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33700 Woodward A

My Rabbi Told Me:
Don't Be 'Religious'

Parshat Terumah: Exodus 25:1-27:19;
1 Kings 5:26-6:13.

I

was so taken aback the day my
is, in fact, awarded the added name
yeshivah mentor summarized being Mikdash, a "Home of Kodesh."Kodesh
spiritual as being peaceful. With
means sacred fidelity — our exact offi-
care, he guided me in how my spiritual
ciating term to sacredly bind a marriage.
sincerity is measured by my peace of
Our sanctuary is sustained by loyalty and
mind.
fortified through loving connection.
How could that be? Jewish observance
Enduring peacefulness is not one of
is so demanding. Is it not natural to be
remote relaxation. It is one of connection
anxious over perfecting its many precise
and purpose.
details?
When all we seek is to
It turns out that religios-
connect, the delight is in the
ity breeds anxiety. Or more
details. They are not demands,
likely, anxiety is the parasite;
bombarding us. They are
preying on religion's meticu-
opportunities, inviting us.
lous details. Anxiety is a vice;
Each is a different occasion to
abused by the ailing ego,
bond, uniquely rich with its
which hungers for control
purpose of loving attachment.
and feeds off tension. Sadly,
Peacefulness is about being
wittingly or not, religion is
fully present. To relish every
often the drug.
detail is to take it all in.
Rab bi
To be religious is to have
Can one be peaceful and
Chan och
an agenda. To be spiritual is
driven
at the same time?
Had ar
to submit.
Rabbi Akiva was.
How exactly does the Torah frame
Famous for calmly leaving God's job
being spiritual?
to Him, he would often declare "all the
God says "Make for me a sanctuary,
Merciful does, He does for the good:'
and I shall dwell in them:' The 17th-cen-
Yet, he was fierce with resilience and
tury mystic, the Holy Shelah, notes that
determination. When a plague tragically
the sanctuary is primarily built in "them"
consumed thousands of his students, he
— in each one of us.
doubled his efforts and dedicated him-
Mishkan (the original wilderness
self to teaching many more. When Bar
sanctuary) means "settled home' We are
Kochbah, a failed savior whom he had
entrusted with the awesome honor to
originally endorsed, caused his entire
open our hearts and house God.
community to be decimated, he traveled
When we invite God to settle in, we
south and devoted himself to rebuilding
can settle down. By making ourselves
another.
available to God, we can rest assured that
But I guess you don't go from a
He is capably in charge. An inner sanctu-
40-year-old illiterate to become the most
ary is a safe haven for perspective.
admired scholar, renowned for his per-
Deferring to the Divine presence and
ceptive insight of every scriptural nuance,
plan liberates us from the desperate stress by being preoccupied with the wrong
of senselessly trying to manage things out things.
of our control. The sanctuary offers us
His very peacefulness, spared by
asylum from futile worry.
diverting attention away from any mat-
This all sounds very relaxing. But what ter beyond his control, poured concen-
about our legitimate worries, the stress of trated energy and focus into what really
our many responsibilities? After all, that
counts.
sanctuary served also as a house of con-
Chanoch Hadar is rabbi of the Woodward
stant, intense service.
The permanent (Jerusalem) Sanctuary Avenue Shul in Royal Oak.

❑

248.960.7499

......... ■

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February 19 • 2015

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