Thought for the Day: Walk or Drive? Seeking Counsel from Chazal

In the old days, I got most of my exercise by riding my bike to/from work four days a week. Then Covid hit, so I started just taking 10-12 mile rides at noon-ish just to keep up the exercise. Then winter would hit and I switched to treadmill. (I think "detest" is too strong a word for how I feel about walking on a treadmill, but only a bit too strong.) I often worked from home on Fridays, so I would walk to/from shul on Fridays to get some steps in. Now that I am learning and working close to home, I've decided to walk to/from shul everyday.

During the winter? I bundle up and walk faster. When it snows? Boots. When it is icy... so that's where this starts. Not only have I been learning/davening at the same place, bli ayin hara, every morning for over 30 years, I have also been sitting next to the same dear friend for a good portion of that time. He is more or less used to me.

Just to level set this. I am at shul in the mornings for about three hours each morning between davening and  learning. (Summer is daven then learn, winter is learn then daven, the rest of the year is catch as catch can.) That's three hours of quality time each day for decades. That means I have spent more waking hours with the men in that room than almost anyone else in my life. (Except you, honey!) I used to quip to my children that it is amazing that some of my closest friends are people with whom I barely talk. My children responded, "No, Abba... they are still your friends because you don't talk much with them."

I got to shul one morning when it was particularly icy and my good next seat chaver suggested it would be safer to drive. I replied that (1) I trust my walking skills more than everyone else's driving skills; and (2) bodily damage heals by itself, whereas the car would have to be repaired. And (3), I have a gemara: there was a tanna, אַבָּא חִלְקִיָּה בַּר בְּרֵיהּ דְּחוֹנִי הַמְעַגֵּל/Abba Chilkiya, the grandson of Choni HaM'agel, who lifted up his tunic when walking through thorn and thistle bushes. He did that because the scratches to his skin would heal, while his garment would have to be sewn back together if it got torn.

Point, set, match; I smiled smugly. My chaver noted that falling at my age can be a game changer. He is right, but I am stubborn. I did some research on damage from falls versus car accidents. I found that car accidents have the potential to cause much more damage than falls. (See! I thought to myself before reading further.) However, continued Gemini (wait... what?): falls are much more frequent and so on balance one is safer driving.

Hmm... so now I had modern AI on the one hand and a Chazal on the other. I decided that I needed to review that gemara. The gemara is on :תענית כ״ג (it starts at the bottom of the previous amud). The chachmim dispatched messengers to ask אַבָּא חִלְקִיָּה to daven for rain. When they arrived, they found אַבָּא חִלְקִיָּה working in a field. They waited, then followed him home, noting lots of interesting and perplexing behaviors. After their mission was complete, they asked אַבָּא חִלְקִיָּה to please explain those perplexing behaviors. He was more than happy to oblige. (There is much to be learned from his explanations... really, you should check it out.) To our point, however, here is the relevant gemara:

מַאי טַעְמָא כּוּלַּהּ אוֹרְחָא לָא סָיֵים מָר מְסָאנֵיהּ וְכִי מָטֵי לְמַיָּא סָיֵים מְסָאנֵיהּ אֲמַר לְהוּ כּוּלַּהּ אוֹרְחָא חָזֵינָא בְּמַיָּא לָא קָא חָזֵינָא מַאי טַעְמָא כִּי מְטָא מָר לְהִיזְמֵי וְהִיגֵי דַּלִּינְהוּ לְמָנֵיהּ אֲמַר לְהוּ זֶה מַעֲלֶה אֲרוּכָה וְזֶה אינה מַעֲלֶה אֲרוּכָה  

What is the reason that the entire way the Master did not wear his shoes, but when he reached water he put on his shoes? He said to them: The entire way I can see and take care where I walk, but in the water I cannot see. Therefore, I put on my shoes in case there are fish or snakes that could bite me. They asked: What is the reason that when the Master reached shrubs and thorns, he lifted up his clothes? He said to them: This flesh will heal if it is scratched by thorns, but this garment will not heal if it is torn. (Text and translation from shas.alhatorah.org and my emendation according to Rashi.)

See! אַבָּא חִלְקִיָּה definitely spared his clothing at the expense of skin... well, for minor scratches that is. On the other hand, when there is a chance of severe bodily harm, אַבָּא חִלְקִיָּה takes proper precautions.

The next time it was icy, I drove. My next-seat chaver walked in and congratulated me on doing the right thing. I told him, "Of course... you know me; I strive to be ridiculous, not stupid!"

What's the point? (Besides a cute anecdote, of course.) Chazal placed much אֲגַדְתָּא (forget it, you can't translate that word) in our sacred texts. One of the reasons that the Oral Law has such a prominent position in Orthodox/Torah Judaism is that our Holy Torah is not a book of rules to be followed in order to get a nice payout at the end of our time here in this world. At Mt. Sinai we accepted a profound, loving relationship with the Creator and Author of reality. His Torah -- and now our Torah -- is our guide to fully realize that relationship. You can't ride a bike by reading about riding a bike, you have to ride a bike. You can't have a marriage based on a list of sterile rules to be slavishly followed. The rules of the Torah are meant to be lived and experienced. The details are not slavishly followed, but lovingly sought... we want to be the best partner we can be.

The אֲגַדְתָּא gives use those nuances and details that simply cannot be written. It is important to always look to Chazal for any decision. If -- when -- I make the wrong decision, I look back, review, learn more deeply, and go forward. I also thank anyone who points out my errors. I hate to be wrong, so when someone corrects me, that is one less thing to be wrong about. My goal is to continually be making new mistakes. The guide, though, in moving forward is always the Torah as preserved and transmitted to us  by Chazal.