A Real Champion

A Real Champion I would like to take this opportunity to wish a warm and hearty mazel tov to one Joey Chestnut for his prestigious accomplishment! If you do not know who Mr. Chestnut is, he is a “competitive eater” (yes, that is a real title) who was once again the winner of the annual July 4th Nathan’s hot dog eating contest. This year Joey heroically managed to wolf down 76 hot dogs with buns in a mere 10 minutes to defend his crown and beat his record of 75 hot dogs which he set last year. (My personal opinion is a person should eat dairy for a full year after eating that many hot dogs as opposed to only 6 hours like me!) Truly amazing! My stomach hurts just writing these words! In a world devoid of enough heroes, we are blessed to have Joey Chestnut as a beacon of greatness and a symbol of American pride. As a kid, the quintessential things that made up America were baseball, Chevrolet, and apple pie. Items such as those symbolized “America” in a nutshell. Now, I find myself increasingly musing each year that “competitive eating” and the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest on July 4th are the present day examples of what symbolizes our modern-day America. Sadly, over the past several decades the country has tragically descended further and further into moral decay and an emphasis on decadence. A contest such as this one is the paragon of what is, in the current milieu, revered and cheered and seems, in my eyes at least, to be a perfect way of summing up our once proud country in the present day. Seeing the news of Mr. Chestnut’s “achievement” I remarked to my brother that I wonder if his parents have “nachas” from his feats. In fairness, I suppose the same feelings can be said about athletes who are revered as heroes simply because they play a child’s game better than anyone else but, perhaps because I have been a sports fan all my life, I have a predisposed prejudice towards looking at those people’s accomplishments in a slightly more favorable light. Anyway, my brother told me of a story he once heard from Rabbi Frand, a well-known rabbi in Baltimore, about a fellow who – like Joey – won competitive eating contests. Upon being interviewed after one of his “victories,” this fellow said that his only regret was that his father was no longer alive because he would have been so proud of him had he been around to witness the victory. He told of a difficult relationship he had with his father growing up and how his father would call him a “loser” and that he would never amount to anything. Now, more than ever, this champ pined to show his father that he did in fact amount to something and that he was indeed successful and not at all a “loser.” Putting aside the sympathy I have for someone who was clearly damaged by his father as a child, I could not help but be amused by the thought that this person wished his father could be alive to see him win a competitive eating contest, and furthermore that such a victory would validate his self worth and elevate him from the ranks of a “loser” to that of a “champion.” I can only imagine my own parents' reaction had I called them to share the news. “Mom! Dad! You’ll never believe it! I just won a trophy for eating dozens of hot dogs in just a few minutes! Aren’t you so proud? Hello? Mom? Dad? Are you there? Helllooo?” *dialtone* In contrast to the aforementioned people, this past Tuesday my son, Tzvi, became a bar mitzvah. On that morning I took him to synagogue for his first time as an “adult” and he put on his new tefillin. We then had a celebratory breakfast for him with friends and family at the local bagel store. At the meal I spoke to him about my hopes and aspirations for him as he makes the transition into becoming a full-fledged, card-carrying member of the Chosen People. Not surprisingly, not one of those hopes expressed a desire for him to ever become a competitive eating champ. Instead we spoke about what the purpose of life is and what our role in this world is, particularly as it pertains to being a Jew. I mentioned that this week’s Torah portion discusses the various encampments the Jewish people stayed at in the 40 years they spent in the desert. Our Sages teach us that each of these travels were in fact moments of growth for our nation in the spiritual realm. Some of that growth came as lessons learned the hard way through misfortune due to sins that we committed in those places, while others were steps taken through positive experiences we accomplished while encamped in a particular place. Furthermore, our Sages teach that each and every individual has a journey they embark upon called ”life” which contains many different stops. Some of these “stops” are age-related milestones such as a bar mitzvah, while others are events that occur like a wedding or birth of a child. Sometimes the journey takes us through hardships, like the loss of a job or a loved one, while others are moments of pure joy, but all of these experiences are there to assist in shaping us into who we hope to be. The main thing to prioritize as we begin our journey (or continue it for those of us who are already older) is to understand what exactly our mission is. Why were we put into this world and how can we best progress to fulfill that purpose? Once we have that in focus then we can begin to tackle how to attain that goal. Thus, my blessing to Tzvi as he embarks on a new leg in his own special journey was that he should come to a clear understanding of what G-d wants from him - why He placed him in this world, and how he can set out to achieve that purpose and to use this new “stop” as a time for growth. As Jews we learn that our purpose in this world is to achieve a connection to G-d through the study of the Torah and observance of His commandments. This blessing was for Tzvi but is aptly applicable to all of us as well. So while my Tzvi, or any of my children for that matter, will hopefully never call me to tell me they have won a competitive eating contest, I know they will become great nonetheless, each in their own way. I will try my best as a parent to point them in the right direction and I hope and pray they will use their G-d given talents to fulfill their individual potentials. Because if Tzvi, or any of us, works towards achieving the goal of our journey, then we can proudly hold up our heads high at the end of our respective journey and carry the title of “Champion.” Now, I must go watch the Competitive Watching Paint Dry Contest in which people compete to see who can watch paint dry for the longest amount of time. I just need to grill up a hot dog or two (or 76) so I have something to eat while I am doing that! Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Yosef Koval