Three Ingredients for a Fuller Life

The holidays are over and, if you’re like me, you’ve done a fair amount of eating.  I want to offer a recipe that I shared with our congregation on Shemini Atzeret, right before the Yizkor service.  In deference to all the eating we’ve done, the recipe is not for food.  It’s a recipe for how we can live life more fully, a recipe that has been time-tested and tasted by the Jewish people.

The first ingredient is stimulation, or challenge.  The more we challenge ourselves, body and spirit, the less likely we are to feel that life is just passing us by.  From Rosh Hashanah to Simhat Torah, through music, words and ritual, the holidays challenge us to look within and also to acknowledge each other.  

I encourage each of us to challenge ourselves through the many educational and cultural offerings that exist in our synagogue.  Just to give an example, I’m confident that our new People of the Book series, which we’re starting with a look at Peter Beinhart’s The Crisis of Zionism, will spark wide interest and involvement. 

The next ingredient our tradition calls for is responsibility.  A lecture by Michael Norton of Harvard Business School entitled “How to Buy Happiness” underscores a correlation between generosity and pleasure.   By conducting experiments in several locations, Norton determined that people who spend money on others report a greater feeling of satisfaction than those who spend money on themselves.

Acting responsibly toward others, especially those whose basic human needs aren’t adequately being met, has been a mandate for the children of Israel from Biblical times.  “For there will never cease to be needy ones in your land, which is why I command you:  open your hand to the poor and needy kinsman in your land.” (Deuteronomy 15:11)  Isaiah,  perhaps anticipating the findings of Michael Norton, prophesized that after we feed the hungry and clothe the naked, our light would “burst forth like the dawn.” 

Numerous chesed activities at Temple Israel provide opportunities for us act responsibly toward others.

The final ingredient is fun.  During the ancient celebration of Sukkot, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel juggled torches while his colleagues performed acrobatic feats.  Moreover, from the Bible to Seinfeld, humor has been an important part of the Jewish landscape. 

Naturally, there are many opportunities for us to have fun within and beyond the confines of Temple Israel.  Comedy Night, the weekly Kiddush, the Temple Israel Players and numerous social events give us a chance to enjoy each other’s company.  Fun has ample precedent in our tradition and it certainly adds texture to our lives.

The Kotsker Rebbe once said, “If I spend me time trying to be someone else, who will be me?” It seems that each of us has to find the right proportion of ingredients, suited to our own needs and temperaments. 

But the basic three that I propose strike me as a solid recipe, well supported by Jewish tradition.  With 5773 underway, I hope that we will challenge ourselves, reach out to others and enjoy ourselves along the way.  Then our light will surely burst forth like the dawn.  

Originally written for the Temple Israel Voice, October 2012