Episode #6: One Thing Leads To Another

• Non Religious yet you hang out with Jews.
  • Is the changed nuclear family a good thing?
  • The notion that there is no God.
  • Are we the smartest people who have ever lived?
• Every Jew is born for a purpose in life.
  • How to find that purpose.
  • Is God invisible or visible.
  • Jewish ritual always rewards.
• What about Judgement Day?
  • Jews focus on doing good, not sins.
  • Materiality has covered your Jewish soul with dirt.
  • Jewish thought on abundance, rapture, pleasure.

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Jew2u.com

Michael@Jew2u.com

Transcript

One Thing Leads To Another

Most of your friends are secular jews. You all hang out together. You have some non Jewish friends but you prefer the Jewish ones. They're “my people” someone recently told me. Some of you have families, some don't. Maybe you have older kids who you are hoping will get married and deliver to you grandkids. 

But the women your older sons are dating are getting older and older and the window for grandkids is closing. If you had raised them to know Jewish traditions it wouldn't be an issue. Getting married and having children IS a Jewish tradition. And if your children get married and start having kids at a young age there will probably be many children and grandchildren.

For three thousand years humans have found the greatest lifestyle satisfaction in getting married, having children, and creating families. All of a sudden that protocol changed and changed the arc of happiness in the world.

I grew up in a feminist age where many woman put career before family in order to “have it all” and not be totally dependent on men. Unfortunately for them, when they reached a ripe old age, they were totally alone. No spouses, no children, no grandchildren, no in-laws...was it worth it? If they had to do it all over would they go the career route first again? I could never figure out why this was so penultimately important. 

After all, couldn't a woman get married early, have several children at an age where physically she would be better equipped, have her husband or sister or baby sitter watch the children one night per week, which would enable her to take college courses? 

After 16 years of this routine she would have taken 64 night school courses (a typical college degree takes 32 courses or less) and come out with a fine degree or advance degree of one sort or another. Then before she was forty years old and her children were in their teens almost ready to leave the nest she could start her career with the family thing done and THEN she could have it all.

I know, I know, for the woman who did the career first thing there was no cooking, no cleaning, no shopping, no dramas and they were incredibly successful in business and always financially secure. All of that was rewarding. But now that you've arrived at the end would you do it all again in the same way?

You were born a Jew and will always be a Jew. The Jew inside you is simply covered up with dirt. You've been sold on the notion that there is no God, that humans can solve any problem because we are living in a time where people think that they are the smartest ones who have ever lived. 

Never before have people flown through the air, lived in tall buildings, travelled effortlessly and quickly on four wheels, can get a huge variety of foods from just a store on the corner. Life is easy and convenient. So why do you feel so unfulfilled? Why all the problems needing prescription drugs and/or alcohol to ease the way.

God is such a funny being! His sense of humor is unmatched. You just have to see it. It used to be He would make life tough so you would call out to Him for relief. That made you a believer. But that was too easy. Now God is saying, “OK I'll give you all the creature comforts you want, see if you can live without me, see if it's worthwhile to find me or want me.” That's actually pretty funny. 

And soon, at least before you die (I hope), you'll say to yourself, “I made all this money, walked every beautiful beach, discovered everything a person could want materially. The only thing I haven't experienced is God.” Then you'll find out, checking Him out for the first time in your life, if He's really all He's cracked up to be and if so it would probably be better to find Him sooner rather than later. And even if you find him five minutes before you die, which many of you will, that's still OK with Hashem but not with you because you'll realize that you've wasted your life.

Jewish tradition makes it clear that every Jew is born for a purpose in life. Each Jew is supposed to figure out what that purpose is based on his or her particular talents. The Jewish blueprint is to do good things, mitzvahs, big and small, all of which will bring Hashem down into the physical world. 

If you have athletic talent, yes, it IS your purpose to be a role model. Those who deny it, and there are many who do, are ignorant and selfish and do not bring Hashem down into the world.

Artists, money managers, even trust fund babies are here for a purpose. The hard part is figuring out what your purpose is. If you become a nurse you're naturally lined up to do good. But if you are a nasty nurse you're not fulfilling your purpose or making the world a better place. 

Just thinking about how you can do good changes you and makes you more of a Jew. Thinking about what your next tattoo will be does not make you more of a Jew.

If you are stuck not knowing what your purpose is, by doing simple Jewish rituals you will be encouraging your purpose to seep through. That's why in each Jew2u podcast I've encouraged you to light Shabbat candles every Friday night, buy a mazzuzah for your door, go to a weekly class on Judaism, meet new Jewish people, and go to a Jewish service once a month. Hashem is on your side and wants to help but you have to show some genuine desire, some motivation. 

Just hanging with your friends in total ignorance of your birthright is not wise or intelligent. Maybe you're the one to lead your friends into wiping away the dirt that's currently covering up their Jewishness.

By adding Jewish rituals into your life you will be exploring new realms of existence. It will happen organically. You don't have to look for more God. He will appear and then you'll realize “Hey that's pretty cool. Never expected that!” One thing always leads to another. You'll know.

