Preparation – Parshas Emor 5771
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In our parsha we have the commandment to make a Kiddush Hashem. This Mitzvah is one of the most fundamental in the entire Torah. Hashem created us to be His representatives on earth. When we act properly, people see us and learn how the Torah dictates that we should act. Ethicists have studied the impressive moral standards of Jewish businessmen and have stressed how impressed they were with Jewish honesty and integrity. I recently read an article describing the great trust and commitment captured by a simple handshake given in the Jewish Hasidic diamond district. Tens of millions of dollars in business is carried out with no contract or lawyers but only with a simple verbal commitment and handshake.
Rebbe Akiva is famous for the end of his life that personified giving up one’s life Al Kiddush Hashem, bringing honor to Hashem. He was murdered by the Romans on account of his teaching Torah to the Jews. The Gemara (Berachos 61a) tells us that when the Romans began to comb Rebbe Akiva’s back with iron combs, their most famously painful torture in those days, the students heard Rebbe Akiva saying Shema and accepting Hashem’s rule upon himself. They asked him, “does it go this far?” He replied, “my whole life I waited to fulfil this Mitzvah.”
The Shlah HaKodosh asks, how did Rebbe Akiva find the strength to bring out this greatness? He explains that what Rebbe Akiva answered his students was that the way that he got to the level of being able to actively accept Hashem’s will was by practicing and imagining this everyday. When we plan and practice ahead of time then we are able to perform at the most important moments of truth.
Life is about preparation. We should not try to learn a new character trait when we are pressed to do it, rather we should learn and practice it beforehand so that we come prepared to the anticipated situation. If one is working on being more patient with his children, he shouldn’t wait until he is frustrated, upset and overwhelmed by his kid’s actions and only then begin to think about ways to stay calm. Rather, on a calm day he should think about possible things that his kid does that get him upset and devise ways in which he can stay calm and solution-focused when it becomes relevant.
Indeed, this is the entire theme of counting Sefiras HaOmer. We are counting and actively preparing for Shavuos. May we all succeed in preparing ourselves for the things in life that are important to us.
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