Imagine that your boss offers you an ideal opportunity. To burnish your skills and knowledge in your field, he offers to provide you with an all-expenses paid sabbatical to study under the undisputed leader/innovator in your field. To maximize the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he’s undertaken to provide you with all your needs so you can apply yourself completely to your studies. He’ll take care of the food, domestic help, pay all your bills, cover your other financial expenses, make sure the family members who accompany you are provided for – all so that you can develop into the leader he feels you have the potential to become. He believes in you and feels it’s well worth the investment.
G-d, the “Boss of the World,” did exactly this for His chosen nation. He freed them from Egypt, gave them His Torah and the Land of Israel where they could live and prosper. However, before they settled in the Land, He set them on a journey through the desert where they would learn the Torah without distractions, from the world’s greatest teacher, Moshe.
To make sure that the Jewish People would give Moshe their undivided attention, He provided for all their needs. He sent them heavenly manna daily for food and water from a miraculous well. Their nourishment was precisely right, so they didn’t need to relieve themselves of waste matter. Their clothing grew with them and their shoes didn’t wear out. They had the most sophisticated security system available, with heavenly clouds protecting them on all sides.
With all their necessities provided for, the Jewish People didn’t need to earn a living to put bread on their tables. Relieved of financial and domestic obligations, the Jews were able to spend the entire day studying Torah with Moshe.
Caught up in the hectic 21st century lifestyle, it’s easy to wonder how we can achieve personal growth. We all need to work for a living and provide for our families and most bosses aren’t so accommodating about allowing time off for personal development. As far removed as we are from the generation of Jews who lived in the desert, can we ever find the time to study and become better people?
We all have goals in life, however the demands of the present often cloud our vision of the future. We can create an oasis of time for ourselves to relieve ourselves of daily pressures and focus on meaningful things so that we too can model ourselves, albeit on a smaller scale and in a much less dramatic fashion, on our ancestors who lived in the desert. We don’t have to be on call and available 24/7.We can shut off our mobiles and open a Jewish book to delve into the timeless wisdom of our sages. It may take time and discipline to get it right, but it’s well worth the effort.
A story I once read can put this in perspective:
A rich businessman was taking a walk in a park when he noticed a man sitting in a fishing boat waiting for his next catch. He looked like he had all the time in the world, something the rich man only dreamed about, considering his myriad responsibilities. Curiously, the rich man struck up a conversation with him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked the man in the fishing boat.
“I’m finished with the day’s work and relaxing in my boat,” he replied. “I wait for my amigos and we have a great time together.”
The rich man looked puzzled. “Why aren’t you working instead? You have so much time to make money. Instead you sit on the fishing boat. Work all day and make a lot of money. That’s the way to do things,” he said confidently.
“What would I do with all my money?” asked the man in the boat.
“Oh, you would rise in your company with your hard work. You could then afford a fancy house in an exclusive neighborhood. You would have a corporate jet to whisk you across the world. You would be wined and dined by the world’s movers and shakers,” explained the rich man.
“And then what?” asked the man in the boat.
“Then, you would be able to retire and do whatever you want all day. Those are the golden years that we all look forward to.”
“So what would you do when you retire?” asked the man in the boat.
The rich man paused for a second:“As for me I would love to go…fishing.” he replied.
Now the man in the boat smiled at the rich man. “I don’t understand you. You say that the ultimate goal of all your hard work, earning millions and everything else you accomplish in life, is ultimately to enjoy your fishing boat when you retire. I’m luckier than you. I work less every day and I enjoy the fishing boat now! I’ll stick to my way of doing things,” he said as he turned his attention to his tugging fishing rod.
Rather than wait for later, we can make time during the day for enriching our spirit and spending time with our families. We must focus squarely on our purpose in life and set our priorities accordingly. In doing so, we will be able to achieve new heights of personal and spiritual development.