Over the Cliff
“DANGER. SHEER DROP. STAY BACK 50 FEET” read the sign.
Ruchi and I were able to spend the morning together and we drove down to the Hinckley Lake Reservation and rented a rowboat. Dave “the Muscle” pushed us out into the water and cautioned us to stay 50 feet clear of the waterfall spillway.
We enjoyed the serene boat ride, and no one seemed concerned at all that the winds were blowing rather strongly in the direction of the waterfall.
I was doing my best to navigate the oars, but before we even realized it, we had drifted dangerously close to the waterfall area. We tried valiantly to row against the wind and away from the spillway, but we kept creeping closer to the precipice.
Panicking, we threw the anchor out to stabilize our boat, but it was ineffective and, like a scene out of a "Niagara Falls in a barrel" movie, the flowing current of the spillway sucked us straight toward the cascading waters with nothing but a rusty pole and a 30 foot drop* between us. (I’m embarrassed to say that thoughts about my cell phone getting ruined in the water rushed through my mind at that moment.)
While Ruchi was panicking, reciting Psalms and praying for our safety, I desperately tried to remain calm and hold on to the pole and the attached rope and prevent us from crashing over the top into the rocky landing 30 feet down.
My relatively calm demeanor surprised me and reminded me of the words of Steve Gar, our recent Shabbaton guest speaker, when he described the terrorist attack that he literally drove into. He explained how the teenage girls in his van remained calm while taking care of his own children, while he went out to hunt down the terrorist and rescue the victims.
Steve’s wife, a therapist, explained that while the girls were in crisis mode, their brains knew that they had to “do their job” and protect the children, and that prevented them from panicking and losing it.
Although it felt like an eternity, a few minutes later a rescue pontoon arrived, and hitched our boat, now minus one oar, to safety.
Some lessons learned from this wild encounter:
1) If you go boating, and have the option of boat types, opt for the canoe over the rowboat.
2) Life is like the game of Chutes and Ladders. In our family we refer to it as Hugs and Pinches. G-d is constantly pushing, prodding, and then hopefully catching us before we fall. Life is full of many wonderful moments, both big and small, moments when we receive divine "hugs."
But we also have challenging times: moments when we feel we’re going to fall off the cliff. In order to maintain our sanity and not fall over the proverbial precipice, we need to recognize and strengthen our Emunah (faith in G-d) and believe that nothing in life is random. Everything we go through in life is part of G-d’s master plan. Somehow it is for our best. The adage “If it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger” comes to mind. It’s often very difficult to believe this, especially when the chips are down. But it’s important to remember that divine "pinches" are usually followed up by divine "hugs."
So hang on to that pole, rusty and all, stay calm and remember: you have a job to do. Do it well - and hopefully the hugs are coming soon.
*Photo of the actual spillway and the rusty pole that saved our lives!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Koval
