Ripple Effect
It was 1:00 AM in Jerusalem, and I was about to recite the bedtime Shema before falling sleep. I was blessed to be in the Holy Land for the Raiz bat mitzvah, and it was my first night. Often, I mumble the Shema prayer when I am half asleep, already lying in bed. But this night was indeed different from all the other nights. I painstakingly made the effort to turn on my phone and go to my Jewish prayers app, and recite the prayer the correct way: sitting up and reading the prayer from a text, instead of mumbling it from memory.
As I scrolled through the “siddur app,” guess which prayer caught my attention? The moon prayer! You see, there is a special mitzvah that I perform each month. It is called “Kiddush Levana,” which means to sanctify the new moon. This prayer must be recited when the new moon is visible each month in the sky, before it begins to wane. This past month in Cleveland (OK, every month) saw some cloudy nights and by the time the night sky cleared up back home, I had forgotten about reciting the prayer. Suddenly I realized that I hadn’t recited this prayer yet this month.
Quickly making the calculations in my head, I realized that the deadline to recite this prayer was fast approaching, and was actually later that very night, when the sun rose 4 1/2 hours later, at 5:30 AM, Jerusalem time. Excited to have been given a second chance to perform this mitzvah, I jumped out of bed, got dressed, and, using the Jewish app on my phone, recited the prayer.
Now, one component of this prayer involves going over to three different people and wishing each of them the traditional blessing, “Shalom Aleichem.” The objective of this custom is to allow three separate people to reply with the traditional response “Aleichem Shalom,” which means "may G-d grant peace upon you." Since the number three is always considered an established pattern in Jewish law, this provides the positive omen of being blessed with peace by three separate people, giving it a sense of real meaning and permanence.
But bear in mind, it was 1 o’clock in the morning, and where would I find three separate people at this hour? Then I reminded myself, I am not in Kansas anymore, Toto. This is Israel, the capital city of Jerusalem, so take a little stroll down the block, and look for three fellow tribesmen. I didn’t even have to walk 50 feet when I saw three young men sitting at the bus stop. What they were doing at a bus stop at 1 o’clock in the morning, when the buses no longer run, I have no idea, but they were there for me.
The first young man was a soldier with a kippah on his head. When I wished him the traditional blessing of Shalom Aleichem, he understood immediately what I was doing, and returned my blessing on his own. The next two guys were actually rolling a joint together. Not sure how to proceed with them, I explained the nature of the custom and then blessed them each with a “Shalom Aleichem.” Marijuana joints and all, these were my fellow Israeli brothers. They looked up at me, smiled, and offered a resounding blessing in return, “Aleichem Shalom”!
The ripple effect was powerful: I pushed myself to sit up and say that bedtime Shema prayer the right way, and I just happened to “stumble upon” the moon prayer. I got dressed and got out of bed and made the effort, and in the wee hours of the morning, three people had received blessings, and returned the blessings in kind. Who knows how much more blessing, and which mitzvah this will bring to their lives, and to the world?!
One of the most fundamental Jewish principles for living is the opening theme of this past week's Torah portion. In fact, it is referenced in the actual name of the Torah portion, “Ekev”, which means the heel of the foot. The Torah promises that if we are careful to observe the small and easy mitzvahs, the ones that people often forget about, and tread on with the heels of their feet, then G-d promises us a wonderful life of “happily ever after.”
Why is there such a stress on the small things, the seemingly insignificant mitzvahs, the ones people often forget about or perhaps simply take for granted? Because it is the small things that define our essence, and it is the small things that add up to a tremendous cumulative affect, and it is the small things that have the greatest ripple effect on our lives and the lives of our communities. Shalom aleichem!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Koval
