written by yosef shiminov

YOUR WAY, MY WAY, AND THE HIGHWAY

This Tuesday night we celebrate the holiday of Shavuot, the day Hashem gave us the Torah as a gift. It was a miraculous day, a day when G-d spoke directly to all the Jewish people at once. The day when we Jews proclaimed "WE WILL DO AND WE SHALL LISTEN" to all of G-d's 613 commandments. The day G-d crowned us and called us his chosen people, a light upon the nations.

The Torah was given to us to be our guide in life, to direct us and teach us the proper way in life in order for us to attain a good life in this world and the world to come. As is well known everything that a person does in life no matter how mundane could be considered a Mitzvah if done with the proper intentions. Likewise every person is unique and each person has certain talents that others do not possess, and everyone can use their own special abilities in their service of G-d.

Unfortunately, today many Jews think they must follow one rigid path in order to do what is proper in the eyes of G-d. Rabbi Yaakov Kamentzkey related when talking about how Yeshiva Torah Vodaath was different and greater than most Yeshivas, "most Yeshivas are like a bed in Sodom", they try to make you fit the bed, they try to mold you, they want everyone to be the same, walk the same, talk the same and just do everything the same. But this is not what G-d wants, we see this from the fact that on the first Shavuot G-d spoke to each and every Jew directly and therefore expects each and every Jew to use their special talents when serving G-d. It is as if there are many paths that lead to the same one goal, the goal of becoming a better person, and becoming holier Jew by drawing closer to G-d. This is possibly what King Shlomo meant when he wrote in Mishelay (the Book of Proverbs 3:17) "All its [Torah] ways are pleasant and all its paths are peace". That all the paths that are used to serve G-d are great, as long as it is consistent with Halachah (Jewish Law) and authentic Tradition.

In the first Mishnah of the second chapter of Ethics of our Fathers Rabbe (Rabbi Judah HaNasi, redactor and editor of all the Mishnayot) states "Which is the proper path that a person should choose for himself? Whatever [path] is a credit to himself and earns him esteem of fellow men." Based on this Rabbi Simcha Bunim of P'shis'cha would emphasize that people should maintain their own individuality while defining their way of serving G-d; merely to imitate others is a grave error. G-d invests every individual with a unique set of abilities, talents, and faults, and it is with these that G-d wants him to serve him. Because Rabbe could have simply said "The proper path is to adhere to the Torah and the Mitzvot" but instead Rabbe says to choose a path that "is a credit to himself" a path that is unique to the individual.

But let us also not forget to respect the pathways of others. The Midrash states: Just as one persons facial features are different from another person, so do people's ideas differ (Tanchuma; Pinchas 10). Just as one cannot be upset with another for having a nose that is different than his, so to one must respect the opinions of others. This concept is also reflected in this Mishnah as it says "and earns him esteem of fellow men" since by respecting others he is also gets respected. We must never fault legitimate choices of other just because it is different than what we do. As long as it is consistent with Halachah (Jewish Law) and authentic Tradition, it may and should, reflect the individuality of its practitioner.

It is well known that the second Temple was destroyed because gratuitous hatred was rampant in society. But hopefully this year when we understand and accept other peoples Kosher Paths to G-d, and we can rectify the hatred with love for our fellow Jews, Mashiach will come and establish the Third and final Temple in Jerusalem.