“If you will walk in My statutes… ” (Vayikra 26:3)

I heard the following mashal in the name of the son of the Alter of Kelm Rav Nachum Ze’ev ztz”l: A group of men sat at a table eating and drinking. There was no noticeable difference between the men. After the meal they all got up to leave while one man remained sitting. No one knew why until they looked down and saw he had no legs.
While they all sat at the table no one could see he was missing his legs. Once it came time to leave however everyone could see. So too said Rav Nachum Ze’ev there are people who sit and learn in the same yeshivah as their friends and there is no recognizable difference between them. However afterward when they need to go out into the world the difference between one and the other is noticeable; you see who has legs and who does not. (Rav Yaakov Neiman Darchei Mussar)
Sometimes I think I have no need for a calendar. Assuming that is I receive the colorful weekly circulars.
The day after Tu B’Shevat the circulars are full of cellophane-wrapped baskets stunning costumes elaborate Megillah cases. I flip through the pre-Pesach circulars and discover there’s no need to compile a shopping list. Someone already did that job for me with an all-inclusive inventory from groceries to a candle and feather for bedikas chometz to socks for Chol Hamoed. Before Shavuos I can practically taste the cheesecakes on the pages.
Right now the streets are full of little people in a flurry of activity. Cardboard boxes are dragged alongside dry logs a torn-up sofa and discarded cabinet doors from someone’s kitchen remodel. All this is arranged in an impressive pile on the lot adjacent to the shul. Then the children take part in the exalted task of shlepping a very long beam full of rusty nails to be the grand linchpin.
And in this manner we can explain the Gemara (Brachos 35) “When they do the Will of Hashem their work is done by others as it says ‘And they shall stand and feed your flocks.’ However when they do not do the Will of Hashem then ‘You shall gather in your grain.’ ” Tosafos asks: “Isn’t [the latter quote] referring to when they are doing Hashem’s Will? As it says ‘And it shall come to pass if you shall hearken diligently… to love etc…’ ”
However it is possible that a person is on a high madreigah the madreigah of loving Hashem and is still called one not doing the Will of Hashem. This is because the second paragraph of Shema speaks in the plural. This means he is fulfilling the Torah when he’s together with a group [and] the group carries him along but on his own he doesn’t have legs to walk on and remains in his place.
And this person is called not doing the Will of Hashem since he needs others to help him. And this could be the intent of the Tosafos that explains “When they do not do…” (ibid.)
Everyone is talking about Sefiras Ha’omer. The circulars are full of advertisements for new clothes that we can finally buy and we’ll go to see the bonfires and sing “Bar Yochai” and “Ashreichem Yisrael.” And I ask myself suddenly: Do I have feet to walk on my own?
Have I been content with simply flowing with the current sitting in my boat watching and soaking in the wonderful scenery and atmosphere around me yet allowing my steering wheel to become dust-covered?
“If you will walk in My statutes.” Walk. I shouldn’t sit and watch the mitzvos being down from behind my window. I must walk. With my own two feet with my own efforts to reach the inner place unique to me the places I need to reach.
A day will come when we will be asked where we went on our own. A day will come when we won’t be surrounded by the latest circulars public bonfires park bench discussions and an infectious atmosphere. Our personal path will be examined. And only the steps we ourselves took will count.
I shut the circular and lower the shades blocking out the activity in the street. The time has come to walk.