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Thought for the Day: Why It Is So Important to Keep Olam HaBah at the Front of Your Mind

My oldest grandchildren in Florida are now old enough for me to be comfortable taking them to play in the ocean. The beach is just about a mile from their house, so it is also a nice walk. Unfortunately, though, the mode of dress by most of the natives is less than modest. Early in the morning, though, is generally safe and quite beautiful. I offered to walk with the oldest three (g12, b11, b 8) to the beach right after I finished davening k'vasikin; as is my minhag, even when traveling.

Their mother had two conditions: (1) they also had to daven before going. (2) if they woke their younger siblings, then the game was up and it was their responsibility to babysit. "Thank you! No problem!" we all said. The next morning, I woke them to daven when I did. They all davened beautifully and quietly. As you might imagine, it takes me a bit longer to daven then it takes them. That time period was my main concern: between their finish time and mine. I did what I could (I davened musaf after the beach), but I was still concerned about that 15 or 20 minutes they would have with "nothing" to do but wait. I davened in one room, they davened in the play room near the back door.

In case you are not familiar with the dynamic. 12 year old girls have an answer for everything. 11 year old younger brothers are quite adept at eliciting enthusiastic responses from their older sister. 8 year old younger brothers are also a favorite target. The 8 year old himself can hardly be blamed for responding. So... all three stuck in a room with nothing to do after being awakened early. Sounds like very plausible set up for a sitcom, no?

I finished davening and noticed how quiet it was. Often a sign for real concern, but I was hopeful. I entered the play room to find them all smiling and and talking softly with enthusiasm about walking to the beach. As we started walking, I said I noticed how quiet they were. The 11 year old boy, always quick with an answer said, "Well, we really didn't want to wake anyone up!" So I decided to press the point and ask him, "So why do you usually bug each other?" "Because there's no reason no to; and, besides, it's fun!"

When the Reform Jewish Religion first started, they changed just one thing: they changed the wording in shmone esrei from מחיה המתים/Who resurrects the dead, to מחיה הכל/Who gives life to everything. It was uncomfortable to fit reward and punishment and eternal life into a religion that basically wants to allow anyone to do whatever they wanted. Besides, they reasoned, what's the big deal? After life is irrelevant to this life.

Nothing could be more wrong. The reward of going to the beach and the threat of babysitting did no turn my grandchildren into mindless slaves and platitude spewing zombies. QUITE the opposite! It freed them from immature and petty emotional immaturity and allowed them to choose to do what they really wanted. It freed them further to enjoy not only the walk to the beach, but also that quiet time with "nothing to do" turned into productive time of enjoying each other's company and sharing the excitement of the ensuing trip to the beach.

המבין יבין
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