Jealousy

Something that was said to me the other Saturday night in Dallas really struck me. The guy was saying that there are many Jews who are not proud of being Jewish because so many generations Jews have had to hide their families, and hide their Torah learning and observance. The history of our people is filled with struggle and persecution. It has made it hard for today’s generations to open up to learning.

Mostly, I encourage people to open up to it, and learn something about it, because there’s so much beauty in it. There are so many positive things that come out of it. At the age of 31, when I first went to my cousin’s house for a Shabbat dinner, I didn’t know that the Torah is a roadmap for Jews to know how to live. I didn’t know that. When I started to learn, I gradually started to understand that it’s a gift we have. I never knew that.

One time I was listening to something about jealousy, from the Torah. I know first hand that jealousy is a horrible, horrible thing in sports. To be jealous of your teammates, to be jealous of a player for touchdowns, or his contract, or for being in the newspaper, the endorsements, the publicity. It’s the kind of thing that’ll eat you up, if you allow yourself to become jealous.

Jealousy in Judaism is something else though. Being jealous of the guy who can daven, it’s inspiring; being jealous of the guy who’s well educated in Torah and laws, it’s inspiring.

Last summer when I was in Montreal, I was amongst a group of men at a farbrengen on Shabbat. There was an 80-year old man sitting there, so focused, so interested on what the Rabbi was saying. Then there were some guys looking up at the ceiling, even nodding off a bit. But this guy, the 80-year old man, I was so jealous of the way he was taking it in. It showed me that I’ve got something, something that I’m barely scratching the surface of. I have something that I can learn and study and read the rest of my life, something that keeps me sharp, focused, aware, not numbed out in front of the television. I have a TV, but no cable. It’s such a poison to come home after work and lie on the couch and turn on the television set.

Come home, get on the internet. There’s so much information about Judaism you can read and there are so many books that you can read, and study and learn from. There’s not enough time in the day to read everything that’s available. We live in incredible times. There is so much available, for everyone, at every age, every level.

It’s no wonder people have been afraid; the generations before us carried a tremendous load, they lost their lives, their families. Now, we have so much available to us. We can read, and learn, and observe the Torah. Just give it a try, open up, get passionate about it, it’s who you are.

If you’ve never taken a Shabbat, do it. Go to the Rabbi and say, ‘I want to spend a Shabbat with you and your family.’ And then if you have children, wake up in your house on Saturday morning and go to Shul. People worry about fitting in, about wearing the right clothes, not knowing the prayers, the black hats, the beards. You’re a Jew. Do you worry about going home? Get past it; get past the things that are intimidating, they are illusions. What’s real is the love, the connectedness, your community, your people.