No, this column is not about bandits robbing travelers on deserted roads; groups of highwaymen accosting innocent strangers. Rather, it’s about one particular highwayman, and not one who was stealing. It is about me and something I realized when driving on a highway.
Some construction has been going on for several years on a particular stretch of highway that I have occasion to frequent. The way they’ve done it is that two lanes go to one side, and a single lane veers to the other side, so they can work on the space in between. The one that is by itself is bounded on both sides by cement blocks. It can be quite a scary proposition to drive there, so I often make sure to stay to the right, the side with two lanes and a shoulder.
Well, sure enough, one day I was looking at something on my GPS and didn’t pay attention to the signs, so I missed the chance to move away from the single lane. As I drove through between the barriers, I felt a definite sense of narrowness and confinement. My hands gripped the wheel a bit tighter, I focused on the road ahead, and was extremely aware of the barriers on either side in my periphery that could cause plenty of damage if I accidentally bumped one.
My phone buzzed with a notification but I paid it no attention. Even though my car can read text messages aloud to me, I was not doing that at that moment. This was serious. Until I was through those cement straits, I was not going to let myself be distracted. And that’s when the music started in my head.
“Kol ha’Olam kulo, gesher tzar me’od, v’haikar lo lefached klal, the whole world is a narrow bridge and the main thing is not to be afraid.” This song, based on the words of Reb Nachman of Breslov in Likutei Moharan, offers us advice for navigating life. Reb Nachman’s actual words translate more as, “Know that a person needs to cross a very, very narrow bridge, and what is essential is not to be afraid [or “… is that one should not be overcome by fear].” At that moment, the message of Reb Nachman took on new meaning to me.
This world, the one we are living in now, is meant to be a bridge between our souls before life and our souls after life. The idea is that we make progress and move forward, so we end up in a different place, one that is further down the road from where we started. But how do we ensure we don’t waste the opportunities we are given or squander the time we have to make that progress? My moments on the concrete-barriered highway cemented the answer for me.
We have to view life just like I viewed that road. It’s a narrow lane, and we have to make sure we stay in it. If we get distracted and veer off to the side, we will get hurt. If we take our attention off our goal for an instant, it can lead to catastrophe. And that is a very frightening thought.
But the main thing to understand is that the road isn’t about fear; it’s about focus.
Veering off the highway and banging into the concrete dividers is bad because it can mess up the car and the person driving it in an instant. We see the danger in front of us so we are nervous about losing focus and banging into the barriers. We don’t think about the fact that if we do, not only will we get banged up, we will also not reach our destination. It becomes a secondary issue.
Life isn’t like that. When we drive down the road of life, we don’t see barriers of cement. Instead, we see all sorts of exciting and attractive off-ramps and lanes to explore. We see a broad roadway ahead of us and remain oblivious to the very real danger that we may never get to where we are intended.
To this, Reb Nachman says, though the barriers aren’t visible, it’s crucial and helpful to recognize that life is to be viewed as a narrow bridge, where veering to one side or the other too much, and forgetting that you’ve got a destination, is deadly. However, it’s essential that this perception isn’t about the fear of hitting the wall, but about the understanding of how to safely get to where you’re trying to go.
We’re all highwaymen, traveling at high speed to the next world. If we want to make it there safely, we need to keep our eyes on the road ahead and not let ourselves get distracted by the world around us. Then we will keep moving forward and have reason to celebrate when we get to our destination.
Jonathan Gewirtz is an inspirational writer and speaker whose work has appeared in publications around the world. He also operates JewishSpeechWriter.com, where you can order a custom-made speech for your next special occasion. Sign up for the Migdal Ohr, his weekly PDF dvar Torah in English. Email [email protected] and put Subscribe in the subject.
