Half Empty or Half Full (B'halotcha)
(Behalotecha, 5764)
“Moday ani lifneka Melech chai v’chayam Shechezarta bi nishmati b’cheml; raba emunatecha”.
“I give thanks unto thee, O King, who livest and endurest, who hast mercifully restored my soul unto me; great is thy faithfulness”. (“Daily Prayers”, Dr. M. Stern)
With those words the devout Jew begins each new day. It sets a tone for thanksgiving and appreciation of life and the whole creation which God has given to mankind. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all stay in that frame of mind throughout each day.
But unfortunately, given today’s world we hardly seem a grateful people. Many would say; “9/11, terrorism, Iraq, gas prices, bad economy, what do we have to be grateful for?”.
Similarly, in this week’s Torah portion the children of Israel are asking the same question. The parashah opens as the Children of Israel are about to set off on their journey to the Promised land. For over a year they have been encamped around Sinai receiving the Torah, and organizing for the journey to Canaan. In that time God has provided everything for them, and more than that, has made them into new people, given them a new purpose and new hope for themselves and their children. But the slave mentality dies hard. The people ungratefully, begin to complain “Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.” (Num 11:1) One has to wonder what kind of adversity the people were experiencing. Just a year earlier they had all been slaves, the property of others who abused them in all kinds of ways. Oh how soon we forget! Certainly these people had forgotten much, and in their ingratitude they complained. That complaining created something more sinister, a group of people who fed on the Israelites discontent and created even more chaos. “And the rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat? "We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna." (Num 11:4-6) This “rabble” perverts even that which is good into something evil in the sight of the people.
It seems not so much different than we in modern America. Despite the fact that we live in the most prosperous land in the history of the world, and despite the fact that most of us do not know from want of any kind, we find all manner of reasons to complain about something. If its not the price of gasoline, its some new law we find disadvantageous. If we are not complaining about our neighbor, then its some foreign country. More and more, it seems we see the cup of life as half empty rather than as half full. Perhaps it’s the proliferation of negativity projected by the media. Whatever is going on in the world we seem to hear about the bad rather than the good. Whatever it is, there must be a better way.
That way is the way of appreciation. What we need most of all in this world the a sense of gratitude. Of thankfulness to God, our Creator, for providing us with all that we need for life. As he provided the Israelites with everything needed to sustain them, He still provides all of us with life. (“He daily renews the creation”). More than that, in this land of plenty we have everything we need and more to live abundantly, if we spent more of our time appreciating what we have instead of complaining about what we do not.
Messiah Yeshua, once encountered someone who not content with his life and looking for “his due”, wanted to enlist Him to get his way in a dispute with his brother. He said to Yeshua; "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But He said to him, "Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbiter over you?" And He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." (Luke 12:13-15).
What will give our lives meaning, and help each of us to navigate happy, contented, fruitful lives is by cultivating a spirit of thankfulness and appreciation for all that God has, is, and will provide for all of us.
“We give thanks unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God, and the God of our fathers for ever and ever; Thou art the Shield of our salvation through every generation. We will give thanks unto Thee and declare Thy praise for our lives which are committed to Thy charge, and for Thy miracles, which are daily with us, and for Thy wonders and Thy benefits, which are wrought at all times, evening, morn and noon. O Thou who art all-good, whose mercies fail not; Thou, merciful Being, whose lovingkindness never cease, we have ever hoped in Thee.” (from the Daily Amidah, Daily Prayers”, Dr. M. Stern)