by guest rambler Rabbi Chaim Helman
The past couple of weeks Cleveland was abuzz and emotions were running high! It felt like a championship series was taking place in Cleveland. Unfortunately that was not the case; rather it was "Hate the Heat" parties and "Cavs for Mavs" T-shirts being sold. Cleveland had transformed into die-hard Dallas Mavericks fans, all for one reason: to see LeBron James lose the finals. Sunday night their prayers were answered and LeBron lost!
Before game 6 of the NBA finals, when the Miami Heat was facing elimination, I was asked by some friends if I was rooting against LeBron and the Heat. Personally, I'm not a sports fan. I like playing sports but I just never got into following professional sports. My answer to them, which is not among the most popular ones in Cleveland, was, "Why shouldn't he win?"
My friend was shocked. "You mean to say that after all he's done to us, leaving Cleveland and breaking our hearts, that he deserves to win?"
So I told him (trying not to sound too heartless) that the way I see it, LeBron's got great talent and he can choose to go whereever he would like. His talent doesn't belong to Cleveland. My friend started to hear my point but then countered, "But the way he did it to us, with such arrogance! This was viewed as the most important decision being made! He made a whole show out of it on ESPN, dubbed 'The Decision'! He embarrassed us on national TV - something that no other super-star ever did before! For that he deserves to lose." Now that was something I couldn't argue with!
That said, I think we have to stop for a second and think about who made him into this so-called "great personality." Who dubbed him "King James"?? It was the media and the fans, who followed his every move ever since he came out of high school. Every shot, every move he made, he was given hundreds of millions in contracts (at 18 years old!). He was made, by us, to believe that he was the answer to all of Cleveland's championship problems. He was going to make it all good. We made him into this so-called "King James" and by giving him so much fame, he was slowly being set up for failure.
Fame and authority make it extremely hard to have humility - a lesson that appears many times in the Torah.
This is a lesson for all of us. We are all in some type of position of authority, whether as a parent, teacher, boss.... We should not let it get to us!
One more point: it's not a Jewish trait to be happy when somebody else fails, no matter who the other person is. This is something we learn from the story after the Jews were saved from the Egyptians at the Red Sea. The angels wanted to sing praise to G-d and G-d answered: "My handiwork (the Egyptions) are drowning in the sea and you want to sing now? It is not the right time." If someone else's failure saves you personally from pain, it's one thing - but to exult just to see your enemy fall, when you're success is not at stake, is just not a Jewish way.
Good Shabbos!
