TORAH FROM THE HOT AIR BALLOON “It’s really useful to travel, if you want to see new things.” (Around the World in 80 Days, Jules Verne)
What do you notice in these pictures?
Tales of the Hasidim Rabbi Bunim said to his disciples: “Everyone must have two pockets, so that he can reach into the one or the other, according to his needs. In his right pocket are the words: ‘For my sake was the world created,’ and in his left: ‘I am earth and ashes.’”
How can we have your hands in both pockets and keep an eye on two completely different perspectives of a situation?
Why should we? 1
Tehillim 8:4-5 ָ ש ֣ה אֶ צְ ְ ּבע ֶֹת ָ ֶש֭מ ן־א ָד ֗ם ִּכ֣י ָ֝ ֶֽי־תז ְְּכ ֶ ֑ר ּנו ּ ו ּב ִ ְתה׃ מָ ה־אֱ נ֥ו ֹׁש ִּכ ָ ּ ש ֣ר כּ ֹו ָנֽנ ֶ ׁ ֲ֑יך י ֵָר ַ֥ח ְו֝כ ֹוכָבִ ֗ים א ֵׂ ע ֲ ַיך מ ָ ׁ ִּכ ֽי־אֶ ְראֶ ֣ה ִתפְ ְק ֶ ֽד ּנו ּ׃ When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars that You set in place, what are human beings that You have been mindful of them, mortals that You have taken note of them. Steinsaltz on Tehillim 8 After seeing the sun, moon, and stars, after contemplating enormous and distant worlds, one might conclude that man is an inconsequential and pitiful creation, fundamentally unworthy of attention from God above. Yet somehow, despite man’s insignificance, You, God, have chosen to bestow on him manifold gifts.
When we notice the bigness of the universe, what should it make us feel? Mishnah Berakhot 9 שכּ ֹח ֹו וּגְבו ָּרת ֹו מָ לֵא ֶ ׁ אוֹמֵ ר ָּברו ְּך, וְעַ ל הָ רו ּחוֹת, וְעַ ל הָ ְרעָ ִמים, וְעַ ל הַ ְ ּב ָר ִקים, וְעַ ל הַ ְּזוָעוֹת,עַ ל הַ ז ִִּיקין שה ֵׂ ע ֲ ַשה מ ֵׂ אוֹמֵ ר ָּברו ְּך ע ֹו, וְעַ ל הַ ִּמ ְד ָּברוֹת, וְעַ ל הַ ּנְהָ רוֹת, וְעַ ל הַ י ּ ִַּמים, וְעַ ל הַ ּגְבָ עוֹת, עַ ל הֶ הָ ִרים.עוֹלָ ם .אשית ִ ׁ בְ ֵר For comets and earthquakes, for lightning, thunder, and gale force winds, manifestations of the power of the Creator, one recites: Blessed is [God], Whose strength and power fill the world. For extraordinary mountains, hills, seas, rivers, and deserts, one recites: Blessed is [God], Author of creation. Mishnah Avot 3 ו ּלְ אָ ן אַ ּ ָתה,את ָ ַּדע מֵ אַ יִן ָּב.ידי עֲבֵ ָרה ֵ ִלשה ְדבָ ִרים ו ְִאי אַ ּ ָתה בָ א ל ָ ׁ ִה ְס ּ ַת ּכֵל ִ ּב ׁ ְש,ע ֲַקבְ יָא בֶ ן מַ הֲ לַ לְ אֵ ל אוֹמֵ ר . וְלִ פְ נֵי ִמי אַ ּ ָתה עָ ִתיד לִ ּ ֵתן ִּדין וְחֶ ׁ ְשבּ וֹן,ה ֹול ְֵך Akavia ben Mahalalel says: Keep your eye on three things, and you will not come to sin: Know from where you came, and to where you are going, and before Whom you are destined to give an account and a reckoning.
Where do you come from? Where are you going? Who will you have to give an account to? 2