Airplane Musings

I'm in the car on the way home from the airport. It's been an incredible trip to Eretz Yisroel for my older sister Chaya Sara's wedding. As we ride home, we look out the window for airplanes. The kids love spotting them in the sky and we take turns guessing if the plane is landing or just took off.

"The plane is so tiny," my son says.

"Could you believe we were just up on the sky in one of those tiny looking airplanes?"

And we talk about it. How all airplanes are really so much bigger than they look...because they are so far away. When we are inside, we can see their true size, but when we are down on the ground they appear to be so little and tiny.

This gets me thinking.

I think about people.

I think about every person.

Every person on this world has so much in them. So much depth, so much history, so much to offer and so much to share. From far, before you get to know them, they might seem so little. There might not appear to be more to them than their external.

She? She's so yeshivish.

Too frum for my liking.

Oh, her? That girl? That woman? That teenager?

She looks like she could use a little lecture in [shmiras halashon, anger management, tznius, hilchos shabbos...]

There's so much we don't know about the people we meet.

We may think we see, we may think we have an idea, but really, that first encounter is just a scratch on the surface. We are seeing people at a distance.

She may look like she has it all, but do you know how much she is struggling inside?

When you get to know the person, the real person inside, you can get to see how big they truly are. Their past, their upbringing, their challenges, their successes. All this, and more, is what makes them so much bigger than they appear to be.

She may look so yeshivish, but do you know what it took for her to get there? Do you have any idea what kind of home she grew up in, how she struggled to stay strong even when she could have gone under? Do you know that she could relate to challenges you are struggling with because of her history and the life and home she chose to build for herself? She's so much more than just her outside dress. Get to know her. Look past the clothing and shy smile. See what a deep, incredible person you are encountering.

All of us have depth. Each of us are more than just a tiny speck in this vast world of humanity. We may look small in a crowd of people, but each of us is really big. We are big because of the challenges we overcame, the middos we have worked on and the people we are striving to become. We each have so much to offer, so much to give and so much power to affect those around us in a positive way.

*    *    *

I think about the Torah.

From a distance, the Torah seems so small. How much is in those five little books? How much can it encompass?

But as one gets closer, they start to realize how much is in those five little books. So so much. The Torah is so vast, it is so deep, everything is in it.

"Hafoch ba v'Hafoch ba"

Keep looking.

Keep searching.

Keep questioning.

Keep challenging.

Everything is in it.

Halachos about how to treat each other, how to deal with other people's money, how to respect our parents, how to work on ourselves...It's all there.

There are practical lessons for life found in every pasha. I find them...Every week.

Advice, chizuk, knowledge, depth, the Torah is so full. Once one starts to get closer to the Torah, they begin to realize how little they know and how much there is to gain. The more one reads and studies, the more they will see how much there is to still attain.

From afar, the Torah may seem quite small. But the closer a person gets to this never-ending wellspring of knowledge and depth, the more they will see how vast the Torah truly is.

May you be able to see, to know, to explore and understand this special gift called the Torah and may it enrich your life in so many ways!

Waiting

I'm waiting for the train to come. It's cold out. I look at the people around me. Every few seconds, I see a couple of faces lean forward and take a peek.

They're checking to see if the train is a station away. Some may be hoping for a bit of relief from the cold, others may be in a rush to get to their destination. So they keep leaning forward, they keep looking.

Does checking for the train make it come any faster?

Of course not.

And the real ba'alei emunah may not even bother looking, knowing that the train will come when it is meant to come and they will arrive at their destination at the exact moment that Hashem wills it, and not a moment before.

But what about those who keep checking?

They are human. And they are looking for a way out of the cold, a relief from the waiting and hope to move on, to a better place.

Aren't many of us like that?

We're waiting, wishing and hoping to get to a better place.

I look around again. Some people are so busy with their phones, they don't mind the wait. Some are reading, perhaps a book or the newspaper. A rare few are coupled in pairs of twos or threes talking two each other, smiling and laughing.

What do we do while we wait?

Do we distract ourselves? Do we build relationships? Enrich lives? Make an impact on others? Learn? Grow? Connect?

There are many things in life we have to wait for. There are times the wait feels cold, harsh and almost unbearable. We look ahead, wish we can get a little peek into the future, just so we can know, so we can be sure, that our yeshuah will come.

No one can give promises. We don't know what the future will bring. But while we wait, we should try our utmost to live in the moment and take pleasure in the little things so we don't feel the frustration of waiting. We can try to learn, grow, connect, be inspired and be an inspiration to others. We can take the situation we are in and use it to grow, becoming better and stronger.

And all the while, we should daven to Hashem, never forgetting that He is the source of all salvation. Just like we may get frustrated with Him when things don't go our way, we should remember to turn to Him and ask Him to make things better, to make us better, to shorten the wait and to bring the yeshuah...And give us strength to pull through until we get there.

May you be able to become better and stronger while you wait, remain connected to Hashem, and be able to help other people pull through when they are the one looking and hoping for a salvation!