You're probably thinking, “why is God so invisible? It's easy to not believe in Him because I can't see Him or hear Him.” Can you see radio waves, x-rays, or cell phone rays? Your dog can't talk and yet you communicate quite well with him. And you say you can't see or hear Hashem?” Of course you can. You just haven't tried. Jewish ritual improves your spiritual eyesight and hearing. 

Traveling recently I went to a Reform service on Friday night. I knew I wouldn't like it but I also knew it would be mostly in English. So I forced myself. Sure enough the service did very little for me in terms of getting the “Sabbath juice” that usually follows a service. But I went. So, indeed, I kept up my own Return To Judaism discipline. And you know what? I still got a bit of Shabbat juice from it.

Before I left on my journey I attended a Chabad Saturday morning Shabbat service. I had never been to this particular Chabad before and I knew it would be mostly in Hebrew. What I didn't know was that it would be two and a half hours long. Ouch! Afterwards the Rabbi “forced” me to indulge in lunch which was fantastic! Pastrami and plates of veggie concoctions, all Kosher of course, and I met some new people. 

But more than that the Rabbi had laid out on a table full of free stuff a brochure entitled “Shabbat.” When I got home and started looking at it it was filled with beautiful sayings, instructions, and life lessons. And now I receive from the Rabbi, who I like a lot, a weekly email that also contains uplifting stories and information. I persevered through a service and received a rich, continuing reward. By the way, sitting through a Hebrew only service creates a vibe and an aura that swings right into you. You'll know it when it happens to you. 

I'm telling you this because you will definitely have some ups and downs on your journey but you can still get something out of every Jewish thing you do.

Incidentally, I now have five Rabbis of various denominations that I have a personal relationship with. I can call any one of them if I have a situation I could use some advice on. Prior to my Return to Judaism, just like you, I knew zero Rabbis. Who is better off? Me or you?

People often ask me, “What is the Jewish idea concerning Judgement Day?” And they are always stunned when I tell them that the Jewish tradition is that you are judged by the quantity and quality of your good deeds. Non Jews are always taken aback by this idea because sins are usually the focus of other religions. Hashem won't ignore your sins but His focus will be on all things “good.”

Hitler did a few good things and I'm sure he and Hashem spent about 10 seconds reviewing them and THEN they evaluated his sins in relation to them. Jews always focus on the positive. They also know that Hashem is very forgiving. A Jew is conscious about avoiding sins, and by the way, gossip is one of the worst, but he's not focussed there. A Jew is focussed on what to do to make the world a better place, a world fit for the Creator of everything.

A sin for a Jew is easy. Repent and you're done. Hashem forgives you. But doing a good thing...ah, now that's not so easy. So Hashem is keeping track of all the good things you do, big and small, whether you believe in Him or not. Doing good things and thinking about doing good things is a positive thing. So the more Jewish you become the more good things you do.

Religions that are focussed on sins puts restraints on your activities. Don't do this. Don't do that. It's very negative and constricting. It's no wonder your parents gave you only One Commandment: “Do anything you want as long as you don't hurt anybody.” So living by this Commandment you can lie and steal and commit adultery as long as no one finds out. If no one finds out then no one gets hurt. 

This has created a vapid life for you, lacking any meaning or substance. Being locked into this lifestyle you have centered your life around materiality. The Jewish tradition has no problem with materiality as long as there is activity towards doing good.

If your life is nothing more than eating steak, drinking vodka, and having sex your Judgement Day will probably be a bit vacant. You say you don't believe in Judgement Day. That's fine. Knock yourself out. But if you are wrong about that you are probably screwed. Spending eternity floating nowhere is probably not a place you want to be. 

And, also, you can still believe that there is no Judgement Day and still do good things. But I ask you, all the intelligent Jewish men and women who lived before you, and there were very many extremely brilliant men and women, why is it that they all believed in some kind of Judgement Day? But you don't. OK. You can't see it or hear it so it doesn't exist. You can't see or hear cell phone waves either. Your dog can't speak but you know exactly what he needs. Hashem is so funny!

If you were not so focussed on materiality you would see and hear Hashem all around you. I'm always amazed at how abundant Hashem made the world. Abundant stars, abundant fruit from trees, abundant species in the oceans, abundant species on dry land, and every living thing has enough to eat. Each living creature is a universe in itself. This is the world talking to you. And what's the deal with music? When music brings rapture, isn't that Hashem talking? It can be a symphony, an opera, or the Grateful Dead, that's Hashem talking to you.

Rapture brings me to pleasure. The Jewish tradition is all in favor of pleasure. It does not restrict you from enjoying pleasure. It does not see pleasure as a sin. There is pleasure existent in every creature. When a tree, or anything with roots, reaches for the sun it is reaching for pleasure. The Jewish tradition does not deny pleasure and doesn't see it as a sin.

It just needs to be sanctified, meaning including Hashem in the pursuit of pleasure. Then it's no longer a sin but a good thing. So you see, leaving your material world for the Jewish world is not a matter of giving things up but a matter of getting more out of what you are doing. So light the candles this Friday night at sundown.

Until next Monday,

Shalom!