15 Sep YOM KIPPUR: GO FOR THE GOLD
I once took a trip with my
wife to Dubai. At one point
during the trip, our tour
guide brought us to a spice
market. We spent around
an hour perusing through
the market, marveling at the countless different
types of spices that were being sold, taking in the
aromas, and hearing about the different
properties of the various products.
Then, after about an hour, the tour guide said that
we needed to leave, because we had an
appointment for a tour of the Burj Khalifa, the
tallest building in the world.
As we were about to leave the area, we noticed a
different market. We asked the guide what this
was, and he explained that it was Dubai’s famous
gold market. Gold products could be purchased
there for significantly cheaper prices than
elsewhere.
“Wow, so let’s go check it out,” we said.
“But we can’t,” the guide insisted. “I already told
you, we have an appointment at the Burj Khalifa.
We need to run.”
I told my wife that we were living through a
classic mashal. What we experienced was, truly,
the story of so many people’s lives.
Instead of bringing us to the gold market, and
allowing us to buy precious jewelry, the guide
kept us for an hour at the spice market and then
rushed us out to see a tall building. We spent an
hour looking at spices, when we could have been
checking out gold.
Our “tour” of this world brings us opportunities
to acquire “spices” and to acquire “gold.” The
“spices” are enjoyable, and have a pleasing and
alluring “aroma,” but offer little long-term value,
as opposed to the “gold,” the mitzvot that we are
able to perform during our brief stay in this
world. Unfortunately, however, many people get
distracted by the “spices,” and end up without
any “gold.” They are too preoccupied with
vanity, with fleeting pleasures and delights, and
fail to make time to acquire “gold,” to involve
themselves in the things that really matter.
Each morning, before Shema, we pray that
Hashem should lead our hearts to love and fear
Him. The question arises; how can we pray to
Hashem that we should love and fear Him? Is
this not our responsibility? The Talmud teaches,
“Everything is in G-d’s hands, except the fear of
G-d.” Hashem controls everything except our
decision of how to act. We are given free will,
the choice to do the right thing or the wrong
thing. Why, then, do we pray to Hashem that we
should love and fear Him?
Rav Moshe Feinstein answered by noting that
we don’t ask Hashem to give us love and fear,
but rather that He should direct our hearts toward
love and fear. We ask Hashem to help us by
removing the distractions that lead us away from
Torah and mitzvot. We ask Him to keep us away
from the “spices” so that we can focus on the
“gold,” on the things that really matter. Of
course, the choice of whether to go to the “spice
market” or the “gold market” is ours. But we
pray for Hashem’s help, asking that He keep us
away from the distractions that pull us away
from the important and valuable things in life.
One of the purposes of Yom Kippur is to bring us
to the “gold market,” to redirect our focus and
attention. We withdraw from everything else in
life, even our basic needs, and spend the day
immersed entirely in kedushah. We go to the
extreme of forgetting about everything, including
food, and remain in the synagogue the entire day,
evaluating ourselves, reassessing our choices in
life, and talking to Hashem. We remind
ourselves of the difference between “spices”
and “gold,” that what really matters in life is
our relationship with Hashem, and the many
meaningful contributions that we can and should
be making.
Let us take advantage of this precious opportunity
to redirect our focus onto the “gold,” and commit
ourselves to pursue that which has real value,
and which lends our lives true meaning and
significance.