world that continues to shrink with more and more technology.
This week’s parsha, Vayak’heil opens with Moses gathering the community and reminding them that no work should be done for it is to be a day of complete rest. Last year I spent a great deal of time reflecting on this concept and highlighted the teachings of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. Kaplan calls Shabbat, “a pause from our brushwork” of life and compares its importance to the critical rest moments of an artist. “An artist,” he observes, “cannot be continually wielding his brush.” The artist must stop at times to freshen his vision of the object and the meaning of his work. For Kaplan, Shabbat is a time for pausing, for taking a fresh look at our own lives. It is a weekly opportunity to scrutinize our goals, hopes, successes, and failures. Getting away from work allows us a chance to assess the value of what we are using our energies and talents for. After celebrating Shabbat, we are ready, Kaplan says, “to take ourselves to our painting with clarified vision and renewed energy.”
I will admit that observing Shabbat is probably one of the hardest commandments to follow (short of not killing someone). I think about the hectic schedules most of us have and to find time to “rest” is just not there. I personally work all week long and when Shabbat comes around I become a caregiver, short order cook, personal shopper, chauffeur, and housekeeper. It is challenging yet imperative that we find the time to “freshen” our vision. In our Covenant we have a section called, “Temple Jeremiah’s Most Recommended.” There are great suggestions for shows, movies, books, and even restaurants. No matter what you do to unwind, there are opportunities for learning and reflection, enjoyment and pleasure, and more than anything else, escape from your daily grind.
I have not had a call to action in a while. I change that now. I encourage everyone to find some time over the next month to refocus as much as they can. Heschel writes in his book The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man, “There are no two hours alike. Every hour is unique and the only one given at the moment, exclusive and endlessly precious.” We don’t have a lot of time to refocus ourselves with our busy schedules but when do get those precious moments, we should take advantage of them.