When my son Ari was in kindergarten the teacher asked the class “what would you like to be when you grow up?” When she called on Ari he said “a fire truck.” Even at age five, Ari knew how to deliver an outrageous line with a straight face. Over the decades he’s honed that skill. Because the year was 1977, the teacher knew that Ari was testing her; therefore, she simply said, “That’s interesting.” Ari, realizing that his teacher was up to the task of teaching him, went on to have an excellent school year.

Having just begun the Torah again, it is noteworthy that immediately after man’s creation the critical commandment that Hashem gives to Adam and Chava is stated in the negative: “You must not eat from the tree of knowledge.” Later, in Shemos (Exodus), seven of the Ten Commandments are stated in the negative. Of the 613 mitzvos, 365 (the majority) are thou-shall-nots. When the famous sage Hillel states what is commonly known as the Golden Rule, he speaks in the negative: “That which is hateful to you, you should not do to your fellow man.” Throughout the Talmud, the sages often put ethical maxims in the negative. For example: In Pirkei Avos 2:5: “Do not separate yourself from the community,”  “Do not judge your neighbor until you are in his place,” “Do not say when I am free I will study for you may never be free.”

According to the fifth chapter in Pirkei Avos, I am now between “a ripe old age” and “showing strength.” May G-d please continue to bestow His blessings upon me, my wife, our children, and grandchildren.

We live our lives in uncharted territory. Each stage brings new opportunities and challenges. The famous words from “Fiddler on the Roof” come to mind:

Sunrise, sunset…Swiftly go the years

One season following another, laden with happiness and tears

Is this the little girl I carried? Is this the little boy at play?

I don’t remember growing older; when did they?”

?During my tenure as a congregational rabbi in South Africa I had the privilege of meeting many lovely Jews of varying levels of knowledge and observance. To address the needs of the greater community, my shul established a three-tier learning program for beginners, intermediate, and advanced students. Our local kollel (comprised of Anglo-Israelis on two-year rotations), which at the time met in my shul, serviced the intermediate and advanced students with input from myself and my rabbinic colleagues. Personally, I most enjoyed teaching the beginners. These were dedicated, mostly middle-aged individuals who never had an opportunity to properly study the basics of Judaism. While I worked to inspire them, they consistently inspired me!

After 16 months of COVID, we are all still being challenged in manifold ways. It seems to me that one of the “tests” that we are experiencing is in the area of v’ahavta lerayacha kamocha, loving others as ourselves! “Loving” others is not simple! In fact, how we love those around us may reveal who we are!

Twenty-five years ago I had an amazing Noahide speak to my community in Cape Town, South Africa. His name was J. David Davis. It was 1996, and he had published his first book, Finding the G-d of Noah.

Many Jews have never heard of Noahides. Those who have often think of them as non-Jews who observe the rule of law, accept the core of the Ten Commandments, and don’t eat from a live animal. In fact, there are Noahides who are Torah-observant, G-d-fearing non-Jews who reject all religious beliefs other than the laws of Noah as defined by the Torah. One of the modern leaders of these individuals was J. David Davis of Athens, Tennessee.