RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: EVEN IN TIMES OF LOSS, MAINTAIN AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: EVEN IN TIMES OF LOSS, MAINTAIN AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

 

February 1,2011, Bluffton Sun , BLUFFTON, SC

 

Shalom and Peace:

 

We have been discussing in this second series for the Bluffton Sun, the Judaic concepts of how we are to treat our fellows, with love and ethics. This is called Derek Eretz. Part of Derek Eretz is  how we spiritually live with ourselves.

 

In the Talmud Tractate on Derek Eretz 1:4, the Sages teach:  ''If you have sustained a loss of your property, remember that Job lost his property, children, and health. '' It is an understatement to say that this is a very timely adage.  While this lesson  is easy  to accept when things are going well in our lives, especially financially, it is much more difficult to accept when things are not going well in our lives.

 

To understand a truism in our minds, and then to accept it and believe it in our hearts, is one of the most difficult parts of being spiritually fit. " It is just as great a distance from knowing something to not knowing something as is the distance from knowing something in your head alone to internalizing it into your heart," said Rabbi Yisrael Salanter. When our heart is connected with our mind, we have become integrated and we will know true shalom, wholeness and Oneness with God, even when things are not going ''our way.''

 

So this adage brings us again to living a life with an attitude of gratitude. Few of us could suffer like Job, who lost all yet did not loose faith in God. It is a powerful story.

 

We need to remember in these tough times that if we have lost property , livelihood, even our homes, but still have our health and family, we need to still be grateful. While it is not too often brought to our attention, most of the humans on this globe, neither have property, a steady livelihood, or even their health and families. What many of us have lost in this economy, most of the world's inhabitants would never earn in 100 lifetimes.

 

We need to remind ourselves why the Hebrews and Jews have a ceremony at the start of the lunar month circa every four weeks. Our Sages in the Kaballah's Zohar, teach that like the moon our lives will have periods of waxing, and periods of waning. No human ever has lived a life as a fully waxed full moon. All of us have or will have situations and challenges to overcome. Spiritually we must not let these overcome us.

 

So this timely adage teaches us that while we may have lost material possessions, God, in His time, will give us the strength  and wisdom to rebuild our lives, just as Job was able to start over successfully. Amen.

 

Rabbi Arthur Segal, Hilton Head, teacher, author, international lecturer, can be reached at RabbiSegal@JewishSpiritualRenewal.net. Follow him at http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com  , on Twitter@RabbiASegal, and FaceBook@ArthurLSegal.

 

Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal www.jewishrenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 

If visiting SC's Low Country, contact us for a Shabbat meal, in our home by the sea, our beth yam.

 

Maker of Shalom (Oseh Shalom) help make us deserving of Shalom beyond all human comprehension!

 

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Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal www.jewishrenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA