Can You Hear Me? Or Do You Have a Good Signal?
Written by Rabbi Stephanie Shore
8.24.21
How many of us remember telephone party lines? A party line was a local telephone loop circuit that was shared by more than one subscriber. There was no privacy on a party line; if you were conversing with a friend, anyone on your party line could pick up their telephone and listen in. These party lines began in the 1800s and continued until 1988 when the phone companies began phasing them out.
The world was forever changed with the invent of the telephone. Anytime we wanted we could pick up the phone and share a conversation. We didn’t seem to mind much when we had to wait until the line was clear so we could make our call. We looked forward to the communication and catching up on each other’s lives.
We rarely had to worry about signal because we were hard wired into the wall and if the call wasn’t clear we could simply jiggle the accordian cord that at times stretched through the entire house.
Now however things are very different, we are depending on invisible radio waves that travel through the air at the speed of light, transporting digitized data to our friend, family member etc….
And while most of the modern world has their own private line we are faced with another problem which can be summed up in a simple phrase. Your on the phone, speaking to someone else and then all of a sudden you realize you might be talking to yourself and you say this phrase: “Are you there, can you hear me?”
Either one of two things happens, the connection has been lost or the person on the other end of the cellular phone says, “Yes, I can hear you.”
NO longer do we have the wire that connects our phone to the wall so we can check that it is plugged in properly. No, we are depending on invisible radio waves that travel through the air at the speed of light, transporting digitized data to our friend, family member etc….
We see cell towers around town and hope that one of them will be close enough to us so that we will always have a ‘Good Connection.’
So many things disrupt the connection causing us to repeat that phrase we say so often, ‘Can you hear me.’
During the High Holidays we recite the words, Avinu Malkeinu Sh’ma Koleinu, Our God, Sovereign of all, hear our voice. Do any of us wonder if we are making a connection? Can God hear us?
During the holidays it is easier for us to feel connected to our God. We are here praying the ancient words of our people together. There is a power in the experience of communal prayer. Especially given the past year we have had, when many of us could not be together, we understand all too well why Judaism emphasizes community. There is a feeling of camaraderie and connection to the generations that came before us.
The question is how can we take this feeling of closeness to God into our day to day lives when these holidays are over. There is a lot of stimuli that can cause the God Network, that invisible transfer of data between us and God, to get to get stymied.
For us to have a uninterrupted connection on the God Network there are a few things that must be in place.
We need bandwidth to transmute signal. On your phone bandwidth can be usurped by too many applications. Our souls and minds have bandwidth limits too. The busier our minds the harder It is to truly hear the words others are speaking let alone the inner voice of the Divine.
While it is important to keep up with news, current events and social obligations it is crucial that we give our minds, bodies and souls the opportunity for rest and rejuvination. This is exactly what Shabbat is for. It’s like a reboot of the mind. Shabbat is a time to wash clear all the debris and data from the week gone by and receive the rest we are entitled to.
Sometimes a cell phone connection can be lost because of Mother Nature. Reb Nachmun of Bretzlov said, we should have the ability to stand alone in nature to commune with the birds, trees, flowers and plants. We can’t fool with Mother Nature. Nor can we control that storms in our lives when we have seemingly lost signal. It’s at times like this we can be reminded that the wireless connection between us and God is indestructible and uninterrupted. We might move away from God however the spark of the Divine, the internal light, like our Neir Tamid, never goes out.
Has anyone ever found themselves instinctively walking closer to a window trying to get better reception? Believe it or not window glass contains a certain material that reduces the amount ultra-violet and infrared light from entering. So, positioning ourselves closer to a window can worsen your signal.
What are you moving closer to? Are you positioning yourself with materials that will enhance your spiritual life or are you absorbing materials that will only hinder your connection?
When we look out a window the piece of the world we see is full of life. Birds, trees, clouds and sky. Beautiful flowers and colors of every shade. There is a saying, “We don’t see the world as it is, we see the world as we are.” In other words, the way we feel inside is the way we will perceive the world around us. Are we someone who looks for the blessing in everything or are we always accentuating the negative? There are troubles in our lives and there are troubles in our world, no doubt, however the trouble will be there whether we magnify it or not. We can choose life as the Torah says and recognize the miracles that surround us.
This is an interesting prospect given the limitations that have been set on us due to the pandemic. The ways we experience the world have been forever changed. Through social distancing, health and safety precautions and quarantining we have all learned very well what it feels like to be isolated from the day to day activities and people we were so accustomed.
This presents a challenge to us because as Jews we are not supposed to live in a vacuum. It is not a Jewish value to live in solitude for lengths of time. Matter of fact we find in discussions of the rabbis that communal responsibilities are not an option they are an obligation. Community is held in such high regard if one is engaged in serving the community in some way and it is time for prayer, we can skip prayer because we are already performing a Mitzvah.
It is written in the Mishna according to Rabbi Tarfon, “The day is short, the work is great, the workers are lazy, the reward is great and the Master of the House is pressing. The word lazy might rub us the wrong way but what Rabbi Tarfon is our inability, at times, to use each day as if it was our last. We waste days away spending them with frivolity and carelessness.
It is good to busy ourselves with bettering our communities however there is a fine balance to not busy ourselves into spiritual oblivion. We can ‘give’ too much and this can make it more difficult to receive signal from the “God Network.”
In the world of cell phones there is something called network traffic. In this day and age, we often assume there’s plenty of cell coverage to go around. However, in densely populated areas where many people are using their devices for calling, posting to social media, or uploading and downloading files, it’s not uncommon for cell signal to be slow or nonexistent.
When we busy ourselves constantly with the needs of others our signal diminishes and we will need to replenish with moments of quiet solitude.
In the olden days we used to be able to turn the knob on our radios and fine tune our signal. During this High Holiday season do we need to adjust our signal?
Listen to this passage taken from the Gates of Prayer, “Through prayer we struggle to experience the Presence of God. Let us be sure that the One we invoke is the Most High, not a god of battles, of state or status or ‘success’ – but the Source of peace and mercy and goodness. For, truly: “The gods we worship write their names on our faces, be sure of that. And we will worship something – have no doubt of that either. We may think that our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of the heart – but it will out. That which dominates our imagination, and our thoughts will determine our life and character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we are worshipping, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.
Let our prayer during these High Holiday days be meaningful and deliberate. O God, let our minds be turned to you and let our intension be set on improving our connection to your Divine Presence.
Let us realize that our days are numbered and to use each day as if it were our last, filling them with study, worship and acts of lovingkindness.
We pray God, “Sh’ma Koleinu” hear our voice and help us draw nearer to you and Your Torah. In this way we know our signal will be strong and because of that we can be the emissaries you have called us to be, a people of justice, light, holiness and love.
