Davar Acher: We Are What We Remember . . . A Daily Practice of Mindfulness
December 20, 2009
Torah
(2 comments)
by Andrew Klein
(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Reform Voices of Torah)
 I've been privileged to hear Rabbi Michael Marmur, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, speak on a number of occasions. Marmur offers a powerful tool to help us practice mindful thinking: he suggests that we can approach each moment of our lives with either an attitude of "Oy!" or of "Wow!"
Oy! I have to go to the gym today!
or. . .
Wow! I get to go the gym today and take care of this healthy body that God has given me.
Marmur suggests that we look at the world through the eyes of Abraham Joshua Heschel--with a sense of radical amazement, with a feeling of Wow!, and with an appreciation for the miracles around us all the time (see Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man [New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997]).
The Torah provides us with many examples of this kind of focused mindfulness. In Genesis 9:16 we read, "When the bow is in the cloud, and I see it, I will remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living beings, all that live upon the earth."
What will we remember when we see a rainbow? Oy! God was angry with our behavior and almost destroyed all living things on earth or--Wow! Look at the miraculous beauty of God's world and the safety and security that the rainbow promises us!
Rabbi Moffic points out that in our parashah Joseph's actions toward his brothers were based on what he chose to remember. Moffic writes that what we choose to remember "shapes the way we respond to the past and create our future."
We all make choices about the attitudes we carry through life. It takes effort and practice to live with an attitude of Wow! But if we remember that God is in our lives, guiding and helping us along our way, then the choice becomes a lot simpler to make.
If we choose to remember yesterday with an attitude of Wow! rather than Oy! we develop the muscle to approach today with the sense of promise and possibility for what this wonderful new day might bring.
Rabbi Andrew Klein is the rabbi at Temple Habonim in Barrington, Rhode Island.
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How many of us are guilty of speaking without thinking? Rabbi Moffic again clearly points us in the direction of improving ourselves (and perhaps those who we interact with) as we live our lives based on those who have influenced us in the past and those who continue to exist in our current relationships.The rabbi's commentary has brightened my day. Thank you.
Rabbi Marmur's commentary is also valuable - Too many negative feelings lead to depression - why feel sorry for yourself when you can have a positive influence on yourself and others by being upbeat?