Burned out? Talk to Moses!

Rabbi Philip Weintraub

Congregation Agudas Israel

2/7/14

Earlier this week, I spent a fair amount of time trying to find the answer to a simple question: How long does it take for a train to pass through a street crossing.  I emailed the NYPL “ask the librarian”, emailed the Library of Congress, called a half dozen people at the MTA and Metro North and could not get a straight answer.  Klaus did the simple math and came up with about 45 seconds.  Forty five seconds.  Before I continue, I want to ask us to take 45 seconds to mourn the loss of those killed in the tragic accident this week in Valhalla.

(wait 45 seconds)

Can we afford to wait 45 seconds?  Can we NOT afford to wait that time?  We live in a very impatient society.  Every moment of our lives we expect to DO something or BE somewhere.  We rarely just look out the window when we are passengers in a car or train, but rather work or play on our electronic devices.  Every moment is another opportunity and we do not want to miss anything!

Reading this week’s parsha, I think of the connection between Moses and his father-in-law, Yitro, for whom the parsha is named, and wonder if our desire for productivity is new.

13 Next day, Moses sat as magistrate among the people, while the people stood about Moses from morning until evening. 14 But when Moses' father-in-law saw how much he had to do for the people, he said, "What is this thing that you are doing to the people? Why do you act alone, while all the people stand about you from morning until evening?"15 Moses replied to his father-in-law, "It is because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 When they have a dispute, it comes before me, and I decide between one person and another, and I make known the laws and teachings of God."

17 But Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing you are doing is not right; 18 you will surely wear yourself out, and these people as well. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. 19 Now listen to me. I will give you counsel, and God be with you! You represent the people before God: you bring the disputes before God, 20 and enjoin upon them the laws and the teachings, and make known to them the way they are to go and the practices they are to follow. 21 You shall also seek out from among all the people capable men who fear God, trustworthy men who spurn ill-gotten gain. Set these over them as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and 22 let them judge the people at all times. Have them bring every major dispute to you, but let them decide every minor dispute themselves. Make it easier for yourself by letting them share the burden with you. 23 If you do this — and God so commands you — you will be able to bear up; and all these people too will go home unwearied."

24 Moses heeded his father-in-law and did just as he had said. 25 Moses chose capable men out of all Israel, and appointed them heads over the people — chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens; 26 and they judged the people at all times: the difficult matters they would bring to Moses, and all the minor matters they would decide themselves. 27Then Moses bade his father-in-law farewell, and he went his way to his own land. (NJPS from http://www.jtsa.edu/PreBuilt/ParashahArchives/jpstext/yitro.shtml)

The most important part of that is as following.

נָבֹל תִּבֹּל--גַּם-אַתָּה, גַּם-הָעָם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר עִמָּךְ:  כִּי-כָבֵד מִמְּךָ הַדָּבָר, לֹא-תוּכַל עֲשֹׂהוּ לְבַדֶּךָ.

18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee; for the thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.

Yitro recognizes that if Moses tries to do everything alone he cannot succeed.  Recently I have had discussions with people about my vision of leadership for this community and in general.  For us all to succeed, we need cooperation.  We need people to step up and do their parts.  It not effective if I or the executive board does everything.  We will get tired; we will irritate our families; we will burn out.  Rather, if we work together, we can create truly historical accomplishments.  Our community has a storied history, and we have much growth and potential ahead of us.

While I was in Israel, one of the topics of the conference I attended was about the importance of self-care, of taking care of oneself.  We have all seen what happens when one person in a couple gets ill.  If the partner focuses ALL of their energy on the other, they too quickly succumb to illness.  When they can find other resources, help for themselves, time to recuperate, they are able to support their loved one AND themselves.  When they do not, the consequences can be tragic.  On a personal level, no matter how many reminders I gave myself, I overdid it on my last day.  I took too long a hike with too heavy a backpack and did not drink enough.  Not long after I found myself dehydrated!  Instead of a seeing the Chagall windows at Hadassah hospital after my tour of the amazing new Wolfson Tower, I saw the inside of the ER while I had tests done and got some IV fluids.  While it was fascinating to see how differently medicine works in Israel, that is not the way I wanted to find out about Israeli medicine!  Strangest part of the experience was when the doctor offered me a painkiller available in Israel and Europe and then decided it wasn’t a great idea, since it is more effective than tylenol, but very rarely can shut down your immune system and kill you.  That’s an interesting metaphor on choice--something that can make your life better or kill you!  I chose life (and tylenol!)

Returning to my opening, I do not know what happened to the driver who found her car on the tracks in Valhalla.  Whatever happened it is a tragic loss to all involved.  On a side note, be careful.  Do not drive on the tracks until you have a clear path off of them.  If the bars ever start coming down while you are on the tracks, floor it off the track--either direction.  The bars are made to break.  Your car is little more than the equivalent of a soda can to a locomotive going 60mph!  

Yet it is not just the train tracks that are the dangers in our lives.  Work, school, family, even synagogue life can all bring us great joy and also much stress.  As we look to the years to come, as we continue the construction of this building and of our souls, may we work smarter and not harder.  May we bring our whole selves to our endeavors, but not in a way that harms our health.  May we remember to eat right, exercise and take care of the bodies that allow our souls to flourish.  Shabbat Shalom.