Have you skied with G-d?

Our kids have been skiing since they were four or five years old. Every Sunday, and when they are off for PIR days, we head to our beloved Bridger Bowl, and they just rock it on the powdered mountain. Chana Laya, who is eight, is a pro and - despite arguing about everything – never argues about skiing. No screens, no devices, no boredom, just quality time in nature doing something they love. Kids and adults alike need more time in the wilderness. I don’t ski, but I have spent hundreds of hours writing and preparing for classes while at the lodge and I am inspired every week by how much my kids, and everyone else on the slopes, love this sport and how majestic it seems to an outsider.

In this week’s Torah portion, Va’era, we observe Moses as he interacts with two groups of stubborn people, the Jews and the Egyptian leaders. The Jews were certain that Moses couldn’t redeem them, “they did not listen to Moses, because of their anguish of spirit and harsh labor”. And the same perspective was shared, for different reasons, by the Egyptian tyrant, as the verse says, “But Pharaoh was stubborn, and he paid no heed to them, just as God had said”.  “Stuckness” is a real thing. We are raised a certain way, we live for many years doing things our way, and are genuinely scared of change, concerned with the unknown. Stuck doesn’t always mean toxic and horrible, it just means that we don’t realize that we are in an unhealthy pattern, we are unable to see that there may be better options, and we get mad at loved ones who offer an alternative.

The kids loved the picture that I shared this week from our engagement at the Rebbe’s Ohel twenty years ago, with Chavie and I both holding our flip phones. I wish the world went back to flip phones; it was simpler, less addictive, less demanding, less distracting. Watching my kids on the slopes is inspiring me to see my device, my work, my phone, differently. Perhaps going forward I am on it less, I won’t respond to texts like it was a call to 911, I won’t see every email as they enter the inbox, I won’t answer every call instantly even if the visitor needs the chicken urgently. I think it’s time. Time for my kids to see that I don’t just talk the talk, but even though my work is important, I walk the walk with no scrolling, no urgency, no obsession. It’s time for Chavie to have a more present husband who doesn’t decide in January that it’s vital at 8:00 PM to finalize the Shavuos plans for May.

I may not ski down Pierre’s Knob, but I could certainly live in that spirit celebrating nature, addiction free.

When Moses comes to redeem you, don’t remain stuck!

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Mashiach speedily. May G-d protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be!

What do you do when the stars don’t seem to align? You do the right thing, you follow G-d and your conscience, and the expected outcomes don’t arrive? The gardening is tedious and labor-intensive and the fruit doesn’t seem to grow? We all have realities that shock us, where we scratch our heads and wonder how we got here. It can be internally confusing, we may feel a bit lost, and we certainly have more questions than answers. We want clarity, but G-d hides the plan and leaves us wanting in the process. We seek guidance, lean on our loved ones for strength, and yet every few hours or few days, reality hits and our mind wanders off again.

Do we keep fighting the good fight?

In this week’s Torah portion, Shemos, the first in the Book of Exodus, we read about Moses, a twenty-year-old adopted aristocrat who grew up in Pharaoh's palace with luxury and royalty, observing a Jewish man being beaten to death by an Egyptian taskmaster. He could’ve looked away, he could’ve said “this ain’t my business”, he could’ve ignored the cry of the Jewish man, he could’ve used his palatial privilege to ignore his brother, but he had the soul of a leader, and a leader doesn’t back down, a leader doesn’t look the other way, a leader doesn’t choose his/her own comfort over the needs of their people. A leader does the right thing, come what may as a result.

There are times that one may feel like giving up. Life becomes too complicated, and we don’t know how to forge ahead. Where are we to find the inner courage to rock on? We then open our sweet Torah, and we are given Divine insight into the Jewish approach which is unequivocal: To be a Jew is to activate the little Moses inside our soul which inspires us to keep going, to keep showing up and doing what’s right even when it’s hard, and to never lose focus on our purpose, which isn’t about controlling outcomes, but rather showing up in each moment of life with intentionality.

Let’s let G-d do G-d.‍

Thank you, Moses, for the light!‍

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Mashiach speedily. May G-d protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be!