20 JUDAISM
23 JUNE 2022
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ASK THE RABBI Looking for answers? Send your question to Rabbi@RabbiSchochet.com IS FAITH FOR FOOLS? Dear Rabbi I was having a conversation with someone about faith. I know it is the underlying theme of every religion, but don’t you think it is a little outdated? How would you describe faith and in what way do you believe faith is still relevant in the 21st century? Sebastian Dear Sebastian For me, faith consists of believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe. You don’t know how it will happen, but you just know that it will. In fact you might say faith is like WiFi: It’s invisible but it has the power to connect you to what you need. The problem is that many people think that faith is silly. They think that their habitual and knee jerk doubt and scepticism are more realistic. They don’t realise that optimistic faith is often the only normal way for people to move forward and achieve great things. We don’t live by the things that we doubt, but through the things that we believe. Christopher Columbus doubted many of the old assumptions about geography, but these doubts did not make him great. His greatness came from the positive beliefs which he confidently held and on which he launched his spectacular adventure. In the mid-1960s Fred Smith was a business student at Yale. He doubted that the delivery service in America would suffice in the coming computerised information age. Smith wrote an economics term paper about his doubts, and on the need
for a new, reliable overnight delivery in a computerized age. His professor sympathized with his doubts but was less than impressed with Smith’s idea for a business and responded: “The concept is interesting and wellformed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C’, the idea must be feasible.” With a combination of innovative thinking, unbridled faith and sheer determination, Smith went ahead and started his unfeasible business, FedEx, the world’s first overnight delivery company and changed the transportation industry forever. The last I heard, FedEx, was a very feasible business - with more than $83.95 billion in revenue in 2021. To be sure, doubt has real value in life. It clears away the rubbish and stimulates the search for truth. It’s the starting point, to feed into the ensuing faith in order to cultivate growth. But it has no value unless it is finally complemented and consumed by optimistic faith. Both the Yale professor and Smith had doubts about the old delivery service. But only Smith had faith. And it is ultimately that faith which enriches life. If Columbus was just left doubting geography, there may have never been a New York or a Nevada. And if Smith remained entrenched in his doubts about the delivery service in America, we might still be using delivery pigeons or banana boats.
MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND Dear Rabbi I want to vent about a bugbear of mine. I was largely ignored by
Pirkei Avot עֹוׂשה ִמצְ ָוה ֶ ָה,אֹומר ֵ יעזֶ ר ֶּבן יַ ֲעקֹב ֶ ַר ִּבי ֱא ִל עֹובר ֵ ְו ָה. קֹונֶ ה לֹו ְפ ַר ְק ִליט ֶא ָחד,ַא ַחת ׁשּובה ָ ְּת. קֹונֶ ה לֹו ַק ֵּטגֹור ֶא ָחד,ֲע ֵב ָרה ַא ַחת . ִּכ ְת ִריס ִּב ְפנֵ י ַה ֻּפ ְר ָענּות,טֹובים ִ ּומ ֲע ִׂשים ַ ָּכל ְּכנֵ ִסּיָ ה ֶׁש ִהיא,אֹומר ֵ יֹוחנָ ן ַה ַּסנְ ְּד ָלר ָ ַר ִּבי ְו ֶׁש ֵאינָ ּה ְל ֵׁשם.סֹופּה ְל ִה ְת ַקּיֵ ם ָ ,ְל ֵׁשם ָׁש ַמיִ ם ... סֹופּה ָ ֵאין,ָׁש ַמיִ ם Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob said: he who performs one commandment acquires for himself one advocate, and he who commits one transgression acquires for himself one accuser. Repentance and good deeds are a shield against punishment. Rabbi Yo-
my community for many years. I came to shul weekly, I was welcomed, but the real attention went to the “machers” of the community. Us “common folk” were treated courteously but not much more. During covid by some ingenuity and some good fortune I made it big. Now, all of a sudden, everyone says hello, everyone pays attention and makes a fuss. I would really rather they treated me the same as before. This change in attitude is really telling and very upsetting. I’m not sure I have a question, but I love your column and just wanted to air this. Daniel Dear Daniel It is told of the two great eighteenth century brothers, Reb Zushia of Anipoli and Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk in their formative years used to travel to a certain town. On an initial first visit they inquired of a particularly rich man whether they could stay there. The man refused and so they stayed by someone else – Reb Aharon, whom as it happens was a very holy and pious Jew. It was some time later when these two great brothers were discovered – when the eminence of these two luminaries and giants in Israel became known. They happened to be travelling to this same town again and the aforementioned rich man sent for them to come stay by him. The new horses and fancy buggies that were arranged by the community – they sent those onto him. But they went on foot back to Reb Aharon’s house. You can well imagine the hurt and upset of the rich man when greeting
the empty carriages. He went around to them and challenged them about this and they explained simply: “It’s not us you want. You’ve seen us before and turned us away. It’s the new fancy carriages and muscular
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Dedicated so that Avraham Moshe ben Gittel will be found chanan Hasandlar said: every assembly which is for the sake of heaven, will in the end endure; and every assembly which is not for the sake of heaven, will not endure in the end. Each and every single action a person does has consequences even if we may think it’s insignificant. On last week’s paraha, Reb Avigdor Miller comments that every action that we do is very great in Hashem’s eyes and is worth the whole world being created just for that. Don’t underestimate it! We must realise that good deeds will definitely help us in the world to come in the form of good angels who will vouch for
Perek 4: Mishna 11
us. These malachim will hopefully help tip the balance in our favour to enable us to enter Gan Eden in peace. A story is told about a poor man who went to the Rebbe to ask why he was suffering so much each day, having to shlep his horse and cart around through terrible mud to taxi people about. Whilst in the waiting room he fell asleep and had a dream. He was in shamayim surveying his own trial. A huge set of scales dominated the landscape and to his relief he saw thousands of good white malachim filling up the good side full of mitzvot.
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horses that define this so called new stature which has captured your attention – so this we send to you. As for us, we go where we were always welcome.” I’ll let that story speak its own volumes.
Then to his horror when they finished, thousands of black malachim appeared and promptly started filling up the Averoh side, until the scales were completely equal. Suddenly a malach arrived and started shovelling mud on to the good side, whilst announcing that this was the mud he had gotten all over his clothes and house from giving free lifts to people who couldn’t afford the fare. The man awoke and didn’t even need to go to his Rebbi anymore he simply walked straight out with his questions answered!
