Nitzavim-Vayeilech: Keeping Up with the Jones's

There used to be an advertisement in England for British Telecom, featuring a Jewish mother who is going from store to store, shopping for electrical appliances. (this was in the days before online shopping...)

At each store she runs into the same problem.  She finds an item she wants to purchase and is about to buy it, only to be told by the salesman, 'Sorry madam, Mrs. Jones called up to reserve it by phone'.

After several failed attempts, she is in yet another store, looking at yet another dishwasher.
"This one looks perfect," she tells the salesman.  "No, wait a moment, don't tell me - Mrs. Jones called up and reserved it?"
"No, madam, actually this one is for sale.  Would you like to buy it?"
"Absolutely not.  If it's not good enough for Mrs. Jones, it's not good enough for me!"

How often do we find ourselves 'keeping up with the Jones's?'  It is very easy to measure ourselves and our own achievements by others' standards.  We see another person, who seems to be achieving so much more, or has reached a much higher station in life, and we can feel very dejected.  It is a natural tendency to look over one's shoulder, to look to the next guy for validation and to his or her achievements and accomplishments as a yardstick to measure ourselves by.  Nonetheless, it is not always helpful.

This week's Torah portion begins with everyone assembled together, to be addressed by Moses.  The Torah tells us "You stand here today, all together..."  The Torah then goes on to enumerate many different types of people - leaders of tribes, woodcutters, water drawers, and more.  We could read the verse as follows: When are you all standing together, truly unified, fulfilling your purpose in life?  When you are all together, from the greatest leader to the 'ordinary' person.  When everyone is playing his or her part, however small or insignificant it may seem, then we achieve true completeness as a whole.  No individual is dispensable, each person is of great value for the contribution they can make to the whole, however seemingly small.

There was once a simple Jew named Reb Zushe of Annipoli, who used to say, "When I get into the World to Come, I am not afraid that they will ask me, why did you not reach the level of our Father Abraham. I am not Abraham, I am not on his level, and I am not blessed with his talents and capabilities. I am afraid that they will ask me, why weren't you Zushe? Why didn't you achieve your potential? Why didn't you use your talents and capabilities?"

Nobody is asking us to become what we are not. Each of us is different; each of us has our own individual character traits and talents, which make us the special person each of us is. Are we using them to the fullest? Are we getting the most out of them? Are we achieving our true potential?

As we approach Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, a time for introspection and personal reckoning, let us not give ourselves a hard time over matching up to somebody else's qualities or achievements, but recognize that each of us is a precious, valued individual and that as long as we are using our talents and our opportunities to the fullest, we are fulfilling our role in the world.

Shabbat Shalom