In India, they tell the following story:
One evening, a sage walked along the beach. In due course, he came to a small fishing village, where a man began chasing after him.
“Stop! Stop, please,” the man cried. “Give me your precious pearl!”
“What pearl are you talking about?” the sage asked and continued on his way.
“The pearl that is in your sack,” the man replied. “Last night, I dreamed that I would meet a great scholar and that he would give me an exquisite pearl, which would make me rich beyond my wildest dreams.”
The sage stopped walking. He opened his sack and took out a giant, beautiful pearl, which glowed like a thousand flames.
“Just a few minutes ago, when I was on the beach, I noticed this large, sparkling pearl,” the sage said and presented the gem to the astonished man. “It appealed to me, and I put it in my bag. Apparently, it is the pearl you dreamed about. Take it. It is yours.”
The man was ecstatic. He took the pearl from the sage and skipped away happily. After the man had left, the sage stretched out on the sand and prepared to spend the night.
Meanwhile, when the man got home, he could not fall asleep. Afraid that someone would steal his treasure, he spent a restless night, tossing and turning in his bed. Finally, at the crack of dawn, he picked up the pearl and returned to the beach in search of the sage.
“Please take back the pearl,” the man said when he found the sage. “It is a source of worry for me – not wealth or happiness. I would prefer that you give me some of the wisdom which enabled you to give up a pearl so easily. That is the true meaning of wealth.”
We live in a world exemplified by a frantic pursuit of wealth and prosperity. To a certain extent, this is a good thing. After all, this race led mankind to great achievements in the fields of science and technology. Man conquered the ocean and outer space. Man harnessed the sun’s rays, water, and the air in order to produce energy. Man built traffic arteries which significantly decreased the time it takes to get from one place to another. With the help of computers and the Internet, man transformed the world into a small global village, and now, with the click of a button, one can reach the four corners of the earth within seconds. The list goes on and on… Yet, in spite of their considerable importance, these accomplishments are incomplete. The Torah teaches us that man is comprised of two parts: a body and a soul. Unquestionably, man has developed the body at an astounding rate. However, in our modern - and postmodern - world, where “time is money,” a major element is missing.
Regardless of his impressive achievements, man must understand that the picture is incomplete when the focus in one-dimensional – entirely material. Wealth does not only mean physical wealth. True wealth is spiritual perfection. Hence, Ben Zoma tells us:
“Who is wealthy? One who is happy with his lot.” (Avot 4:1)
Because of man’s pursuit of “an exquisite pearl, which would make me rich beyond my wildest dreams,” the Torah comes and gives us time to stop and think. The Yamim HaNora’im, which begin on Rosh Hashanah and peak on Yom Kippur, are a time to focus on the spirit. Indeed, on Yom Kippur, we are fully detached from the material. We neither eat nor drink; we neither bathe nor anoint ourselves with lotion. We resemble angels – completely spiritual… No! The Torah does not want to transform man into an angel. HaKadosh Baruch Hu has plenty of angels in the heavens. Instead, we, as humans, must serve as a unique balance and combination of these two elements – the spiritual and the material, the body and the soul. This task is not easy, and therefore, it is primarily given to Am Yisrael. And by meeting this challenge, Am Yisrael will reach completion and will illuminate the entire world with the precious light which emanates from a true understanding of “tzelem Elokim.”
Not by chance, Rosh Hashanah’s only mitzvah is hearing the sound of the shofar. It is a simple, uncomplicated sound; a sound which goes beyond words or notes; a sound which causes us to stop and think about the neglected yet precious part of us: our ability to think. Thinking enables us to give up “the pearl” and achieve true completion – the sacred balance between the material and the spiritual.
In Orot Israel College’s Jewish Philosophy Department, we study the teachings of Gedolei Yisrael throughout the generations. Yet, besides analyzing their writings, we mainly learn how to internalize the wisdom of their lives. By doing so, we will learn how to apply the insights of these incredible role models from those days to our lives, as individuals and as a society, in our time. This is not an easy task, but b’ezrat Hashem, we will learn, accomplish, and succeed.
Shanah tovah and b’hatzlachah!
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