By Elisheva Maline
He
[Hillel] used to say, "If I am not for me, who will be for me; and when I
am only for myself, what am I; and if not now, when?
Hillel was a sage who lived in the twilight
years of our second beit hamikdash (holy temple). He stated,
"If I am not for me, then, who will be?" At first glance, one might
say, "The first clause in Hillel's quote is an absurdity. Obviously no one can
be there for any one." Essentially, man is stranded in his perception of the
world. People are born alone, and unaccompanied, people pass away from this
world alone as well. Now, although
the first phrase in Hillel's quote rings true, one need not listen to it with a somber ear. Hillel wasn't trying to depress us; rather, he urges us to discover what matters to us without the burden of depending on others. If you are looking to get a good grade, raise a
healthy, happy home, or even order a ticket to Venice, go right ahead
and do it! Don't wait for the moment to strike or for words that inspire; just
do it!
Avrahan
Avinu (our fore
father Abraham) believed in this pirkei avot. Ten generations after the flood and in the face of an
entire world gone askew, a world which trumpeted its belief in polytheism,
Avraham planted his feet and said, "There is only one G-d." The word Ivri (which means Hebrew) originated from a nickname Avraham's neighbors bequeathed
him. Back then, Ivri meant 'other.' People saw Avraham as a weirdo who
chose to live his life on the other side of a river, so to speak, the pagan religions
on one end and his belief in monotheism by the opposite shore. He never stopped to ask people what they thought though. He went ahead and did what he thought was right.
Not
only did our forefather not care about majority opinion, he sought to
enlighten others with truth. Thus, he became the paradigm of giving, one of the
corner stones our Jewish faith. When he would invite strangers into his tent, he'd offer various forms of nourishment: food, a place to rest and information on the giving ways of G-d. Generations later, Hillel summed up Avraham with the phrase, "If I am only for me, what am I?"
After
reading the above paragraphs, it's clear that a change of pace is due. The only
question is: how to proceed? We are being serviced by the examples of people
who scoured mountains. It is easy to feel discouraged and, of course, behind
discouragement pipes the little voice, "I will start living the life I
want to live, tomorrow. Beware! Edward young said, "Procrastination is the
thief of time." It is a digression from living." Take Hillel's first two
phrases and use them as the inspiration.
Irving
Bunim, the writer of a book called Ethics from Sinai throws in a verse from Leviticus on the third phrase, "If not now, when?" He said, "Before an aged one, rise" (Leviticus 19:32). This means, give honor
to the elderly by standing up when they enter a room, get on the bus etc. One of the sages of
yesteryear added, "Before you have aged, rise!"
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