I Made My Day!

Translated by Chana Cohen

My complete lack of expertise in working with anything mechanical is legendary. For example, when it comes to changing light bulbs, I can’t explain why, but it is a frightening challenge for me. Ordinary light bulbs are enormously difficult for me, so just imagine what happens when it comes to halogen bulbs. The whole situation becomes even more complex. The delicate, fragile threads of the bulb never seemed to fit into the base. Add the frightening warning not to touch it because it is sensitive to human touch, which shortens its lifespan, plus the fear that halogen bulbs tend to explode quicker than regular bulbs, and the high heat they spread often causes fires.

Take all of these factors plus my irrational fear and the result is pretty obvious. So when the light bulbs in my house need to be replaced I call my electrician, and he deals with the replacements.

I used to be embarrassed of this strange weakness, but today I’m no longer ashamed and do not hide it from anyone (it seems to me that my electrician is quite pleased with this funny and strange arrangement). So every few months, when the house is dark enough, he arrives. The deal is that I buy the bulbs and whatever else is needed, he installs them with little difficulty, and the house is lit up once again with the artificial light that technology offers today.

A few days ago one of the halogen bulbs burnt out. I have no idea why, but I decided to take this on as an adventure. Was it imaginary courage? Arrogance? I was determined to change it myself no matter what. Suddenly, it seemed to me that this was the test of my masculinity, and I wasn’t willing to wait until more bulbs burnt out and the electrician came to deal with the issue. This time, I was doing it myself.

I went to the store where I always buy new bulbs with the burnt out bulb in hand so I could show them exactly what I needed. They had so many different models, colors and sizes, but the one I needed wasn’t in stock. In the end, the store owner was able to find the bulb most similar to the one I wanted – obviously the most expensive one he had – and I went home smiling and hoping for the best.

I’m not sure if anyone ever made up a prayer for changing a light bulb. Either way, I came up with one from the depths of my heart that day and offered it up to the Creator. Then, after three unsuccessful tries – it worked! I connected it, checked if it was on, switched it off, turned it back on, and turned it off and on again. There we go! The brand new light bulb was working.

I celebrated my little victory joyously, with a huge smile on my face. ‘Berel, you made my day’, I thought, patting myself on the back…

It’s amazing how much we care about the small things in life. Take the example of the Prophet Jonah. The Castor tree that G-d created special for him out of nowhere so that he would have some shade brought him such happiness. This happened after he was instrumental in saving the lives of thousands of people in Nineveh. They were all destined to die and the city was to be destroyed because of their behavior, but after they heard Jonah’s rebuke they repented and were saved. Then, G-d created the Castor tree to offer Jonah shade from the blazing sun. Shortly afterward, when the tree died, Jonah became extremely hurt and angry. This is quite strange. How could Jonah get so upset over a little tree after he saved thousands of lives and a huge city?

The Creator of the Universe was reminding Jonah of the difference between the details and the overall picture, between the main and most important thing and the marginal things, about pleasure and also a little bit about temporary discomfort.

There was a famous ice hockey player who said, after looking back at his successful career: “I was not the strongest or fastest player on the ice. My shots were not always strong or precise. I was only successful because of one important fact – I always knew where the hockey puck was…”

Replacing burnt out light bulbs is part of almost every person’s life. But they are not the ‘main thing’ in our lives. We have plenty of reminders of the essence and most important part of life. Serving G-d, praying, observance of the Torah and mitzvot, faith in G-d and belief in our sages are the central and most important parts of life. And there is no handyman or electrician we can rely on to replace the burnt out bulbs in our lives. We are the only ones who can repair and light up the bulbs of our souls. The only way to do this is by making sure to keep our eye on the hockey puck, and not to fall or be alarmed by the occasional distractions and disturbances, even if we were not informed about them in advance.