Sometimes it takes a calamity to remind us of the old adage, “Take it one day at a time.” A little over a month ago, many of us took our daily lives for granted. We worked, shopped, went outdoors and visited our friends and relatives. Who could ever have imagined that all of that would come to a crashing halt due to an invisible coronavirus? Who could have imagined that we would spend Pesach by ourselves, routinely wearing surgical masks and being afraid to go outside? Perhaps this was a wake-up call, reminding us to cherish every relationship and appreciate the “normal” in our lives. After all, as R’ Jonathan Rieti once exclaimed in a lecture, “Every day above ground is a good day!”
We start our morning Shacharit prayers by reciting 15 brachot (blessings). This is based on the teaching of the Gemara (Brachos 60b) where the sages instructed us that, as we experience the phenomena of each new day, we need to bless God for providing them. We need to appreciate each and every day that we can get up, have clothing on our back, see and hear the world around us and be able to take in all that surrounds us. The Arizal encouraged individuals to be even more righteous by reciting at least 100 brachot a day. This meant, of course, that we should endeavor to find at least 100 things a day for which we are grateful to Hashem. We cannot take our common experiences for granted.
I am always mindful of a personal experience that taught me a similar lesson. Many years ago I began losing my ability to hear. Apparently, my middle ear stapes bone was calcifying and was not vibrating as it should. Hearing aids were not effective and eventually I would have lost my hearing altogether over time. Thankfully, I was able to find a top surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital who replaced the stapes bone with a thin titanium prosthetic wire. Miraculously, my hearing was restored. I was now able to hear normal conversation, music playing and even the birds chirping in the trees. You can bet that there isn’t a single day that goes by when I don’t think to myself, “Thank God I can hear.” We cannot take even simple things such as hearing for granted.
When Pharaoh first meets Yakov in Parshat Vayigash he is amazed to see someone who looks so old. He asks him his age but uses an interesting choice of words. He says, “How many are the days of the years of your life?”
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains the phrase as follows: Pharaoh understood that although people may live to an old age, they may only make productive use of few of their days, since people often fall short of their potential. When Pharaoh sees Yakov he is actually asking him, how many truly meaningful days have you lived during your long life? We too have to ask ourselves whether we are living every day to its full potential. After all, who knows what tomorrow may bring?
R’ Paysach Krohn related the story that occurred when the “Sefas Emes,” R’ Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, passed away in 1903. His older son, the “Imri Emes” said to his younger brother, “Baruch Hashem, at least our father merited to have ‘arichas yomim,’ a commonly used phrase to mean longevity. His brother protested that the father only lived to be 56 years old. How could that be considered longevity? The Imri Emes clarified that their father did not necessarily have “arichas shanim,” long years. Instead, he had “arichas yomin,” long and full days. We cannot guarantee that we will live long years. However, we each have to do our best to have meaningful, productive days.
We now live in unprecedented, perilous times. By now, we all personally know of individuals who are ill or, “lo aleynu,” have died due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is at times like this that we have to live every day to the fullest. We cannot take anything for granted. We have to appreciate everything we have, our homes, our family, our friends, even our own basic health. We need to ask ourselves the same question that Pharaoh had for Yakov: “How many are the days of the years of our lives?” Hopefully, they will be many and meaningful. We look forward, God willing, to returning to our “normal” lives soon.
Rabbi Avi Kuperberg is a forensic, clinical psychologist in private practice. He is president of the Chai Riders Motorcycle Club of NY/NJ. He leads the Summit Avenue Shabbos Gemara shiur and minyan in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, and is a member of the International Rabbinical Society. He can be reached at [email protected].
