TEVA TALK -The Ascent

You feel the air getting thinner as your lungs cry out with each shallow breath. Your legs are burning with the strain, threatening to collapse. Although you’ve been training for this moment for months, your oxygen-starved brain can only follow one command – to put one foot in front of the other. Each step brings you closer to the summit.

The Mountain of Mountains

Classifying a landmass as a mountain is obviously dependent on its height, but the calculation must begin at sea level. Technically, Hawaii’s Mauna Kea would be the tallest mountain in the world, stretching 33,496 feet from its base to its top. Starting far below the water’s surface, however, disqualifies it from competing with the grounded giants. As a result, Mt. Everest holds its place in the winner’s circle, at around 29,000 feet, which means it stretches almost five-and-a-half miles into the sky! (There are some disagreements as to exactly how tall it is, and no one wants to go back and double-check.)

During the coldest times of the year, the temperature on Mt. Everest only rises to negative 33 degrees Fahrenheit but may fall to negative 76. The climb costs between $30,000 and $80,000, including equipment and Sherpa guides, and it takes around two months to scale its slopes as climbers must allow time to acclimate to the thin air. Despite the challenges, almost 4,000 people* have attempted to climb to its peak; around 300 never made the return trip.

What ostensibly irresistible force pulls people to ascend? On May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa partner, Tenzing Norgay, became the first people to ever reach the top of Mt. Everest. Although many credit Hillary with explaining that his motivation for climbing was “because it was there,” that famous quote was actually said 30 years earlier by George Mallory before his final, and fatal, attempt to conquer the peak.

Although people often question Mallory’s reasoning, perhaps there is more to his point than first meets the eye. After all, people do things all the time just “because they are there.” The only reason I do my dishes is because they are there. I don’t have a deep passionate drive to conquer the clutter in my house. I clean up the toys because they are there. Maybe I should take up mountain climbing. At least then I won’t have to do the dishes.

A Mountain of Knowledge

Mt. Everest is named for the British surveyor who found a way to perfect the technique of triangulation to accurately measure its impressive height, but Sir George Everest didn’t survey the mountain himself and never actually saw with his own eyes the mountain that bears his name. His student and successor, Andrew Waugh (who did the surveying after Everest retired), was the one who recommended that his mentor be given the honor. In 1865, it was officially crowned “Mt. Everest,” instead of its original name: Peak XV.

The second highest mountain, known as K-2, is one of the deadliest, having claimed about one quarter of the climbers who answered its call. In addition to earning its moniker, “The Savage Mountain,” K-2 holds the Guiness World Record for the longest name, Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, which means “the place where Tmatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed, and swallowed mountains, known as landeater, played his nose flute to his loved one.”

There are also many impressive mountains in space, including Olympus Mons. Located on Mars, it is approximately 72,000 feet tall, around two-and-a-half times taller than Mt. Everest. Despite its size, it may be easier to climb because of the low gravity on that planet.

The longest mountain chain in the world is the Andes Mountains, which spans over 4,000 miles through seven countries in South America. It is the source of the mighty Amazon River as well as the birthplace of potatoes. Columbus discovered these plants when he explored the new world and brought them back to Europe, forever changing the world’s dietary landscape, as well as its geography.

Maryland’s tallest mountain, Hoye-Crest, only reaches the knees of Mt. Everest with its humble height of 3,360 feet. Located just a few minutes from our border with West Virginia, the view is gorgeous, but it may be a bit far to justify the drive over. As an added incentive, though, it does have a stack of certificates at the top that proud hikers can bring home to prove that they made it all the way to the top.

Purple Mountains Majesty

Mountains cover one-fifth of the Earth’s surface, gracing every continent with at least one stunning mountain range. From far away, mountains seem to melt into the sky, fading from their sharp browns and grays to blue. It’s odd that a solid mass of stone should be able to simply change color depending on your distance, but it has to do with the way the sun shines on the mountains, or rather, how it shines on the air in front of them.

All of the colors that we see are contained in the white light that comes from the sun. After its eight-minute journey to Earth, the light encounters air molecules for the first time, which break it into its various hues, ranging from red and orange (long waves) to blue and purple (short waves), depending on the wavelength. The shorter the wavelength, the more likely it will rebound off the air molecules, making blue and purple the most visible. Really, the mountains should appear purple (technically violet) since that color has the shortest wavelength, but the sun releases much more blue, masking the purple tint. As you move farther away, there is more air (and therefore more air molecules) between you and the mountains, which will make them look increasingly bluish. (Bluish is a real word, I looked it up. It’s similar to cleanish, as in, my playroom is usually cleanish after I pick up the toys – because they are there.)

Mountain versus a Molehill

Until the middle 1900s, the United States and the United Kingdom agreed that mountains were defined as rising more than 1,000 feet above sea level. Both countries, however, discarded their distinctions between mountains and hills and now leave it up to the individual’s discretion to identify them. So, according to the leading countries of the free world, your perspective creates the reality of the nature around you. In short, two hikers can traverse the same stretch of ground, but one of them will have climbed a hill, while the other scaled a mountain.

This concept is powerfully illustrated by Rabbi Yehuda, in Gemara Sukkah 52, which mentions that, in the future when the yetzer hara is ultimately killed, it will resemble a mountain to the tzadikim (righteous ones) but look like a thin thread of string to the resha’im (evil ones). The tzadikim will shed tears of joy when they realize just how large the obstacles in their lives really were and how much Hashem helped them to succeed each step of the way. The resha’im will also cry, but their tears will be bitter when they realize how little stood between them and spiritual growth. What you perceive depends more on who you are than on what lies in front of you.

A Mountain of Wealth

Fifty days after leaving Mitzrayim with all of the treasure of an empire, we stood at Har Sinai to receive something worth so much more: the Torah. The fact that we were united in heart made it possible to create the connection between us and Hashem. Using Har Sinai as a role model for humility, we have learned that our relationship with and respect for others are the roots from which we spiritually grow.

 The Midrash says that the foot of the mountain was blooming with fragrant flowers because when we stand together ready to accept the Torah, the atmosphere we establish is beautiful and pleasant.

Today, after weeks of improving ourselves through Sefiras Ha’omer, placing one foot in front of the other, we are ready to reach the summit, surrounded by the unified support of our community, family, and friends. The air is fresh as we savor each sweet breath, and our legs eagerly carry us forward.

We all have mountains in our minds – stumbling blocks that stubbornly stand between where we are and where we want to go. The truth, however, is that our mountains are not obstacles but opportunities. They are not blocking our potential; rather, they are building our progress. The view from the top is truly priceless, and it is available to everyone who makes the effort to ascend.

Debbie Glazer lives in Pikesville with her husband and seven children and teaches Language Arts in Bnos Yisroel High School. She can often be found either writing or reading and loves to share her passion for the written word with others.