What's on Your Bucket List?
I admit I am a sports fan. I enjoy playing, watching and following sports. Yet I have the unfortunate reality of being a lifelong Clevelander. As any Cleveland native knows, our history of success in recent sports history is like the tooth fairy - non-existent.
We have taken our failure to unprecedented levels. The heart-wrenching ways we have found to lose is nothing short of astounding (see for example this past Monday night game).
It has been over 50 years since Cleveland has won a championship. If for no other reason than the law of averages, we should have at least won one championship in one sport just by accident! It defies logic.
Thankfully, I am far less into my sports teams doing well than I used to be. I mention this because I recently was listening to a sports radio talk show host in town bemoaning the state of the Cleveland Browns. The team has been pathetic for the better part of almost twenty years. This sportscaster said, in essence, “I am in my 50’s and I have come to the realization that I will probably die before the Browns win a Super Bowl! I can’t stand the fact that I will not live to see a Browns Super Bowl win!”
Hearing those words got me thinking. Sure, I would love to see the Browns win the Super Bowl. But would I say it would bother me if I die without them winning? Hardly!
Which led me to my next point of pondering – what WOULD bother me should I die before it happens? What things do I need to accomplish or want to witness before my time comes? Asking and answering these questions are a great way to help a person regain his focus on what his priorities are and what they should be.
In stark contrast to the talk radio host’s comments, I also heard a story recently about a great rabbi who passed away in 1987, Rabbi Yaakov Ruderman. Rabbi Ruderman was kidnapped as a teenager and almost lost his life. Eventually he was freed and was given a new lease on life, a life which saw him become the dean of one of America’s largest yeshivas and one of the leading sages of the generation.
He remarked to his students that while in captivity his greatest fear was that he had begun writing a book on a certain section of the Torah and if he dies he would not be able finish it! This is what bothered this great man, that he would die before completing a book that would elucidate a topic of Torah study for the masses (remember, he was all of 16 at the time! When I was 16 I can count on one hand the amount of books of Torah I had read, let alone authored!).
In this week’s Torah portion, Jacob settles down to live out the remainder of his life in Israel. As soon as things seem settled he is confronted with the episode of his beloved son, Joseph, being sold into slavery.
The Talmud comments on this that “righteous people are not necessarily given the opportunity to relax in this world" as their relaxation and reward will come in the world of eternity – after they leave this world.
To fully comprehend this seemingly harsh statement, much commentary has been offered by the sages throughout the ages and is beyond the scope of this essay. What is clear from this statement, however, is the fact that our existence in this physical world is limited and is not a time to be wasted on relaxation and lack of productivity. Instead, it behooves each of us to think of how we can maximize our time on this earth and use it to its fullest.
A perfect way to recalibrate is to ask ourselves the question - what would bother us most should we die without having accomplished it? To every person it will be something different but let’s hope it is something more significant than his team winning the Super Bowl.
For now, at least we have the Cavs!
Shabbat shalom!
Rabbi Yosef Koval
