Every Friday night I wrap up services with a short Torah thought. Many weeks it is a question with food for thought that we discuss later on. Some weeks it is a complete idea with a take home message.
Last Friday Night I chose to present a variation of a famous parable from the Dubner Maggid. The Dubner Maggid was an 18th century Lithuainian Maggid who specialized in creating and using parables to explain Torah ideas and principles.
A consummate story teller and accomplished writer, his contributions to Jewish lore endure.
On this occasion I referred to his parable explaining the verse in Haazinu: “Tzur Yeladcha Teshi, Vatishkach El M’cholelelcha” – loosely translated as “the rock who bore you, you forgot and you forgot your maker”.
It is strange that “forgetting God” is deemed so severe. Forgetting is natural, we forget things all the time. I forgot to update the blog for a couple days (I kid, I was very busy), I am sure you forget too. Sometimes, forgetting is good. Like forgetting the pain we felt at various times in our life. Imagine if we still remembered every moment of embarrassment we ever felt? That would be too much to bear.
Luckily, we have the ability to forget.
The Dubner Maggid explains the severity of forgetting God with a classic parable. A Doctor’s practice was languishing. He had few patients and the few patients he had, hardly paid the bills. One day, he ran into an old friend of his. The friend, a successful business man, asked how the medical practice was going. The Dr. replied, “terrible. I have no patients, no money, I am bored all day!” The friend said “I will teach you a trick that will get you more business. Whenever you meet someone and they ask you ‘how is business?’, reply that you would ‘love to talk but gotta run’. People will think you are in high demand and you will see business will pick up.
The Dr. was running out of options, so he heeded the advice of his friend as ridiculous as it sounded to him and within a few months business was booming. Every time someone would ask him how business was, he would excuse himself and run off in a haste.
A few years later (and a few luxury cars and a new mansion later) the Dr. sees his old friend once again. The friend sees he is obviously in better financial shape and asks his excitedly, “so how is business?”. The Dr. replies with his standard refrain, “I’d love to talk, but I gotta run”. And as he turns to walk away, the friend says “way-way-wait a second, I tought you that trick! You can’t use it on me! Now, sit down and tell me how things are!”
God gave us the ability to forget. He gave us the gift of forgetting. We are lucky and fortunate to have that gift. But we can’t use it against Him! He taught us that trick!
A couple days ago. Judd Magilnick sent me this gem. It is the story of Jill Price, the woman who cannot forget anything. It is very painful as you can see from these excerpts from the article.
The completeness of her memory means that awkward moments from school, battles with her weight, hurtful comments that her mother made, never diminish because the memory or the hurt of them is still as fresh as when it was happening. Memories that elicit feelings of guilt and shame and remorse are continually playing out.
She has stored many painful memories, but perhaps worst of all was her husband’s sudden death. On March 25, 2005, Jill’s husband, who she married two years earlier, on March 1, 2003, had a stroke. Five days later, he was declared dead.
Whereas most people will feel the pain from a traumatic event upon reflection, for Jill it is the same shock, horror and helplessness that she experienced in the moment it occurred. Time, for her, does not heal the wounds. “Because I can’t forget. The pain never lessens.”
Those of us who can forget, can never forget how fortunate we are…
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