(Rabbi’s Corner)

Rabbi Gary A. Glickstein

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi tells of a man who was born on May 5, 1955. He lived at 555 Fifth St. He had five children. His whole life seemed to have been enmeshed in fives. He met with his accountant who told him that his net worth was $555,555.55. On that same day, he saw that a horse named “Number Five” was running in the fifth race. Convinced it was a sign, the man ran to the track and bet his life’s savings on that horse. The horse came in fifth.

At times we make assumptions that lead to unforeseen conclusions because we fail to think out the situation completely. Sometimes we
hold on to erroneous concepts we acquired earlier in life that remain with us, leading us to wrong conclusions. We carry prejudices with
us from childhood into adulthood which corrupt our ability to see the world clearly.

This year, the National Endowment for the Arts published a study which demonstrates those who read books are the most likely to exercise,
play sports, volunteer, vote and stay out of jail. Most people think of readers as passive, isolated or self-absorbed. The study seems to indicate that the opposite is true. Readers are active, involved, friendlier and more muscular. Spirituality falls into this category for me. Most
Americans think of the Eastern concept of spirituality as the only way of being spiritual.

Rabbi Avraham Goldhar came up with the following paradigm of attributes to clarify the definition of spirituality. Put a mark by one attribute
from each pair that you identify as more spiritual:

1. Emotion .............. Intellect
2. Kindness .............. Justice
3. Solitude ............... Community
4. Nature ................ God
5. Serenity ................ Challenge

Now put a different mark on the words you most identify with the Jewish people. All the terms on the left are from an Eastern understanding
of spirituality. On the right, we find the Jewish understanding of spirituality. We Jews hold that spirituality without justice, kindness
and concern for others is empty.

Frank Lloyd Wright described his own method as “Think simple; reduce the whole of its parts into the simplest terms, getting back to first principles.”

This summer would be a wonderful time to rethink some of the “givens” each of us carry around.

Perhaps we can take some quiet time to think “simple.” Perhaps the way we think about gender, race, age, among a host of other concepts,
has frozen our thinking in a number of crucial areas of life. Perhaps this summer we can spend some time rethinking our presuppositions
and return to first principles. Apparently, being intellectual will also help us excercise more, vote regularly, volunteer in new ways, and stay
out of jail.