Welcome back to school after our short but needed “winter break.” While we maintained as normal a routine as possible during the first semester, the periodic quarantines, the challenges of zooming, the intensity of learning and growing in Torah, skills and knowledge, all contributed to a feeling of stress and fatigue. We all definitely needed a respite from the routines we were getting used to. Now, after a short breather, we look forward to a second semester replete with energy, spirit, and renewed fervor for academic and spiritual fulfillment.
As we study the Torah we understand that the “Five Books of Moses”are not just lists of Thou Shalts and Thou Shalt Not, but rather we learn how to be parents, how to be educators, how to be leaders and how to be followers. Moshe Rabbenu may be considered the penultimate mechanich, the greatest teacher of all times, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the Chief Psychologist, modeling for us the necessary understanding of human nature for our interpersonal relationships and individual growth.
Why wasn’t the Torah or the Aseret Hadibrot (The Ten Commandments) given to Bnai Yisrael immediately upon their release from Egyptian bondage? Whether it was 45 days later, three months later or even 5-7 months from start to finish as some commentators suggest, why the wait? There are two very similar midrashim brought, one in Kohelet Rabbah and one in the Tanhuma, about a prince who had recovered from sickness. While the palace pedagogue wanted to begin lessons right away with his student, the royal father said “let us wait three months to give him time to convalesce and afterwards I will take him to the Rabbi's house to study Torah” Similarly when Bnai Yisrael went forth from Mitzrayim, they were maimed physically and psychologically, they needed to regain their strength bodily and spiritually before they would be ready to accept and to learn Torah.
The Rambam in his commentary on Mishnah Sanhedrin posits that “a person cannot possibly observe the precepts of Judaism when he is sick, hungry or thirsty, in battle or under siege”.
Hakadosh Baruch Hu understood that in order to accept the yoke of Torah, Bnai Yisrael had to be strong and healthy leaving their servile mentality behind. Only when the Jewish nation was whole, healthy and united, כאיש אחד בלב אחד, could the Torah be taught, accepted and followed.
Let us hope that as we move forward in our continued acceptance of Torah laws, values and mores, we remain healthy, vital and strong. And that is why vacations are so important!
Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom
Rochelle Brand, Ed.D
Head of School
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