Keeping the High

Now that the holidays have passed and we’ve all been elevated, it’s time that we make sure we keep this feeling. But how? So often we experience a third meal on Shabbat, the sun is setting, and you’ve just sang some beautiful songs with your guests and family. You are at this moment savoring every second and feel you have gone up a spiritual level for good. It is at this moment where you feel that you really understand the points of emuna and see how to implement them all into your personal life for good.

But then – Boom! You look at your watch and it’s now very late. You’ve missed your minyan and know that you still need to wash the floor tonight and do the dishes you promised your wife. Suddenly you are tested, the kids don’t want to sleep, the trash needs to be taken out, and you are starting to feel the long week ahead, and you still haven’t eaten the fourth meal to say goodbye to the Shabbat. Sound familiar?

Chances are that if you are tested like this, Hashem loves you very much. Only the very best are given tests. All of our forefathers and great tzadikkim from the past to the present have been through challenges. No one who really goes high in Torah is on easy street their whole life. So remember that if you ever come out of a spiritual high and then feel like you hit rock bottom, it’s Hashem telling you that you are fit for a higher level. But the question is how do you handle the stress? How can you get back to that elevated feeling with all of the special ideas you had about your life? How do you get out of the mindset of “Yo! When am I ever going to get rid of this bad habit, why does it keep throwing me down, when am I ever gonna be over this and be more like my Rav? I’ve read all the Emuna books, what’s goin’ on here!!?”

We need to make a resolution of desire. That no matter what fall you might have, you are going to take it with a chill pill. Look at King Solomon’s quote in proverbs “Seven times a tzaddik falls and gets up.”  Rav Lazer Brody shares his elaboration on the verse in which it comes to teach that only someone who has fallen seven times can be called a tzaddik!!!!!  Meaning, only if you are tested, and fail sometimes are you really a success.

No one becomes Moses overnight. It takes a lifetime, but don’t fear! Dear friend, that is just the point, think about your growth not in terms of your actual goal, but the fact that you are trying a little bit more and more every day.

For example this past Elul, I was challenged many times with my anger. I was almost hit by a motorcycle while riding my bike, and many of my students at school were terribly disrespectful. To make the story short, I didn’t exactly succeed in being Mr. Cool. In fact I was very ashamed of how I acted and which words I used. But the point is this, I didn’t get all sad and into the ‘beat myself up’ mode. Why? Two answers, Garden of Emuna and In Forest Fields.  These two books help you look at your faults, (we all have them) and work with them in a productive manner through self-improvement and personal prayer. You take yourself for an hour and just be honest with G-d about your mistakes and share your regret, both with Hashem and the people you hurt and move on. In fact, at the end of our personal prayer sessions, we all say “I now declare a new beginning, and from today, I hereby attach myself to You, beloved Father in Heaven!”

That’s it! Move on, no more dwelling and moping in sadness. Like Rabbi Brody says, you need to take on the mindset of an Editor for a newspaper. There are always new things going on, yesterday’s news isn’t relevant anymore. Look at your positive qualities!

HOMEWORK: OK, so back to keeping our new levels that we attain during moments of elevation. First of all, something that my Rabbis have told me is to keep a journal. Get a journal and share your experiences in life within your growth in Judaism. Share in the journal what’s hard, what’s hurting you, where are you succeeding, and how you think you can be better! Every Shabbat, or new month, review where you have grown. It’s amazing what you’ll put down. Suddenly you’ll see that all of your high points aren’t just somewhere in your memory, but are an eternal treasure for generations to come.