When friends and family asked me about my thoughts regarding the latest news in the United States, I answered back that I’ve been a bit distracted.
Of course, I am horrified by the assassination attempt on a former president’s life and the continued rise of heated political rhetoric that instigates such violence. I am equally alarmed by calls at political conventions to deport millions of people and talk of presidential nominees being inspired by autocrats such as Hungary’s Victor Orban. But I have spent the last week in a part of the world that is, shall I say, a bit disruptive to my usual worldview. Since last Shabbat, Shara and I have been traveling through Norway. Most of the vacation has been spent in the Norwegian fjords, in the towns of Flamm, Stalheim, Voss and Bergen.
The fjords of Norway were carved by glaciers in a multimillion-year process that occurred throughout several ice ages. The word fjord means ‘where one fares through’ and reflects the fact that these river inlets were used as passageways for countless generations of seafarers.
As I have looked out on mountains and rivers and hundreds of waterfalls that make the mountains appear as though they are crying in amazement, all I can think about is the smallness of our lives—the fact that we are but infinitesimal specks in the lifespan of the earth. The news at home seems small compared to the history that has formed such places and to their immense beauty.
Looking out at the wonders of our world and feeling our smallness is important. It humbles us and reminds us to appreciate the simple and often forgotten aspects of our lives – it forces us to never lose ourselves to our problems and it energizes us by helping us to put those problems in context. Especially when we feel so completely overwhelmed by news and politics and division, standing back and seeing a world that is bigger is necessary.
That is the very purpose of Shabbat – a day reserved to stand back and look out at our world and be amazed by it.
It was Heschel who argued that acknowledging our awe should be an obligation. He wrote, “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually.”
While it may be easier to do in places like Norway, we can find ways to do it at home as well.
Mah Rabu Ma’aseh’cha Adonai. My God, how wondrous are your works.
Shabbat Shalom
Looking forward to being back with you on Sunday and to next Shabbat and Shabbat Torah study.
