Image: A Jewish man prays from a prayer book. Photo by 777jew.
One of my favorite lines, too, Rabbi Adar! What an eloquent argument this post is for the discipline of regular worship. I compare it to a good bye kiss in the morning. Sometimes it is just perfunctory, but sometimes insets of a WOW spark. But if we didn’t do it every morning, we would not be positioned for the WOW! Thank you! – A comment on Turn it Again, Ben! by Rabbi Stephen Fuchs
Rabbi Fuchs’ comment ties together my two previous posts: the one cited above and the previous one, Jewish Spirituality.
The performance of mitzvot [commandments] is of its nature routine. I say a blessing, I get out of bed, I say a blessing, I wash my hands, I say a blessing, I eat a muffin, I say a blessing, I take my meds. Most of it happens “on automatic” and is about as exciting as brushing my teeth (for which I do not yet know a blessing.) This week I’m going to host students for Shabbat dinner, so I’ve also got all of those preparations (clear the dining room/study table, check my lists, cook) and they, too, have a routine feel to them.
This routine of mitzvot sets up opportunities for what Rabbi Fuchs calls “the WOW!” Most days saying my prayers is a routine. Last Shabbat, one of those routine prayers reduced me to tears of amazement. I didn’t know when I left home for services that I was going to have that experience. Actually, I wasn’t feeling all that great and might have stayed home, except that I had committed to chant the first aliyah of the Torah portion.
Woody Allen once said that “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Jewish spiritual activity definitely works that way, whether we’re talking about prayer or some other mitzvot. On any given day, I’m probably not going to get any kind of spiritual insight or “high” from giving tzedakah or saying blessings. There are many mitzvot I may do for my entire life and never have an experience that anyone would call spiritual.
However, if I want to have a sense of meaning in my life, every mitzvah that I observe is a step in that direction. This past week my prayer practice gifted me with an insight: every breath is precious. That was worth all the mere “showing up” that got me to that place. Even without that insight, every mitzvah I observe is like a single strand in a spider’s web that forms a small essential part of the greater whole. Those mitzvot performed with the right intention will shape me into a better person living a better life than I would otherwise live.
This Shabbat I expect to be very, very tired but to be filled with a warm feeling from feeding my students and performing the mitzvah of hospitality. Or maybe I’ll just be very tired. That’s OK. I’ll show up, and they’ll show up, and that will be enough.
Reading this was a WOW! moment for me, Rabbi. I am honored by your citation. Anna Quindlen, in a graduation speech she gave at Villanova several years ago, also referenced the importance of “showing up.”
Sometimes it’s hard to ‘put one foot in front of the other.’ But who knows, as you write so eloquently, what surprise might be there if you do. On a more mundane level, I try to go t the gym fairly regularly. Sometimes I go when going is the last thing I feel like doing (OK, I admit sometimes I skip it too) But when I come home I am NEVER sorry that I went. Another argument for “showing up.” And again, my thanks!
Loved reading this. SO much in life is actually 90% showing up..and 10% willingness. I’m obviously not Jewish, but it reminds me of my recent attendance at meeting (which by now was ages ago since I don’t sit too well, even in the several different types of seating that my meeting generously provides, having recognized people with spinal issues.). I sat in the familiar silence, and did not really expect anything but the routine experience, and instead had a moment of true realization. Out of the familiar, comes the miracles.
“Out of the familiar, comes the miracles.” So, so true!