Dear readers,
Can you find your last few phone bills? I know where mine are. They’re piled high on my desk, keeping company with an assortment of reports, invitations, and various important-looking scraps of paper. Together, they wait patiently for the day when they will be sorted and neatly filed away. The realities of everyday life keep pushing such activities further down on my to-do list.
Some things are too important to wait until the right moment appears. As busy as we may be, essentials don’t belong on the back burner. Deadlines and schedules, whether self-determined or externally prescribed, help ensure that priorities are addressed in time.
This week’s Torah reading highlights this concept. Shabbat comes once a week, a day to refresh and reconnect with our Creator. Every seven years, during the Sabbatical year, the land lies fallow, allowing us to refocus on the true source of our sustenance. Property sales are canceled every fifty years when the Jubilee is observed, emphasizing the transience of material acquisitions. Designated times remind us to take a step back and focus on what truly counts.
Celebrate these special times, and reflect on the lessons they teach us. Allow their effect to spill over into your life, each and every day. And maybe find a moment to clear off your desk too.
Now take some time to enjoy a good, inspiring read!
Rochel Chein,
Responder for Ask the Rabbi @ Chabad.org
