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Thought for the Day: Learning Spanish as Avodas HaShem

I am, Baruch HaShem, getting older. Besides physical exercise to keep my lifetime warranty in force, it is important to also engage in mental exercises. Now, you might think that learning gemara, mishayos, halacha, and chumush would be enough mental exercise. It certainly should be. After all, if I am not doing one of those things in my "free" time, then I should be sleeping... right?

 I strive to reach that level some time. In the meantime, though, there are times during the day when I am too tired or distracted to learn. What to do? Some options are:

  • watch pareve movie/YouTube -- about as passive as you can get. Not a great option. It's like being on a diet and eating lots of celery. Keeps you busy, but provides no nutrition and doesn't really address the root issue.
  • read a pareve book/article -- certainly better in terms of using your mind. But here's the thing... if it is intellectually stimulating, then it is likely more effort than I have to give. If it isn't, then it's not much better then gazing at pareve videos. Social media? Oh, no, I am a real ba'al t'shuva on that.
  • Play word/number games; do crossword puzzles. Games are engaging, so not a terrible option, but at the end of the day... also no real accomplishment.

So... I have always been jealous of people who could speak a second language. I tried for years to learn German and Hebrew well enough to speak, but was a dismal failure. Learning a new language with a focus on speaking, then, would be an interesting way to stretch my mind in a new direction. There are several good language apps that provide small, well defined lessons that allow one to learn at his own pace. Perfect! What language?

I have a pretty reasonable reading knowledge of Hebrew (not Modern Hebrew; a language in which I have less than zero interest, but that is another story) and Talmud Aramaic. Not a lot of native speakers. I'd like to learn Yiddish, but not many resources for that. So I settled on Spanish. I can do a short lesson in 10 to 15 minutes. There are lots of helpful resources. There is a very large shared vocabulary.

So far, so good; actually. Here's some ways that learning has improved my Avodas HaShem:

  • My davening is getting better. As I practice speaking a foreign language, it becomes easier for me to daven like I am speaking, and not just reading text.
  • Another benefit for davening: I am much more careful with my grammar and pronunciation. That happened when I discovered that "papá "(accent on last syllable) means "dad", but "papa" (accent on first syllable) means "potato"; more frightening: "mamá" means "mom", but the word "mama" means "mammary gland".
  • As the app is initializing, the splash screen often says, "You are using your time wisely." That one always forces me to ask myself, "am I really?"

Does all that sound a bit (or more) of a reach to classify learning Spanish as Avodas HaShem? Does it sound like a bit (or more) like rationalization? Am I just fooling myself? I'll answer that myself in order: Totalmente, absolutamente, אוודא נישט! Of course I don't use every moment as wisely as I could. Of course I waste and destroy precious moments that could be turned into infinite and eternal connection with the Creator of the World.  I am not fooling myself. But I also know that I shouldn't be wasting even a single precious moment. I know what I should be doing, and so I at least give lip service to the idea and frame my decisions by where I want to me in my Avodas HaShem. By keeping that in the front of my mind, there is at least a fighting chance that I'll actually achieve some measure of the perfection for which I strive.

¡Y eso puedo llevar al banco!

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