August 2010

ROOTS

5771 High Holy Days Message from Emeritus Rabbi Cyrus Arfa

If we had a library that contained only the ten books which most influenced the course of human destiny, Albert Einstein’s book on RELATIVITY, the source book of the Atomic Age, would certainly be included in this list. In the Preface of his book, dated December, 1916 (the fifteenth edition was published in 1952), we read, “The author has spared himself no pains in his endeavor to present the main ideas in the simplest and most intelligible form…”  In the opinion of the New York Times reviewer, “…in this attempt he has been eminently successful.”  The reviewer of The New York Post supported this position, “The trend of his exposition can be followed in the main by any attentive reader.” Einstein had emphasized in his preface that a student who had undergone a university matriculation examination would be able to understand and have an insight into the theory of Relativity.

Having made an attempt to understand what the greatest scientist of the last century wrote in his book, I confess my inadequacy and that I was not successful.

In preparation for the coming High Holy Days, the most important time of the year when we try to understand the complexities of who we are, what we are and where we are going, I had no problem in understanding the insights of some of the greatest rabbinic sages of old.

The following midrash, told in picture language, is but one example.  A young student sought out the famous Rabbi A-ki-va and said, “Teach me about faith.”  Rabbi Akiva showed him a tiny sprout and he said, “Pull it up.” The young man did so quite easily with his fingers.  Then the sage showed him a young sapling and told the young man, “Pull that one up.”  The lad did it with a little more effort.  Then he showed him a small shrub and asked him to remove it from the earth.  With both hands and a little more strength, the young man tore it out of the earth.  Finally, the rabbi showed him a full-grown tree and he requested, “Uproot it!”  The student put his hands around the tree and pulled with all his might but he could not even shake a leaf.  Rabbi Akiva then said, “The same is true with faith.  If our roots are deep, if our religion is grown and mature, no one can uproot it.  Remember this: your faith will always be as strong and as powerful as are your roots.”

We don’t have to be rocket scientists to understand that roots demand cultivation, nurturing and must continually be refreshed and cared for.  Our faith constantly requires nourishment and tending.  We must continuously study and periodically recommit ourselves.  We cannot neglect our roots. Hence, the vital importance of reconnecting ourselves to our faith during these Days of Awe.

Albert Einstein captured the essence of how to cultivate and re-nourish  the roots of our faith.  He said it simply but profoundly in his writing, THE WORLD AS I SEE IT, “The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice, and the desire for personal independence—these are the features of Jewish tradition which make me thank my stars that I belong to it.”

Sherry joins me in expressing our wishes to all for a Shanah Tovah!