What Do You Want to see in Your Lifetime?
(And What are You Doing About It?)

A Jewish music professor recently said to me that he did not feel that he was contributing anything to the world and that he was thinking about applying to rabbinic school. It took me some time to convince him that by teaching and edifying students engaged in academic pursuit, he was indeed adding an awful lot to the betterment of our world. For as the Midrash teaches, “He who learns receives but one-fifth of the reward of him who teaches.” With Jewish tradition at my side, it was actually very easy to convince him that anyone who teaches for a living adds a tremendous amount to our world.

I think that many of us at some time do ask ourselves if our lives have meaning, and if we are contributing to making our world a better place. Certainly we all have a vision of what improvements we would like to see in our world; less pollution, better public education, a reduction in crime, a more efficient government and legal system, etc. And many of us are out there pounding the pavement making an effort to support the causes we sympathize with.

We are also pursuing (in this post 9/11 world) peace and stability, an end to terrorism, and an end to the conflict in the Middle East. I often think to myself when someone passes away that it is a shame they did not live to see peace in Israel. I certainly hope that when my time comes, I will enter the next world knowing that Jews have a place in this world where they can live peacefully in a Jewish state. And since there are other things I want to see happen in my lifetime, the question I must ask myself is not whether or not I will live long enough to see a resolution of the issues that trouble me, but what am I doing to help bring about that resolution in my own days.

In the play “The Rothschild's,” Sheldon Harnick wrote the following;

   In my own lifetime, I want to see the fighting cease,
   In my own lifetime, I want to enjoy the fruits of peace.
   While I’m still here I want to know beyond a doubt that no one can lock us in or lock us out……..
   In my own lifetime, I want to see our efforts blessed.
   In my own lifetime, I want to see the walls come down and then I’ll rest.
   This Moses wants to see the Promised Land in my own lifetime!

I cannot promise that you we will all see the Promised Land in your lifetime. But I can assure you that you will feel better about yourself and find meaning in your life if you fight against what you deem unjust! In our time, the fight against the ills of our world perseveres. Let’s not sit on the sidelines and watch - let’s get in the game. For that is where we shall find meaning in our lives!

B’shalom,
Jeremy Barras