“How foolish are these Babylonians who eat their bread with bread.” ( Talmud Beitzah 16a )

                     -----------------------------------------  

Whenever I visit my former community inAtlanta I am thank G-d greeted warmly — and invariably with two questions “Hello good to see you. Are you here for any special reason?” and “How long are you staying?”

It is a litany that is repeated constantly by well-meaning friendly people who without realizing it are inadvertently touching on something very profound. For this litany contains a deeper layer of meaning one that is appropriate for contemplation as the Yamim Noraim rapidly approach. They are in fact questions everyone should ask — not of others but of one’s own self.

Are you here for any special reason? The secret to a life of meaning is to recognize that we are here for a special reason. That special reason is not easily apprehended and not everyone has the great merit to discover his personal raison d’être. One thing however is certain. We were not placed on this earth simply to “eat drink and be merry ” as Koheles 8:15 tells us (and as does Isaiah in 22:13[r1] ).

The Talmud scoffs at the Babylonians because “they eat their bread with bread.” This means according to many teachers of mussar they were caught in a revolving door from which they could not escape. They ate bread with one purpose — in order to eat bread again. They existed only in order to exist. But a major tenet of Torah faith is that each individual has a special role in G-d’s mysterious plan for mankind. Only a beast eats in order to eat again because a beast lives only for the physical and the now. The Jew has a nobler vision and our function on earth is to pursue that nobler vision.

So when asked the question the answer which I never say out loud because I don’t want to appear patronizing but which crosses my mind is — Yes as a Jew I do believe that each one of us is here for some special reason and that our presence here is not haphazard.  And while we are here our task is to try to connect with our Creator. This connection comes about of course through serious prayer serious tzedakah serious performance of mitzvos and serious study of Torah. (So many “serious’s?” Well yes. We live in a time of such overwhelming lightheadedness frivolousness and superficialities that the adjective “serious” has to be used for serious things.) And it is not only in the obviously spiritual matters that these Divine connections are available they are also accessible in the most mundane activities: Integrity in business and professions creating respect for G-d and Torah through the ways we interact with others and being a general all-around mentsch.

 How long are you staying? Who knows? The length of our visit on earth is not in our control. Some stay in this world until 120 and some stay only a relatively short time. Why this should be so is a mystery beyond our ken. But “How long are you staying?” is a good question to keep in mind at all times especially this season of the year. It’s a somber question and a sobering one but a question that can paradoxically add joy and serenity to life.  Say the Sages in Pirkei Avos  “Shuv yom echad lifnei meesascha ” return [to G-d] one day before your death. When precisely is that? You don’t know. Therefore…..

 So dear friend do tell me: Are you here for any special reason? And pray tell how long are you staying? The fact that no one knows the answer to question number two makes it all the more crucial that we think carefully about question number one.