Sefira & Rebbi Akiva-Navigating Life

Lessons we can learn from Sefirah and Rebbi Akiva on how to navigate our lives.

Transcript

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You know, Svira is a very interesting time. On the one hand, it's a countdown to Matanta, a countdown to when we receive the Tarah. On the other hand, we're in mourning. We're mourning for the Talmudim of Rabbi Kiva who passed away during this time period. We don't shave, we don't listen to music because we are in mourning. So what is Svira? Is Svira a happy time or is Svira a sad time? That's question number one. Question number two is that depending on how you count the year, the eighth month will either come out to be Kheshvan or the eighth month will come out to be Ear. And we know that eight always stands for in Yidishkai, eight stands for what is above nature, above Tebah. The seventh month of the year is either uh is either uh Tishwe or Nisan, depending on when you start counting the year. Nisan and Tishwe, you can understand being the seventh month, seventh always represents what's complete because Nisan is the time of Gula, the time of Chairis, the time of freedom, and when we came out of Mitsrayan. Tishwe's we got Rishashanium, Kiprasukis, the time we have Rish we have forgiven for all of our chataim, all of our sins. But why is either the month of Khajan or the month of Ear, the eighth month, what is it about the month of Ear that's above nature? You know, Svira is supposed to be a journey. Each week of Svira has a different Mida that we're supposed to be working on, with each day within that week a different aspect of that Mida that we're supposed to be working on. Svira is representative of the journey of life. When it comes to life, this is a dichotomy that we all have to learn how to navigate. The highs and the lows, the good and the bad, the happy and what seems sad. I think this is the message I'm supposed to be taking out of Svira. That yeah, we have to learn how to keep on going forward day by day towards Mat and Tara. How? Navigating the ups and downs, navigating the highs and lows. On the one hand, Svira is an exhilarating time. We're counting down the time to Matantara. On the other hand, it's a very sad time. We're mourning the Tamidam of Rebiya Kiva who passed away. But at the same time, what are we doing? We're navigating life. We're going through Svira day by day, working on perfecting ourselves, working on becoming the people that we're supposed to be becoming. Svira, in essence, is a journey of life, learning how to navigate the dichotomy of life, the ups and the downs that we all experience every single day of our lives. I think this may be why also we can understand now why Ear and Khejvan are the eighth months of the year. After Rishane Kippur, Sukkis comes the month of Khejvan. We go back to the mundane, we go back to the everyday ordinariness of our life. After Nisan comes Ear, this time that of Svira, where there's this up and down, this conflicting up and down. But you know what's above nature? You know what is just above everything else? A yid who's navigating the dichotomy of life, a yid who's working on himself throughout the ups and downs, throughout the highs and lows of life. That is something that's above nature. And perhaps that's why the month of Ear, when we're learning how to navigate this dichotomy during the time of Sfirah, the month of Khejban, where we go back to the mundane everyday ordinariness of our lives, perhaps that's why those are the eighth months. Because they are really above nature. Because at that time there is no Rishashanium Kippur that month. There is no Zman of Kherus of Ga'ula during that month. It's just the ordinary everyday. But what are we doing? We're working on perfecting ourselves every single day, navigating the highs and lows. While we're working through the high points and the low points of our lives, we're not stuck, we're not paralyzed, but we're working on ourselves. And that is something that's above nature. You know, the Talmidim who passed away at Rebey Akiva. Rabbi Kiva lost 24,000 Talmudim during this time period, but he didn't give up. He started again with five Talmudim. But let's go back a little further. We read the story of Rabikiva really started. Rikiva was 40 years old. He had never learned anything. He was an Amar arts, he didn't know anything. Gamar tells us how he had a hatred for Talmud Chachamima. What happened? He saw the water dripping on a rock. He saw water dripping on a rock, wearing down a hole in the stone, and Rikiva said to himself, If water could drip on a rock and create this hole, then Tara could enter my heart. And the question is, what was so unique? What was so special about this water dripping on the rock that caused Rebekiva to have this tremendous mind shift that all of a sudden he was ready to change his entire lifestyle? We all know about water erosion. It's nothing new. We've all seen riverbeds and streams that have carved their way through the dirt. Water erosion is not a new thing. What was it about the water dripping on the rock that had such an effect on Rebeh Kiva that it enabled him to change his entire life to become the Rebey Akiva that we all know of? Perhaps the answer is that what is water known for? Water always takes the path of least resistance. That's how streams are formed, that's how rivers are formed. If you ever spill water on a table, you'll watch it the way it travels. Water epitomizes something that always takes the path of least resistance. Yet what did Rubikivis see? When water does not take the path of least resistance, when water instead of just flowing anywhere, but it drips against something that's rock hard, a rock hard obstacle, what happens? Even water, which always takes the path of least resistance, will break through. Perhaps what Rubikiva saw is the lesson from the water is that if we want to break through, it's not going to be on the path of least resistance. It's going to be difficult. It's going to be difficult. The breakthrough that we need involves pushing forward against what seems like this rock pushing against us. But you know what? But if we do push forward, then just like the water, we will break through. And this is Rabikiva. After you lose this 24,000 Tamidim, what does he say? He does not say, I'm done, I'm retired. Find another occupation. He says, No. I am going to start over again. The path of least resistance would be to say, this didn't work out. It's over. I tried. I did my best. He says, no. We're going to start over again with five Talmudim. And this ensure that the Tarah would not be forgotten from Khalid. And I think this is a lesson that we have to think about right now as we're approaching Lagba'im, or as we're in the month of E, or as we're counting Svira. That number one, we don't want it to be that we go through Svira, and the only thing that we accomplished is that we counted the entire sphere with a bracha. That no, we're actually supposed to be working on ourselves, working on ourselves when? As we're learning to navigate this dichotomy of life, working on ourselves throughout the highs and the lows, not only working on ourselves when everything is going well and everything is going perfect, but no, when we have the ebb and flow, when we have the ups and downs, we are still working on ourselves trying to become the best people we could be. Why? Because we realize the breakthrough is not going to be on the path of least resistance.