Do you also have those frenetic, dizzying rotor-blade days that sap you of patience, humour and energy? All you want to do after the day’s chaos is take a hot bath and slip into bed to breathe. Only your WhatsApp pings incessantly, your daughter needs help with homework, or the neighbour’s dog starts howling outside your window as you wind down.
Life teases us with all sorts of “just when you thought you were getting comfortable” moments to jolt us.
We all get to power down occasionally, but for the most part, life keeps us on our toes. Even Shabbos, the day dedicated to rest, isn’t necessarily comfortable. You may walk miles to Shul, sometimes in torrential downpours, other times in sweltering heat. A Jew never fully relaxes. On flights, we set alarms to wake us for mid-Atlantic Shacharis, and we start our Caribbean vacations by navigating who can double wrap and heat our kosher meals. It feels like there’s a Divine conspiracy to keep us from getting comfortable.
The Jewish story begins with the prototype Jew, Avraham. He models how living as a Jew works. When you research his life, you discover that he barely had a chance to catch his breath. He had run-ins with his pagan dad, who handed him over to the authorities, who tried to execute him for his beliefs. He survived, miraculously, but had to leave town.
When he was seventy-five, Hashem nudged him away from his family to move to an undisclosed location. Trekking through the Middle East with his family, with no idea how long they’d be travelling or where they were headed, must have been tough. He must have been relieved when they reached Canaan and G-d told him they were home. Just as he was getting settled, Hashem sent a famine that forced Avraham on the road again.
Avraham cared for his nephew, but Lot dumped him for the glittering opulence of Sodom. That ended badly for Lot, and Avraham had to risk entering a warzone to rescue him. Avraham’s wife suffered from infertility. Sarah advised him to take a second wife, Hagar. When Hagar conceived, Sarah insisted that Avraham kick her (and his unborn child) out of the house. When Sarah eventually bore Yitzchak, his older half-brother, Yishmael tried to kill him. Avraham had to expel him from the family home. Avraham’s toughest moment was when G-d instructed him to sacrifice his favourite son on an isolated mountain.
Avraham’s life is a cacophony of upheaval with occasional sprinklings of tranquillity. Whenever Avraham hoped to “chill”, Hashem concocted a fresh speed-wobble to upend his world.
And he was the first Jew.
Because a Jew doesn’t get comfortable. A Jew pushes the envelope. We question everything and confront what we have grown accustomed to. A Jew cannot pat himself on the back or count “achievements”. A Jew always seeks new challenges. To be Jewish is to grow constantly and make a difference. We are wired to break convention. If we don’t extend ourselves beyond our comfort level, Hashem- in His infinite creativity- will.
