Lessons I’ve Learned So Far: A D’var On The
50th anniversary Of My Bar Mitzvah
By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman
Shabbat Chayei Sarah, 5773
Nov. 9, 2012
Lessons I’ve Learned So Far:
Do what you love doing for as long as you can
Do what you have to when you realize that you have to do it—and do it
with as much dedication and with the same sense of fun and wonderment as
before.
Love fully and learn to accept as much as you give—or to give back at
least as much as you take, whichever the case may be.
Raising children is your next most important task in life, and it will
take you the rest of your life. Do your
best and pray not to mess up; and when you do, pray that you can fix things and
make them whole again.
That teaching with words isn’t complete—in fact is worthless unless you
also set an example with action and deed.
That it’s possible to feel better than great. That the key to happiness is to share what
you have with others who do not have as much as you—but without making them
feel the lesser for it.
That it’s important to study the Torah because it contains wonderful
stories, but even more so because it holds vital information about life,
survival and meaning.
That, no matter how much you study Torah and Talmud, God cannot be
understood, and probably doesn’t care to be even if we had the brainpower to understand
God. It’s best to be cautious about an
uncertain life than to pray for a certain future.
That repetition—whether of days, years, texts or shuffled papers—can
improve you as it can improve that which you do.
That you must always say thank you, and never kick the chair you are
sitting on.
That the body can break as easily as the heart.
That both are hard to repair and therefore must be maintained at all
cost.
That the senses are meant to help us enjoy life.
That the mind can help us understand who we are.
That the soul can help us understand where we are going.
That you can’t leave your past behind you. That you can’t change it for better or
worse. That you can only do that to the present and future.
That you must never lose hope.
And that you must always pray, because that’s where hope is always to
be found.
Shabbat shalom.
©2012
by Boaz D. Heilman
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