Keepers Weepers
Almost half of the members of my household have ADHD. What this means, and I'm not mentioning any names, is that there are lots of people in my house losing things on a regular basis. These items might include, but are not limited to: one's keys, the cordless phone, a cell phone, a hat. Credit cards. Important documents. Lists, all the time. And, for the win, somebody's bar mitzvah suit was lost a week after the bar mitzvah.
The interesting thing about this phenomenon is that the people in my household who lose things on a regular basis don't seem to be particularly rattled when they lose their stuff. Now me on the other hand, I'm a little bit of a control freak. I need to have my things neat, clean and organized or else I start to fly off the rails. So when something of mine goes missing, it really really bothers me.
I contemplate the issue from a philosophical standpoint (how could such a thing happen), from a blame perspective (whose fault was it), and finally from a practical perspective (what am I going to do about this)?
But my fellow family-mates seem to take it in stride. Oh, I found my keys. Oh, I lost my keys. Oh, I lost my car. Oh, I found my car. Oh, I lost my mind. Oh, I found my mind. I finally learned that their brains just work differently from mine and since losing their stuff happens on such a regular basis it's just a part of life the same way I sometimes drop my pencil. It just doesn't continue to seem like that big of a deal.
One of the coolest Jewish commandments is actually to return somebody's lost object, which appears in this week's Torah portion. What I find so cool about this is, I know the great joy that I get when a lost item is returned (accompanied of course by a deep sense of shame when I blamed a completely innocent party for its loss, but that's another topic for another day). And that via giving someone else this great joy, you have achieved something much larger than you and he. You have achieved spiritual success.
What I love about this idea is that the Torah exists in order to perfect the universe. It is a path. It is a means. It is a journey. What is the ultimate destination? The ultimate destination is to leave the world, and ourselves, holier than before we existed. And that's why the interpersonal commandments are so important.
Many people think of Judaism in terms of ritual. Judaism is about Shabbat. Judaism is about kosher. Judaism is about Israel. And all of these things are true. But what many people don't know is that “Western values” actually are Jewish. Charity is Jewish. Speaking kindly is Jewish. Returning somebody's lost items is totally Jewish. So how cool is it, that when you simply "do the right thing" (also known as being a mensch) you actually get a mitzvah?? If more people would follow these directives, we would indeed make this world an incredible place.
Even, or maybe especially, when it keeps happening.
Shabbat Shalom,
Ruchi Koval
