Fountain of youth, Found!

           

Made famous by Ponce de Leon’s thorough search for the fountain of youth in Florida, and originating in Greek mythology (please see Wikipedia for a more thorough history), there still is a deep yearning within all of us to find a fountain of youth- an elixir that guarantees long life.  Contrary to popular belief such an elixir does exist, and not only that, everyone can get it.  Even more incredulous, it does not cost a penny. Poor old Ponce could have stayed in Puerto Rico and saved himself lots of trouble!

If we turn to page 28a of the Talmudic trachtate Megilla, the location for the fountain of youth is disclosed: The students of Rabbi Nechunia the son of Kanna asked ‘how did you merit a long life?’  ‘I never honored myself at the expense of another, nor have I taken a curse of a fellow man with me to sleep, and I have not been exacting with money’. These types of actions are the ‘elixir’ that leads to longevity.  On the face of it, these are all great things, but why are these greater than the myriad of other virtues?

Let’s take elixir one- to worry about the honor of a friend.  Honor is called ‘cavod’ in Hebrew.  Strangely enough, the word for heavy in Hebrew has the same root, ‘caved’.   Heaviness is based on density, or in other words, the internality of an object is what gives it weight.  Therefore, the connection is clear; honor is a derivative of internality.  Now, in every person there is something very heavy inside, we call it the breath of G-d.[1]  To the extent that ‘heaviness’ is revealed is the extent that we honor someone.  That being said, there is an aspect that is inherent.  Since everyone actually is ‘heavy’, as we are created in the image of G-d, we all deserve incredible honor.  And that honor serves as the fuel that creates life. Which begs the question, what is life?

Real life is actualization-taking potential and realizing it.  That movement is what we call life.  For example, the Talmud calls a person that has no children ‘dead’[2]. Why? Because the person was not able to take that incredible potential to have kids out to action. If we go back to honor, our true potential is rooted in that internal heaviness, and it is our job to bring it out to action. And honor from other people is the fuel that we need to constantly remind ourselves that we have something great to offer to the world. Then, the second step is to provide the necessary vessels for the other person to bring out the potential.  By doing so, we create life in another person as they actualize their potential. First, the honor helps them recognize their greatness and the second step helps them bring it out- life!  Further, the numerical value of ‘cavod’ is 32, the same as ‘lev’ or heart and the heart is what gives life to our extremities. Not surprisingly, the reward fits perfectly.  Give life to another, and then you yourself get life. 

Now, the place where life is most dramatically given is through parenting. Not only in the physical creation of a child, but in the spiritual creation. It is unclear what a baby understands. She seems to wander around the world curiously, yet aimlessly. And her main tool of exploration, unfortunately, is the mouth, and based on what tends to go in there, it is not clear how much is understood.  But what is clearly understood is honor.   If she is playing with something dangerous and I take it away without explanation, she cries as I’ve dishonored her. However, if I take the dangerous object away with explanation, she is unperturbed.  Why the difference?  She sees that I am honoring her, even if she does not understand what I am saying.  And honor is what gives life to another person.  Not surprisingly, because honor is the source for life, people seek it out to an extreme degree (See this week’s parsha Korach).  The trick is that the best way to receive the honor so desired is to impart it on another. 

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[1] Zohar Terumah 156b

[2] Nedarim 64

Poor vision

Poor Vision

After an intense month of rounds as a vision doctor, I can honestly report that the eyes of American youth have seen tremendous improvements.  Stricken by a variety of ailments - broken home apoplexy that leads to a cynical vision of the world, extreme IPOD usage disorder that leads to a limited vision of the world, impaired reflexive vision that leads to lack of self confidence, and of course the most blinding affliction of all, career now syndrome- various youth are now considering that they may be unique and powerful actors in a beautifully complex and spiritually laden world. Now, these diseases are not unique to American youth, but afflict all people at various times.  In fact, the Torah records the initial visual impairments by the spies sent to Israel to scour the land.  This one episode led to a thirty eight year extension in the desert.  Apparently, Jewish vision always had its issues. 

            After a taste of giant fruit, the spies begin to denigrate the land and its inhabitants despite G-d’s promise that they had prime real estate: ‘The land through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants all the people that we saw in it were men of measures! There we saw the Nephilijm, the sons of a Giant from among the Nephilim; we were like grasshoppers in our eyes and so we were in their eyes’[1].  Now what exactly was the sin?  They were sent to observe the land and this is what they saw!?

            A fascinating insight by the Alter of Slabodka is that there was a problem with vision-[2] the spies denied their own greatness.  How could a human being compare himself to a grasshopper?!  Man must always remember that upon creation, G-d consulted with the angels as it says,’ And G-d said let us make man according to our image’[3].  Lest anyone confuse this line with polytheism, Rashi comments that the verse is a reference to the consultation G-d had with the angels about the creation of man to defuse any potential jealously they would have.  Read it quickly and we miss it! Angels would have been jealous of man.  Now, if we view ourselves as grasshoppers, then what would an angel be jealous about?  Granted, we are after the sin of Adam, and the failings within man are great, but the key is to remember that the sin of Adam did not remove the greatness, rather it covered it with layers of dirt, which means the greatness is still there, but harder to unleash. 

            Aside from denying their greatness, the spies also misplaced where greatness comes from.  They saw the world physically and gave merit to the physical strength of the inhabitants.  Even though war is technically a battle of physical strength, Jews understand it differently. G-d gives strength through merit of action when it comes to Israel as it says, ‘For G-d gives strength to have valor’[4].    

            Hence, the Jews received a seemingly strict punishment to die in the desert over forty year; however, the land of Israel is a place intended to make great people, but that becomes a worthless gift if we don’t have clear what greatness is and that we can achieve it.  And so it was lost for that generation, but the foundation was set.  Throughout history, the Jewish people’s struggles will be to have a proper vision of themselves and the proper notion of what makes people great.  .

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[1] Numbers 13:32- 33

[2] Or Hatzafon chelek beis page 96

[3] Gensis Chapter one

[4] Devarim 8:18